Three Things
Thanksgiving thoughts, a savory dinner galette, family, food, connecting
Hello readers and eaters! Hope you had excellent weekends. We had dinner at my friend Sonya’s house on Friday where she treated us to, among many other delights, mushroom soup and Ottolenghi’s ridiculously dramatic Butternut Squash Fondue Pie (warning: NY Times, possible paywall), which oozes with raclette when you slice into it. If you are in the market for a show-stopping vegetarian main for Thanksgiving, look no further. In other news: The Great Matt Rodbard interviewed me about The Weekday Vegetarians over at Taste, should you need more convincing to add the book to your holiday gift list. He was so nice, and I especially loved it when he called me “gutsy,” because that rarely (read: never ever) happens. But enough about me! Here are your weekly Three Things…
1. Thanksgiving Brainstorm
I will have thoughts on flexitarian Thanksgiving strategies in the next week or so, but for now should we just go ahead and start with pies? I’m not ruling out the Golden Buttermilk Chess Pie from Cheryl Day’s gift-worthy Treasury of Southern Baking and it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a version of my mom’s Chocolate Pudding Pie, but if we went with just what you see here, then there will be: Pumpkin Pie (nothing fancy, we use the recipe on the Libby’s can); Cranberry-Lime, complete with sugar-dusted cranberries; and a classic Maple-Bourbon Pecan. What do you think? Not bad, right? What’s missing?
2. A Savory Galette for All Seasons
Even though I’m no longer cooking for young kids on the clock every day, I can’t seem to shake the habit of scanning new cookbooks for potential weeknight recipes while wearing my Efficiency Goggles. How long will that take? How many pots? How forgiving is it? (Like, will I be arrested if I use 2% vs. whole milk?) How many ingredients? I think food editor Dawn Perry (who has worked in many a test kitchen including Real Simple) owns those same goggles…
…because I couldn't stop dog-earing as I was flipping through her new Ready, Set, Cook last week. One recipe in particular caught my eye — a savory galette that wraps up long-cooked greens in pastry dough (she calls for homemade dough, I think store-bought is fine) and is so easy you can probably figure it out without a recipe. But just in case, you can go check it out over on Dinner: A Love Story today.
Food and Family, Family and Food: It’s all Connected!
I’ve been thinking so much about food and family lately — how I’ve gotten more nourishment out of cooking for people than actually eating what I’ve cooked. I’ve also been wondering: Is it normal for someone to think this much about food? Then I came upon this little section from Stanley Tucci’s new memoir and things sort of locked into place, at least temporarily. Tucci had a brief scare with cancer, and was tube-fed for six months during treatment — here is what he learned from the experience:
[It] caused me to realize that food was not just a huge part of my life; it basically was my life. Food at once grounded me and took me to other places. It comforted me and challenged me. It was part of the fabric that made up my creative self and my domestic self. It allowed me to express my love for the people I love and make connections with new people I might come to love. When I was traveling, it kept me in touch with my family wherever I was in the world, whether on holiday or cooking for myself and a few colleagues…During such meals I would explain that the recipes I’d prepared had been passed down through many generations…Watching my guests enjoy the meal I’d made filled me with great familial pride. In those moments it was clear to me that someday, when my parents are no longer alive, I will always be able to put their teachings and all the love they gave me into a bowl and present it to someone who sadly will never have had the good fortune of knowing them. But by eating that food, they will come to know them, if even just a little.
Have a great week.
Housekeeping
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Thanks, everyone.