Saturday, November 16, 2013

Thanksgiving, You Say?

I don't really celebrate Thanksgiving, at least not in November.  For me, the autumn equinox is my feast of thanksgiving/harvest festival celebration.  Samhain is the last of the harvest festivals.  By the time November rolls around, a lot of things have already been harvested.  Also, I'm not too big on celebrating things that are attached to the Puritans and their murderous, poo-poo-headed ways.   Pass.

Still, I'll be off the entire week (working from home Monday-Wednesday), and my Aussie will finish the work week on Thursday.  He probably won't have to work the entire day, but we're not sure yet.  We know that he'll work half a day on Dec. 25, a full day on the 26th, and then have the 27th and 28th off.  That's when we will go to my parents' house.

I figure since I'll be off all week, and he'll have worked 5 days, I could at least prepare a nice meal to celebrate his weekend.  While he's at work, I plan to cook and drink a lot of wine.  I'll probably watch Alice's Restaurant and The Last Waltz, too.

There will only be the two of us.  We were invited to a coworker's house to celebrate with her visiting family members, but my meatless fast thingie would just complicate things too much.  I'm saving my appetite for Dec. 27, for a pork shoulder roast with crackling and a roasted goose!  Oh, yeah.  I'm looking forward to that, for sure.   So, no turkey here, especially since only one person would be eating it.

I'll make a pared-down vegetarian feast.  I have lots of dishes planned, but I will make smaller amounts of them.   The menu thus far:

* Spinach salad with almonds, pears, and a ginger-sesame dressing
* Lentil-rice-walnut loaf
* Smashed red potatoes
* Mushroom gravy
* Duchess sweet potatoes
* Harvest Home rolls
* Swiss chard
* Glazed carrots and parsnips
* Cranberry upside-down cake with orange and cardamom

I'm getting full just thinking about it.  What are you making?

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