Thanksgiving in the Deep South

One of my pet peeves is watching stores and communities bypass Thanksgiving, going straight for the glamour and glitz of Christmas.  Grocery stores seem to be the only retail establishments that cling tightly to the proper chronology of the holidays, and for good reason.  For my part, I simply refuse to belittle this glorious day for friends, family, and food!

Last year was my first redneck foodie Thanksgiving blog. As you may recall, I had a few bumps in the road while preparing a larger than normal meal to make my newly extended family feel welcome. I hope someone out there learned from those mistakes, because they were plenty humbling at the time. It seems that I too must have learned something.  This year, while not perfect, went much more smoothly.  Having been raised in the south, displaced to the Midwest for the last four years, and recently moving back to the DEEP south, I wanted to make this year’s meal a really special homecoming celebration.  I tried to do this by creating a fusion of old traditions with a few of last year’s new additions and a couple of health conscious twists.

The final menu included roasted turkey, herb and cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, gravy (both plain and giblet), green bean casserole, cheese grits (see my September 2010 “Legends of a Redneck Foodie” blog for this recipe), pan-seared Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and apple cranberry crisp.

Photos by John King and Jenn Ballard

A few notable changes included my mom making her traditional stuffing in a Crock-Pot. I was a little worried that the top wouldn't get browned, but it turned out perfectly without having to be finished in the oven. This is a good tip for anyone who runs short on oven space around this time of year, but unlike preparing it in the oven, be sure you stir it a couple of times in the Crock-Pot to prevent the bottom from burning.  Second, we dropped the customary mashed potatoes and whole kernel corn. As you may recall from last year's blog, no one in my family even touched the corn, and a quick poll revealed that the mashed potatoes had become a habitat rather than a family favorite.  In lean economic times and the wake of a national obesity epidemic, this was a perfect example of how studying our holiday choices and opting for a few well made favorites may prove just as satisfying as our habitual bulk. I can honestly say that these two extra starches were not missed in the least. A small serving of Brussels sprouts was added in their place. I've just started experimenting with this veggie in the last year, and I like mine pan-seared on the stove top or the grill with bits of bacon or balsamic vinegar. Lastly, we replaced the traditional apple pie and Italian creme cake with a health conscious, dutch oven, apple and cranberry crisp....big hit.

Naturally, I can't just talk about what we ate without sharing a couple of recipes (that feels rude and unhelpful). With all the healthy changes this year, something I simply couldn't forgo were my grandmother's pies.  These are historic recipes in my family, and they have remained largely unchanged in my lifetime.  The slight exception to that is the addition of maple syrup to the pecan pie.  This change came about when I ran ever so slightly short on dark corn syrup while making multiple pies about five years ago. I had to finish the last one with the only thing I had in the pantry with a similar cooking consistency: pancake syrup. At the time, I was hoping the dark syrup would cover the flavor, but instead, I found that people preferred the slightly more complex version.  I’ve made it that way ever since.

Pecan Pie

3 eggs
1 - 1 1/2 cups pecans (fresh chopped or halved depending on preference)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
7/8 cup dark syrup (Karo blue label)
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract (REAL VANILLA!!!)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 275 F. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl, add granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, and melted butter. Place the pie crust in a shallow, glass pie dish. Prepare the edges as desired. Spread the pecans out in a layer on the bottom of the crust. Pour the liquid mixture over the top. The pecan will float up. Cover the edges of your pie crust with a silicon ring or folded foil. Bake the pie for 50-65 minutes, removing the ring/foil to brown the crust for the last 15 minutes.  The biggest risk with this pie is a runny filling.  It always takes longer to firm up than you think. It should have a fairly firm consistency when you shake the pan slightly or it isn't ready to come out of the oven. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup cooked pumpkin (equal to one can of prepared pumpkin)
1 1/2 cup hot milk (Warm slowly on stove top. Stir constantly until steaming but not boiling)
1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients (sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt). Add the pumpkin and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the beaten eggs, and add the hot milk slowly, stirring as you go.  Place the pie crust in a deep, glass pie dish. Prepare the edges as desired and pour the liquid mixture in. Cook for 45 min to 1 hour. When the tip of a butter knife placed in the center comes out clean, the pie is ready. I like to garnish mine with fall leaves the way I saw on the cover of a Southern Living about 8 years ago. To do this, prepare another pie crust. Cut out the leaves with small cookie cutters, and place them on a cookie sheet.  Brush the tops with egg white, and dust them with cinnamon and sugar if desired. Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Place them on the pie after it has baked and cooled thoroughly.

I hope everyone had a stupendous Thanksgiving, and maybe these tips will come in handy for Christmas or even next year. I'd love to hear about your holiday recipes or tips. Please feel free to post them here. Don't forget about last year's "More turkey than you know what to do with?" December 2010 blog for great leftover ideas.

Taking Notes for the Kitchen

One of my favorite traditions in the kitchen is something that seems to have gone a bit by the way side: recipe cards.  Some people prefer cookbooks, either printed or with blank pages for adding their own, and I have to admit that I have my fair share of these. But I always end up with magazine clippings stuffed into the covers, and I can never find the recipe I need. For me, in terms of organization, space management, and convenience, nothing beats a box of recipe cards. You can fit a ton of cards into one box, and you never have to worry about running out of pages. If you’re writing in a bound book and you mess up, you have to make scribbles, use globs of whiteout, or discard the page. If you’re writing on an index card, starting over is much easier.  To top it off, you can pull out multiple cards, set them side by side and plan whole meals without flipping pages or leaving smudges.  

I guess the thing that made me want to start a box of my own was the memory I have of my grandmother’s box. It was a plain, green, metal, index card filer filled with recipes written in her own handwriting.  It was very practical (like her), but when she pulled it out, I knew a special meal was on her mind.  She only needed it when she made something that she didn't know by heart. When I started shopping for my own box, I found plenty of plain, plastic boxes in the office supply section and a few cheaply made/over-priced wooden versions online.  It was slim pickin’s to say the least. Finally, I found couple of box and card sets by Better Homes and Gardens.  They weren’t exactly my style per se, but I'm not exactly known for my patience. Mostly, I was tired of looking and ready to start my project.

I personalized my box with a few stickers and made categories to keep things organized (drinks, breakfast foods, appetizers, soups, sides, entrees, desserts, and breads).  I wrote down my favorite recipes and a few solid foundation items on the matching cards. I also grabbed some plain 4X6 index cards to copying longer recipes or ones I wasn’t sure I would keep.  Next, I bought one of those books of recipe cards that you find by the grocery store register. I thought it would be a good way to bulk up my stocks quickly. Unfortunately, I found most of these recipes were boring, redundant, and generally unhelpful. I can't really suggest this approach to anyone else.

After a couple of weeks, I had my box mostly stocked with my favorites, but it still felt a little bare. From there, I kept my eyes peeled for recipes on television that I wanted to try. I bought some card stock for my printer and used the handy-dandy “recipe card” printer function on foodnetwork.com.  I also used the card stock to print out recipes typed or copied into a word processor.  This is super convenient, but having said that, I do suggest writing a few recipes in your own handwriting, especially if you're giving them away. It may seem tedious, but I can honestly say that I still treasure small things like recipes and Christmas package labels that were handwritten by loved ones who aren’t with me anymore. It may seem sad or far off, but you never know who might feel that way about you someday.  (I think this applies to friends and family who move far away as much as to those who have gone farther.)

There are a couple more fun sources for recipe cards that I highly recommend. First, I have started cutting out recipes, instructions, and pictures (when size appropriate) from magazines. Forget about copying all that down! I just glue them to a card (see the pictures to the left). It’s quick, easy, semi-recyclingish, and I really like having a picture of a dish when I'm making it.  Second, I was in a little kitchen supply store the other day when I saw a birthday card the size of a recipe card. The front was a picture of a dish, and the inside cover was the recipe. The greeting was on the opposite page, but it came apart from the front….best birthday card ever!!

Last, I've heard about this terrific idea called a recipe party.  I’ve always wanted to throw one, but I’ve never had the right opportunity.  The party is usually a wedding shower but could easily be for other occasions. Everyone comes prepared with multiple cards baring one favorite recipe. They get a plain box to decorate, and each person trades their cards so that everyone gets a copy of each recipe.  Ideally, people would use decorative cards that represent their style.  The result would be mismatched, but all the the better for it! I've always thought that this would be a great idea for brides who don’t want or need a lot of presents but still want to celebrate their special day. Of course, it could be worked into a regular bridal shower by simply including a recipe card with each invitation so that it’s returned, filled in, on the day of the party.

With the holiday season coming up, maybe it's a good time to think about recipe card boxes as gifts too.  If you’ve got a crafty, redneck-foodie in your life (or a young adult learning to live and cook on their own), a decorate-your-own box and some matching cards could be just the ticket.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All Photographs in this blog by Jenn Ballard

Sonnet XVII By Pablo Neruda

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

Fall in the Smoky Mountains

Anyone who knows me knows that fall is my very favorite time of year.  I love the changing leaves, the cool weather, soft sweaters, hot teas, and the sound of migrating geese as they turn their V’s back to the south.  Last weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate the coming of autumn by drive north into Cherokee County, North Carolina to visit a friend. The two of us travelled through the foothills of the Smoky Mountains on Saturday and spent the better part of Sunday at the John C. Campbell Folk School’s annual Fall Festival (http://www.folkschool.org).  The event reminded me of being a kid and spending time with my family at a similar place, the Ozark Folk Center near Mountain View, Arkansas (http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com).  The Folk School’s Fall Festival had a really nice selection of beautiful art and handmade crafts. There was also mountain music to listen to and traditional foods like meat pies, hot beans, and apple turnovers to try.  It was everything that the first weekend of fall should be.


In honor of this glorious time of year, I thought that I would write about my favorite fall foods, but to be honest, the list is way too long. There are so many things that I love to cook that, like my favorite sweaters, I leave packed away through the warmer months.  My mom’s famous beef stew is a perfect example. In fact, I just finished making my first batch of the year this week (substituting fresh deer for stew beef of course…sorry mom).  But mom’s stew is in good company with my homemade chili, ham and beans, and pot roast with root vegetables. I decided that instead of trying to cover such a wide spread, I would dedicate this fall food blog to a single ingredient that epitomizes the season for so many people: the apple.  I really came to appreciate apples as an icon of fall when I lived in Missouri, where the arrival of apples, pecans, pumpkins, and alpaca fiber to the local farmer’s market marked the bitter sweet culmination of the year’s harvest.  My first apple recipe is actually something I made for the first time just recently, and it was an absolute hit!

Apples and Pork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops
2 Tsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt, pepper & cloves
1/8 Tsp cinnamon (heaping slightly)
1/8 Tsp nutmeg (heaping slightly)
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tart green apples (washed, cored, and sliced thin)
4 Tbsp pecans (halved or roughly chopped)

Preheat oven to 200°F and place a medium sized baking dish with lid in the oven to warm. Heat a large cast-iron skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Brush the pork chops with the vegetable oil and place in the hot skillet. (You may have to add a little more oil depending on how well your skillet is seasoned.) Salt and pepper the pork chops lightly on each side as they cook and turn them occasionally for even browning. Cook the pork chops for 5-10 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Remove the chops from the skillet and place them in the covered dish for continued warming. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg along with a dash of salt, pepper, and cloves.  When the pork chops have been removed from the skillet, reduce the heat to medium and add the butter, dry mixture, and sliced apples.  Cover and cook, stir occasionally, until the apples are tender.  Then, remove the apples with a slotted spoon (leaving the juice) and place them in the baking dish on top of the pork chops. Leave the lid off the skillet and add the pecans. Continue to cook the liquid and pecans, stir constantly, until the mixture has reduced to a moderately thick sauce and pecans appear slightly caramelized.  Pour the entire combination over the apples and pork chops and serve immediately.

When I made this recipe, I realized that I didn’t have a tight fitting lid for my cast iron skillet, and I ended up needing to add liquid back to have enough sauce and to keep the apples from burning.  I didn’t want to use apple juice because I was afraid it would be too sweet. Likewise, oil would probably lend a greasy flavor.  Butter cooks off too quickly, and water would dilute the spices. My solution: apple cider vinegar. It worked like a dream, adding moisture and tanginess without being too sweet or too strong.  In the end, the pork chop and apple dinner was perfect.  It would be great for low key entertaining, and it didn’t even take that long to make (~45 min).

My next recipe is something that I modified from an item on the menu at Café Berlin in Columbia, Missouri (or as my husband likes to call it, “that hippy place.”) I mention this nickname freely because I think the people who run this local food, whole grain, part organic, vegetarian friendly-type joint would take it as a compliment, and well they should.  It was one of my favorite places for breakfast in Columbia, and this is my take on one of their best dishes:

Apples and Sausage

1 tart apple (washed, cored, and sliced)
1 smoked sausage link (approximately 12")
2 Tbs vegetable oil
3 Tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup apple juice OR ¼ cup apple cider vinegar + 2 Tbsp brown sugar
Cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper

Slice the smoked sausage on a diagonal into ¼ to ½ inch thick medallions. Heat the oil in a medium cast-iron skillet and add the sausage medallions. Cook on medium-high heat until browned on both sides. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Soak-up any excess oil in the pan. Add the apple slices and juice (or vinegar).  Season the dish to taste with cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.  Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are soften. Remove the lid and allow the liquid to reduced to a runny syrup. Serve in a bowl or on top of pancakes or waffles

My last recipe is one of my all time favorites, but I will admit that it’s more of a Christmas apple dish than a fall one. None the less, I just can’t write about apples and leave it out. I’ll try to tie it back to fall by pointing out that in the time before refrigerators, a person would have had to plan ahead in the fall for recipes like this by drying fresh apples for later use.  I picked this recipe out of a copy of Southern Living a long time ago. To be honest, I don’t even remember exactly when, but it has been the envy of Christmas parties ever since.

Appalachian Apple Stack Cake (My name for it, not the published name)
Cake:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco type product not vegetable oil)
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
4 cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1 Tsp baking soda
½ Tsp salt
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup molasses
2 ½ Tsp sugar

Beat shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add ½ cup sugar gradually, beating for 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the egg and beat until the yellow disappears.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Combine the buttermilk and molasses in a large measuring cup.  Gradually add the flour combination to the shortening, alternating with the molasses and buttermilk.  You should begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat until well blended.  Divide the dough into 5 equal parts.  Place each portion into a greased and floured 9-inch round cake pan or a similarly sized cast-iron skillet.  Firmly press the dough into the pan with clean, floured fingers.  Use a fork to prick the surface of the cake and sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar.  Bake the cake for 10 minutes at 400°F. 

Filling:
3 (6 oz) packages dried apple slices
6 Cups water
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1 Tsp ground ginger
1 Tsp ground cinnamon
½ Tsp ground allspice
½ Tsp ground nutmeg

Stir together apples and water in a large sauce pan or dutch oven.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the apples are tender/rehydrated.  Stir in the sugar and spices, return the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Cool the filling completely.

Layer the cakes and filling, starting and ending with cake.  I’ve served the final product within a few hours of making it, and it was delicious.  But the original recipe claims that it should sit for a minimum of two days for the best flavor.  I’ll be honest: I just don’t have that much patience.

I hope ya'll enjoy the recipes.  Please send me some of yours and have a very happy fall!!

Photos by Jenn Ballard

Cutting to the Chase

I want to dedicate this blog to five very special people.  They will know who they are, but for discretion’s sake, their names will not be listed.  I want to dedicate this little article to these very special people because they have inspired me. They have shown courage, persistence, and grace in the face of unbelievable circumstances. These five people, my friends and family, have inspired me because they have all suffered from, battled against, and beaten a common enemy: cancer.  The exact types have varied, as have the symptoms and struggles, but they are all an inspiration to me.  Like most people I have made donations from time to time and walked in a race or two, but it never seemed like I could do much that would really make a difference.  For quite some time I have wanted to do more, but, with my extremely limited time and fiscal resources, I didn’t know what more I could do. 

It was in hearing a story about one of these five people that I found a new way to show my support.  I have known this beautiful woman my whole life.  For as long as I can remember she has worn her long blonde hair most of the way down her back.   When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer not so long ago, she decided to cut her hair before her treatments began.  So many people I know, possibly myself included, would have made a braid and kept it in a box to remember the “before.” Some people might have bitterly left it all on the salon floor.  But in the most graceful gesture I have ever heard of, she donated her hair for wigs for other cancer patients. Today, I am overjoyed to say that she has recovered nicely from her treatments.

It took a few months for this story to sink in and become an actual course of action for me.  It was sometime last fall when it finally occurred to me that if she could make such a beautiful gesture, the least I could do would be to put my vanity aside for a few months to match it.  I started growing my hair out about nine months ago.  My plan had been to keep growing it so that my own hair would remain somewhat long after I made the donation, but somehow, last week just felt right. I made an appointment at the Republic Salon (http://www.republicsalon.com/) here in Athens, Georgia, and they gladly obliged.  Here is the finished product....The person holding it was the very talented stylist who helped with this project. I only cut her face out for privacy sake.

The last thing I want is to make this blog about me. I did this to praise the people who have inspired me.  After all, hair grows back. However, I did manage to get a cute new short "do" out of it, and I would recommend Republic to anyone in the Athens area. They were very helpful with the whole donation process, and I promised to include a picture of myself for curious friends and family.

There are actually several groups that take donations like this.  You can choose the one that is closest to your heart, the one your salon is familar with, or the one meets your needs in terms of hair length.  For more information, you can read the article "How to Donate Your Hair to Cancer Patients" at  http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20411427,00.html. It pretty much runs through the how-to's of everything you need to know.

I'm really excited to have been able to do this as a show of support for my brave friends and family. Actually, I'm really hoping that they like it since it was meant to be a surprise. But the truth is that people make donations like this everyday. In talking about my plans, I found out that several of my friends are on their second and third donation cycles.  It's something that almost anyone can do, and when people ask you about the change, you can tell them about the brave people in your life.

Think about it...maybe today is your day to do a little something more.