This issue of vintage Sphere is filled with great recipes, and not just for Thanksgiving. It opens with a huge spread of “Italy: A Vintage Journey,” where Sphere writers made a seven-day trip through some of the best-known wine-producing regions and brought back great recipe and entertaining ideas. There is even a step-by-step lesson on how to make fresh fettuccine, which is then tossed with a cream and tomato sauce that also includes prosciutto, peas, sweet peppers, and Parmesan.
A soup article offers a variety to warm your toes on chilly November days such as Pumpkin, Polish-Mushroom, Cream of Onion, Spanish-Potato, and Russian Cabbage. A skillet pork chop dinner with potatoes, sauerkraut, apples, brown sugar, and caraway sounds fabulous. There is a two-page spread on some darling fall clothes for little girls featuring a very young Brooke Shields, who appears to be around 9 or 10 years old. She looks exactly the same!
The Thanksgiving article is has a full menu with a day-by-day schedule for preparation, starting three days ahead. I read somewhere that this is what cookbook author and Food Network star Ina Garten does – makes detailed lists and plans ahead. I think that’s the way to go. It makes a large gathering so much easier. The dinner includes a cauliflower soup, roast turkey with pecan stuffing, maple-glazed ham, baked yams, whipped potatoes, minted peas, tossed salad with artichoke hearts, bread and butter, radish slaw, carrot-raisin slaw, sugar cookies, and baked apples and cinnamon ice cream.
I decided to make the Pecan Stuffing because I always love trying new stuffing recipes. I have never added pecans, mushrooms, or lemon peel to my traditional Midwest family recipe but it sounded interesting. It was really good!
The only thing I would change is that I thought it needed more moisture so I added some chicken stock (or it can be turkey stock) until it was a consistency I preferred. I also must confess that even though I really liked this recipe, my Midwest roots kicked in and I added some pork sausage and a little poultry seasoning after I took the photo. It was great that way too.
(By the way, the beautiful pot holder was handmade by our beloved cousin Leena in Finland)
- ½ cup butter
- 1-1/2 cups chopped onions
- 2-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 loaf (1 pound) white bread, day old, trimmed and cubed
- ½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Heat butter in large skillet until hot. Cook and stir onions in butter for 5 minutes; mix in mushrooms and celery. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Mix in remaining ingredients. Note: I thought the stuffing needed more moisture so I added stock (chicken or turkey) until it was of a consistency I liked.
I make detailed lists also–not only for the Thanksgiving or Christmas meal but a calendar telling me what I should do each day for a week or to beforehand so come the big day everything gets done ! I even put post-a-notes on each serving dish so I remember what goes in each one once it’s time to serve. And I keep a detailed recap of the meals each year so I can remember which dish is a keeper or never again. I’ll make sure this year that I buy the ricotta cheese for the Christmas Day lasagna–last year I forgot to buy it (even though I had a detailed list that I kept checking !) Thank goodness for Garden Fresh over in local Mundelein–they are open on Christmas Day ! Remember that–some day you may be in the same situation–lol !
Barb, we are two peas in a pod. I do all those same things. I love having the dining room table all set with the dishes labeled with the post-its. And thank you for that heads-up about Garden Fresh. I had no idea they were open Christmas Day!
I grew up with the pork sausage in our stuffing, too, and every recipe I’ve tried without adding some pork makes the Thanksgiving meal lacking in flavor. It is always fun to try new recipes but it is difficult to abandon those traditional family recipes on the holidays. So we’re with you on the pork sausage in the stuffing on the West coast!! Have a blessed Thanksgiving with all your family.
Happy Thanksgiving, Kim! I love trying new stuffing recipes, but glad to hear someone else agrees with me on the pork sausage.