Random Button Knows Thanksgiving is Nigh...

[TazManiac]

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http://wapsisquare.com/comic/crookedsmile/

I was hitting the Random Button to help refresh what my browser would consider the Latest page for 'today' and I came across this...



Thats from 2007, and it's 2015 as I post this but it's relatable nonetheless...

EDIT- Yeah, I suppose this is really a better fit for All Hallows Eve, but a Pumpkin is still a Pumpkin...

[DinkyInky]

Pumpkin seeds, bread, pies, soup(once Mother received professional help on it's creation)...so much deliciousness in one gourd, very divisible, with dinner and desserts for all.

[TazManiac]

Funny, my buddy grew something in the garden (thankfully not a John Carpenter's 'Thing' type thing) and he's thinking it's a hybrid w/ Pumpkin and "something else".

Pix forthcoming...

[Dave]

Pumpkin seeds, bread, pies, soup(once Mother received professional help on it's creation)...so much deliciousness in one gourd, very divisible, with dinner and desserts for all.

For what it's worth: according to multiple sources, a lot of canned "pumpkin" on the market is not made from what we normally would consider pumpkins (the "Jack-o-lantern" variety of Curcubita pepo) at all.

It's made largely from other varieties of sweet squash. The market leader (Libby's) is made entirely from the Dickinson cultivar of C. moschata. This is the same species as butternut squash and it looks a lot more like a butternut than it does a carving pumpkin.

You'll also find butternut, Hubbard, Boston Marrow, and Golden Delicious sold as "pumpkin puree".

The reason: these sweet squashes are often less stringy, and sweeter than a carving pumpkin. The FDA definition of commercial "pumpkin puree" includes both "pumpkins" and "sweet squash" so this practice is not considered legally deceptive. The sellers can and do say "100% pumpkin" on the can without being busted by the Feds.

I've got a couple of Kabocha squash (C. maxima) sitting on the 'fridge, to be prepared for our dinner tomorrow. I really like 'em. Dead-easy to prepare... wash, punch a few vent holes into the seed cavity with a kitchen knife, place on a cookie sheet, and bake for about an hour at 375. Once they're soft all the way to the center (poke with a knife to check) they're done. Cut 'em open (it's a lot easier when they're cooked first!) and scoop out the seeds and strings, remove the stem and blossom end, and mash with a fork. You don't even need to skin them... it's thin, edible, and when oven-browned a bit it's quite a tasty addition to the mash. Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, a bit of butter if you wish, mix thoroughly, and serve. The flavor is sort of a halfway between pumpkins and sweet potatoes. I added about a teaspoon of honey last time, and decided that it's overkill - they're so naturally sweet that it isn't required.

I think I'll try saving the seeds from these, put 'em back on the cookie sheet, and brown them, and see how they are.

Some of the sellers at the local farmer's market also have Red Kuri, which I understand is fairly similar to Kabocha. Have to try one of those next.

Funny, my buddy grew something in the garden (thankfully not a John Carpenter's 'Thing' type thing) and he's thinking it's a hybrid w/ Pumpkin and "something else".

Could certainly be a hybrid. Traditional pumpkins are C. pepo, and can crossbreed with others of this species (acorn squash, delicata squash, zucchini, and other summer squash). Kentucky field pumpkins and Seminole pumpkins are C. moschata, and can crossbreed with butternut, some Cushaw varieties, cheese pumpkins, Dickinson, etc.

It's not certain yet just which varieties were preferred by mastodons.

[DinkyInky]

I love acorn and butternut squash. Halve them, poke holes in the flesh, sprinkle cracked pepper on them and a bit of butter in the middle, bake until soft.
One year I was given a European market gift voucher booklet, and got quite a few...my son and I ate two a piece(four halves) for dinner that first day.
Also got a pumpkin, which we made roasted seeds(after saving some for planting), which became soup, bread, and cheesecake.

Canned pumpkin is yucky. Tastes like metal.

[Catawampus]

Could certainly be a hybrid.

Part pumpkin, part phaeton. Watch out for the singing mice.

[TazManiac]

"How far can we get by Midnight?"

[GlytchMeister]

"How far can we get by Midnight?"

This ^ reminded me of this --> "It's your one way ticket to midnight!"

[Dave]

Part pumpkin, part phaeton. Watch out for the singing mice.

We are small but we are many.
We are many we are small.
We were here before you rose.
We will be here when you fall.

[oldmanmickey]

"How far can we get by Midnight?"

This ^ reminded me of this --> "It's your one way ticket to midnight!"

me thinks you are not old enough though to have seen that movie on the big screen. very much worth it.

[TazManiac]

That movie is a whiplash rollercoaster of emotional responses; "Yeaaaaah, Heavy Metal made into a Movie! Wahooo!, oh,, wait. Damn..."

Happy Thanksgiving to all youze in other time zones...

[DinkyInky]

Turkey, Hawaiian taro bread stuffing, fresh green salad with sweet, colourful peppers, pomegranate seeds and clementines topped with a rice wine vinaigrette, cheesy garlic smashed spuds...
Cranberry Jelly, Mince pie, Pumpkin gelato...
And a Creme de Violette soda aperitif.

Blessed to have what I need, so I want for nothing.

My son gave me a lovely morning surprise, the TROLLCAT was sweet, and it really was a lovely day.

La vita e bella!

Hope all of you and yours are well.

[Dave]

Turkey meatballs with some BBQ saucing, turkey breast, stuffing, turkey gravy, parsnip pancakes, Swiss chard sauteed with brown mushrooms and Moroccan seasoning, mashed Kabocha squash softened with chicken broth and flavored with nutmeg and ginger, curried-chicken salad, Castelvetrano olives, cranberry dressing, chips and dip, warm apple pie with pumpkin and/or coffee ice cream. What we didn't make, Whole Foods and Trader Joe provided. Then, a Mike Meyers filmfest which had my wife shrieking with laughter so hard I was afraid she'd hurt herself.

Just my wife and me, and a retired friend who has no family (other than us). We're all too full to move... have enough leftovers to get us through the whole weekend, I think.

Thankful? Indeed, and for so very very much!

(The cider she was simmering with spices started to boil over a bit. After we pulled it off of the stove and cleaned up the spillage, she dashed off to the den and grabbed a CD collection and headed for the stereo, saying "I have to." Three notes in, and I started to laugh... Neal Young, "Cinnamon Girl" ).

[GlytchMeister]

Went to my aunt's (mom's side), had a potluck-style thanksgiving. Turkey with cranberry-cherry... Stuff... Mashed potatoes with bits of what appeared to be tiny green cylinders mixed in, homemade bread rolls, sweet potato casserole, homemade mac n' cheese...

That's what I managed to eat before having to pack my lunchbox with leftovers and head to work.

One of my cousins has a new baby (I'm beginning to lose track of all these new kids), and he apparently liked me quite a lot... Little squirt kept ramming my foot with his walker-roller doodad.

Heck, work was even easy.

[Catawampus]

Home-made blackberry preserves and Nutella on slightly stale store-bought white bread, dry-roasted peanuts, bananas, and beef-ish flavouring packet stirred into ramen noodles. And there's still some left, if anybody wants some!

[TazManiac]

Didn't yet roast the mutant squash as I am hoping to harvest the seeds inside.

Cooked: Some kind of Turkey loaf w/ gravy that was given to me "but you have to have some Turkey...", corn bread (jiffey/box), potatoes a grauten (also box) with shredded cheese on top, jewel yams, beans simmering the last two days w/ salt pork (nod towards tradition) and a bit of ground sausage, chocolate cake...

it's 3:30 am and i just shut down for the night after hosting a double feature w/ Skyfall and Big Hero Six- with copious "I need to take a smoke break, Potty Break, Damn its cold in here- wheres a lap blanket, hey look the jeans drying on the line are literally frozen stiff (I got pix) and so on.

Only got around to actually eating beans, left over roast beast, left over bbq chicken, and most of the cake. Oh, and Trader Vics hot battered rum w/ 151 for the antifreeze.

Its California but still below 30F degrees tonight...

[DinkyInky]

Oh, and Trader Vics hot battered rum w/ 151 for the antifreeze.

So is it a rum filled pastry? I want the recipe.

[TazManiac]

Oh, and Trader Vics hot battered rum w/ 151 for the antifreeze.

So is it a rum filled pastry? I want the recipe.

I'm afraid the question of making Pastry hadn't yet crossed my mind; it's called BATTER even though it isn't really something you dip shrimps in prior to deep frying...

http://tradervics.com/product/trader-vi ... escription

Its a Hot Toddy mix, and it looks like they are phasing out the ubiquitous plastic tubs going forward in favour of the more robust glass containers. Huh.

Thanksgiving I was host to the 'Late Night Movie Watching Session', in the Barn, which is currently unheated (that is a long story) and it got down into at least the 20'sF, (last night is listed online as hitting 15 degrees, but that needs confirming...), so I broke open the 151 and everybody got a mug o' warm goodness. It would have been better to dash it together from better sourced ingredients, despite the fact that my captive audience has a less than discerning palate, but It was expedient nonetheless.

There's no real good excuse to serve mediocre anything just because "They wont know the difference"...

PS- and, That said, I am currently turning over in my mind some kind of puff pastry/ croissant type bake-at-home- creation with the Trader Vic's batter in the middle... Hmmm...

[Just Old Al]

OK...so it's creamed butter, sugar and spices...ooooooo.

Mix that with cream cheese or ricotta and you would have one heckuva good cannoli filling...especially with the rum. You'd need the cheese - the butter/sugar would be too rich to eat as it is.

Hmmmmm.

[DinkyInky]

OK...so it's creamed butter, sugar and spices...ooooooo.

Mix that with cream cheese or ricotta and you would have one heckuva good cannoli filling...especially with the rum. You'd need the cheese - the butter/sugar would be too rich to eat as it is.

Hmmmmm.

Make the pierogi dough, same idea as Al's with the ricotta for filling and have dessert pierogi. OMG I want some now!

Mix the batter with a splash of rum, and then after arranging a few sheets of phyllo dough on parchment lined baking tray, spread a bit of rum soaked batter on, perhaps some slivered almonds, a few more sheets of dough, repeat. Make a sort of baklava styled pastry with light alcoholic tendencies. Make a simple syrup with a bit of rum tossed in...hmm...the idea has merit.
Need to get some so I can see if the baklava recipe the lovely Greek ladies at the orthodox church back home showed me when I was pregnant with my son. I met them at a European market weekend. Talked about my failures with baklava, and they said the best way was to get messy.
That in itself was a fun story, as my late Grandmother had to yell at certain people because they thought "those orthodox so and so's" were trying to convert me(I'm already Catholic, I didn't see why people were freaking out). Plus side, I learned how to make baklava and almond palm leaves. They also gave me tons of other uses for the dough. It's pricey if you use it a lot and buy pre-made, but fine for a one-off it's fine.
Making it is about as complicated as mandu or pierogi dough unless you're making enough for an army.

Thanks for the memory.