andiesenji

I did not get to taste it on Thanksgiving because I had no room for dessert after the meal. However, my neighbors and I got together yesterday for a late lunch and I had a piece of thisPumpkin Chiffon Pie made by their daughter-in-law. It was delicious and did not have the density that often turns me off with pumpkin and sweet-potato pies. She used fresh pumpkin instead of canned, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. She made four and the other three were consumed instantly, however this one was stored in one of my refrigerators and was missed when people were transporting things over to their house on Thursday afternoon. Lucky for me! I have my own recipe for pumpkin chiffon pie but this is better.

This is the standard for making your own. However, all the ingredients have to be absolutely fresh. Often Cream of tartar will sit on a store shelf for many months. It is often the problem in making your own because if it is not fresh, it will impart a musty flavor to baked goods because of oxidation.

Visit a health food store where you will find some alternative baking powders that do not contain aluminum. However, my favorite is Bakewell Cream which is unlike any other I have tried. Bakewell cream It is available at several online vendors, including King Arthur Flour. My local health food store began carrying it when I told them about it and took in a jar and left it with one of the owners who does a lot of baking. She is very enthusiastic about it and recommends it especially for very delicately-flavored baked goods. I have also found that it keeps active much longer than other baking powders.

Manttra pressure cookers have been making a lot of headway in sales recently because the prices are very competitive and the quality is excellent. This vendor is in Canada but ships all over the U.S. They even have an electric model that is now on sale at an excellent price. At SmartBargains (This vendor is part of Loehman's, if anyone is acquainted with their stores.) I recommend the 8 quart or 10 quart in the regular pressure cookers. I gave away a 6 quart that I used once and found was too small.

We had a fairly vigorous discussion on this thread a year and a half ago. If you do not have a winemaking supply near you but do have a health food store in your area, you can usually find unfiltered and unpasteurized vinegars that contain the mother and it will say so right on the label. Any unpasteurized vinegar will eventually form a mother if it is not kept very cold. That is, if you keep it in the upper part of the refrigerator door, which is usually not as cold as the rest of the interior, a mother may form. It will form more rapidly if left at room temperature. Some people say it is advisable to use the mother from the type of vinegar you want to produce, that is white wine vinegar for whites, red for red and so on. However I have had perfectly good results with using a mother from apple cider vinegar. As time goes on, the mother becomes more compatible to the particular type of wine in which it is working.

I have several enameled cast iron, not just Le Cruset but Descoware (purchased in the 60s), Chasseur (purchased in the 70s), a couple of no-name, and Staub. These range from a small 2 3/4 quart Descoware to the biggest Staub - usefull only if you have help to lift it. The most versatile sizes for most recipes range from 6 to 8 quart so I think you are wise in sticking to something around that size. I happen to like the oval (French) ovens better than the round for roasting poultry, hams, roasts, etc., however that is simply personal preference. The round (Dutch) ovens are fine for soups, stews and chili, however few things are perfectly round and if I want to do some basting with pan juices, there always seems to be that space at either end of the oval oven that is just the right size to fit a basting spoon.

Absolutely GORGEOUS photos, Jason! It is 5:43 p.m. here and I am getting ready to ride my little scooter over to the neighbor's house where there is a huge crowd. The last convoy of stuff from my kitchen was wheeled over on a couple of carts a little while ago and my house seems very quiet for the first time in days. There is almost a ton of food (really) over there, including pigs, turkeys, tamales and other meat dishes brought in by others. I can't even begin to list the numerous side dishes, salads, snacks and breads. I don't know how many desserts but at my last trip over I saw one table that had 14 pies, all were from Costco or Sam's Club. I added bread pudding and a lime gelatin salad(with pineapple, mandarin oranges, pecans, cream cheese and sour cream) in addition to a squash/sweet potato/apple casserole (in a very large roasting pan), nut and seed bread, cornbread - plain and bacon/jalapeño. I also made (by request) a big pan of potato dumplings and to go with, a pot of sweet/sour cabbage. These are the "sturdy" Hungarian style dumplings, not the light and fluffy type! I made these dumplings for a party a couple of years ago and they were well recieved. When I asked what I could bring, these were first on the list. Anyway, they are aiming at 6:30 to start serving so I should get ready and trundle over. The aroma from the roasting piggies has been wafting this way all day and I have been constantly drooling. I am taking my camera and hopefully will get some good photos. Now somebody should start or bump up a "leftovers" thread.

I agree with using the immersion blender. You can work right in the cooking pot and it will puree just about everything. I prefer to do it before I adjust the seasoning and then add milk or cream before straining. There is usually very little left in the strainer.

My all-time favorite honey is Tupelo honey which has a distinctive flavor. I also like the Bell heather honey from Scotland and the Tasmanian Leatherwood honey. However, most of the honey I use is produced locally from bees that roam in the desert. The greatest amount is produced early in the year when the desert wildflowers are blooming and the flavor changes from year to year as there are some wet years when certain plants bloom but are dormant in very dry years.

I just came back from a trip to Costco. They have their brand of heavy anodized aluminum, virtually identical to the Calphalon that I have. Theirs is $29.99. It has the stand-up handles which is great if you have a narrow oven. In my opinion this is a great buy. I have several roasting pans and use them for different purposes. For very large birds, I do like to either cook them partially on top of the stove or covered for part of the time as I find that this reduces the cooking time and keeps the turkey meat moist and juicy. I use the low-sided open roasters for beef, pork and lamb or "Blasted Chicken" per Sara Moulton

Don't try to turn a turkey this size, simply tent the breast with foil until the last hour. You want to use a thermometer to check the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh. I take it out of the oven when that hits 165 degrees, making sure the probe is not near the bone. The temperature will continue to rise after it comes out of the oven. I use a meat thermometer that is meant to stay in the oven - I don't place it in the turkey until about 2/3 of the way through the cooking time and I check on it every half hour once the temp climbs past 130. If you click on this Melinda Lee's Turkey Basics You will find loads of information about turkey prep.

aliwaks, The easiest way to brine a turkey if you don't have a bucket is in the plastic bag in a cooler. That way you can seal the bag and just use the "blue ice" things to keep it cold and not have a mess of water from melting ice. Even the cheap styrofoam coolers are sturdy enough to hold the bag, brine and turkey and you can toss it out after the holidays.

Bristol Farms has in-store bakeries and they make an onion/cheese roll that is shaped like a cinnamon bun, with toasted onion and cheddar rolled into it where one would usually find the cinnamon/sugar - then it is topped with more cheese and toasted onion. Those are absolutely delicious and they usually sell out soon after the stores open as they make a limited number.

I mentioned on the cornucopia thread that I have made cream horns, and filled them with a fluffy, savory cheese filling. I used cream cheese, sour cream, Stilton and herbs. Alternate cheeses are grated asiago, parmesan, romano, even kasseri. I also used whipped pimento cheese with bacon bits. The base was just grated sharp cheddar beaten with cream cheese and pimentos and seasoned to taste. If I am serving people who like spicy - I add some ground dried chile, mild to hot, depending on whom I am serving. For these, I only wrap half of the cone to make a half-sized horn.

For anything over 18 pounds, I brine for 12 hours then rinse, dry and allow to rest for 24.

Kim, there is one more thing that you might consider when trying to rescue a mis-treated piece of cast iron that has pitting from rust. Take it to a metal shop or a wrought iron shop and have them grind and polish out the pitting. It doesn't cost all that much and they can give you a base on which you can build a beautiful patina. My local shop has been very helpful. When one of my skillets (12 inch) was dropped and the handle broke off, I took it to them and they cut the sides off even with the bottom, then ground the cut edges smooth. This gave me a giant "flame-tamer" that actually now lives in one corner of my barbecue and is handy and stable for holding 3 or 4 little pots that would tip if put onto the grill. Now that the rainy season has arrived, I painted it all over with melted paraffin and stored it in a muslin bag in the store room. Next spring the paraffin will burn off when I first fire up the grill. The moral is, never throw away any piece of old cast iron. There are always ways to fix it. I have a sand-blasting rig that I used to use to carve glass. I have used it several times to clean up the outside of rusty and pitted cast iron. However, I have the inside done by someone who knows what they are doing.

The ninth recipe down on this page is for snow frosted ham. It's not exactly the recipe I used, but close enough for you to get the idea. I used to make a little scene on the top of a large ham - sprigs of rosemary for "trees" french fried onions for a patch of ground under each "tree" with bits of pimento for ornaments, etc. Lots of things you can do to make it interesting. If you add a tablespoon of unsalted softened butter for each cup of cream cheese/sour cream mixture, it will not develop a "skin" on the surface. Beat the mixture until it is fluffy and will form a peak.

Back in the late 50s and into the 60s we used to prepare a ham "frosted" with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream with horseradish and mustard, decorated with thin strips of red bell pepper then sprinkled with chopped chives. Pretty. I will see if I can find a photo.

When I was a child, our cook did them this way. We had two big estate ranges, in addition to a huge wood/coal stove and still there was too much stuff for the ovens to hold all at once. Often 50 to 70 people for holiday dinners. After 1947, when my grandma got an electric roaster, there was always one turkey started in the roaster and transferred to the oven for browning. I have two of the 4269 Magnalite roasters - you see a lot of the smaller 4267 (18 inch) usually described as 'large' on ebay but not so many of the bigger one which is 22 1/2 inches long. It can be used on top of the stove as well as in the oven and holds a huge amount of food. for smaller turkeys, I can get two in side by side crossways.

At this point is the lid still on? ← Sorry! Remove lid before it goes into the oven. Mea culpa!

I never scrub my cast iron with anything but a damp cloth dipped in dry baking soda if something is a bit stuck. Usually, just putting it on the stove, half-filled with water and bringing it to a simmer, then whisking it with one of the "straw" brushes for cleaning woks, is enough to remove any burnt-on crud. The two I use for cornbread haven't been washed for years. They are virtually non-stick - the interior looks like enamel. The chicken fryer does tend to build up a rim of carbonized stuff at the top level of the grease and I used to char it off every year or so by putting it in the barbecue upside-down on the charcoal until the stuff was burnt off. The detailed seasoning instructions at this site cast iron care are about as complete as anywhere. This site has instruction on how to clean a really cruddy piece of cast iron: Clean cast iron. However, since I discovered Carbon-Off, I have used it on a couple of pieces I picked up at a yard sale that looked like they had been used to cook rubber. Carbon-Off I like this product much better than the old type oven cleaners. I hope this helps.

I have cooked some super sized turkeys, up to 35+ pounds. I start them on a rack, in a heavy covered roasting pan - a Magnalite - on top of the stove at a medium simmer for 3 1/2 hours, starting with one cup of broth. Once it heats up a lot more liquid will develop. This is essentially steaming the then into the oven at 375 degrees, for 2 1/2 hours. 6 hours total. A 28 - 30 pound turkey takes 5 hours. This is without dressing (or stuffing) The turkey will be well done and all the meat, including the breast meat will be juicy. If you don't have a heavy covered roaster, you can use a lighter one, such as the classic blue enamel pans, with a "Flame-tamer" underneath. Checking the temp, the thickest part of the thigh should be 110 to 120 degrees at the end of the stove-top part of the process.

If your are asking about filling and eating the cornucopia - no. I have however made little cream horns and filled them with a savory whipped cheese mixture for appetisers, I just pulled them off the cones before they set completely and bent the pointed end a little to make it shaped more like a cornucopia. I now use this recipe since my recipe makes 200 and it does not convert well. For the filling I just mix cream cheese and sour cream half and half, beat until fluffy, I add a little heavy cream if it is too stiff to go through the pastry tube. I add crumbled Stilton and fines herbs to taste. The cheese is salty enough to flavor it. I sometimes add a little ground chile, mild to hot, depending on who is going to be eating. There are hundreds of seasonings that will work. alterantives are grated asiago, parmesan, etc., for those who do not like blue cheeses. croquembosch can also be filled with savory fillings and can be formed around a styrofoam cone, covered with gold foil (or any other color- I just happen to prefer gold) so it will not collapse and even when partially gone, it still looks pretty good.

You could always make one of these. And fill it with fruits and etc. I no longer use the aluminum foil as in these instructions. I form a large Silpat mat into a sort of cone shape, staple it just at the edge and stuff it with crumpled baking parchment, then roll the pastry around it. The staple holes have not seemed to do any lasting harm.

Soup is always good. However You can beat some egg yolks and cream, stir into the squash, beat the egg whites separately then fold into the mixture. Pour into a buttered souffle dish and bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees until it is puffy and browned, about 15-20 minutes.