It is Thanksgiving morning, but here in Siberia I am probably the only person that feels like today is a holiday. When I got up this morning there was a mini blizzard brewing outside the windows, not an unusual sight here, but it did make me feel in solidarity with my family back home, who are experiencing unseasonable snow. But after a few hours the snow and wind just disappeared and I am greeted with an unusual, but very welcome sight, a blue sky.
Part of me is yearning to put on a big Thanksgiving dinner and introduce my husband's family to the holiday, but as we are not yet in our own home I have decided to make do with a few reminders of the holiday. Since I am a vegetarian and have been since childhood, the usual headliners are not what I love about this holiday. I prefer the side dishes like cranberry sauce, roasted vegetables, and anything with pumpkin.
So, to assuage the slight homesickness I feel today, I have decided to make cranberry sauce and cornbread, both my mother's recipes. I was hoping to make some pumpkin muffins as well, but pumpkin puree has been very difficult to find here. Pumpkin itself is easy to find, but I have cooked with it a couple times and every time I have been surprised at how light the pumpkin taste is. However, I might breakdown and see if I can make a decent pumpkin muffin from it.
Note: We also make this bread when it is not Thanksgiving and it makes a great breakfast with a couple of sunny side up eggs on top.
Part of me is yearning to put on a big Thanksgiving dinner and introduce my husband's family to the holiday, but as we are not yet in our own home I have decided to make do with a few reminders of the holiday. Since I am a vegetarian and have been since childhood, the usual headliners are not what I love about this holiday. I prefer the side dishes like cranberry sauce, roasted vegetables, and anything with pumpkin.
So, to assuage the slight homesickness I feel today, I have decided to make cranberry sauce and cornbread, both my mother's recipes. I was hoping to make some pumpkin muffins as well, but pumpkin puree has been very difficult to find here. Pumpkin itself is easy to find, but I have cooked with it a couple times and every time I have been surprised at how light the pumpkin taste is. However, I might breakdown and see if I can make a decent pumpkin muffin from it.
Note: We also make this bread when it is not Thanksgiving and it makes a great breakfast with a couple of sunny side up eggs on top.
| Cranberry Sauce Ingredients: 1 orange 2 cups raw cranberries* 1/4 cup sweetener (I use honey) Directions: 1. Cut orange and juice completely. Then add just enough water to the juice to have 3/4 cup total liquid. 2. Sort and wash your cranberries. 3. Add juice, cranberries, and honey to a medium size pot and put burner on high. 4. Cook at a high heat, stirring occasionally, until all the cranberries have popped. Then turn down to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. *This recipe is intended for American cranberries, which are large and have a thick skin. But what I had on hand here in Russia was a different variation of cranberry, they are smaller and have a thin skin. They still worked well, but did not gel quite as nicely as the ones you usually find in the States. | Corn Bread Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups milk 1 egg 2 tbsp butter or oil (for cooking) 1 1/4 cups cornmeal 1/4 cup corn flour 1/4 cup white flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 tbsp sugar Directions: 1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. 2. Mix all the wet ingredients together. 3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. 4. Take a medium cast-iron skillet, put it over medium heat and melt the butter. 5. Pour the batter into the buttered skillet and put in the oven at 375 F for 25-30 minutes. *Cook till the top cracks, but is not yet browned to prevent it from getting too dry. |
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