It is not unusual  in Manitoba to have snow that stays on the ground at Hallowe’en.  There are some years that we’ve had snow for Thanksgiving.  This year though, it is still summer on the prairies.  So when a couple of business friends suggested a Friday afternoon rendezvous at Mise on Corydon Ave., I was stoked to see if the patio might still be open.  Except for the wasp that landed in a glass of Malbec, it was a perfect way to kick start the Thanksgiving weekend.

Both my friends had dined at Mise previously so they already had thoughts about what to order.  I was tempted by the “Confederation Cove Mussels” but because I thought that it would be hard to top Inferno’s and 7 1/4’s “Moule & Frites”, I let my eyes wander further down the menu.  Food Musings readers know that I am crazy about both eggplant and artichokes so to haveboth in one pasta dish-bliss!  While we sat in the sun, a basket of chewy baguettes was served with sunflower oil (instead of the typical olive oil).

Lunch arrived.  The “Angel Hair Pasta with Grilled Vegetables, Roasted Red Peppers, Concasse Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese, Pickled Eggplant, Wilted Greens and Artichoke Hearts” was sublime. Salty from the olives and cheese, oily (in a good way), spicy (from the vegetable marinade I suspect) and smooth from the perfectly cooked pasta.  With such an explosion of tastes, I was content with the portion size which was generous for lunch but not excessive. 

I’m thankful for good friends, good food, fine wine and a lingering summer.

Kath’s quote: “ Grilling is like sunbathing.  Everyone knows it is bad for you but no one ever stops doing it.”-Laurie Colwin

The final count was 34 family members, 1 bf, 1 gf, 1 international student and 9 dogs.

This is Zoey, one of the youngest.

And this is Lu Dog,  one of the newest in the clan (a rescue).

I couldn’t fit us all in one picture, even when I stood on the couch to take this.

The winning new recipe Sister-in-law #2’s Pumpkin Crunch.

Kath’s quote: “If the soup had been as warm as the wine, if the wine had been as old as the turkey, if the turkey had had a breast like the maid, it would have been a swell dinner.”-Duncan Hines

And so it is that I finally get to the topic of yesterday’s musings…..our Pecan Sweet Potato recipe.  Of all the dishes that I make, this recipe is most requested.  It is an adaption of  Jean Pare’s from her “Company’s Coming for Christmas” book.

The recipe calls for 2 large sweet potatoes but it is very easy to modify for larger crowds.  This weekend I’m using 6 huge potatoes.

Cut unpeeled sweet potatoes into large pieces and cook in boiling salted water until just tender.  Drain and cool.  They will now be very easy to peel.  Re cut into pieces of a desired size.  Toss with  a 1/2 c of brown sugar and place into a casserole dish, pouring a smidgen of water into the bottom of the dish.  Dot with dabs of butter. 

For the pecan topping: Combine 1/4 c butter, 1/4 c flour, 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/2 c chopped pecans.  Mix with your hands to form a crumb style topping.  Sprinkle over all.  Bake, uncovered for approx. 30 mins at 375 degrees or until desired tenderness is reached.

Baby marshmallows can be substitute if there are nut allergies in your family.  Simply skip the crumb mixture and after 30 minutes in the oven, place miniatures (quantity to your liking) on top and broil until brown and bubbly (watch carefully-this would NOT be a good time to make the turkey gravy).

I am thankful for all my readers and the friends in my world who make my life so worthy of celebration…with food. 

Kath’s quote: “I yam what’s I yam and that’s all that I yam.”-Popeye

Thanksgiving is a big deal at our place.  I don’t know if this is because of my husband’s American heritage (we’ve even travelled to the Pilgrim’s Monument in Provincetown, Mass.) or my Mom’s Aboriginal one of celebrating a bountiful harvest.  Perhaps we just like an excuse to gather and eat. 

This weekend 41 people are assembling at the “big” cottage at the lake for dinner.  We call it “big” because it is bigger than the 500 sq feet of ours.  If the weather holds we should be quite comfortable by spilling out onto the back deck and into the screen in porch.  Some years the weather is not in our favour but the day is still sweet and memorable.

This cluster of people does not include everyone in my immediate family.  My definition of “immediate”, are my Mom, my siblings and their families.  One niece is a MRI tech and will have to work this weekend as it is virtually impossible to have 100% attendance.  There are six in my family and all of us still live in Winnipeg and all of nieces and nephews do too.  In fact five families have cottages on the same street at the lake!  We absolutely love being together.  We will have some new “recruits” this year-a boyfriend who has moved from Peterborough and a foreign student from Beijing.  What an amazing blessing.

The menu is pretty standard-turkey, ham and meatballs, plenty of creamed potatoes and yams, veggies, salads, homemade bread and of course vats of gravy, dressing and cranberry sauce. 

I’ve run out of space and time, see tommorrow’s entry for my Pecan Sweet Potao Recipe…

Kath’s quote: “The king and high priest of all the festivals was the autumn Thanksgiving. When the apples were all gathered and the cider was all made, and the yellow pumpkins were rolled in from many a hill in billows of gold, and the corn was husked, and the labors of the season were done, and the warm, late days of Indian Summer came in, dreamy, and calm, and still, with just enough frost to crisp the ground of a morning, but with warm traces of benignant, sunny hours at noon, there came over the community a sort of genial repose of spirit – a sense of something accomplished.”-Harriet Beecher Stowe

We were delighted to find this landmark on our second trip to New York.  The original location Ess-a Bagelat 1st and 21st  was a lovely destination for an early morning walk from our “home away from home” near Gramercy Park.

The decor has seen better days but was not even noticed by the line up of people ordering their “to go” items.  The couple of older gentlemen that were seated at the tables looked right at home.

On our first visit to what I call carb heaven,  I would have described the service as “curt” as the counter guy had so many people to take care of but on this occasion he was willing to have his photo taken (or maybe it was because I was with my sister-in-law and not my husband on this visit).  He shouts your order to another staff member who obediently counts and bags the confections.

Now bagels from home are pretty good especially with a smack of Winnipeg cream cheese and I’ve even had the wonderful good fortune to sample bagels in Jerusalem, but Ess-a bagels are another species.  They look like over inflated tires!  The are appropriately chewy on the outside requiring a real good tug to assist your teeth in tearing off a bite.  The inside is tender and yeasty-a perfect platform for the piece de resistance, the schmears: savoury cream cheese with herbs, garlic and spices and smoked fish of course.  And sweet offerings with cinnamon, nuts and  an endless array of fruit and berries.

These were our backyard breakfasts for our extra long New York weekend and the memory of them have me searching out seat sales once again.

Kath’s quote:  “the first printed mention of bagels…is to be found in the Community Regulations of Kracow, Poland, for the year 1610 which stated that bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth.” –
‘The Joys of Yiddish’ by Leo Rosten