This week our host for Fun Monday, Julie at Another Chance Ranch , has us thinking ahead. And very pleasant thoughts they are. That is, our Thanksgiving meal. What's the menu and is it traditional with turkey and fixins' or unusual? For example, one family I know has a "family choice" menu that might be white chili or crab legs. And, do we have a favorite dish and recipe to share?
First the where. I'm one of those people with no family with whom to celebrate. Luckily though, I have a good friend who always invites me to what we jokingly call "Holidays with the Jobes"! I'm thankful for their friendship and hospitality. This year however, I've decided to go uptown and celebrate Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs, home of Kentucky thoroughbred racing. A few friends who share my lack of family have reserved a table in the posh Skye Terrace of Churchill Downs. We'll work our way through a bountiful Kentucky buffet loaded with traditional, homegrown foods prepared by the Downs chef. There'll be turkey with southern cornbread stuffing, country ham and biscuits, southern vegetables and desserts liberally laced with bourbon, I'm sure. While we do a leisurely graze of the buffet table we'll be able to do a little betting and have a panoramic view of a few horse races from the Skye Terrace. With luck, we may win back the cost of our feast!
Now one downside to being invited out for Thanksgiving dinner is that you'll not have any leftovers. I usually remedy that by baking a couple of turkey legs, cornbread stuffing, fresh green beans and raw cranberry orange relish. Oh yes, must not forget a pumpkin pie--Mrs. Smith's is fine. The week of Thanksgiving you're allowed to eat pumpkin pie for breakfast. So I have these dishes stashed in the fridge for leftovers for the week.
Everyone has a favorite recipe that they pull out for the holidays. Mine is for Cheese Loaf. It's a cross between a souffle and corn pudding and its simple sweet sour taste is perfect with Thanksgiving foods. The recipe is very old and comes from the Morehead Methodist Women's Cookbook. Oh boy, can they cook! Here's the recipe just as written over 40 years ago:
CHEESE LOAF
Marylene Fryman
1 lb. cheese (cheddar)
1 can pimientos (not real small)
1 heaping C cracker crumbs
Grind cheese and pimiento.
Cook the following until smooth paste:
3 eggs, beaten
1 C sweet milk
1/2 C mild vinegar (scant)
1 tsp. butter, 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C sugar
Add cheese and pimientos. Stir well. Add cracker crumbs. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 350 degrees-30 min or until begins to brown on top.
So, there you have it Julie, very satisfactory Thanksgiving plans at Summit Musings. Can't wait to check out other Fun Monday Thanksgiving tables.
14 comments:
I like your idea for having left overs! That makes a lot of sense. We rarely hve leftovers at my house - lots of guys in my family make sure of that!
We love horse racing. And food. Sounds great! I saw 'methodist' on the cookbook.. man. They love to eat, they can cook. works out great. tons of potlucks. you get more 'chicken dinners' and so on from other churches.. lol. just a little joke for the day.. wishing I had some turkey right about now.. hm... salivate!
Wow Faye, that sounds like a fabulous way to spend Thanksgiving. Hope you win a race or two. Its good you thought ahead about the leftovers. You can celebrate the whole week. BTW, I love Mrs smith pies also...I couldnt make them any tastier. As we speak, plans here are in the air, it will be here for a home cooked meal or out to a resturant somewhere.
Sounds like a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving.
sayre--yep, just like a little squirrel with all those leftovers tucked in the fridge. Now I don't mind getting invited out for Thanksgiving.
jill-Methodists are pretty live and let live, but they do like to show off in the kitchen! And no, we don't do chicken dinners or fish fries. How boring! :-)
janis--it's trying to be the event coordinator, isn't it? Hope you come up with a plan that makes everyone happy. BTW, I'm thankful to have you as a blogging friend this past year. Don't know how we crossed paths, but glad we did.
teri-happy thanksgiving from one Kentuckian to another.
teri-oops! I see you're not a Kentuckian! Got you confused with Michelle on the signup list. You could be called worse, but I guess that's in the eye of the beholder! :-)
I love the plan for pie for breakfast! You're right, any Thanksgiving dish is acceptable the entire week of.
Churchill Downs? Oh man - good luck! I'll be spending the afternoon with my ponies, but just spoiling them & grooming them after dinner is over. Awesome.
I've never been to the States at this time of year, so haven't experienced Thanksgiving, but it sounds so much fun. I love the sound of all that food too.
Sounds like a lot of fun faye. Will you dress up? Is a hat optional?
Now, I'm always a little confused by UK/US food translations. What are 'biscuits? Are they savoury? And is pumpkin pie sweet? I've never even seen one.
qtswede--Churchill Downs would be an ideal Thanksgiving destination for a horse lover like yourself.
debs--you've been in the U.S.in the last few years, haven't you? Trying to think what may be a comparable celebration for Thanksgiving in England. Do you have harvest festivals?
lane-your biscuits are our cookies, our biscuits your scones(savory but a bit lighter texture). Pumpkin pie is a not over the top sweet custardy concoction with plenty spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Speaking of desserts, I love your sticky toffee pudding. We can get pale imitations of it in the U.S.
Your idea for Thanksgiving sounds like a refreshing one, Faye. So glad you will be sharing it with some close friends.
The cheese loaf sounds delish! Anything with cheese is ok in my book.
Thank you so much for your kind words about my uncle passing. It is so nice to have a great family of blogging friends who care.
BTW, will you be doing anything special for your birthday this weekend?? Hmmmm???
Wow, what a good idea to treat yourselves.
Hi Faye - I just read your 'About me' profile - you sound awesome. As it happens, we have a lot in common, with teaching and so on. Can't say I've ever done press ups though - not even one! And I can't cook at all. It always seems to go quite badly wrong. The rest of my family have all earned to cook. It was that or starve as they couldn't rely on me to feed them.
church lady--back at you! Really glad to have run across both you and your mom in the blogosphere. Enjoy our online friendship and your wonderful photography. Birthday? Dinner with friends last night--nice.
susie--Churchill Downs visit is a great way to spoil yourself if you're a free agent at the holidays.
leigh--thanks for checking out my blog. Enjoy several U.K. blog friendships with writerly types. You write crime fiction? I love British murder and mayhem, especially your gitty police dramas! I'll be back to check out some of your blog posts in more detail--an interesting skim.
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