A Simple and Local Thanksgiving without too much fuss

All week we’ve been sharing some new recipes that really showcase local meat and vegetables without much fuss. The recipes are easy, the tastes are pure, and the shopping lists are short. If you’re looking for a way to change things up this year or what to bring something special to a dinner someone else is hosting, we invite you to try one of our very own recipes this holiday. And the best thing? You can probably find almost all of these ingredients locally! 

Mashed Kale Sweet Potatoes [recipe]

This won’t be so much a recipe as much as a reflection on the power of keeping things basic. This side dish is so elegantly simple it comes out great even when you make multiple so-called mistakes. While there are cooks out there seeking the perfect consistency of their mashed potatoes using special tools, other people are busy playing with their kids and end up steaming veggies for “a while”. A chef will practice hundreds of iterations of a recipe trying to find the right balance of salt and spice, and normal people occasionally forget the salt entirely. With flavorful kale and sweet potato as the stars, this recipe will take whatever you throw (or don’t throw) at it. And it’s mighty nutritious. 

Turkey with 100 Cloves of Garlic [recipe with gluten free gravy]

Captain’s log, stardate -307097.0319634703. We have travelled through a wormhole and entered a peculiar dinner star system in the Plimoth Alpha sector on a most critical mission of gastrophysical research. These early Earth inhabitants consume a large domesticated fowl, known to them as “turkey” and surround it with illogical amounts of a cousin plant to the now extinct onion. They call this “turkey with 100 cloves”. We are here to observe and attempt to understand the event that changed the course of human history forever. This garlicky dish directly led to the development of our transporter.

Simply Amazing Brussels Sprout for Thanksgiving [recipe]

I absolutely LOVE my grandmother’s stuffing and when I first made it for my husband when we were dating I realized, it tastes pretty good, but I had much more fun buying the ingredients and making it than just sitting down to eat the dish.  I had to work hard to buy the exact kinds of ingredients, as directed by my aunt and mother.  I had a smile on my face talking to each of them listening to how they remember making the stuffing and how they would assign tasks to me and my sister, my cousins, and uncles too!  When the final steps came and I was tossing it altogether, before I baked it, I was so happy it looked just right, but even happier that I had followed the food back through the stories, and through the traditions, and even back to the source.  My aunt’s handwriting of the ingredients and meticulous steps are permanently stained and next to my new recipes in my cookbook.

Thanksgiving Wild Blueberry Cranberry Sauce [recipe]

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday in our country focused primarily on traditions,  food and family.  Brian was interested in trying to spatchcock and roast the turkey, so, of course, I got very excited about what will adorn it.  I was given free reign over the cranberry sauce and some other side dishes.  And while, the staples of the meal have their place, why not try a few new side dishes or a new twist on an old favorite?  

The Quest for Local Thanksgiving Ingredients

Challenge: At your next holiday dinner, point to something on your plate and ask “where did this come from?”

Chicken vs. Turkey: The Battle for Thanksgiving

According to some fast research on Google Trends, interest in chicken for Thanksgiving has more than doubled in the past ten years while interest in the classic turkey for Thanksgiving has gone down almost 20%. This surprised me, because not only is turkey THE American tradition for Thanksgiving dinner, it’s also priced insanely cheap in the weeks leading up to the holiday. Any meat under $1/lb is bound to be popular. But it would seem turkey is losing its grasp on consumers when they plan their holiday menus. If not for tradition or economics, why on earth are Americans turning to the simple chicken for one of the most celebrated dinners of the year?