The Harvest Pheasant, The Progress of a Dinner III

Thanksgiving
Third Course
Feast or Pheasant?
(NOT "Just Desserts")

I hope each of you had the happiest and most blessed Thanksgiving ever. 

I intended to post this Thanksgiving night, but I was enjoying my family too much, as it should be.  I was lucky enough to have both of my parents, both of my sons, my youngest sister with her husband and my niece, and several friends with me.

I hope that you will enjoy the post tonight and use the recipes and table ideas throughout this holiday season. 

I look forward to sharing my first Holiday Season/Christmas of blogging with all of you!

At this point, as my Father often says,
"You have labored and produced."

It is time to enjoy
and
BE THANKFUL
 just like the Pilgrims did on that first 
Thanksgiving so long ago.

You have earned your "just desserts".


NOTHING in life is perfect,
despite all our BEST efforts.

The way I approach life is:
Do everything you can humanly do,
 and then let go and don't worry about
what you have no control over.

Now is that time.
Relax now and enjoy your day, your family, your friends, your home, and of course your feast,
and NOT just the desserts!

This is the menu I shared with my family.

Thanksgiving Menu

Salmon Mousse* with Cucumber Slices and Crackers

Cheese Board, Blues and Bries

Olives

Pickled Okra

Seasoned Cashews

Cheese Straws

Champagne Cocktails*

Roasted Oysters

Wild Mushroom Soup*

Spinach Pomegranate Salad

with

 Champagne Vinaigrette

Apple Cider Roast Turkey Breast

Nanny's Cornbread Dressing*

Turkey Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Honey Roasted Root Vegetables

Wines

Mamaw's Chess Pie*

Raspberry Trifle

Chocolate Kahlua Peppermint Cocktails*

My Recipes

Hmmm, these cocktail recipes are mine,

 and the food recipes are family recipes handed down from my grandmothers, both of whom were divine cooks.

I wonder what that says about me?

Oh well, they are all delicious!

Champagne Cocktail

These are my go to cocktail for holidays and any type of celebration.  They are festive, beautiful, simple to make, utterly delicious and not expensive, even for a party.

Inexpensive Champagne, I usually use Cook's Brut for these

Sugar Cubes

Angostura Bitters

Orange slices or rinds

Place a sugar cube in a champagne flute. 

Cover with bitters.  You will have to experiment with how much you like.  I like it heavy.

Rub the rim of the glasss with a slice or rind of orange.

Place the orange on the sugar cube.

Carefully fill the glass with champagne.

(The sugar tends to make the champagne extra fizzy.)

Nanny's Cornbread Dressing

This is a simple Southern recipe, but totally delicious.

I watched Nanny make it many times, and of course tasted and tasted for her.

It is my very favorite Thanksgiving dish.  I never actually stuff the turkey. 

I bake the dressing in a pan and put celery, onion and apples slices in my turkey cavity

with sage, salt, and pepper for flavor.  (I discard these when the turkey is cooked). 

I also pour about 2 cups of apple juice around my turkey. I tent the turkey and cook it in a covered roaster.  The breast is NEVER dry.

Nanny's Cornbread (see recipe below)

2 slices White Bread

 6 cans Swanson's Chicken Broth

Celery

Onion

Sage

Salt

Pepper

Chop onion and celery. Place about 1 1/2 cups of each in a pot with the chicken broth.

Bring to a boil.  Turn to simmer and cover.  Simmer for approximately 2 hours. 

 Celery and onion should be tender.

Break cornbread into pieces and place in a casserole dish along with the bread,

 also torn into pieces.

Using a large slotted spoon, add onion and celery pieces to the cornbread until you see pieces throughout the cornbread.

Using a measuring cup, dip broth from the pot and pour over cornbread until it is well wet,

but NOT soupy.

Add pepper and lots of sage to taste.  The broth is salty, so be stingy with the salt.

I love the sage and usually use most of a small container.

As Nanny always said though,  you can keep adding, but you cannot take it out.

So, be careful here.
I encourage LIBERAL tasting to get it just right.

Cover with foil and bake for approximately 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Note that this dressing does not have eggs in it and will not spoil as easily.

Nanny's Cornbread

Ok, I am NOT trying to brag, but everyone no matter their age,

who eats this cornbread swears it is THE best ever. 

You MUST bake it in a small iron skillet and you must use

Martha White Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix, no substitutes.

Crisco Oil

 2 c. Martha White Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix

2 c. Buttermilk

Egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Pour approximately 1/4 c. or a little more of the oil in an iron skillet. 

 There should be about 1/4 inch layer of oil in the skillet.

Put the skillet in the oven to heat for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Watch carefully as it can flame if neglected.

Just before you remove oil from oven,

 mix MWSRCMM and buttermilk.

Beat very well.  Incorporating air in, this I think, is why it is so light and fluffy.

Nanny used to beat the stew out of it!

Add egg, and beat some more.

Remove skillet from oven.  Carefully pour hot oil into mixture and beat one more time.

Pour back into hot iron skillet.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden with brown crust on edge.

Remove from oven and immediately run knife around to loosen and invert on plate.

I ususally make my cornbread for dressing the day ahead.

Mamaw's Chess Pie 

My Daddy's Mother was a fabulous baker, and this is her recipe

for a classic southern Chess Pie.

4 eggs

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 T. white vinegar

1/2 c. melted butter

1T. vanilla

Pie shell  (I use Pillsbury in a glass pan, Mamaw, of course, made her own.)

Beat eggs.

Add sugar, vanilla, and vinegar, then melted butter.

Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

Chocolate Kahlua Peppermint Cocktails

1 c.chocolate milk

1 oz. Kahlua

2. oz. Peppermint Schnapps

1 peppermint stick

Mix ingredients in order and garnish with peppermint stick.

Recipes From the Silver Palate Cookbook

 When I got out of college, I realized that I truly love to cook, not just Southern recipes handed down from my grandmothers, but all kinds of things, even complicated things. 

I guess you could say I am a foodie.

Some of the first cookbooks I bought were the Silver Palate

cookbooks by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. They were and are a joy to peruse and use.

I still have my originals and use them often.  Next year the original Silver Palate Cookbook

will celebrate its 30th anniversary, which is hard to believe.

Both of these recipes are from the books and I have made and enjoyed them many times during many holiday seasons. 

I promise that you will too!

Salmon Mousse

• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann's
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated onion
• Dash of Tabasco
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
• 2 cups finely flaked poached fresh salmon or canned salmon, skin and bones removed
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Watercress, for garnish
• Toast, pumpernickel, or crackers, for serving

(I also serve it with cucumber slices!)

1. Soften the gelatin in the cold water in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the boiling water and whisk the mixture slowly until the gelatin dissolves. Cool to room temperature.

2. Whisk in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, grated onion, Tabasco,  paprika, salt, and dill. Stir to blend completely and refrigerate until the mixture begins to thicken slightly, about 20 minutes.

3. Fold in the finely flaked salmon. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until it is thickened to soft peaks and fluffy. Fold gently into the salmon mixture.

4. Transfer the mixture to a 6- to 8-cup bowl or decorative mold. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

5. Garnish with watercress, and serve with toasts, pumpernickel, or crackers.

Wild Mushroom Soup with Madeira

• 1/2 c. Madeira
• 2 3/4 c. chicken broth
• 1 oz. dried morels
• 3 leeks, white parts only, well rinse and dried
• 1 onion
• 4 T. unsalted butter
• 3 T. unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 c. beef broth
• 1 lb. fresh button mushrooms, stems removed
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• creme fraiche for garnish
• Snipped fresh chives for garnish

1. In a small saucepan combine the Madeira , 1/2 c. of the chicken broth , and the morels.  Bring to a boil, reomove from heat, and let stand for 30 minutes.

2. Dice the leeks and onion.  Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add the leeks  and onion, and cook over low heat until wilted, about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle with the flour, stir, and cook an additional 5 minutes.  

3. Add the remaining 2 1/4 cups chicken broth, the beef broth, button mushrooms, morels, and their soaking liquid, and salt and pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, until the mushrooms are soft, 30 minutes.  Allow the soup to cool slightly.

4. Puree the soup in batches, in a blender or food processor.  Return it to the  pot and heat through over low heat,  Serve with garnishes.

Makes 6 portions 

In addition to the tablescape I did in my own dining room for Thanksgiving, I helped several of my clients with their
"Harvest Feast or Pheasant" tables.
I did indeed use birds and feathers in some way, shape or form on each of them!

I tied napkins with sheer orange ribbon ribbon  and jute twine with one of my favorites,
hypericum berries tucked in.



I designed the console especially for my client's dining room.  The space was very long and narrow.   The console's top is marblized and the carved edge is gold leafed.
We devised storage beneath.

The flowers are all arranged in vintage silver pieces and more are displayed around the dining room, along with antique
blue and white porcelain.  I love the old world patina the vintage silver gives the dining room.

We set up an additional dining gallery across the foyer in the library, which I loved.  I love a dining area surrounded by books.

And while we were setting up in the library, I found something
special . . . 

No Thanksgiving feast here would be complete without my client's precious pug
Izzie as "Pugahontas".

And at another client, we simply added to her year round naturalistic dining room decor for her Thanksgiving feast.

We use shells, acorns,
 dried flowers, feathers, moss and stone in her dining room year round, in tones of white, cream, tan and gray.  For her feast we simply added fresh flowers tucked in here and there, oh and of course a few little pheasants.

I LOVE the silver here too.

 

I hope your feast was a smorgasbord of delights, with or without a pheasant, AND that you enjoyed your just desserts!

What is your best NEW Thanksgiving memory?

photo credits: Gina's Recipes, Marilyn Storey

Special Thanks to my dear clients LWR and PGW.  I love you and am most thankful for you.

The Harvest Pheasant, The Progress of a Dinner I

Thanksgiving
First Course
Feast or Pheasant?
(Making The Plan)

Andrew Carmellini’s Thanksgiving Feast featured in New York Magazine
Find the bird.
I DO love a bird on the table!

Have you made the plan for your Thanksgiving feast?



What an inspiring fall setting. 
Don't you love her jaunty cape and pheasant feather fascinator?


I am thinking foul, pheasant specifically, and well, of course turkey,
 for Thanksgiving. 

I think I will pass on this

"Galantine of Pheasants" and

 the "Roasted Pheasant with Apples",
 but I will use the galantine drawing for
my menu card and placecards.

I do love the colors in this roasted pheasant with apples though!

All fall I have been thinking

 of my table scheme for Thanksgiving, and I have been stuck on

"The Harvest Pheasant."

Have a lovely glass of Autumn Punch with me, and let's chat about how I plan my table decor for Thanksgiving.

And the same glorious colors are here in my Autumn Punch. 
The recipe for the gloriously colored punch is at the end of the blog.

For Thanksgiving or any holiday or celebration, I usually start with a single idea.  It can really be anything that is appealing.  Somehow this time I am fixated on pheasants.  

 As you may know, I LOVE birds, and the colors in the pheasant feathers are to me the perfect backdrop for the panoply

of fall colors that I love, like the ones in the roasted pheasant and the

 autumn punch above and
these lovely fall colors below. 

And that is kind of the point, inspiration is everywhere, even in a photo of a recipe I have no intention of making for Thanksgiving.

If something really appeals to you, file it away and refer to it later when you are looking for ideas.  You don't even have to know why you like it, just that you do.

Don't limit or categorize your imagination.
LET IT ROAM FREELY,
kind of like a freerange Thanksgiving foul.

So now, I have my idea, pheasants, and my glorious fall color scheme leaning toward the reds and burgundies with a pop of orange.



Benjamin Moore color chips for my Thanksgiving color scheme

And, I happen to have a stuffed pheasant,

that is my father's.  

It is that one over-the-top

antique/vintage "thing"  or inspiration piece
that will make my table really special.






And I keep roaming.

 I search for inspiration everywhere.

Holland and Sherry English Pheasant

Pheasant Chair from Horchow

Kravet Fabric



Pair of Antique Pheasant Prints, Nozeman, ca 1800
Nozeman's skill with wildlife prints is ranked with Audubon



Twigs Pheasant Wallpaper from John Rosselli, here and below.
I am dying to put this behind shelves.



Royal Crown Derby Red Aves is one of my china patterns and
 will be perfect for Thanksgiving this year.

 

 Instead of immediately making a to do list or starting to gather decorative items,
 I let my idea  "lie fallow" as my fabulous and inspiring eighth grade English teacher
 Suzanne Henley taught us to do
 when we were writing papers. 

Ideas will turn out ever so much better when they have a chance to mature and ripen
like a delicious cheese or the perfect wine. 

Both things I WILL plan to include in my
Thanksgiving Harvest Pheasant Feast.

Bries and Blues!  My favorites.  What are yours?



Always released exactly one week before Thanksgiving (yesterday) and sometimes panned by wine connoisseurs because it is NOT aged, Beaujolais Nouveau is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. 
I can never resist trying a few bottles for my Thanksgiving bar. 
This year is supposed to be fairly good, and the labels are always interesting.

So, for now, all that I am cooking is an idea . . . 

These kaleidoscope photos reminded me of pheasant feathers and provide further inspiration!

 TO BE CONTINUED 


What is inspiring your Thanksgiving celebration?

Do you have every detail planned?

Recipe
Autumn Punch

2 teaspoons whole cloves

1/2 of a vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 64 ounce bottle apple-cranberry juice

4 medium purple and/or green plums, pitted and sliced

1 750 milliliter bottle Gewurztraminer, or other fruity white wine*

   Ice cubes

1. Place cloves and vanilla bean in center of a double-thick 6-inch square of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth. Bring corners of cloth together; tie closed with clean string. Pour apple-cranberry juice into a large container or pitcher. Add plums and spice bag. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

2. Remove and discard cheesecloth bag. Stir in Gewurztraminer. Serve beverage and plum slices over ice. (Or omit the ice and heat the juice mixture and wine in a 4-quart Dutch oven until hot. Serve in heatproof mugs.)

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Variation *Nonalcoholic Option:Substitute two 12-ounce cans chilled ginger ale for the Gewurztraminer, and serve over icee


photo credits: New York Magazine, Marilyn Storey, Holland and Sherry, Horchow, Kravet, House Beautiful, Twigs at John Rosselli