Thanksgiving in Virginia

I thought you all would enjoy some pictures and recipes from our trip to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. My mom roasted a 14-lb free-range turkey filled with traditional bread stuffing made with sweet onions, celery and fresh herbs. (There's Mom and Dad on the left sewing the Turkey's wings down so they don't burn:)
We spent 2 days making TONS of side dishes...everything from homemade gingered cranberry relish (that my sister, Erin, perfected this year) to sweet cornbread and oyster dressing. The long weekend of R&R wouldn't be complete without time to curl up by the fire with our yellow lab, Luci, and our 20 year old tabby cat, Tarzan. All in all there was an abundance of good food, wine, laughter and lots of love...the perfect country holiday for a city gal:)

Here are my three favorite Thanksgiving recipes. My Grandma's Sweet Potatoes and the Gingered Cranberry Relish are family traditions and the Pumpkin Pudding is my own recent addition. I actually make them throughout the fall and winter months when these vegetables and fruits are in season. They are great accompaniments to enjoy long after the turkey leftovers are gone. Gobble, gobble!


Grandma's Holiday Sweet Potatoes
Time: 1 hr 15 minutes Serves: 6

4-5 large sweet potatoes or yams, scrubbed and cut in halves or thirds
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar or pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
1. Fill a large pot with water and all the sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until just tender, about 10-15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
2. When the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and slice them into 1/4 inch "disks". As you do this, lay them in rows, slightly overlapping in an oiled glass baking dish. You may need 2 dishes for all the potatoes! Sprinkle with the sea salt and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350* F.
4. Once the potatoes are assembled. Begin the glaze. Combine brown sugar and pineapple juice in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir together and simmer for 20 minutes until reduced by 1/3. This concentrates the pineapple juice and intensifies the flavor.
5. Add the butter and stir until melted and combined. Continue to stir until the sauce gets slightly "tacky" and begins to stick to the stirring spoon.
6. Pour the glaze over the sweet potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Sweet Potatoes are packed with fiber, antioxidants (especially beta-carotene), vitamin A, potassium and calcium too. Don't worry about starch...they are actually not related to potatoes but are members of the morning glory family. They are just about the best post-workout snack around and make a healthful addition to any holiday table.
Do not be afraid to cook with butter! Just do so in small amounts and make sure the butter is from organic and from grass-fed cows. Although I don't normally cook with butter, certain recipes and occasions call for a richness and depth of flavor that only butter can give. When consumed in moderation, real butter also has health benefits (vitamins A, E and K, antioxidants and lauric acid). The key lesson here is it's always better to go for the real food rather than it's processed, imitation counterpart.

Gingered Cranberry Relish
Time: 40 mins plus 3 hrs to chill Serves: 6
This recipe can be made several days in advance.

1 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries, preferably organic
3/4 cup raw sugar or brown rice syrup
1 2-inch knob ginger, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
3-4 cloves
Grated Zest of 2 organic oranges
1. Sort through the cranberries, discarding any that are mushy, then rinse them well. Combine the remaining ingredients with 3/4 cup water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Add the cranberries, lower the heat to medium and continue to cook until the cranberries begin to pop. They don't all need to pop. In fact, I like to leave a lot of them whole.
3. Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature, then refridgerate for a minimum of 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Cranberries are packed with potent antioxidants and fiber, low in sugar and contain antibacterial properties to aid in the prevention of urinary tract infections. They also possess anticancer properties and inhibit the growth of common foodborne pathogens.

Pumpkin Pudding
Time: 40 minutes Serves: 6

2 Large Organic Eggs, 3 if they are the small organic ones
1/3 cup agave
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 15 ounce can of organic pumpkin
1 13 ounce can of organic coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave, spices and salt.

2. Add the pumpkin.

3. Slowly pour in your coconut milk and mix well.

4. Pour the mixture into a pie dish or a glass baking dish. Bake for 50-60 minutes, but check after 45 to see if a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled with a dollop of Coconut Bliss Vanilla Ice Cream (it's dairy, soy and gluten-free and sweetened with agave...my latest find at Whole Foods!)

Like sweet potatoes, pumpkins have loads of potassium, beta-carotene, and antioxidants. They are also high in vitamin A and fiber. The coconut milk in this recipe may seem unusual, but coconuts and their oil, milk or water/juice have tons of health benefits. (more on coconuts later...) I buy the "light" coconut milk, but the regular is fine as well. The fat content is actually the good fat so don't freak out when you read the nutritional info on the back of the can!