eat make read

Happy Thanksgiving! It is a big week here in the Caramabula household. Not only is it Thanksgiving, but it’s also my birthday. woohoo! I love birthdays and I especially love when mine lands on the biggest eating day of the year.

As if that’s not enough excitement, after months of hard work (and a few tears) Aaron and I are officially homeowners! Holy smokes how awesome is that?!! Look how beautiful the keys are:

I am so thankful for so much this Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you, my lovely readers, for the food I am able to make, for my family and friends who make me smile so often and for all the amazing opportunities that have come my way. I am also thankful and thrilled beyond belief that we actually have those keys.

Cheers! To another great year, to a great Thanksgiving spent with family and friends.

Dessert. Sweet, sweet dessert. Unfortunately, dessert is the place where I usually drop the ball. I’m not the best pie maker, but I’m going to try my hand at it this year… practice (even if it’s only once a year) make perfect, right? These pies all made me hungry, but I’ve decided I’m going to try my hand at Aaron’s favorite, pumpkin. Particularly, Bourbon Pumpkin Pie.

1: Périgord Walnut Tart

2: Caramel Pumpkin Pie

3: Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

4: Lemon Cream Pie

Oh sweet glorious sides! This is where things get fun… Over the past few weeks I’ve been trying out some new recipes, but I’m also planning on using a few from my files and then I’ll be winging it here and there. Here’s a little collection of my sides, I hope you find a little inspiration.

candied sweet potatoes with bourbon
sweet potatoes are a staple and these, well come on, crispy edges, fall apart center with a hint of bourbon, there’s no beating them.

homemade butter and buttermilk
you might think this is a little extreme, but it’s super easy and a nice touch. plus the biscuits below are worth it.

rosemary buttermilk biscuits
just a little warning, these could cause fights for seconds.

haricot verts with yogurt and shallots
these are so unusual, but so good. i’m still trying to decide if my brother-in-law can live without the traditional green bean casserole.

port braised cippolini onions
i cannot recommend these little onions enough. i was a little hesitant about eating whole onions, but sweet goodness, you’ll be eyeing the plate for seconds, guaranteed.

Ohhh turkey! There were so many tasty sounding recipes for turkey as I flipped through all my November food magazines, I could hardly contain myself. As soon as I flipped to page 97 of Gourmet and saw Cider-Glazed Turkey, my choice was made. Holy smokes! Does that not sound delicious? I picked up my cider this weekend and can’t wait to try this puppy out. The Maple Roast Turkey with Riesling Gravy from Martha came in a close second.

This might be the first time some of you are making a turkey, so I wanted to pass on a few words of wisdom that I’ve found helpful. First of all, Yay! You’re doing it! It’s going to be fun, don’t stress. Second, for the past few years I’ve used a cheesecloth basting technique where you cover the turkey with cheese cloth, then baste it with a butter and wine mixture every half hour or so. After the turkey is about 3/4 of the way done, remove the cheese cloth and keep basting. I’ve found that the cheese cloth protects the turkey from burning and keeps it looking lovely and golden and the meat has always been juicy and delicious. Third, I’ve also deep-fried a turkey which was AWESOME!, but a bit messy. It was actually our first Thanksgiving in New York and we took the deep fryer out on our front sidewalk and cooked the turkey there, providing a good conversation piece for people to talk about as they walked by. For about 6 months afterwards the sidewalk was a little extra slick from that little experiment. I guess my wisdom there is be careful with the fryer.

Look out for delicious sides next!

Left image by Roland Bello for Gourmet, Right image from Martha Stewart.

Oh happy, happy hour! It’s Friday again… woohoo! This week I whipped up a super easy cocktail (you don’t even need a shaker), called the presbyterian. All you need is bourbon, ginger ale and seltzer water, perhaps a lemon peel if you have one. See? Easy stuff.

Cheers! Have yourself a lovely weekend! Next week look out for a little Thanksgiving round up leading up to the big day.

the presbyterian
makes 1 cocktail

1.5 oz bourbon
2 oz ginger ale
2 oz seltzer water
lemon peel to garnish

In a highball glass, stack 3 ice cubes, then pour in the bourbon, ginger ale and seltzer. Give it a stir and garnish with the lemon peel.

Oh boy, have you seen Bittman’s article in the Times today? 101 headstarts on the Day is a collection of easy recipes that you can make ahead of time, some need to be reheated, others can be served at room temperature.Yummmm.

Photographs by Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

As I mentioned yesterday, I entered my delicious mini ginger cookie sandwiches into the bon appetit bake-off. If you have a spare second today, please head on over and give my cookies a vote. There are a few different categories of baked goods, all of which will leave your stomach rumbling. Thanks in advance!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’m already beginning to think about holiday goodies. My favorite holiday cookie, and anytime cookie for that matter, is a ginger cookie. In particular, my mom’s recipe. Oh how I love them, all sugar-coated and molasass tinged. I decided to participate in a little holiday bake-off and as I was thinking about what to submit, I came back to my favorite. Everyone loves a ginger cookie, but how could I push it even further… That’s when a little light bulb popped up. Mini! Everything’s cuter in mini version, right? How about mini ginger cookies sandwiches with cinnamon cream cheese filling?! Whoa! Heaven!

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This past week has been one where I feel like I’m living in my dream life… My little side project Remedy Quarterly has turned into a ful-fledged project that is really going to happen. I am beyond thrilled to say the least, so this week I really wanted to celebrate. I found a cocktail called dream a little dream, a little cheesy, I admit, but I thought it sounded just right. Unfortunately I didn’t have exactly the right ingredients, but they’re close enough and right now, that’s all that counts. Plus, it turned our tasting super fancy and you can’t beat that.

So cheers! To all of you who’ve helped make Remedy a reality and to everyone who’d doing something that makes them happy! Let’s have a great weekend! Woohoo!

dream a little dream
modified from mix shake stir
makes one drink

ice
1 1/2 oz bourbon
3/4 oz cadamom syrup*
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon’s worth)
1 lemon peel
2 cardamom pods

1
fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
2
add the bourbon, syrup, and lemon juice and shake vigorously.
3
strain into glass of your choice
4
garnish with lemon peel and cardamom pods

* to make cardamom syrup, combine 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar 8-12 cardamom seeds. cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. let steep over low heat for at least a half hour. the longer it sits the more flavorful it will be.

Candied sweet potatoes are a staple at our Thanksgiving (which, by the way, is only two weeks away!!) table. They’re so tender and sweet and caramelized that it’s hard not to like them. In fact, I was beginning to think you couldn’t get much better than the regular old candied yam until I found this recipe for candied sweet potatoes that uses bourbon. Ummmm, match made in heaven!

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