What I Did on Thanksgiving Besides Eat Turkey

I ate some great arepas this weekend. The Colombian delicacy that JC, my son-in-law, cooks for special occasions is made with a corn flour mixture rolled into a thin dough, and filled with paipa cheese before being cooked on a griddle like small pancakes. 

Taking the photo of the pumpkin bread and fruit (below) required some makeshift lighting from Lucy’s iPhone.

I discovered some seasonal cooking molds, that are fun to use during the holidays. A friend used her new pan with an embossed pumpkin design to make this sculptured loaf. Best of all, this Nordic Ware pan releases the loaf easily after it’s baked. (Williams Sonoma carries a Santa loaf mold and a Yule log shape, as well.)

In lieu of toasting marshmallows, I warmed my feet by a bonfire while watching the rise of a full moon and listening to scary tales retold from previous bonfires. 

I tried two cakes from 80-Proof Bakery.  A new St. Louis baker, a woman named Bola, specializes in cakes pleasantly laced with booze. I’ve tried her Chocolate Vodka Bundt Cake (background) and Rum Bundt (foreground). Both were big hits at the farm. Bola’s magnificent cakes are available at Piccione Bakery on Delmar. I’ve not tried her third variety: Irish Whisky Cake. It’s on my list.

What fun I had showing a young cook how to make Spicy Pecans. This easy to prepare snack is great for holiday gifts. Use them as a topping for sweet potatoes or for extra crunch on a salad, as we did at the farm.   

I watched as Robin, Karen and a number of helpers baked bread outdoors. The mild weather was reason enough to fire up the cob oven for a yeasty feast: one rye bread and one French. This was the first time for making bread in our pizza oven and it was heavenly!  We must do this again—-and soon—-weather permitting.

Karen, (a Thanksgiving guest from California), removes the French Bread from the cob oven after first checking the internal temperature of the loaf.

Pear Preserves from my neighbor, Martha, made a perfect pairing for the French bread.

Okay, that’s a wrap on Thanksgiving. It’s time to think about Yuletide shopping, baking and decorating. The fastest days on the calendar are those between Thanksgiving and Christmas—-that’s unless you’re an 8 year old.