Happy Friendsgiving!!!

Thanksgiving is, by far, my favorite holiday of the year. Why? The food, of course!

Having ditched my birth family years ago, I don't have "family obligation" holiday meals to suffer through which means I get to cook everything myself, exactly the way I like it. Now, despite the fact that I had to work on Thanksgiving Day and was too tired to come home and cook anything- let alone the full monty- this year was probably the best Thanksgiving I've had in years because I was able to share it with friends... and my friends are more important to me than pretty much any of the folks out there with whom I share a genetic link. You see, I am of the opinion that family is what you make of it... and I have a pretty cool family, if I do say so myself. And I'm pretty sure Kailan would agree with me since he had an awesome time playing- and begging for food- with his friend Tater Tot. :)

So what did we eat? Well, I spent a chunk of Saturday getting a jump start on the Friendsgiving Day feast I had planned, so to that end, I made a salted caramel apple pie (mostly) from scratch which was a first for me. Because I really don't enjoy making pastry dough, I see nothing wrong with using the pre-made, refrigerated pie dough. However, that doesn't mean I can't make the filling myself (no canned pie filling here!) and it was surprisingly easy.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie

salted caramel apple pie... all that was left

Peel and core 6 cups of apples (I used a mix of granny smith and golden delicious) and slice into 1/4" pieces before tossing them with 2 Tbs. of fresh lemon juice. Meanwhile, in a large heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium-high heat, cook 2/3 cup of sugar until it melts and turns dark amber, swirling occasionally, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 6 Tbs. of butter and 1 Tbs. of heavy cream, swirling to combine. Return the sauce pan to the stove over medium heat and add the apples, stirring to coat in the caramel. Cook the apples until softened, about 3-5 minutes and remove from the heat once more before stirring in 2 Tbs. of AP flour and 1 tsp. of sea salt. Set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pie dough from the fridge and bring to room temperature while the oven is preheating, about 15-20 minutes. Once the dough is room temperature, press one crust into a 9" glass pie dish before dumping in all of the apple mixture. Top with the remaining crust and cut several slits in the top to allow the steam to escape during baking. Now, I like to put my pies on a baking sheet for easier handling as well as to catch any drips if the pie bubbles over while it's baking... but you don't have to. Although, I'm pretty sure you're an idiot if you don't, but whatever. Put the pie on the middle rack and lower the heat to 375 degrees. Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes, until the pie is golden brown. You may need to cover the pie crust with foil in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking to prevent over-browning, but surprisingly, I didn't need to this time. Cool the pie for at least an hour before cutting into it and enjoying the salty sweet goodness. Mmmmm....

In addition to the pie, I also made (vegan) sweet potato gnochi which was a first for me. Because I wanted to make sure they would be a success, I needed to do a trial run with them first so once I made the dough, I cooked up a small batch- definite success!- and ate them for dinner. Again, these were surprisingly easy to make, although I have to admit that I'm not a fan of working with sticky dough and these certainly fell under that heading.

(Vegan) Sweet Potato Gnochi

vegan sweet potato gnochi dough

Bake 2 pounds of whole sweet potatoes (2-4 potatoes, depending on size) in a 425 degree oven for 45-55 minutes until fork tender. Set aside until cool enough to handle then slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out all of the flesh into a large bowl, discarding the skins. While the potatoes are still warm, mash them (I just used a fork) with 1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. of nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp. of black pepper. Once the sweet potato mash has cooled, stir in 3-4 cups of AP flour in 1/2 cup increments, stirring after each addition until the dough reaches a rather sticky consistency but comes together to form an actual dough. (I think I used a little more than 4 cups, actually.) Once the dough comes together, divide it roughly into 6 parts. On a floured surface, roll out each part of the dough into ropes about 10-12 inches long and about 1/2 inch in diameter. I can't stress this part enough: Make sure you've got plenty of flour on your work surface AND your hands because this shit is sticky! Flour a knife and cut the ropes into 1 inch pieces, pressing each piece gently with the tines of a (floured!) fork to make decorative ridges.

... sauteed in vegan butter

Once the gnochi are formed, you can either cook them right away or store them in the fridge (for up to 3 days) or in the freezer (for up to 1 month). To cook them, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Dump in about 20 gnochi at a time and reduce the heat to a simmer, cooking the gnochi until they float to the top, about 4 minutes. Transfer the floating gnochi to a separate pan over medium heat and saute them in butter (or vegan butter as the case may be) with your favorite herbs (I used sage and thyme), turning them every minute or so to brown/crisp all sides. It's a bit of a process having to cook them in batches, but it's totally worth it...

So the rest of the meal, I put together on Sunday. To ease myself into it, I started with my favorite cranberry sauce which is more like a relish or chutney: Bring to a boil 1 bag of whole cranberries + 1 cup each of sugar and water (I actually use apple juice) and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Once the berries start popping, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until most of the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened, about 15-20 minutes. Cool before serving.

roasted turkey breast, already carved

Keeping in mind that I had carnivores, vegetarians, AND vegan guests coming, I only had to make a few small adjustments to keep the majority of the dishes suitable for everyone. Of course, there's no way to veganize actual meat, so the herb roasted turkey breast and whole roasted chicken were the (tasty) exceptions to that rule. Oh, and my traditional sausage-bread stuffing with dried cranberries was the other exception, but I also made a vegan version with mushrooms and pecans which turned out pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

sausage stuffing, green bean casserole, vegan stuffing

In addition to the stuffings (yes, I still call it "stuffing" instead of dressing even though the only thing it's stuffed in is a casserole dish), I also made chunky mashed potatoes (skins still on- I don't peel potatoes) with parsnips, veganizing them with vegan cream cheese and butter, plus a whole bunch of fresh herbs. There was also a green bean casserole (not vegan) as well as the more vegan friendly version of sauteed green beans with mushrooms and onions. To round things things out, I also roasted some chunks of butternut squash and fresh Brussels sprouts, both simply dressed with a little vegan butter and salt & pepper. Nothing terribly difficult to make, but juggling the timing of everything was a little challenging and dinner started about 45 minutes later than I had originally planned.

Eh. No big.

(vegan) sweet potato gnochi, roasted butternut squash

roasted Brussels sprouts, vegan sauteed green beans, vegan mashed potatoes & parsnips

And, because I was feeding a dozen people, it was easier to just put all the dishes out buffet-style so everyone could help themselves before getting comfortable and settling in the living room to eat while watching football. See? And you thought Friendsgiving wasn't the same as Thanksgiving...

vegan mixed berry crisp... again, all that was left...

After food and drink, there was even more drink and games (Apples to Apples and Scattergories) before we dove into dessert: salted caramel apple pie, (vegan) mixed berry crisp, and pumpkin cheesecake (an oft-requested specialty of one of my guests).

A good time was most definitely had by all... the only downside being that there weren't nearly enough leftovers for me to enjoy the rest of the week! ;)