Eating Thanks

I keep getting messed up and thinking Thanksgiving is next week, but it's almost next week and then Thanksgiving will be next week. If you follow my drift.

Anyway.

My roommate and I are making Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, and it will be my first time ever cooking Thanksgiving dinner myself (except not really by myself because of the aforementioned roommate) and I am pretty stoked. Mostly I am stoked because my house means my rules, so no to football and yes to long naps. But also I am stoked because Thanksgiving is delicious and I am dreaming of all the yummy things we are going to make, almost next week!

And maybe my typical Thanksgiving menu is going to be expanded this year, because I came across these two recipes and basically started salivating on the spot. (Which was really embarassing.) Check it.

Apple Pie Pudding Cake with Cider Sauce
from Kate Jensen, pastry chef at Willow in Arlington, VA

1 cup sugar
¼ cup softened butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups diced apples, such as Gala, Fuji, or McIntosh, skin on
½ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the sugar and butter with a mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until combined. Stir in the apples and walnuts by hand. Bake in a 9-inch pie pan for 45 minutes.

Cider Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup apple cider
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl and add ¼ cup of the cider. Stir to dissolve. In a small saucepan, bring the cider/cornstarch mixture, remaining cider, sugar, salt, and vanilla to a boil over medium heat and cook until thickened. Add the butter and stir until melted. Serve warm, drizzled over cake wedges.


Red's Crab Soup
from Shannon Overmiller, chef at Majestic in Alexandria, VA (when you come to visit I will take you there for three words: coconut cream cake.)

2 cups butter, divided
1 cup small-diced onion
½ cup small-diced celery
½ cup flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
½ cup sherry
2 quarts half-and-half1 pound jumbo-lump crabmeat, preferably from Maryland
Old Bay seasoning to taste
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large pot set over medium heat, heat 1 cup butter with the onions and celery. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the onions sweat until they’re translucent and tender. Stir in the flour and cook until it turns a blond color and reaches a smooth consistency. Add the Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces and season to taste with Old Bay. Add the sherry, then let reduce for about 5 minutes. Add the half-and-half and crabmeat, raise the heat, and let the soup reach just below boiling (don’t let it boil). Stir in the remaining butter and check the seasoning. Serve.

Oh, dear. There I go salivating again.

What are your favorite Thanksgiving recipes?