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It’s the day after Thanksgiving and I’m sitting in the dining room in my lake house looking out at the lake as it rains like mad. It’s loud and windy and crazy wonderful! The rain is knocking all the gold and yellow leaves off the trees, and my big yard is just covered with them. I hope this goes on for hours.

Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch, and everyone was happily sated and napping by 3:00. LJ pronounced the turkey perfect and said this year’s cornbread dressing was the best ever. The pumpkin creme brulee will get asked back, too. It was a small, intimate celebration, but a very good one. And we got really great news right before dinner, too. LJ’s niece in Seattle called and they’re expecting their first baby. We’re really happy for them.

When we got to the lake today, I decided to turn on the TV to the only soap opera I’ve ever watched, The Days of Our Lives. I started watching it in college. Some girlfriends and I would have it on in our dorm room while we played bridge. Even as background noise, it was addictive. I’ve followed it ever since by reading the daily updates that run in the paper or on-line and watching it about twice a year. I’ve found I like to read about it better than watch it because it goes by faster and the acting’s better. Nothing’s changed, someone is lying about being pregnant and someone else has temporary amnesia. Miscommunication is rampant. Oh, what rainy day fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m now looking forward to 2 days of complete boredom. There’s no recipe today. We all need to go on a diet.

I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to cooking for parties or at holidays.  I have been planning Thanksgiving for 3 weeks now.  I have gone through at least 3 different menus, and read recipes galore.  I compare techniques and ingredients and try to figure what’s going to work best for my situation.  Well, it’s the day before and I’m in serious mode now.  Here’s the final menu:

Cranberry Orange Salad

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

Cornbread Dressing with Turkey Gravy

Haricots Vert with Roasted Shallots and Cremini Mushrooms

Ciabatta Rolls

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

I did my big grocery shopping last Thursday so I wouldn’t have to fight a crowd.  I bought the things that would stay frozen or stay fresh until the Day.  This afternoon, I’ll go buy the perishables.  Then I’ll come home and make the creme brulees and the cornbread for the dressing, and then cook dinner for my mother-in-law who will be joining us.  For dinner tonight I’m having an Italian casserole with a green salad which is as far from traditional Thanksgiving as I could get.

Tomorrow morning, I’m making individual Quiche Lorraines with Stewed Fruit and Spiced Pumpkin Bread.  After breakfast I’ll put the shallots and mushrooms in to roast because they’ll only take about 20 minutes.  I’ll but the turkey in to roast after that, and while it’s cooking, I’ll mix up the cornbread dressing and par cook the haricots vert.  When the turkey comes out to rest, I’ll bake the dressing.  When it comes out, I’ll put the rolls in and toss the haricots vert, mushrooms and shallots in a skillet with melted butter just to reheat.  It should all come out at one time - with any luck at about 1:30.  After we eat that, I’ll let LJ dazzle us with his magic chef’s torch on the pumpkin creme brulee’s and then we’ll all waddle away from the table.  With any luck at all, the weather will be mild enough to let us take a walk in the afternoon.

I’m really looking forward to this.  I love Thanksgiving because it combines two of my favorite things, family and food.  I won’t have my family with me this year, but we’ll talk on the phone and moan about eating too much.  And we’ll have LJ’s mom, which is good.  I wish you and yours the best this year!

Pumpkin Crème Brulee

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1 ½ tsp. freshly grated cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. freshly grated ginger

¾ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

5 egg yolks

½ tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

6 Tbs. pumpkin puree

1/3 cup plus 4 tsp. granulated sugar

1 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 300°F. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

Pour the cream into a small saucepan and whisk in the cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Set over medium-low heat and warm the cream mixture until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and steam begins to rise from the surface, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, pumpkin puree, the 1/3 cup granulated sugar and the brown sugar until smooth and blended. Slowly pour in the cream mixture, stirring until blended. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Divide the mixture among four 8-fl.-oz. ramekins and place in a large baking pan. Add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 3 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle 1 tsp. granulated sugar evenly over the surface of each custard. Using a kitchen torch according to the manufacturer’s instructions, move the flame continuously in small circles over the surface until the sugar melts and lightly browns. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

My Dad has advanced Alzheimer’s and is going downhill fast.  Late in the day or evening, he is starting not to know who my Mom is.  But that’s not the half of it; he thinks she’s a man.  At night he tries to throw her out of the bed because he “doesn’t sleep with men.”  It would be funny if it weren’t so fucking sad.  Believe me, my sister doesn’t think it’s funny when she has to go over to their house in the night and calm him down so he won’t throw Mom out!

I idolized my Dad.  He was an English major in college, and the world of words was a treasure to him.  He prided himself in perfect grammar, and he never misused the verbs “to lie” and “to lay.”  (It’s lots harder than you think when you get out of present tense!)  He was a collector of jazz records, and has upwards of 5,000 LP’s and 78’s.  He has every song Billie Holiday ever recorded and just about every one Ella recorded.  He had an encyclopedic memory of all the musicians who played on each recording, and where and when they were recorded.  Today, he picks up the records and looks at them like he’s never seen them before.  He swore to me that someone sent some of them to him in the mail, unsolicited.  It just makes me cry.  However, he still corrected my brother-in-law’s grammar just a few weeks ago.  I think that will be reflexive with him to the end.

He’s always had a phenomenal memory.  He was very politically astute and when he got into discussions with people over political issues, he was able to site facts and quote the pertinent authorities off the top of his head.  In fact, that was when we began to realize he had Alzheimer’s.  He would be in the middle of a political discussion, and all of a sudden no one’s name would come to him.  He would become so frustrated, it would send him into a depression.  I had no idea it would devolve to where we are today.  What a nasty, senseless disease!

For the recipe today, I think we need something comforting (and trouble free) - like soup!

Italian Sausage Soup

2 lbs. Italian sausage (half hot and half sweet, or all sweet, your preference)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

1 teaspoon each basil and oregano

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup orzo

In a large soup pot, saute sausage until no longer pink.  Add remaining ingredients and thoroughly mix.  Add water just to cover and simmer at least one hour.  It’s even better made ahead a day and reheated.