I love Thanksgiving! A couple of years ago, an acquaintance said, “I hope the meaning of the holiday doesn’t get lost behind the food.” Sorry–I think the food is the meaning of the holiday. I love having a holiday that celebrates human skill at coaxing food from the soil. For me, Thanksgiving is a holiday between eaters and our farmers, each of us giving thanks for the other and sharing the bounty with friends and family. A local Thanksgiving makes it personal.

This year’s menu:

Appetizers:

• Spicy pickled carrots, and hot cherry peppers, and pickled jalapenos from my canning adventure.
• Womanchego and Vivace Bambino cheeses from Cato Corner via Artisan Food Store.
• North Fork chips (Long Island potato chips), white and sweet, via Holbrook
• Crudites, with carrots from Sport Hill Farm, other fresh vegetables from elsewhere in the country, and a ranch dip made with Arethusa yogurt.
• Non-local chips and breads.

Soup

Chicken soup made from Holbrook Farm and Stuarts Family Farm chickens with carrots from Riverbank Farm, celeriac and parsnips from Yale Farm, and onions from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm.

Main Course

• Turkey and pan gravy. This year’s turkey was once again a fresh, local bird from Kandew Acres via Holbrook Farm. I roasted it very simply, rubbing it down with olive oil, sprinkling on a bit of salt and pepper, with some sage and thyme (from my own herb garden) in the cavity. It was absolutely delicious.
• Corn bread stuffing, using the cornbread recipe here (using kefir instead of milk) and this stuffing recipe. The corn meal and wheat flour came from Wild Hive, the eggs from Holbrook Farm, the onion from Newtown Cedar Hill, the heavy cream, kefir, and butter from Smyth’s Trinity Farm, and chicken stock from the soup above.
• Mashed white potatoes, a medley of russets and yukons from Sport Hill Farm and Maple Bank Farm
• Baked sweet potatoes from Sport Hill Farm
• Puréed Cinderella squash from Deeply Rooted Farms
• Cranberry sauce made with Lyman Orchards‘s apple cider and McLaughlin maple syrup.
• Pan sautéed Brussels sprouts from Maple Bank Farm with shallots (from the Bethel Farmers Market).
• Roasted beets from Maple Bank Farm.
• Apple sauce from Macoun apples from Averill Farm.

Dessert

• Apple pie, made with Maple Bank‘s Ida Reds, Wild Hive flour, and Ronnybrook butter.
• Pumpkin pie, Cinderella squash from Deeply Rooted Farms, Holbrook‘s egg, Smyth’s Trinity Farm heavy cream, Bluestone Farm maple syrup, Wild Hive flour, and Ronnybrook butter.
• Whipped cream, made from Smyth’s Trinity Farm heavy cream.
• Ice cream (vanilla and black raspberry) from Ferris Acres Creamery.
• Roasted chestnuts from Woodbury via New Morning Natural Foods.

Beverages

• Foxon Park cane sugar soda.
• Wine: Cape May Red from Thomasello Winery thanks to my parents.
• Beers: Hatch Plug Ale from Cavalry Brewing Company and Nor’Easter from Thomas Hooker thanks to my brother-in-law.
• Apple cider from Lyman Orchards
• Egg Nog from Smyth’s Trinity Farm and Arethusa

The Connecticut bounty was spectacular this year. I had a lot more food that didn’t find its way to the table—seriously, how much can you really eat and enjoy?  Not to worry—it will find its way to the freezer and get me through the dark days ahead.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sincere apologies for the lack of pictures—too much going on. Since it’s a tradition, you can look at last year’s and get a good idea of how this year looked!