In October, my beau and I hosted a dinner party featuring foods using ingredients native to America. It was for a combination of Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, and the challenge was to create a menu with traditional Thanksgiving ingredients that wouldn't taste just like a preview of the holiday.
In November, I'm sharing that menu as an option for reviving Thanksgiving leftovers.
- Cornmeal Scones with Maple Butter or Anadama Bread
- Herbed Pumpkin Casserole with Wild Rice and Cranberry Shell Beans
- Fannie Farmer's 1896 recipe for Scalloped Turkey
- Sweet Corn with Green Bell Peppers
- Roasted Peanuts
- Coleslaw (okay, cabbage is European, but it goes well with the rest of the menu)
- Berry Cobbler with Sunflower Seed & Pecan Crumble
(For more details and recipe ideas see the original post)
The American ingredient menu was part of a weekly tradition for us. Every Thursday, we have an open invitation to dinner at our house with a different theme each week. We send out a menu and folks can decide if they want to contribute their own dish or just show up with a good appetite. The weekly dinners began soon after my partner moved to downtown Montpelier. He liked to cook. I liked to cook. We wanted to cook together. It made sense.
Now, the Thursday night dinners have become a great way for us to explore new recipes. The changing theme means we'll bring in different cuisines, from the foods of San Francisco to the foods of South Africa. When we choose a city, state, or country that's been home to someone now living in Vermont, they often arrive to show us the authentic way to create their favorite dishes (Chicago style hot dogs and Philadelphia hoagies inspire a certain level of passion, we've discovered).
I'd encourage anyone to explore food through regular dinner party hosting. If you check out www.discoveringflavor.com you'll find a guide to a dinner party menu every week. Living in Vermont, we've got plenty of good food sources and food lovers to share these adventures. Check out the food markets on DigInVT for where to find interesting ingredients, or see what interesting menu items Vermont chefs are devising this time of year. And, of course, you can also check out other posts in the recipe section of the blog.
Happy holiday eating!
Helen Labun Jordan writes about food and the business for food for local and regional publications, and online at www.discoveringflavor.com
