Thanksgiving is a busy time and getting everyone together in one place can be a challenge. Fortunately, our extended family was able to join in a comforting lunch on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
Preparation started the night before when I baked Southern-style cornbread, cubed it, and dried it in the oven. Southern-style cornbread has no added sugar and no wheat flour.
The dressing included sausage, onion, celery, and garlic.
The main dish was pork shoulder. I braised it in the Dutch oven with some carrots. I eventually cut the 10-pound shoulder in half to make sure it was done on time.
The potatoes went into the oven as the first step in mashed potatoes.
The dressing went into the oven after the potatoes came out.
I riced the potatoes in the food mill then whipped them with milk and butter.
Gravy, of course.
A sumptuous meal and a wonderful chance to spend time together.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...











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