Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Pre-Thanksgiving

This looks like it should be a relish tray for this coming Thursday, but it's what we ate for supper last night.
We seem to be doing dress-rehearsal eating in advance of the big day. Wait till you hear what we're having tomorrow. And for breakfast on Thanksgiving day.
I needed to cut open and roast a little Sugar Pie pumpkin (organic, local) for a treat I will tell you about soon (the breakfast!). And there were all those beautiful seeds in there. They were so tender, they didn't need a parboil in salted water, the way I did a couple of years ago. So I just oiled them, and sprinkled them with salt, cumin and garam masala. A quick zip into a medium oven (ALL food cooks at 350ยบ, am I right?), and we had a perky snack.
I cobbled together some other nibbles, including that pathetic tray of oil-sizzled cauliflower buds, the sum total of this year's harvest. I blame George, of course. The sprinkling of truffle salt almost made me feel better.
The almonds (local) got a treatment of herbs and garlic, and then a little toasting in a skillet. The olives are cheese-eating surrender monkeys. And the pickled yellow squash are from the backyard.
This was quite snazzy with a martini.

16 comments:

Ms Brown Mouse said...

At our house pretty much all food cooks at between 180C - 200C, so yes, you are quite correct, all food cooks at 350F!

Anna Banana said...

In my future life I will eat exactly that meal. In my current life, I mostly make meals teenage boys will eat. Thank you for a glimpse of my future. Have a happy day on Thursday.

Anita (Married... with dinner) said...

"cheese-eating surrender monkeys" :D

kudzu said...

Love your previews of coming attractions. At first I thought you were being totally obsessive about your "mises"!

Great autumn tastes.

ilex said...

That would be good with many a cocktail-hour tipple.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

why don't we live closer?
(please read this with the proper whine intended)

Sam said...

all my food cooks at 375F. Maybe that's why i burnt my pumpkin seeds?

Sam said...

i mean *burned" not burnt - don't I? Help Ms Editoress?

cookiecrumb said...

Morgan: Funny, isn't it? When I turn on my oven, it's already set at 350, so I just say "yes."

Anna: Oh, teenage boys. They wouldn't eat this. You DO have something to look forward to!

Anita: We surrendered, and ate 'em.

Kudzu: Oh, my meez is a mess. I just use little metal bowls.

Ilex: It's so open to variation. I just love snackin'.

ceF: You WILL let me know when you visit the Bay Area!!??

Sam: "Burnt" is perfectly acceptable. But you might try cranking down the oven dial!!

Greg said...

Yummy food and cool plates. Happy holiday.

Zoomie said...

I had to go to Wikipedia for an explanation of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys - they know everything!

The Spiteful Chef said...

Oooooh! I love your relish-ware. I always liked pepitas with worcestershire and butter baked on them. Yum.

Your tiny cauliflower is God's way of saying "Oh, shit! I accidentally created something terrible! I best send down some pestilential growing conditions to kill it right off before any more of my children start eating it.

cookiecrumb said...

Greg: I love these stupid plates. Cost Plus, as I recall.
Thanks, dear. xx

Zoomie: I'm actually sort of impressed you went to Wiki to look it up. Cute.

Spitey: I'm hearing that you are hatin' on the cauliflowers...

Sharona May said...

I actually love the pre dinner snacks! Sometimes more than the dinner itself. :)

Sharona May

cookiecrumb said...

Sharona May: Ditto. And to think, all those years our parents were screaming, "Don't fill up on the appetizers! You won't want your meat." Amen to that, mom.

Anonymous said...

We're giving away a collection of finishing salts including truffle salt. You can throw your name in the hat at MarxFood.com