Thanksgiving Menu

I’ve got lots of more interesting posts in the works but they need some more time so I’m just going to post my menu for Thanksgiving. We will be going to a friends house but since we are on GAPS we need to make most of our own food.

So I’ve got a pastured turkey that I’ll be picking up tomorrow. It is most likely being butchered today. I ordered it back in the spring from a farmer a few hours away. I have no idea what size it will be. I’m actually getting 3 turkeys and plan to freeze two of them for later on. I’m going to do the brine that I did last year assuming I can remember all my tweaks to this recipe Apple Brined Turkey I left off the sugar and didn’t boil anything. I also used apple juice concentrate in place of the apple juice and added enough water to make it come out right. Our guests last year will be at the meal again this year and they liked the turkey despite usually not really liking turkey so I think it is worth it again. I’ll put it into my 3 day cooler with some ice and it should stay plenty cold. I also purchased a brining bag this year at Whole foods so that I won’t have a dirty cooler sitting around for a week on the back porch that I keep forgetting about. Not that I would ever do that.

Have already made fermented cranberry sauce. I made a good one last year but I went simpler this year. I used Local Nourisment’s idea but used only one pear and kombucha for my liquid since I don’t have any water kefir. Last years recipe is below. It came from a Wise Traditions mailer and was shared with me by a friend. I don’t know who to credit but if someone else does I would be glad to credit them.

Fermented Cranberry Relish

Over low heat, combine cranberries, apple cider, cinnamon stick, orange zest, and gingerroot. Heat until cranberries pop (about 5 minutes). Allow to cool. Remove cinnamon stick and add honey and whey. Pour into a food processor and pulse a few times to desired consistency. Pour into a pint sized jar and place lid on and allow to ferment 2-3 days. Store in refrigerator.

I’m going to make dressing.. I usually just skip it because it is so much work for something that doesn’t come out good but now that I have a Good bread Recipe I’m going to give it a go. I made an extra loaf a couple of weeks ago and froze it so no need to kill myself this week. This recipe by Cheeseslave is what I will use. I’ll make my own sausage with ground pork and spices, skip the celery to keep it lower oxalate and use dried spices.

And I will make fauxtatoes. I cook cauliflower in broth till it is very soft and then puree. Add lots of real butter, salt and possibly some kefired cream. And of course gravy. I’ll cook down some broth till it is thick and puree in an onion to make it even thicker.

Then of course pie. I always like a lot of different pies for Thanksgiving. I was spoiled by my mothers family early in life and it just doesn’t seem right for there to be less than 10 varieties of pie for this meal. Of course most people think that is crazy and since we have to make all of our own pies I will make at least 2 and have hopes that I can squeeze out a third.

Pumpkin is a given. I plan to follow this recipe. I made it last week as a pudding and used a couple of dates in place of the honey. It was very good. I’ll make a coconut pie crust for Thanksgiving though to make it extra special. I’ll use squash instead of pumpkin to keep the oxalates low and won’t go crazy with the spices like I used to.

The other two will be Lemon Meringue and Blueberry. I’ve got a recipe for Blueberry pie in my Grain-Free Gourmet that I plan to use (but a coconut flour crust) Blueberry is a low oxalate berry. Lemon is also low oxalate but I’m still looking for a GAPS legal way to make it. We’ll see. Daughter #1 has her heart set on Lemon Meringue so I’m going to try to make it happen for her. She wrote up a recipe that she invented for it a month or so ago and doesn’t understand why I don’t just follow that…..

Thank you Paula for finding me a Lemon Meringue Deliciousness Pie recipe where someone else figured it all out! Can’t wait to make it!

Update** Just found my pie crust recipe. coconut flour pie crust. I’m sure I’ll make it pretty much like that since I don’t like to mess with pie crust. I’m also thinking that I’ll make a coconut cream pie instead of blueberry. That is a recipe I’m going to invent so I’ll post it after the fact if it works.

I’ll top the pies withwhipped kefir cream. It is so yummy and a bit sour to off set those sweets. Just add a bit of honey to kefir heavy cream and whip. So easy and delicious.

So there is the menu. One other brilliant thing I have done is I just pulled some of Mommypotamous’s Ultimate Beef Liver Chili out of my freezer. We will have that on Wed night for dinner and I won’t have to worry about one more cooking project. Plus I needed the freezer space for the turkeys, chickens and rabbits that are coming tomorrow. I can’t wait to have a stocked freezer! I just love never having to buy meat at the store.

Tonights dinner is T-bone steaks. gotta make more room somehow. It’s rough but we’ll force them down.

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