Most of the veggies we eat will come from the freezer or storage boxes. Corn, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes. And the salad will be picked fresh from the garden on Wednesday before I cover the cold frame in anticipation of Thursday's freeze. Lettuce, spinach, dill, arugula, radish, onion, and chinese cabbage--and a few tomatoes that have been ripening on the porch for almost a month. Also have kim chee ready to eat from the radish and chinese cabbage.

It is hard to think about it being the last half of November, since our temp is in the low 70's today and we have had bursts of rain several times today. Also some wind with the rain, so it feels more like Spring.

Carol, It is terrific you're going to be able to use some of that apple pie filling. I love cooking with ingredients from our place, whether they're fresh or preserved.

Dorothy, I've still got green tomatoes on pots on the garage patio (and they go inside at night), but they sure aren't in the mood to ripen. I don't think they'll be ready for Thanksgiving, but maybe by Christmas. It has been in the 80s here the last two days, so that heat might speed up the ripening a little.

The current plan is that we're going to someone else's home for Thanksgiving, and we're taking the ham (definitely not home-grown) and a sweet potato pie (from home-grown potatoes). That won't change unless our county is burning down on Thursday (it shouldn't be) and we have to "skip" Thanksgiving. After a pretty quiet fire year, we've been really busy the last week and especially the last two days, which isn't the best timing, but we don't get to choose the timing.

Here at home, if the fires slow down, we'll have our own home-grown post-Thanksgiving meal over the weekend. Chris is going to fry a turkey(not home grown) and smoke a ham (also not home grown) in his meat smoker, and we'll have lots of home-grown side dishes from the garden, including sweet potatoes, peach cobber, cranberry-habanero jelly, sugar snap peas, broccoli, Irish potatoes and green beans....with all of that from the freezer or root cellar or canning closet. Anything we bake that has eggs in it will be made from home-grown eggs., and traditionally we have home-made cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving weekend. I usually make them either on Thanksgiving Eve or very early Thanksgiving morning.

However, if this week's fires continue, that meal might be postponed until we are able to sleep and stay at home long enough for a meal. Right now, we're running on "empty" in terms of time and energy. I hope what I'm typing is making sense because I've about reached zombie status here this afternoon.

Dawn

Dawn, You guys do so much for your community that I'm not surprised that you are running on empty.

I have lots of things I could use from my freezer, but my DIL says this is her favorite meal to cook and she wants to do most of it. They told me my assignment was Coconut Cream Pie and anything else I wanted to bring. LOL I will probably be making some cornbread dressing, and a sweet potato dish, and some baked goods. I think she is making 3 pies, so we don't really need much more.

I am also going to make some cranberry/orange relish with Splenda for me. Everyone else gets a cranberry dish made with RED Jello and I sure can't have the red stuff. Actually the guys aren't big on cranberries anyway and I think the big thing for them is the scheduled deer hunt.

I'm going to Golden Corral.....LOL! I don't have anything but tomatoes right now, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the cherry tomatoes I have. I don't want them to go to waste, can I freeze them? If not, I'll share with the neighbors. I've got a ton.

Maybe next year, I'll be able to make something homegrown for Thanksgiving, like the Broccoli and Cheese Strudel I love so much from the Moosewood Cookbook.

Your recipes and fresh veggies sound sooooooo good!

Susan

Susan, That recipe sounds interesting if you would be willing to share......and Happy Birthday.

We'll be having home grown turkey and duck, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie (probably from 2009 squash), green beans, salsa from our own peppers, apple sauce, mint/lemon balm tea, and probably some other things from the homestead. We're also roasting a hog's head, Mexican style. But we didn't raise the hog.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Dawn, I guess you didn't get the rain that we got last evening. We sure needed it as things were getting dry here. We have way too many trees around the house which means way too many leaves to have to rake up. The inch and 2/10ths we got last eve means I shouldn't have to rake for a couple days. Will get back at it Friday.

Susan, yes, you can freeze cherry tomatos. I don't even blanch. Just throw them in raw, but that means you will have to use them sooner than if you blanched.

Carol, lucky you to have somone else do most of the cooking. This year, most of it falls on me although mother and daughters will be helping.

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Gonna be smoking a turkey tomorrow and serving with fresh picked green beans, yellow and zuchinni squash and of course plenty of vine ripe tomatoes. Dressing and mashed potatoes and for dessert,my favorite: Pecan Pie Cake!

If y'all ever want to grow up and be big and fat like me, then this recipe is a Must!

PECAN PIE CAKE
(Insulated pan: Oven@ 350 / Uninsulated pan: Oven 325)

Step 1:
1 box Duncan Hines Butter Cake Mix (reserve 2/3 cup mix for filling)
1 stick marg. (or butter), melted, 1 C brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 T water, 2 Cups
chopped pecans.

Mix above ingred. in order given - VERY THICK. Pour into 9 X 13 pan,
sprayed with vege. shortening.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Step 2:
Combine: 1 C sugar, 1 C white Karo syrup, 1 stick marg/butter, melted,
1 C milk, 1 t vanilla. Add reserved dry cake mix, 2 eggs beaten.
Mix with mixer and pour carefully over cake layer. This filling is very thin.
Return to oven for 30 minutes (cake may crack) Insert knife to see if done.
May need even more time. Continue baking in 5 minute increments and test
after each 5 minutes. Serve with whipped cream/cool whip.

This cake is very moist on the bottom. Better if made one or two days
before serving OR serve it warm.
Hmmmmmmmm!!!!!

Keith
________________________________________________________
"If you are thankful for the little things, then you are certain to have much to be thankful for."

Carol,

For every smidgen of time and effort we give to our community, we get so much in return. It truly is a priviledge to work as a community volunteer here. It's just been crazy since the train wreck with one 'bad thing' after another, but in the midst of all those tragedies, you also witness so much caring and kindness. Love County truly lives up to being the county of "love". Now that I've had practically a whole night's sleep, I feel more ready for the holidays!

Susan, You can freeze them as Dorothy stated, but when you thaw them, the texture is not the same as fresh tomatoes. That's why I dehydrate them. Then it is my option whether to toss handfuls of them into salads in their dehydrated state, or to soak them in a cup of warm water for a little while and then toss them into salads. We like the texture of dehydrated/rehydrated bite-sized tomatoes better than frozen tomatoes if we're throwing tomatoes into our salads. You also could toss your excess cherry tomatoes into the food processor with a few other ingredients and make salsa!

George, Your mention of mint/lemon balm reminded me that I do cook with herbs from the garden all the time...some dried and some fresh. We still have green, fresh lemon balm, mint, rosemary, lavender and sage. Sage is certainly associated with Thanksgiving.

Dorothy, We haven't had much rain lately. Earlier this month our mesonet station had 0.85" but we had barely a trace that day. With early freezing nights, everything is dry/dormant enough to burn, and so it has been. It isn't that there's been so many fires, but just that they've occurred so closely together. We were out all night Sunday so I was worthless on Monday because apparently I don't function very well on almost no sleep. It seems like we always have a really awful 8-10 days before Thanksgiving, and I think it is a combination of things....frost-induced dormancy of thousands of acres of grassland, stiff winds, the start of the hunting season, and lots of holiday travelers which tends to lead to highway accidents. Today, knock on wood, has been pretty quiet and I hope it lasta.

Keith, That recipe sounds marvelous. I'll have to hang onto it so I can try it sometime.

I hope everyone does have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and y'all be careful at those Black Friday sales if you go. I'm staying home and shopping online! There is nothing I want to buy badly enough that I'll go anywhere near a store for the next few days. We went to Wal-mart this morning and I hope I can manage to not step foot in a store again for another 5-7 days.

Dawn

I attached a link to the Broccoli Cheese Strudel recipe. This recipe calls for low-fat cheese, which is fine, but I just used regular cheddar. I have used both whole wheat bread crumbs and rye breadcrumbs. Either option is really good, but I love Rye and it was great! Using homemade bread crumbs, I understand, will make the filling less dense, so use it if ya got it. A food processor is pretty much a "must have" for chopping the broccoli up. Pam cooking spray makes it easier, but I have also just used melted butter or olive oil and a pastry brush.

The recipe also calls for 8 sheets of phyllo dough, or 4 sheets per log. I used 5 sheets per log for a bit more stability. You could probably up it to 6 even.

This is just a beautiful presentation of a vegetable dish at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Keith, that recipe looks DEVINE! I wonder if you can substitute Walnuts for the Pecans. Pecans are just so darned expensive, but Walnuts are priced a little lower. I like them equally.

Dawn, I don't have a dehydrator and the lowest heat on my oven is 150 degrees. Isn't that too hot?

My daughter and I went to Walmart today, too. Had to get a small heater for the bathroom since it's going to get really cold in the next couple days.

Thanks for the tomato tips - Salsa sounds good and I can make it and freeze it, can't I?

Carol, I forgot to mention that I use Splenda in place of sugar in all things now. I only buy real sugar for my hummingbird nectar.

It is supposed to be real cold Thanksgiving day. I was hoping for a warmer day this year, and the temps look all over the place for the next week or so. I need to do some garden clean up.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Broccoli Cheese Strudel

Susan,

While 150 degrees is a touch hot, it is doable. The ideal temp for dehydrating tomatoes is about 135-140, but you can dry them at any temperature above 90 degrees and below 170. You cannot safely dehydrate toms at temps below 90 degrees because they dry too slowly and mold can form inside the tomato. You cannot safely dehydrate toms at temps over 170 because the tomatoes essentially cook instead of dehydrating.

When I select the 'Dehydrate' function on my convection oven, I can choose any temperature between 100 and 160 and normally I use 140. I might vary it a little depending on how 'juicy' they were when I started and on whether I marinated them, or if I am dehydrating them plain, or if I spritzed them with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkled herbs on them. If you spritz them with olive oil, it does take them longer to dry, and then I always store those in the freezer after they're dehydrated because of the olive oil.

Some people dehydrate in regular stove ovens by leaving the door slightly open, which often drops the temp inside the oven a little. Leaving it open makes up for the fact that a standard oven doesn't have any moving air like a food dehydrator has or like you'll have with a convection oven. The downside is that a little heat escapes into the house, which might not be bad in Oct. or Nov., but which would be less than ideal in July or August.

I have sun-dried Principe Borghese tomatoes and grape tomatoes by pulling up the entire plant and hanging the plant upside down in the garage during drought years when we have very low rainfall and very low humidity. If I can, I hang the plant upside down on the barbed wire fence for the first week, and then move it inside. It works really well in a hot, dry year like we had in 2003 and 2005. However, most years we're too moist here to successfully sun-dry. I think folks in western OK probably could sun dry but since I haven't lived there and haven't tried it, that's just a guess on my part.

Yes, you can freeze salsa.

The weather looks dreadfully cold for Thanksgiving. Like you, I'm hoping to get some garden clean-up done too. I figure I can do it on Friday and maybe Saturday (at least the snakes won't be out!), but Sunday is a very high fire danger day, unless something changes, so I might not get to work in the garden on Sunday. That's OK though, because there will be plenty of time later to clean up everything and work on soil improvement....I'd just rather do it now while the weather is nicer and not in late Dec. or early January.

Dawn

I don't think I will need much of my garden stuff for Thanksgiving, but tonight we had okra, sweet potatoes, and broccoli that all came from the garden.

My son has already gotten his deer and we are so glad that he got to shot the first one harvested from his own land. DH is going to hunt also, but having our son get one was the important part. Our son grew up as a 'non-hunter' in a family of hunters and showed no interest in it at all until a few years ago.

George, someday I want to come see your garden, but please don't invite me to dinner. LOL I thought we were adventerous eaters, but every year you surprise me with something new. If times were really bad, you would be the last one to starve. LOL I don't even like vension, so no comment on hogs head.

Dawn, I'm with you about shopping. I will not be out there on black Friday. I may make a stop tomorrow at Braums and hope their bananas look better than the ones at WM.

Seedmama, I didn't see the new chips, but we were excited to find that they have Lime Crush in the stores now. Years ago when we would drive through Canada, we would load up with Lime Crush. Our kids have always claimed that as their favorite drink. I went to four stores up here before I found it, but I bought 3 of the 12 packs and four 2 liter bottles. They said they only had one more 12 pack left in the store. Of course, it is way to much sugar for me to have, but I think I will have to drink one just for old times sake. I'll be taking part of it to our son and he doesn't know. A few years ago, he was doing business with a lady in Canada and she mailed him two bottles of Lime Crush after she learned how much he liked it. I don't know if it is just a holiday promotion or if it will stay, but I'll be buying my share to let them know there is a market for it in the US.

Keith, where is Mwc 7?

George

George, I would venture to guess that MWC is Midwest City, which is close to me, a suburb of OKC.

George, exactly what do you eat on a hog's head? I'm not thinking good things, but I am curious.

Dawn, I can leave the door open, and I have a ceiling fan that I could turn on high speed, though I don't know if that would help much. Not sure it would affect air circulation of air in the oven, but won't hurt anything. Thanks for the tips!

Susan

Tomato-basil Lays? Lime Crush? I haven't noticed either of those in the local stores, although I assume they are there. I always go in the store with a list, buy what's on it, and leave. I guess I don't pay attention to anything that's not on my list. Now I'll have to add these to the list so we can try them.

Carol, I'm glad your son got his deer. Apparently the hunters here in Love County had a spectacular weekend, judging by the way "triumphant" tweets were flying around on Twitter. Chris said a lot of the local hunters got their first deer early on Saturday. One had his before 8 a.m. I'll be glad when the season is over and we won't have to listen to endless gunshots all around us.

Susan, You're welcome. Long before we bought a stove that had a convection oven with a 'dehydrate' function, I dehydrated with both the oven of my stove and a small dehydrator I bought at Wal-Mart in the 1980s for about $20.00. I made lots and lots of venison jerky on that small dehydrator over the years, but I sold it at a fire dept. garage sale after I got the new convection oven.

For me, with the large amount of produce I harvest every year, a dehydrator is essential equipment. You can dehydrate almost anything and I've tried dehydrating most veggies over the years, except for the leafy ones. Once the freezers are full and the canning jars are filled, dehydration allows me to put up more of the crop in long-term storage.

Dawn

George, Susan is right Midwest City OK. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Keith

Well, I just got back from the store. I bought the Duncan Hines Butter Cake Mix and some white Karo syrup so I can test drive Keith's cake recipe......it sounded so good.

Dawn, I just have one more thought on dehydrators. I think I recall someone saying (it might have been Carol) that the dehydrator didn't work so well this summer due to the high heat and humidity. Are they that sensitive to outdoor weather conditions? Just wondering because if I get a dehydrator, I'll probably get a Presto, which is kind of the VW of dehydrators as compared to the other we discussed (can't remember the product name) in a previous thread.

Also got all my stuff to make homemade Salsa. Besides the tomato-based Salsa, think I'll make some of the Mango. I remember when we had the spring fling here in OKC and a girl brought the Mango Salsa, and we all fell head over heels. I must do a search to see if it's still on the forum archives. I didn't grow Mangos, so I had to buy one at the store......LOL!

Shoulda got some Avocados for Guacamole. I have the best recipe for it. Everyone loves it, and the kids get a kick out of seeing the humongous seed resting comfortably in it, like they're getting something straight from the tropics. I make mine with garlic, cumin, and a bit of chili pepper, lime juice, and diced tomatoes. Mmmmmmm. It is soooooo good.

It's going to be brrrrr cold tomorrow. A good day for cooking.

Susan