Thanksgiving at the Benensons
Three friends joined us for Thanksgiving, the first time in who knows how long that we’ve had dinner guests. Our apartment is not very big, but we moved some furniture around, got a folding display table out of our storage locker, and the midday meal was convivial, comfortable and delicious (if I don’t say so myself).
We served buffet style and covered our usual dining table with pans and bowls and platters.
The turkey was a 13-1/2 pounder from Jake’s Country Meats; I took my own turkey roasting advice and it continues to be foolproof. Pan gravy, mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and sweet potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, dressing from Barb’s mom’s old guard recipe, cabbage sauteed with onions, apples and caraway, corn (from frozen, it happens), and roasted cauliflower and broccoli rounded out my contribution. Our visitors helped out with a family recipe dressing, Brussels sprouts with chestnuts, homemade bread, and wine.
For desserts, an incredibly delicious apple pie from Verzênay Patisserie and a good old pumpkin pie from Dom’s Kitchen & Market.
The meal was capped when, after a solidly cloudy day, the sunset produced a supernatural glow on the horizon.
There’s Got to Be a Morning After
With five people and all that food, of course we have lots of leftovers. And the leftovers can mean only one thing: the Thanksgiving dinner sandwich, one of history’s greatest inventions.
This round had cranberry sauce, sliced turkey, dressing, and a smear of gravy. White bread for Barb (her traditional preference) and Verzênay’s Autumn bread for me.
I can’t be the only one who wants to brag about his holiday feast. If you’d like to share yours, send a photo or two and some details to bob@localfoodforum.com. Because why not.
Your Donations Go Far With These Food Nonprofits
As a service to our local food community, Local Food Forum is sharing end-of-year fundraising appeals from nonprofits that do great work promoting a better food system. Today learn about Crate Free USA and Illinois Stewardship Alliance, and consider making a donation.
All materials that follow were provided by the nonprofit organizations. If you would like us to include your nonprofit appeals, please email bob@localfoodforum.com with a 1-3 paragraph summary, a link to more information or a donation page, and a graphic promoting your campaign (if you have one).
[Note: This service is provided free to our amazing nonprofits, and is not paid advertising.]
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There is a profound lack of consumer awareness about the conditions factory-farmed animals live in. Even among animal-loving consumers, there is a huge disconnect between a shrink-wrapped pork chop on the grocery shelf and the living animal.
Misleading labels of chickens, pigs and cows grazing in sunny pastures just add to the problem. In reality, though, factory-farmed animals lead lives of quiet unrelenting misery…hidden from public view. In terms of sheer numbers, these are the most exploited and least protected group of animals on the planet. This is an industrial system that treats animals like objects...an industry that relies on secrecy, and uses packaging and marketing to hide the truth.
Please support Crate Free USA’s mission to improve the welfare standards of factory-farmed animals. We are the market, and it's on all of us to demonstrate there is no longer any tolerance for this kind of animal exploitation. Because if it's not us...who is it?
Click below to donate directly to Crate Free USA and to learn how you can also support the organization with your purchases from Chewy and Amazon and through IGive.com.
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Hot Ones: Cottage Food Edition
Tuesday, November 30
7 p.m.
Facebook Live at @ILStewards
Just $5 will support a small farm or food business in your community. On Tuesday (November 30) at 7 p.m., join Illinois Stewardship Alliance with Home-to-Market Act bill sponsor and all-around small business champion State Rep. Will Guzzardi for a fundraising event to support small farms and cottage food businesses.
During this fundraising event — modeled after the popular YouTube series “Hot Ones” — Illinois Stewardship Alliance Deputy Director Molly Pickering will interview Rep. Guzzardi about cottage food, exciting new changes for small businesses, and how people power makes a difference, all while he eats progressively hotter hot sauces made by cottage food producers across Illinois!
Your donation of any size will determine the level of heat — 10 donors for mild, 50 for medium, 75 for medium hot, 100 hot, and 200 for five-alarm fire!
All donations will support Illinois Stewardship Alliance's work to provide small farms and food businesses with the resources they need to grow their businesses and advocate for just and regenerative food and farm policy.
Grab your friends, make a donation, and tune in to the Illinois Stewardship Alliance Facebook Page at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for a good cause and good old-fashioned fun.