……………………..I am a firm believer that all things turn out as they were meant to be……My original plan was to spend Thanksgiving with friends in CT. I really didn’t want to travel by myself. My nephew Mathew invited me to his home, but my plans had already been made…..Two days before Thanksgiving my friends had to cancel the dinner because of Covid! I called my nephew and said, “do you have room at the table for one more!?” He said “sure Uncle Lou we are so happy that you can come”. I told him not to tell the rest of the family I was coming and I should be a surprise! They live in a beautiful area of Long Island on the north shore, Cold Springs Harbor…….Needless to say everyone was shocked and happy I was there. I was the last piece to the puzzle of our family. My brother Mauro, my SIL Kathy, my niece Jeanine, my nephew Chris and his girlfriend Danielle, Danielle’s son Nick, Matty and his partner Michelle, and me made up the party…….Everyone made something and brought it. I made Jac’s Ginger cookies and her receipt for Wild Rice. It all came out delicious. The turkey was cooked to perfection by my nephew Matty. It was his first time making a turkey which was wrapped in bacon. He watched several videos on You Tube on how to cook and slice it! He was like a surgeon! Chris made two types of potatoes, classic mashed, and country style with lots of good things in it. They also brought a string bean casserole…….My SIL made sweet potatoes with marsh mellows, a corn dish and cranberry sauce. My neice made stuffing and the chocolate cream pie……We also had a ham and other things I can’t remember. Later we had desert, apple pie, chocolate cream pie, pumpkin pie and pecan pie… plus my cookies….To wash it down I brought Dom Perignon Champagne to celebrate! It was the first time we were all together since Covid……..We had a marvelous time……We drank a lot, and we ate a lot. One of the best Thanksgivings ever.
Louis
Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all. I like the idea of the wild rice- thanks for the recipe. I hosted and made the mirliton casserole, turkey injected with cajun seasoning and a cranberry relish. Mom made dressing and sweet potatoes.My mom made a pronouncement that she was changing things up for Christmas and will be serving meatballs, spaghetti with peas. Dad was not happy because he likes all the casseroles.
Change is good and dad will be happy that I will have mirliton casserole since I have frozen a dish full. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Sarah
What a wonderful get together! The food all looks delish and everyone so happy to be together. Love the wild rice recipe, thank you!
Sarah…..what is a mirliton casserole???
It is a traditional dish served in the New Orleans area. When I was growing up a lot of people grey the vines in their backyard. Today they are imported from Mexico. Another name is cayoyte squash.
You boil them, peel like a potato, finely chop and then combine with onion, bell pepper, celery, bacon,shrimp, italian bread crumbs and bake off in oven. Time consuming but delicious. You can also not peel but dig out the inside so that you can then stuff. This is very precarious and time consuming. I did it only one time and have settled on the casserole method. It’s best to do ahead so the flavors can marry. You can only buy the mirliton in November/ December. I remember hearing one year that The Rouse local grocery chain had sold 250,000 mirliton for Thanksgiving.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! Hope you have time to share the ginger snaps recipe!
In the search bar type in Jac’s Ginger cookies and the receipt will come up.
What a wonderful surprise for your family Louis, I’m sure you made their day!
Cuisinart mini food processor makes chopping up food a snap. Hand pull but super simple to use. Chops food quick and easy!!! Check one out. Makes life easier!
Oh my stars- the rice MUST be DELICIOUS!! I love the idea of turkey with this rice. It sounds so good together. Jac was beautiful AND multi-talented.
I am not a big believer in coincidence either, Louis. I am glad the “Universe” brought you and your family together.
I enjoyed seeing those happy faces😊‼️
Thank you so much for taking the time to type out this recipe. It sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
Wonderful that you and your family had such a great Thanksgiving ! So deserved!
That wild rice looks delicious. IS it hard to make?
No it’s not hard but there’s a lot of chopping. Here’s the receipt:
3 to 4 cups of low sodium chicken broth. I used Swanson, but any will do.
1 1/2 cups of uncooked wild rice. I like LUNDBERG W.R.’ It’s delicious
2 tablespoons of butter….more can be added, I did
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped fennel bulb
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup almond slivers that I chopped, then lightly toasted
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
White cooking wine [optional]
Bring the broth to a boil in a medium sauce pan, then add wild rice reduce heat and cover. let it simmer for aprox. 50 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir often and MAKE SURE there is always some liquid so rice doesn’t burn. If you need to add liquid I added the cooking wine and then I needed more so I added a little water. When rice is done drain if there is liquid left, and set aside.
In a large skillet melt butter [you can add if you like] over med. heat. Add onion, celery, and fennel. Saute 10 minutes or until tender Then stir in rice, apricots, almonds, cranberries, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix it well. Remove it from the heat and let it cool. You can heat it when you want to serve it in a micro wave or the oven covered with tin foil so it doesn’t burn. Everyone loves it. For Thanksgiving I doubled the receipt. It’s great left over. When Jac used to mak Rock Cornish hens, she used to stuff them with the rice, and then cook the hens. We always had plenty as a side dish.