Those of us with an interest in nonprofits, philanthropy, fundraising and compliance are under a lot of pressure in the fourth quarter. There’s money to raise, events to host (I much prefer attending, where responsibility ends at not spilling my glass of red Zinfandel), goals to meet, performance to evaluate and a new year to plan for.
Not that we need an excuse to lighten up, but, put it all aside for a few minutes and share a Thanksgiving side dish recipe. Is it one your grandmother made and you keep up the tradition? Or something you found at Epicurean and are dying to try out on unwary loved ones.
How do we make your Fundraiser’s Fritters? Your Compliance Collards? You know there’s something you want our community to try and maybe you’ll save someone who’s just putting their menu together this week.
Share your recipe! Here’s my mom’s, for Cauliflower in Cheese Sauce. Momma Martignetti says you can substitute broccoli.
Cauliflower in Cheese Sauce
Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
2 cups warm milk
8 oz shredded extra sharp yellow cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
pepper and salt to taste
buttered bread crumbsHow to make it:
Butter a 2-quart ovenproof dish. Steam cauliflower to al dente. In double boiler melt butter, add flour slowly stirring to blend. Continue stirring and cook until thickened. Add milk slowly, continue stirring until thickened. Add cheese, stir until thickened. Put drained cauliflower into baking dish, pour in sauce and sprinkle buttered bread crumbs on top.
Can be made two days ahead, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Remove plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees until warmed.
Love,
Mom
N.B. I devised “PhilanthRecipe” as an homage to equally annoying neologisms like “webinar,” “jeggings,” “datagogy” and even “blog.”
My favorite thing to make for Thanksgiving is a sweet potato pie (it’s actually yams). This, however, is a quick dish my mom liked to put together with the yams that were left over. I grabbed this version from Epicurious.com, but it’s pretty much how my mom did it. She boiled the yams instead of steaming them though.
Cranberry Sauce
2 cups of water
1 3/4 to 2 cups of sugar
1 16 oz bag of cranberries
Combine sugar & water in a large saucepan and bring water to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar; boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Add cranberries. Cook, uncovered, over high heat 5 – 6 minutes until skins pop. Remove from heat and chill. If you want thicker sauce in order to mold, cook 10-12 minutes. To add a bit of flavor, you can add cinnamon sticks or orange zest and some orange juice.
Easy, simple, and sooooooo delicious:
Sweet Potato and marshmallow spread/sammy:
A couple sweet potatoes
Mini marshmallows
French bread
Mush up the yams, add mini marshmallows, cut the bread into slices, spread the yams and mallows on the bread. Broil until mallows are toasted and eat!
Great for kids and a fun twist on the traditional turkey side dish 🙂
Calabacitas (New Mexican favorite)
Slice zucchini and yellow squash, put in casserole dish. Mix in 1-2 cans creamed corn, sliced onions, chopped green chile, seasoning to taste. Bake at 350 until squash is tender.
Favorite and easiest recipe: 1 bag cranberries, 1 orange, sugar. Food process the cranberries and zest of orange. Add orange juice. Add sugar to taste – wonderful, fresh chutney:)
Bass Ale. Always seems to be a perfect side dish to everything on my Thanksgiving table.
More a technique than a recipe: Philanthropy Pineapple. http://tinyurl.com/ys4zjk