Picked fresh for Thanksgiving dinner

14 years ago

Here's the broccoli I picked fresh from the garden Thanksgiving morning.

The snow in the garden was half melted, and since I had already rotatilled all undeer but the broccoli, it was a mud pit. I spent 5 minutes picking broccoli and taking the pics and then another 20 cleaning the mud off my shoes! However, it was worth it because the broccoli tasted great, and went along with the turkey a whole lot better than that traditional mushy green bean/mushroom soup casserole glop that I've hated since I was a kid.

Well, this year my broccoli was set back repeatedly by the 3 hail storms, so about half of mine still had not been harvested when first frost hit. I knew it would hold up to the frost pretty well, so when I went through the rest of the vegetable garden with the lawn mower, and then the rotatiller, I just left the broccoli standing. It was really looking good, and I'd picked several more meals worth, when we got that major cold snap in mid-October. It got down to 11 degrees two nights in a row here at my house that week, so in the snow, I went out and picked all the broccoli still in the garden. When I picked them there were huge ice crystals INSIDE the middle of the stems. I figured that was it. So I picked all I could that day.

Then things sort of warmed up a bit for the last month or so. A week ago, I was surprised to see there was a whole new batch of medium and small sized heads that have grown and matured since Halloween, even though we've had frost nearly every night. So I held off picking them thinking maybe they'd be good with Turkey. When I picked them, there were a few that were a little sunburned but most of them looked beautiful. I steamed them, and we had them with the Turkey and they tasted terrific. Very flavorful, even the ones that were sunburned tasted great. Since I've recently learned to be a LOT more careful about not overcooking my broccoli (5.5 min in the steamer, not a second longer) I've realized fresh broccoli tastes quite a lot better than frozen. I used to think it didn't matter much with broccoli.

I also picked a couple of big handfuls of sage leaves for the dressing after digging it out of the snow in the herb garden. I like lots of sage in my dressing. This year even my 4 year old son decided he liked the "croutons" I put on his plate, so that was a major accomplishment, and compliment to the chef.

Did any of you folks pick something fresh for your Thanksgiving meal?

Bruce

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

colokid
14 years ago
Dang that looks good. My tomatoe in a container under lights did not make it yet..its only golf ball size. Maybe for Christmas.
KennyP
david52 Zone 6
14 years ago
It's been down around 10ÂºF at night, so I was a bit apprehensive that my plan wouldn't work. But..... pulled half a dozen golden beets, scrubbed and peeled them, you could see a discoloration where they'd frozen, but they were still alive and in good shape. Diced and microwaved for 10 minutes, they were perfect, just plain like that.

Pulled half dozen large leeks, cleaned and chopped them into 2" lengths, blanched, then baked with an apple juice / mustard sauce. Ok, but next time, just baking with butter and salt.

And we also opened up jars of pickled cucumbers, green beans, and okra, and baked a couple of our winter squash, and had jellies and jams as well.

We've been trying to do as much home grown stuff as possible for Thanksgiving - it makes it fun, even it it isn't turkey and stuffing......
Related Discussions
Thanksgiving Dinner
Q
Comments (17)
I wanted to comment on the corn, mostly for people from my zone or near it....I will not grow Hickory King again. However, I will grow Hopi blue again for sure. There is only one spot on my property where corn will grow, a sweet spot that I think got lots of applications of composted horse manure over the last 50 years. Corn is exotic to me and very interesting. I got even more interested in it after reading 'An omnivore's dilemma'. I have been trying various varieties just for fun and to see how feasible it is to grow a crop in a 1/4 acre for grain (...not very....). It is OK, but just for holiday type meals. As I said, it will only grow well on that patch... I will have enough for corn bread to go with the New Year's black eye peas. It was nice to have something made from a non GMO, completely organic non hybrid corn, and share it with our loved ones, some of them do care about these things. The Hickory King grew vigorously and gave us decent production, but the stink bugs were on it like it was going out of style. It was a real pain to take the kernels off the cobs, since I sorted out the ones that got stink bug damage. It was also more difficult to grind, and i could not get rid of a bunch of really hard bits on it. For comparison the Hopi blue gave a larger production, grew as vigorously if not more, had no stink bug damage and was very easy to grind up. Could it be that the Hopi blue is a flour corn and the Hickory King a dent corn? I also loved the blue corn bread a lot better, even though I also like the flavor of the hickory king. Making corn bread out of freshly ground corn meal is so tasty, even with a less favorite variety. Anyway, as I said I love Hopi blue for corn bread and it does well here (in case any zone niner reading this is into trying it). I originally grew Hopi blue for tamales though, but I did not like it for tamales. I am still looking for some good tamale corn, and I would prefer blue. I know some blue corn is used in tamales since we get some at out local Farmer's market in South Pasadena, so what corn do they use? Thanks for the compliments on the raviolis. They went over big here in this crowd too, so they are on request again for the Christmas menu! Enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I will feel like making them and eating them again, so that is OK. Also, first year that we grow ENOUGH winter squash. Curcubita moscata is our friend.
...See More
Thanksgiving Dinner
Q
Comments (3)
Anne, looks like you hit the Thanksgiving Dinner jackpot! I won't have my TDay dinner until tomorrow. Don't know if you read the TDay "Duh" thread or not but I mentioned my pecan pie mess, and had to miss the family dinner because of a tummy ache. Anyhow, my DD brought me food and desserts, but I didn't want her to drive out here after dark, so she is bringing it tomorrow. It will still be good. Sue
...See More
Do you start preparing Thanksgiving dinner today?
Q
Comments (50)
We moved 1200 miles last week, so still unpacking, I spent an hour today searching for the good silver, which I had cryptically labeled for the move and then forgot the label. However, I made the dressing earlier because it freezes well and it made the move still frozen solid in DH's Yeti. DD lives next door and made a carrot soufflé and two pies last night and will make the green beans and Mom's rolls (I'm a pretty fair cook, but that particular skill skipped a generation and besides I haven't located my cookie sheets yet). I made the cranberry orange sauce tonight, along with spiced tea and an asparagus casserole. Tomorrow will be the turkey, ambrosia, mashed potatoes and boiled custard --all easy -- and I'll set the table (just realized the napkins are still MIA). I might also cook a ham to have with leftovers. It still should be manageable because we aren't planning on eating until 2 o'clock. There will only be six or eight of us, plus the baby.
...See More
Family Thanksgiving Dinner for Twelve
Q
Comments (42)
A repost. I will be using my grandmother's Theodore Haviland NY "Pink Spray" china. The menu is: Turkey and oyster dressing (9x13 pan) with giblet gravy English Peas Sweet potato casserole (no marshmallows) Fresh berry cranberry sauce Rolls Five cup salad Pumpkin pie with whipped cream I will probably have to add canned green beans and canned corn for the youngest two grandchildren. This a request from them. No extra seasoning and no frozen or fresh allowed, LOL. Seasoned, injected, wet brine, or dry brine not wanted. Also no grilled, smoked, or fried turkey. The grilled, smoked, and fried is okay in the summer, but not for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Anything with added salt is not wanted at anytime. My husband is very sensitive to salt and does not like it (I don't like that much salt either). Yes, it will be cooked in a covered roaster to 165* and allowed to rest. It will be carved before getting to the table. The mess will be in the garage frig before anyone gets here and saved for turkey stock. I am not knocking anyone else's way of doing their bird (unlike someone on here), but this is the way we like it. We have lots of juicy turkey. Plenty for leftovers and enough to freeze for all the other turkey dishes we like.
...See More
Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)
14 years ago
That broccoli looks really good. I bet the family loved it. And beets too. Yum.

We had greens and onions and garlic and shallots from the garden, and pickled and frozen peppers for Thanksgiving and game night last night. A couple were horticulturalists from the Denver area and I think I convinced them to make little hoop houses for their garden.

I also scored some metal, finished 2x2 posts on a dumpster dive this morning,, a new wrought-metal post and rails. No idea why they were thrown away, unless the prospective homeowner didn't like them - anyway, a base for the new mini hoop house for more produce for the holiday season!

I am very pleased how amenable this climate is to season extension.

Dan
elkwc
14 years ago
Looks very good. I'm trying to grow greens in a cold frame but got them out a little late. Will see how they do. Hopefully if they germinate well I can have greens most of the winter. I'm still eating carrots and they are so much better than what you buy. I plan on using hoop houses more and hopefully will get a small greenhouse up by spring. I did dig another cold frame out a foot deep and put tree leaves on the bottom and then about 8 inches of fresh manure and then dirt on top. Will use it to start my wintersown plants in. A gardener I knew used to do it this way and had great results. Then move the dirt back and you have great composted manure. Says the heat from the manure composting makes a big difference. Jay
irisgirl
14 years ago
Hi Bruce, We too had brocolli; but the day before Thanksgiving. And boy was it great. Were just visiting a friend w/ a Ginormous Garden, and 'seeing how things are', when he said "Hey, if you want some brocolli, help yourselves." So we did. Got a couple dozen fresh eggs, too! Quiche, anyone? It sure was good...The carrots are pretty much reserved for his horses, tho. :)

Picked fresh for Thanksgiving dinner

Comments (5)

colokid

david52 Zone 6

Related Discussions

Dan _Staley (5b Sunset 2B AHS 7)

elkwc

irisgirl

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US