Thinking about Thanksgiving - The Jewish Standard

Hello everyone. I have missed you. The crazy storms the past few weeks were ones for the record books. As you know, the Jewish Standard offices were basically closed for 2 weeks. Work was done at a remote location. The server (nothing to do with cooking) that houses all my work was unavailable. My house in Paramus was without power for 6 days, only to be restored, then out again for almost 2 days. We consider ourselves lucky. So many people are still without power and homes as you read this.

What’s ironic is that basically with almost 2 weeks off, I did little or no cooking. Our lifeline was items we kept in coolers, replenishing ice. We cooked soup on our gas cook top and were able to grill outdoors. We also had a bin with peanut butter, bread, and of course, lots of snacks. There was also lots of nice quiet time with board games, cards, etc. My husband and I ventured out to get flu shots as an activity and visited with our wonderful backyard neighbors who miraculously, never lost power. They were kind enough to run an extension cord from their outdoor socket to our home.. thus giving us one lamp to light and a tap strip to plug in our phones. Extension cords can be very dangerous. We were tempted to plug in a portable heater, but our neighbor, who is a fellow congregant at our shul, and World War II veteran, alerted us not to.. as heaters must be plugged into a wall outlet, not an extension cord. (Read the tags on the heater).

Anyway, there was lots of quality time with friends and many memories.

With that in mind, I thought it would be a great idea to send a few recipes for Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for this year.

Corn maize pudding

2 cans corn (one kernel and one creamed)
2 eggs
1 cup non-dairy creamer (thawed)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons margarine
salt and pepper to taste

Spray a small square bake pan with vegetable spray. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Bake about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Let the top brown. Serve hot.

Sweet potatotes with fruits

For all the cans of fruit, look for fruit “in its own juice” or even sweetened with Splenda. Drain all the fruit and save the juice.

3 cans yams halved lengthwise
1 can crushed or chunk pineapple
1 can sliced peaches, drained
1 can apricot halves, drained
1 can sliced pears, drained
2 sliced bananas
1 cup of the mixed fruit juices
3 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine the fruit and yams in a casserole. Mix the juice, nutmeg, and sugar, and dot with margarine. Bake for 25 minutes at 300 degrees.

Whole berry cranberry sauce

1 package fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar (I have used the sugar substitutes and they work fine)
1 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice (with pulp)
cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves

Put water and sugar in saucepan cooking over a low flame until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and add cranberries. Return to a boil and lower heat. Boil for 10 minutes and stir. When it begins to thicken, add the orange juice and a dash of the spices. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture come to room temperature.

Cooking with Beth

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