Thanksgiving Meat Dilemma's- Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling

A few days ago I was chatting with a friend of mine. She told me she was dreading going home for Thanksgiving. Why, you ask? Because while Thanksgiving comforts most of us with the promise of foods that only come once a year, it is not very friendly to our vegan and vegetarian buddies. In honor of my vegan friends out there, here is a the recipe for a yummy vegan ginger pumpkin pie filling from the Encyclopedia of Country Living that is sure to please every palate at your Thanksgiving table:

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 c. cooked-down pumpkin (for more about cooking down pumpkin, see instructions below)

1 c. cream of rice hot cereal (cooked and cooled)

2 T. tahini

1⁄2 c. apple juice (or 1⁄4 c. juice and 1⁄4 c. honey)

2 t. allspice

2 t. fresh grated ginger root

1⁄4 t. cloves.

Add all ingredients together. Puree all in a blender until very smooth, and

bake in an ungreased glass baking dish 30 minutes at

375˚F or until set.

***this recipe did not include a crust

To cook down the pumpkin choose one of the following methods:

Boil: Halve the fruit and scoop out the seeds and stringy fibers that are mixed up with them. Peel and cut what's left into cookable-sized pieces. Boil until tender (a half hour or so). To pressure-cook, cook the peeled pieces 15 minutes at 15 lb. pressure.

OR

Bake: Arrange your peeled pieces cut side down in a baking pan. Bake about an hour at 400˚F. Then scoop out the part that stayed soft and mashable.

On a personal note, I always love to save my pumpkin seeds and roast them in the oven for about 10 minutes with my favorite herbs. These make a healthy, yummy, and quick snack!

Tamales! Get Creative with Corn

I used to work with a woman who made the most amazing fresh tamales. Here is a step by step from Carla on making the basic ingredients in tamales, and then gives you the reigns to create your own signature tamale recipe. I can't wait to try this out!

A traditional tamale has three layers. Outside is the cornhusk. Just inside that comes an "envelope" of cornmeal. A meat mixture is inside the cornmeal layer-or mixed with the cornmeal. Or you can make veggie tamales.

Cornhusks These hold the tamale together on the outside and are the first layer you put down. The soft inner husks of green corn are best to use, but you can also use tougher husks. Trim away the top and bottom ends of the husk. Leave them about 6 inches long and rinse in boiling water. If you have to use very tough husks, soaking them in cold water for a few hours beforehand will help. Wipe them dry before using.

Meat Filling Boil 1 lb. meat (any kind: chicken, beef, goat) with 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, and a couple bay leaves. When the meat is tender, save the stock to use in making the envelope for cooking it. Dice the meat and sauté the cubes in a bit of oil. (If you are rushed, you can just shred or chop or grind the meat instead of sautéing it.) For "hot" tamales, add chili powder. For regular tamales, add some mashed garlic or just salt and paprika. You could add a few olives or raisins to each portion of meat as you put it into the tamale. Or green pepper, chopped onion and celery, tomatoes, cream-style corn, or whatever else you have . . .

Cornmeal "Envelope."

Mix 4 c. yellow cornmeal

1 t. salt

2 1⁄2 c. stock (left over from cooking the meat)

1⁄4 lb. fat (lard works well).

Beat this thoroughly to make it light.

Shaping the Tamales Spread your cornmeal envelope on each layer of husks you want to fill. Using the cornmeal outer envelope put the filling in the middle of your cornmeal layer. It helps to shape the meat into rolls the size of your little finger before you put them on the cornmeal paste. Now roll it up. Fold both ends of the husking down like you would the wrapping paper around a gift. Now tie it closed.

(A) Spread cornmeal mixture on husks

(B) Place small roll of meat mixture at edge of cornmeal

(C) Roll up

(D) Tie with string or husk ties

Tying up Your Tamales Use husk ties or string, or just stack them in your steamer for cooking and hope they stay together. It's safer to tie. To make husk ties, tear some husks into strips and use like string.

Cooking the Tamales You either steam or boil them. To steam them, use a steamer or rig up a makeshift one by making a rack in the top part of your canning kettle. Stack the tamales in it or on it, and cook until well done. To boil tamales, put a kitchen lid in the bottom of a deep kettle. Cover that with extra husks. Stack the tamales on top of that. Add the boiling stock that you cooked the meat in. You may add a few dried red peppers if you want the tamales extra hot. Cover tightly and cook until well done.

You & Your Cast Iron Skillet & Yummy Cornbread Pudding

Growing up, my father was a fanatic about the maintenance of his precious cast iron skillet. My memories of his favorite cooking accessory include him showing me multiple times how to clean it correctly, and struggling (and sometimes failing) to lift it. Now that I am older I can understand his frustration at finding the left over scrambled egg I missed in my eagerness to eat my morning breakfast.

Carla Emery has lots of great advice on using your cast iron skillet:

Cast-iron Cookware: When I was younger my favorite pans were cast iron. Now they're stainless steel. Both kinds are healthy and long-lasting, with no coating to chip

or scratch. Cast-iron pans can even be set in the middle of a campfire or in an underground oven with no damage. Iron cookware is also good for campfire cooking because it evens out the heat and holds it. And they don't get lost because they are too heavy for the kids to lug away. They will, however, crack if you overheat them, and rust if you haven't coated them and let them sit wet after washing. I have a smallish iron fry pan, a big iron fry pan, and a big Dutch oven for stewing, roasting, boiling spuds, and so on. You can buy cast-iron muffin pans called "gem pans." You can use any muffin recipe in a gem muffin pan, but here's one that is guaranteed to work.

You'd be surprised how many different styles of cooking pans you can buy in cast iron: a French fryer with basket, a stew pan, griddles of various sizes and shapes, French bread and breadstick pans, and more.

Seasoning Cast Iron: Baked beans, stews, roasts, etc. can be left in seasoned cast iron Dutch ovens treated in the following way without worrying about rust or metallic taste, since there is no exposed metal. Outdoor cooking doesn't hurt the seasoning.

Before using a new pan:

1. New iron cookware has a factory-applied pre seasoning coating. So first wash your pan thoroughly with a mild dishwashing liquid. Rinse and dry completely with a dishcloth. (Never let your cast-iron cookware drain dry. That's inviting rust.)

2. Now grease the inside with suet or vegetable shortening. Rub the grease in. Lightly grease the outside of the pan also. Wipe away any surplus. Do the same for the lid if it has one.

3. Place in 250-275˚F oven and let season ("bake") for 8 to 10 hours, or leave overnight.

4. Do not put on any lid while treating it, since it will stick on and you will need a crowbar to pry it open again.

5. Let cool naturally. Your pot is now ready for use.

6. Or you can apply a second coat - or more. Just repeat the procedure. If the first coat is spotty and has bare spots, don't worry. Just apply a second, even possibly a third, coat; that will coat the bare spots.

Re-coating: If the coating gets scratched or is burned off by overheating, just recoat as per above instructions.

Cleaning Cast Iron. Treat your seasoned cast-iron ware as you would a Teflon-coated pan. Don't use a scraper inside it; that could gouge off the coating. Don't use a metal scratch pad to clean it; that could create deep scratches in the surface, which food will then stick in. Use a plastic cleaning pad if you must. Dry your pan after every washing. Grease it if you want. I don't follow the school of thought that says you shouldn't wash an iron pan. That's unreal. If you are having trouble with an iron pan rusting, recoat and/or grease it after every washing. My cast-iron skillet must be at least 40 years old though, and it hasn't rusted yet.

Cooking in Cast Iron. Don't cook with cast iron at a temperature higher than 300-350˚F, or the pan may crack. Don't leave a pan on high heat with no liquid in it. First it will get red-hot, and then it will crack and be ruined. Your pan will get blacker with use, and that's what it's supposed to do. Mine are all coal-black. Never cook food high in acid content in a cast-iron (or aluminum!) pan. The acid will work on the pan, and your dish will pick up more iron content than will taste good. Your pan is for cooking only; don't store food in it unless it's well-seasoned (the pan, not the food).

Get creative with the best pan in your kitchen! Check out the recipe for Cornbread Pudding from the Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook!

Cornbread Pudding

Pair it with barbecued ribs or any slow-cooked meat or salmon. The cornbread stays moist on the inside, crispy and golden on the outside.

•••••

Makes 6 servings

4 1/2 cups cubed cornbread

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup thinly sliced yellow onions (about 1/2 large onion)

I cup grated dry Jack cheese, cheddar

2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

2 cups heavy cream

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

•Put the cubed cornbread in a buttered 10- or 12-inch cast iron skillet. Set aside. Heat the butter in another skillet over low heat, add the onions, and cook very slowly, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, at least 20 minutes. Remove from the heat. Scatter the onions, cheese, parsley, rosemary, and thyme over the cornbread cubes. Whisk the heavy cream and eggs with the salt and pepper in a mixing bowl and pour over the cornbread cubes. Let sit for 10 minutes to allow the cornbread to absorb some of the custard. Bake until set and golden, about 40 minutes. Serve hot.

Note: To save time, you can substitute cornbread made from a mix for our Moist Cornbread. Just be sure to let the cornbread cool completely before cutting it into cubes. For a more custard-like version of the pudding, increase the heavy cream to 3 cups, and use 4 eggs.

In Case of Emergency

If your neck of the woods is anything like mine, then the first storm of the winter always hits unexpectedly. I can't forget being snowed in for a week last Christmas if I try, or the winter before last when the wind blew down full-grown trees and left me without power for six days. In honor of the encroaching winter months, here is a guide to surviving the unexpected courtesy of Carla Emery and the Encyclopedia of Country Living:

How can you cope with primitive conditions - expected or unexpected? Keep on hand food to eat, water to drink, a way to cook and keep warm and see in the dark, a toilet

method, bedding to keep you warm, and medical supplies.

Store a few battery-operated radios and some extra batteries for them. In addition, have a plan for how you can get along with no electricity, no running water, no operational toilet, and no road access in or out of your immediate environs for a while.

Vehicles: In the trunk of your car, keep a few blankets, a warm coat, walking shoes in summer, and warm boots suitable for hiking in the worst weather in winter.

Medical: In general, store aspirin, bandages, antibiotic ointment, and a supply of your regular prescription items, plus personal sanitation supplies. Medical tip: Unscented sanitary napkins are excellent compresses for a bleeding wound.

Food: Eat up all the stuff in your refrigerator first. After that, eat canned goods. Don't open the freezer unless power will be out more than three days. (It may stay frozen that long if unopened.) If power is going to be out longer and you have a way to cook, you can cook everything practically instantly and preserve it by canning. Canned goods are the backbone of an emergency food supply because they're precooked, store without refrigeration, and can be eaten without being heated. You'll need an average of 3 cans per family member per day of your emergency. So figure the worst that could happen, and store twice that much. It'll be a lot of cans. Store foods your family likes to eat, so that once a year or so you can use them up in your regular diet and replace them with fresh ones. Full-meal cans of food such as beef stew, chicken and noodles, or canned spaghetti dinner are handy for emergency food. Kids will weather this sort of emergency easiest if their emergency food supply is basically familiar foods. Assume clean water will be precious unless you have a private supply, so store a week or two's supply of disposable plates and silverware.

Water: The basic rule of quantity for long-term drinking water storage is 1⁄2 gallon per family member per day, usually stored in gallon plastic jugs. Rinse them and change the water once every 6 weeks or so if you're using plastic. If you store water in glass gallon jars, it needs to be changed for freshness only about once every three years. Save more water for washing and flushing. If you know a disaster may be coming, fill all the sinks, the bathtub, and any other sizable containers - such as clean plastic garbage cans - with water. Then you'll have that plus your regular stored water. NOTE: Don't drink the water from a waterbed, even in an emergency. An algaecide in that water is poisonous. Don't drink swimming-pool or pond water unless you boil it for 5 minutes before drinking it or add iodine tablets (purchase from a pharmacy or campers' supplier).

Diapers: If you have children in diapers and usually use cloth diapers - which require a lot of water for washing- you might want to keep a supply of disposables in your emergency box, too.

Toilet: Where do you live? If you live out in the woods, you can go out behind a tree if need be. If you live in an apartment, that isn't an option; you could purchase a chemical toilet ahead of time against such an emergency, plus a supply of heavy-duty plastic trash bags to empty it into. Either way, store 1 roll of toilet paper per family member per week you are preparing for.

Light: Always keep on hand a way of making light if the electricity goes off. All the adults in the house should have a few candles, a candleholder, and a box or book of matches right with them in their rooms, situated so that the candle could be lit and mounted in a firm position even when struggling to see in the dark. In addition to the candles, a few kerosene lamps, Coleman lanterns, "barn lights," or other such devices would be helpful. How Many Candles? You almost can't have too many. The general rule is to store at least three candles per day you are storing for, or 21 per week; but it's good to have more. Fat ones burn down more slowly than thin ones.

Smoke Detector: Since you might be burning all those flames to help you cook and see, better also make sure you have a battery-powered smoke detector.

Heat: Plan a way of heating and cooking without electricity, and store a fuel supply for that system. For most people, that backup is a wood burner, even a fireplace. But fireplaces are not heat-efficient and are tough to cook on, so a wood stove, properly installed with a stovepipe, is better. Keep a supply of newspapers and kindling for starting fires and wood for burning, or you'll be burning your furniture if it's that or freeze. To keep the fire going for heat and bottle warming, you have to train yourself to wake up and put more fuel in the stove when needed. NOTE: You absolutely cannot use charcoal grills or hibachis to heat a house. They give off carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that has killed a lot of people who tried that. A propane or gasoline camp stove can be used in the house, and propane stores well.

Make Dipped Beeswax Candles

Wax-Fact: Did you know beeswax burns at 145

degrees?

I didn't. I did however, make tons of dipped candles as a child at summer camp. Making candles is not an activity for the easily distracted, but it definitely pays off. No one will argue that candlelight creates an atmosphere of comfort and romance, but in the days before electricity, candles were an absolute necessity. Whether you have beeswax to harvest from your honey bees, or need an craft project for a rainy afternoon, dipped candles are handy, beautiful, and easy to make:

You will need:

2 or 3 tall, thin containers (I used old soup or coffee tins) one with your wax, the other with ice water

old newspaper (to spread on your surface)

beeswax

Wick (see instructions at the bottom)

To melt the wax, I have used a double boiler on medium-low heat, or boil water and pour it into an old coffee tin. Place the wax in the smaller container, and put the smaller container in the hot water.

Making Dipped Candles: Lay sheets of paper under the candle rods and all over where you expect to be working, in order to protect your floors. This is very time-consuming and tends to make a mess. To work with a small amount of tallow or wax, you need a tall container, since you can't make an 8-inch candle from a 6-inch container. A 2-inch diameter would be sufficient; use metal if possible.

Dipped Beeswax Candles:

Dipped candles use beeswax more economicaly than molded ones. Have ready 2 containers. One has your melted wax in it. The other contains ice water. You can dip 6 or 8 at a time if you have a holder that will suspend that many wicks at once. You dip in the wax and then in the ice water. Then dip in the wax again, then in the ice water again, and so on until you have your candle where you want it.

More Dipping Tips: Tying a small weight (such as a little steel bolt) to the bottom of the wick will help keep it straight. After 1 or 2 dips, pull wick straight. Another hint is to alternate dips into the hot wax with dips into cool water to speed cooling. But you can't dip into the wax again until the candle is dry (you can wipe it dry). About 30 dips make an average candle.

Color and Scent: You can color your candles and scent them the same way as you do soap, but with even more freedom since you aren't going to use the results on your skin. For coloring you can use crayons. You can't use food coloring because it is water-based and won't combine with the wax. Special candle-wax colorings, scentings, and all kinds of arty possibilities can be bought from craft suppliers.

Cooling and Storing Candles: Don't cool candles in the refrigerator or freezer. They crack and become brittle. Do store in a dry, cool, dark place. But return to room temperature well before you plan to burn them; that way they will burn slower and won't drip as much.

*Wicking: You can buy wicking or make your own. You can loosely spin hemp, tow, cotton, or milkweed "silk" for wicks. Or just twist the material together tightly as best you can. You can make wicks out of common rushes by stripping part of the outer bark from them, leaving the pith bare. You can make a wick out of string or make long cotton wicks out of cloth strings made by tearing cotton rags. (Cotton cloth should have a good boiling before being made into wicking, to get out the dyes and various additives that you don't want to breathe.) It helps to braid your wick material.