Thanksgiving Day is soon upon us! It's truly one of my favorite days.....so many memories! My childhood Thanksgivings were filled with trips "over the mountains and through the woods" to Kittanning, Pennsylvania - not to Grandmother's house, but to the home of my twin great-aunts. The pair of aging teachers would watch anxiously at the window and greet us with cries of "My, Oh! How you've grown!" The dinner we would share was always spectacular, particularly when I now recall how tiny their kitchen was! As our family grew, the celebration moved to Pittsburgh, where my aunt and uncle lived. By then, Dave and I had little ones who became the center of attention (other than the food, of course!). Since we were home schoolers, I used the opportunity for the kids to memorize and recite poetry to entertain the family. In preparing to write this note, I thought it would be appropriate...and fun....to share a couple of them with you!
When my son was four, he chose to recite "The Onion", by C.C.Ward:
"Tis very sad,," the onion said
And heaved a little sigh
"The only faculty I have
Is making people cry."
He got a nice round of applause, along with a few laughs for that recitation! His older sister recited "Thanksgiving" by Ralph Waldo Emerson :
For each new morning with its light
Father, we thank Thee
For rest and shelter of the night,
Father,we thank Thee
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
The family applauded for Kate, too, but in a more sober way. Smiles and nods of agreement went around the room. As you celebrate this very special holiday of remembrance and thanksgiving, may you find joy and gratitude in even the simplest things. Blessings to you all!
For roll recipes for your Thanksgiving table, please search our past blog posts - there are some goodies!!! This recipe might make a wonderful pre- or post Thanksgiving treat!
Cinnamon
Crisps!
Think ahead with this recipe – the dough
definitely needs to chill!
Dough:
½ cup warm
milk
¼ cup warm
water
1 Tbsp/pkg.
Red Star Platinum yeast
2 Cups
unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp + 1
tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ cup (one
stick) cold butter
1 egg yolk,
beaten
Filling:
2 Tbsp.
butter, melted
1 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp.
cinnamon
(waxed
paper)
Topping:
½ Cup sugar
combined with 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp.
butter, melted
½ Cup
chopped pecans
Place the warm liquids in the EZ DOH bucket, along with the
yeast. Stir to dissolve. In a separate bowl, mix the dry dough ingredients,
then cut in the butter (I have a food processor, so I just let it do this work)
. Add this to the yeast mixture, along with the egg yolk. EZ DOH-it until
everything is well-combined – the mixture will be sticky! Cover and place in
the frig for at least 2 hours (I just chilled mine overnight)
Remove dough from the frig and knead slightly. Let it rest
for 10 minutes. Roll into an 18x10” rectangle and brush with the 2 Tbsp. melted
butter. Combine the cinnamon & sugar and sprinkle evenly over the
rectangle. Starting at the long side, roll up the dough jelly-roll style and
pinch edges to seal. Cut into 18- 1” slices. Combine the remaining sugar and
cinnamon (topping) and sprinkle a small amount onto a piece of waxed paper.
Place a slice on the cinnamon sugar, cover with waxed paper and roll into a 4-5”
circle. Place sugared side down on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush with
melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and cinnamon sugar. Continue with
remaining slices. Bake at 375 for 10-14
minutes until golden.
