Seasonal Sundays: Unexpected Thanksgiving Desserts

Pull out the mixing bowl because this week's "Seasonal Seven" recipe collection tackles a some times overlooked side of Thanksgiving, the dessert table. I've chosen recipes that just can't be found in a bakery or grocery store but are easy-easy for home cooks, even during a busy time. Will you find one you can't resist? I hope so! Will you find one to repeat year after year? That too!

~ Skip Straight to the Good Stuff ~

~ PIN This ~

Welcome to Seasonal Sundays ...

As always, thank you for inviting me into your InBox. I do so hope to kickstart your food imagination for the coming week ...

Well, hey, anyone else still looking for reservations inspiration for Thanksgiving? I've got you.

THANKSGIVING RESOURCE PAGES
• Thanksgiving Menus, Recipes & More from Kitchen Parade, the one-stop page, all very organized for easy browsing and targeted searches.
• Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture, especially for vegetable lovers, sorted by everyone's favorite Thanksgiving vegetables.

SEASONAL SUNDAY COLLECTIONS
• 2019 Pick One: Just One Recipe Recommendation Per Course (including my personal timetable and mindset)
• 2023 My Dream Thanksgiving
• 2020 Thanksgiving for Two & Other Small Tables
• 2022 Last-Minute Appetizers
• 2023 Holiday Salads
• 2022 Thanksgiving Pies

In Praise Of ...

• ... the big ol' bright moon this week, lighting my evening rallies into the backyard with the dog


• ... also ... moon and all, only two more weeks of such post-surgical restrictions for said dog


• ... to create some "fun" for Thanksgiving, try these silly Thanksgiving headbands (affiliate link), they're really cute and honestly, not just for kids

Democracy Matters

It was the summer of 2014. My now-husband and I were taking the slow road home from northern Minnesota via northern Wisconsin, stopping for the night at Bayfield, right on Lake Superior. The restaurant across the street was right on the water, lots of tourists, lots of fishermen, a few locals, all happy for a pretty summer's day in the North, a pitcher of beer on the table and a menu of fish, fish and fish. We looked around, ourselves pretty happy for happening onto exactly the right place, no reservations, just good luck. But table by table, the room's tenor changed: some diners checking their phones, others heading to the bar to stand before big-screen TVs.

"Are you from St. Louis?" someone asked, gesturing to my husband's Cardinals' cap.

St. Louis was on fire.

Remember this? Probably not. How about #Ferguson? Perhaps more likely. Ferguson is one of nearly a hundred independent municipalities that make up the St. Louis metro area on both sides of the Mississippi River. It's also where a lone police officer killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year old Black man, with six shots fired from a distance including a fatal bullet to the head. From beginning to end, the whole thing happened in 90 seconds. Brown's body lay in the hot street for hours.

(Note: After investigations by local authorities and the FBI, no charges were brought against the police officer, there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable adult that he had committed a crime. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice cited the City of Ferguson for civil rights violations, relying on unconstitutional practices in order to balance the city's budget through racially motivated excessive fines and punishments.)

The killing sparked vigils, vandalism and riots (people may remember this photograph which won a Pulitzer prize). Arsonists set out to burn down parts of Ferguson and other parts of the city, including a business district called "South Grand" some twenty miles away.

Along a few blocks of South Grand, rioters shattered glass storefronts. The owners installed temporary plywood, even buildings left undamaged put up protective plywood.

And in the aftermath, the street artists arrived ... and began to paint, storefront by storefront, calling for racial justice but also community peace and city unity. The protest art was so compelling, strong images, strong messages, strong colors. We soon joined throngs of "tourists" walking South Grand, standing back to take it all in, searing their strength into our memories.

Fast forward ten years to this week. My husband surprised me with a visit to a new community center called Delmar DivINe, a forward-looking play on the phrase "Delmar Divide," the street that exemplifies the racial segregation that remains in St. Louis.

So why am I telling you all this, going ten years back in St. Louis history? about this new center?

Because the Michael Brown protest art was saved and now lines the hallways at Delmar DivINe.

And piece after piece after piece, I found myself weeping, reliving 2014 but also finding the art entirely relevant to this time while we simultaneously experience and fear the trauma wrought by the 2024 election results.

But is there hope, there, still? a promise of hope, there, still?

"Even in the Darkest of Nights, There Is Hope."

The Words of Wise Women

Regular readers know that I quote Jess Piper over and over again. Because she's a woman? No. Because she's from rural Missouri? No. Because she expresses views contrary to the popular wisdom? ABSOLUTELY.

• "As a former coach, as the wife and mother of a coach, let me give National Democrats a piece of real-time advice: use the off-season. Use this time to get stronger and better. Find your team capatins and support their work in their communities. Send them out with resources." ~ Jess Piper on her free (if you like) Substack newsletter, Democrats: Stay Home (and by "Democrats" she means you and me, beseeching us to "sow where we are planted" instead of focusing on all the "away" places and people.

Points of R.E.S.I.S.T.A.N.C.E.

• IT WAS NO LANDSLIDE When your MAGA uncle claims that Trump won by a "landside" ... tell him that Trump won by 255K votes in the 3 states that decided the election, a swing of 128K votes in those states and Harris would be President. That's no landslide, let alone a mandate. Source Seth Abrmson


• PUTIN OWNS TRUMP To humiliate Trump, state-controlled TV explained Trump's win by sharing nude photos of former model Melania Trump. To show who's boss, Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine after Trump asked him to avoid escalation.


• THERE'S UPSIDE: THE REAGAN MODEL "In 1984, after Reagan romped to victory with 59 percent of the popular vote [vs Trump, who's likely to fall below the 50% mark this coming week] and 525 electoral votes, Reaganism was universally declared an unstoppable juggernaut. But only two years later, in the 1986 midterms, Democrats proved the pundits wrong: they regained control of both the House and Senate for the first time since 1980. Those majorities enabled them to slam the brakes on Ronnie’s right-wing agenda, block the Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork, and investigate Iran-Contra. The lesson of the 1986 midterms is clear: the game’s far from over and there’s everything to play for. If we want to stem the tide of autocracy and kleptocracy, restore women’s rights and protect the most vulnerable, we don’t have the luxury of despair. The work starts now." Source Borowitz Report


• FOR TRUMP, IT'S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE "If it gives you any comfort, where we sit today, Trump is at his zenith. He is about to fail at all he promised, just like last time. He is about to look petty and foolish and incompetent, just like last time. He is about to look lost and meandering, and even more so, just like last time. He is about to feel angry and aggrieved because the country will come to largely hate him, just like last time. He is about to be challenged and questioned for his failure and the failures of the 'talent' he can attract, just like last time. He is going to hate his years as President, just like last time. He is going to be miserable and bitter and wish he had never run in the first place in 2016, just like last time." Source Amy Siskind


• WHO ELECTED TRUMP? UNEDUCATED WHITE PEOPLE Have you seen the staggering stats, the ones where you separate the votes of uneducated whites and the votes of "everyone else"? If the only votes that counted were from white people without education? Trump wins something like 500 of the 538 electoral votes, painting virtually the whole country red-red-red. But if only the votes of "everyone else" are counted? The numbers are reversed, Harris wins and the whole country turns blue except Wyoming and West Virginia. And now you wonder why the incoming Trump people are so hot to eliminate the Department of Education?

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THE SEASONAL SEVEN: Unexpected Desserts for Thanksgiving

For this week's recipes, I aimed for recipes with Thanksgiving flavors and combinations that ...

• ... think beyond the wonderful but kinda expected pumpkin pie and apple pie
• ... still featuring fall flavors like apple but also moving into winter-ish territory with much-beloved cranberry, often together!
• ... some make-ahead and some served warm

• THE RECIPE Apple Cider Indian Pudding The best dessert you've never tasted, maybe never heard of. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Apple Cake with Warm Cinnamon-Butter Sauce My sister's simple, rustic apple cake. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Baked Apples Fall's best apples baked in a warm apple-flavored browns-sugar sauce. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Cinnamon Apples Festive color for the holiday table.

• THE RECIPE Cranberry Apple Crisp A wintry take on fall's favorite, my signature dessert during cold weather. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Cranberry-Apple Pie A fine winter pie with a mincemeat vibe, just simpler, easier, fruitier.

• THE RECIPE Cranberry Pudding English-style pudding cake with butter sauce. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Fresh Cranberry Cake Best made a day ahead.

• THE RECIPE Pumpkin Pecan Pie It's a two-fer! One pie, two Thanksgiving favorites. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE No-Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie Part pie, part cheesecake in a gingersnap crust.

• THE RECIPE Thanksgiving Cake One cake with fall's favorite flavors: apple, pumpkin, cranberries and warm fall spices. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Spiced Honey Cake Sweetened with honey, warm with fall- and cold-weather spices.

• THE RECIPE Cranberry Linzer Tart An impressive European fruit tart, made easy with an almond press-in crust. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Fresh Cranberry Bars A chewy almost-blondie molasses and spice bar with bursts of juicy cranberry, topped with a scattering of sugar "snow".

What's Brand-Spankin' New?!

Wondering about a recipe from the last while? Check Recent Recipes from Kitchen Parade and Recent Vegetable Recipes from A Veggie Venture.

• THE RECIPE Oven-Baked Whole-Grain Pilaf with Quinoa, Barley, Kamut & Other Grains A concept recipe for rices, grains, lentils and more. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Oven-Baked Brown Rice So good, make it every week. (PIN This)

November: Reader Favorites

• THE RECIPE Turnip Puff or Rutabaga Puff A family Thanksgiving favorite. (PIN This)
  
• ANOTHER TAKE Squash Puff An old family recipe, traditional for Thanksgiving. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE World's Best Green Bean Casserole Yesterday's comfort food made fresh. (PIN This)
• TRUE STORY: IT CHANGED MY LIFE Happy Thanksgiving from the Green Bean Casserole Lady: A Love Story (PIN This)

November: Trending

• THE RECIPE Finnish Glögi (Hot Red Mulled Wine) Scandinavian-style hot red wine "mulled" with spices, fruit and for good luck, an almond. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Mulled Apple Cider Fruit and spices turn supermarket apple cider into something special and irresistible. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE (Sloooow) Baked Potatoes (How Long to Bake a Baked Potato) One Hour Is Just Not Enough.
• ANOTHER TAKE Microwave Baked Potato

November: Recipes Lookin' for a Little Love

• THE RECIPE Apple-Butter Pumpkin Pie Naturally sweetened apple butter and pumpkin purée in an easy press-in graham cracker crust. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Honey Pumpkin Pie Sweetened with honey, not processed sugar. (PIN This)

• THE RECIPE Sweet Potato Puff with Bourbon A sweet potato casserole for grown-ups! (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Sweet Potato Casserole Honoring the tradition while transforming it into something contemporary.

The Kitchen Parade Almanac: Looking Ahead ...

• November 28th (just 11 days away) - American Thanksgiving
• December 1st (Sunday) - Alanna's Unofficial First Day of Winter
• December 1st (Sunday) - First Sunday of Advent
• December 1 - 23 - PikkuJoulu (Finnish "Little Christmas")
• December 6th (Friday) - St. Nicholas' Day
• December 6th (Friday) - Finnish Independence Day
• December 13th (Friday) - Santa Lucia Day
• December 21st (Saturday) - Winter Solstice (Official First Day of Winter)
• December 23rd (Monday) - Christmas Adam (Adam & ... get it?!)
• December 24th (Tuesday) - Christmas Eve
• December 25th (Wednesday) - Christmas Day
• December 26th (Thursday) - Boxing Day
• December 26th - 31st - Kwanzaa
• December 31st (Tuesday) - New Year's Eve

Looking Back ...

THIS WEEK, YEARS PAST
• 2019 Week Before Thanksgiving (Week 47)
• 2020 Thanksgiving for Two & Other Small Tables (Week 47)
• 2022 Thanksgiving (Week 47)
• 2023 Holiday Salads (Week 47) (PIN This)

RECENT WEEKS
• Substantial Soups (Week 46) (PIN This)
• Casual Fall Suppers (Week 44) (PIN This)
• Seasonal Sundays: Fall Recipes for Cauliflower (Week 43) (PIN This)
• Pumpkin Season (Week 40) (PIN This)
• Fall Baking (Week 39) (PIN This)
• Seasonal Sundays' Five-Year Anniversary: My Signature Recipes (Week 38) (PIN This)
• Fall Meal Prep (Week 37) (PIN This)

Soups & Salads Especially for November

• NOVEMBER's COLLECTION Seasonal Soups & Salads for November Tons of seasonal ideas!
• BUT DON'T MISS THIS Celery Salad with Dates & Walnuts A welcome respite for all the rich, plenteous Thanksgiving food.
• AND THIS Simple Sweet Potato "Potato" Salad with Hardly Any Mayonnaise Great crunch with a touch of cranberry sweetness.
• AND THIS TOO Quick Green Chile Stew A quick-quick bean stew, thanks to canned beans and green chile sauce. So good!

Good to Know!

• THE RECIPE How to Dry-Brine and Roast a Whole Turkey A dry-brined turkey is simple and uncomplicated and produces turkey with dark, crispy skin with moist, flavorful breast meat and dark meat. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Slow-Cooker Turkey Breast Plus Turkey Stock and Turkey Gravy. (PIN This)

Silly (But Fun?!) Food Holidays

• November 17th — National Homemade Bread Day (homemade bread recipes)
• November 18th — Vichyssoise Day (Vichyssoise)
• November 21st — Gingerbread Day (gingerbread recipes)
• November 21st — National Stuffing Day (Sausage Stuffing (Turkey Dressing))
• November 21st — Pumpkin Pie Day (Honey Pumpkin Pie)
• November 22nd — National Cranberry Relish Day (Thanksgiving recipes, scroll down for the cranberry course)
• November 23rd — National Cashew Day (Cashew Chicken Curry)
• November 23rd — Eat a Cranberry Day (cranberry recipes)

Trader Joe's Test Kitchen

We tried the brand-new Coffee Panna Cotta this week. The flavor is okay, not very coffee-ish, but the texture is way off, not lumpy but not smooth either. And the photo shows lots of coffee sauce: nope, hardly any.

MAKE IT YOURSELF? This recipe desperately needs new photos but the recipes are spot-on, see Coffee Pots & Lemon Pots, which are a similar concept, French custards called pots de crème.

Just Updated!

• THE RECIPE Laura's Healthy Carrot Soup Creamy without a drop of cream. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Paleo Carrot Soup Quiet-inducing, spoon-clinking good.

• THE RECIPE Old-Fashioned Chocolate Chip Cookies My husband says these taste "exactly" like his mother's chocolate chip cookies. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Pumpkin-Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies The familiar favorite with an autumn twist and twirl.

Something to Read

It's rare that my husband and I are into the same book but this one intrigues us both, we've listened to about a third of it. It's a master class in writing, which might sound boring? but oh no, not this.

For those of us who fancy ourselves as writers, this is a revelation.

• THE BOOK A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life (affiliate link) by George Saunders


• NO TIME TO READ? How I Read 4X More This Year Than Last What I gave up, how I read so much, what I read.

Don't Be a Stranger ...

I'd love to hear from you. Comment, send me a quick e-mail (my current address is in the FAQs), dot-dash in Morse code, build a fire for smoke signals, launch a message in a bottle, send a Christmas letter, get the dog to yip, toss me a note wrapped in a rubberband, write a message in the sky, scratch a note in the sand, listen to a seashell, tuck a question into a plastic Easter egg, whatever.

• Any advice for Seasonal Sundays?
• Just one thing that would make it more useful for you?
• Anything else? Chime in, chat away.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. When you make my recipes, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below or better still, on the specific recipe's page.

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