I'm spending Thanksgiving with B's family this year. Mama- and papaFasu are in Thailand until the New Year and the rest of my immediate family has other plans. I went grocery shopping for my Thanksgiving dishes yesterday and the day before. I'll be the only non-turkey eating person at their celebration so I took it upon myself to make the vegetarian entree in addition to a few other sides and some desserts as well. I originally wanted to make the pumpkin stuffed with vegetable stew (yes, that says 7 hours), but as I was getting my shopping list together on Sunday, the list of ingredients just started to make my head spin, especially for the sauce.
So here's the Thanksgiving cooking list:
Entree:
vegetable enchiladas
Sides:
mashed potatoes
sugar-glazed pearl onions
sauteed spinach and mushrooms
either biscuits or rolls
Dessert:
pumpkin layer cake
Cranberry-Chocolate Tart
I was able to get everything on the list except for the chocolate wafer cookies for the tart. Apparently, they must be a dying or an already extinct breed of cookies, because I couldn't even find them nor do I ever think I've seen them in the store before. Is there such a thing as a chocolate version of a Nilla wafer? Either way, they're pretty elusive. So I ended up buying these as possible substitutes.
So thoughts on one versus the other? They need to be pulsed into fine crumbs for the crust. I'm leaning toward the traditional graham crackers.
Then there was the minor complication with the enchiladas. I decided to make those last night and froze them as suggested in the recipe. The recipe calls for 10oz packages of frozen spinach and corn, but TJs only carries 16oz bags. Being that my kitchen scale somehow *poof* disappeared, I decided to make 1 and a half of the recipe for the filling. As I was assembling them and got to the last tortilla, I only had about 2/3 cup of filling leftover. Somehow, I managed to stuff more than a "heaping 1/3 cup" of filling into each tortilla. Those enchiladas sure are looking cozy in their dishes.
I guess I have a problem with the term "heaping." If heaping really means 1/2 cup, shouldn't it just say 1/2 cup? The ambiguity in that term really bothers me! Anyways, hopefully the extra filling won't be much of a problem. It's a good thing doubled the sauce recipe! And what did I do with that extra 2/3 cup of filling? I did a trial run, being tested by brotherFasu. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smelled coming out of the oven. But as a reminder to myself, keep an eye on the oven towards the end. They're supposed to come out when the cheese bubbles, and I waited a bit too long for these.
I'm off work early today (yay!) to prep everything else before the feast begins tomorrow. And as a treat for slaving over the food, I'm going to go see Spinderella tonight right after I take my apron off and shake the flour out of my hair.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Comments (10)
Happy Thanksgiving dude!!
Either cracker will work, but I have used the teddy grahams and they worked perfectly. As long as you have a food processor either will work but if not maybe the big ones will be easier to break.
Posted by yahaira | November 21, 2007 12:45 PM
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
Posted by tut-tut | November 21, 2007 2:39 PM
Nabisco does make the chocolate wafers, but they are hard to find. They come in a single stack box. They are very similar to, but thinner than, the cookie part of an oreo, which I think you can buy as crumbs. Good luck with your cooking and have a great day!
Posted by Brenda | November 21, 2007 5:09 PM
As Brenda already said, Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers *do* exist and they are often very hard to find. Here's a link to what they look like.
http://tinyurl.com/2wb7uj
They're sometimes tucked away in or near the dairy (in the general vacinity of the whipping cream). I've also found them displayed in frozen foods, near the ice cream. It makes sense if you've ever used them to make the ice box cake whose recipe is on the side of the cookie box or if you've used them to make ice cream sandwiches. Otherwise, not so much. But now you know to look beyond the cookie aisle. As for the here and now, I'd use the chocolate grahams. I've no real reason why, I just would.
Good luck with the tart and happy Thanksgiving.
Posted by Sarah | November 21, 2007 5:52 PM
Yay, welcome to the new digs! I have to say, it's much easier to comment here than it was at the old place. I love the picture on the masthead... is that you and mamaFasu?
Your Thanksgiving feast sounds so yummy. I would have gone for the chocolate graham crackers, too. I think they'll crumble easier than the teddy grahams. I hope Spinderella was a fun as it sounds!
Happy Thanksgiving....
Posted by Karma | November 22, 2007 12:38 PM
Happy T-day, lady! Love your new digs :-)
Steph
Posted by Steph | November 22, 2007 10:37 PM
*drool* You're making me hungry!
Posted by Veronique | November 26, 2007 12:33 PM
hi yaiann, newman's own organics makes those oreo-like cookies, and you can get just the choco cookie part, prefect for baking! (i find the cookies rather dry for eating.) i've used them for chocolate pie crust and it turned out great!
Posted by carol | November 28, 2007 8:56 AM
YUMMY!
everything looks great
Posted by toya | November 29, 2007 3:52 AM
Recently I tried that type of red-wine-sauce vegetarian stew in a pumpkin. It really did not seem worth the effort required.
The sauce has such a strong flavour, it overwhelms the vegetables hidden in it.
If one was missing the flavour of boeuf bourguignonne, then this is the dish.
Otherwise other quicker choices seem absolutely reasonable.
Posted by Lisa R-R | December 3, 2007 9:32 PM