This year, on ‘The Chew’ I noticed they are celebrating Thanksgivingakkah, because Chanukah falls on the day before Thanksgiving. It comes out of New York. Leave it to them to come up with something clever!
They say that it will be 79,000 years before this happens again, so I thought I would celebrate it here on the web with recipes for both Chanukah and Thanksgiving.
There are many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving….
Just above? An art group I joined opened me up the the world of Renata Spiazzi.
Renata Spiazzi’s Art before the computer in various mediums include Drawing, Painting, Sculpture , Stained Glass, Wood Cuts, Print Making, and Silver Jewelry. And after the computer? Don’t get me started!
She creates incredible pieces. Some of them will go up at the Pacific Beach Taylor Library 4275 Cass Street / San Diego, CA 92109. Exhibit dates: May 27 – July 31, 2014. I will be entering a couple of pieces of my own! And there are many more incredibly talented members that will display their work as well! Keep watching for it!
HOW ABOUT THE FOOD CHEF?
Ok. Alright. I’ll get back to food.
The TV Show, The Chew…. no accident that it rhymes with ‘The View’, right? lol
They’re doing a really good job of presenting food. You’ve got Iron Chef America stars Mario Batali and Michael Symon (and of course you know how great their restaurants are), Top Chef alum Carla Hall, style expert Clinton Kelly and NY Times Best Selling Author and natural chef, Daphne Oz (also known as the daughter of Dr. Mamet Oz, our TV Health Expert. Can you imagine growing up in that household)?
Anyway, I have never made potato latkas. I celebrate Christmas… and my daughter cries out “But mom, you’re a jew”. Well, my kids father wasn’t so I grew to see Christmas as an American Holiday. And anything that’s fun? I’m ‘all’ in!
So, I probably should have made latkas. Fried shredded potatoes? Not really interested… But watching The Chew motivated me! They combined Celery Root and Potatoes. All you’re doing is taking that box you have, picking a larger shred, and doing the ‘shred’ dance. I’m sure you add egg to bind it. But I heard something interesting yesterday at the Jimbo’s counter…. they make a vegan pumpkin pie and use almond butter in place of eggs, to bind it. So that’s what I am going to do on Thursday. Try to re-create this dish. I think rosemary potatoes. Great combo. And instead of white? I’m going to use sweet! Now I am not frying it in schmaltz (chicken fat). I was amazed to hear that schmaltz is better for you than butter and has way more flavor. But I’m going for grapeseed oil, and maybe a splash of macadamia nut oil.
I’ll let ya know how it turns out!
On the Thanksgiving side? You can type in ‘search’ Thanksgiving and scroll to the 2nd page to find all my recipes for Thanksgiving. Keep in mind, my daughter is vegan, so I have been creating a Very Vegan Thanksgiving for two years and running. I remember doing a vegan green bean casserole last year I liked, and here are some of the top hints:
“It’s amazing what a little arrowroot mixed with a bit of water will do to thicken up any sauce. It’s like a miracle! lol
The only mistake you can make is to add too much arrowroot. So add it a little at a time until you get your expected consistency.
And guess what else? You can caramelize onions, shallots and mushrooms, throw in some chopped garlic before you add your Coconut Creamer and some broth (in this case vegetable broth) and now this not only looks good, but it tastes good too.
Yeah. We eat with our eyes. But the thing about this Vegan Thanksgiving that you must do? You have to deliver the flavor. And you have to find ways to do it with things that come out of the ground”.
WOW! THANK YOU CHEF MARIAN!
Awwww…. it was nothing!
Well, this year I decided to give you another video. This is my holiday gift to you, explaining how and why to lighten up your meals this year, holiday time. I’m not alone in this. The National Association of Restaurants just put out a blog titled: How to trim calories off your Thanksgiving Feast”. They say “33 million Americans plan to dine out or order takeout this Thanksgiving“. They offer things like: Chew your food slowly, portion control your food.
My slant is a little different, cause it’s health based, not calorie based. I’m not interested in you cutting calories and depriving yourself. I’m interested in making slight shifts in your thinking, to make better choices. Here. Listen in to my video. (Click on my video). It’s called ‘Chef Marian’s Holiday Solutions’.
I’ve got two words for ya!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian