Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving Report

Did you all have a nice Thanksgiving?  We did... with three straight days of visiting with family and eating yummy food at Scott's parents' house.  Scott's parents have recently built a party room over their over-sized two car garage to accommodate such affair.  There were at least 30 people at any given time, and we counted 44 the last day when Scott's aunts, uncle and some cousins joined in.  

On Thursday, Scott smoked a turkey on his grill after braising it over night.  It was the best turkey he has cooked.  Tender and juicy meat with great flavor.  I made pumpkin pies and yam/apple casserole.  Saturday was pie day.  Tamsin headed the party by baking the most pies.  The rest of us brought a few each.  We counted 18 pies including the quiche I made.  My favorites were Scott's mom's pecan pie and Tamsin's lemon sour cream pie.  
         
Quinn got a new toy for his birthday... 

















which replaced this.  













Kai and I baked 30 loaves of bread today in three batches.  We are hoping they will get us through December.  












Kai operated Magic Mill, the wheat grinder, and the 10 qt. mixer Scott's dad made for us.  

Note his cool t-shirt from the reunion:)









Quinn's new favorite in the kitchen.  

20 comments:

jacquie said...

i thought my 15 was a crew! that's a lotta bread. you must have a big freezer.

twoplustwins said...

Sounds like a lively and fun time. I am sorry we couldn't be there but we had so much fun here in Gillian and Jonathan! I am jealous about the bread. I have given up over the holidays and we are buying from our $1 bakery outlet(it is $3/4 loaves ready to expire and we just freeze it and it taste great). It is nice to have a cheap alternative. I love the pictures!
~Kim

Gillian said...

Ahhh, Thanksgiving in Pullman. Sounds like you had a great time! Kim's right, though...we had a lot of fun here, too. You had 18 pies for 44 people, we had 7 pies for 8 people :-)

Anonymous said...

今年はご両親が近くてよかったね。パーティールームがあるなんてすごい!さすが大家族。開くんもQuinnくんも大きくなったね!

Growinguptogether said...

I'm fasinated by the loaves of bread. Did you use the churches cans for the bread? If so what recipe works well. And what kind of wheat do you use. Love to hear.

Melissa said...

Wow, I know where I want to come next year for Thanksgiving. 20 pies? It all sounds so yummy. The boys are looking so big and cute.

Marie' said...

Vicky,

I use #20 cans that the pineapple juice comes in. One year I bottled a lot of pears in pineapple juice and saved the cans. As far as the recipe goes, we have tried several, and settled for this one. The measurements are funny because we had to adjust it, but it works. We got our wheat from Scott's uncle's farm in Idaho. It is soft winter wheat.

Whole Wheat Bread - 10 loaves

7 7/8 C warm water
1 1/3 C honey (can substitute with sugar, but even a little bit of honey goes a long way)
3 1/2 teaspoon salt
10 1/2 C whole wheat (If you use hard red wheat, 9 cups would probably do. If you put too much in, the bread will be brittle. I start mixing without the last few cups and then keep adding until the dough barely cleans the sides. The dough should still be slightly sticky to the touch.)
10 1/2 C bread flour
7/8 C vegetable oil
3 1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast

-kneed in mixer for 15 minutes
-let double in a large bowl
-punch it down
-spray cans with Pam
-form 20 oz balls
-let rise in cans until the top comes up to the rim
-bake at 350 for 35 minutes
-leave bread in cans on a cooling rack for 10 minutes
-gently pull bread out
-let cool on the rack until completely cooled down
-put two loaves in each gallon sized zip-top bag
-store in freezer

The frozen bread will thaw on the counter overnight, or you can put it in the microwave for 2 minutes, one minute on each side.

I hope this helps.

Marie' said...

カローラちゃん
にぎやかでね。くたびれたけど楽しかったよ。
パイのレシピ、もらったらまわすね。本当に美味しかったのよ。

Mommymita said...

You do have an ideal meeting place with that banquet room - do you do a buffet or family style? We had 40 at ours but had to stand in a long line.

Kai is a great helper! Is that the original recipe or the new 50/50 one? I've got get working on that now that I have my magic mill working

Quinn is so cut and big - I can't believe he is one
My kids busted my salad spinner

Marie' said...

Alison,
The recipe is our new favorite.
We ate family style on Thanksgiving day and buffet style on other days.

Meredith said...

Wow- you guys have been busy. How fun!

Kimberly said...

Sounds like you had a Thanksgiving to remember! I've never seen bread baked like that before. Every time I visit your blog I learn something new! Just thinking of homemade bread is making my mouth water...yum!

Marie' said...

Kimberly,
It is the bread Scott grew up eating, and his parents have always baked it in these cans. The great thing about it is that you can fit 10 loaves in a regular-sized oven and there is no crust except the top.

yurika said...

最後のQuinnくん、最高なんですけど。笑
うちでもやって欲しいわー。

いいなぁー!
私もThanksgivingなディナー食べたいです。

Allison said...

That is a very cool looking mixer that Uncle Gaylon whipped up for you. How nice to make ten loaves of bread all at once! I have a few cans that size, maybe I'll bake my loaves in them next time. So 20 oz is the amount of dough for one can? Do you measure it on a kitchen scale?

Marie' said...

ゆりかちゃん
こっちに来たらサンクスギビングはいくらでもエンジョイできるから楽しみにしててね。
野菜スピナーも1日中「ボイーン、ボイーン」ってやってるとさすがに耳障りなんだけどね。

Allison,
I love the mixer. We use it to make rolls, too, if we are making a lot. 20 oz. (565 grams) is how much we put in one can. I use a digital kitchen scale from Salter.

http://www.amazon.com/Salter-Housewares-Aquatronic-Baker%2592s-%25283007BDWHLDR%2529/dp/B000JNXRNA/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1228345232&sr=8-7

Krustee said...

Hi marie,
I just got your letter! That was so fun to receive. I am in awe of your bread making. I told Kevin about it and he just looked at me like, "when can you start doing that?" Your thanksgiving sounds like quite the party and I love the heavy dose of pies!!

Hiroko said...

パイだけでそんなに焼くなんてさすが本場のアメリカ!!でも、一度に44人も集まるなんてそれだけ焼かないと、ってことなんだろうなあ。すごい!かいくん、大きくなったね~そしてクインくんのランドリーバスケット、リプレイスがあって嬉しそう!ますますかわいい二人だね~

Tribe M said...

Wow-what a huge Thanksgiving. SOunds like a blast as long as not just one person did all the cooking. His turkey sounds amazing! I love what Quinn's toy replaced. Jackson pushes around my laundry baskets all day. 30 loaves of bread in one day! I have to get a wheat grinder. I have the wheat, but nothing to grind it with. Do you like yours?

Marie' said...

Amanda,
I LOVE our wheat grinder. It is a stone grinder called Magic Mill and I got it on ebay. Scott's parents and sisters all have the same grinder, and they all recommended it. I hear great things about NutriMill, too. It is louder and uses metal blades, but I know people who have it are happy with it.