Thanksgiving, belated

Procrastinating as usual, I put off writing a post during Thanksgiving day. I told myself that I might as well let the whole weekend pass and then put something up that covers the whole 3 days. Sure enough, I not only let the entire weekend pass, but also the entire week that followed.

Some of you might remember last year’s Thanksgiving post. It was already snowing outside and we attempted to host a Thanksgiving dinner. Uri made a beautiful big bird, as well as a ton of other food. We invited people over, but in the end almost no one came. It turned out that “Thanksgiving Dinner” is actually Thanksgiving lunch, and that if you invite people over for 6 pm, they’ll all cancel because that’s just about the time they pass out due to the enormous amounts of food they ate.

This year we decided, in the spirit of the holiday, to see how the natives do it. We accepted an invitation extended by some friends. Uri still made the bird (again it came out beautiful and delicious – thank you Alton Brown). Tamar made a cranberry coffee cake with rosemary strusel, a variation on a blueberry coffee cake from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from my home to yours (recipe at the end).

It was a very nice and international meal. The hosts were the only Americans. Guests included: 3 Cambodians, 3 French people , 3 Japanese people and 3 Israelis.

Why 3 you ask? Well… because Eitan was here! Last time Eitan was here, Uri and him got a little crazy in the kitchen. This time, they got a little crazy in the living-room, spending a ridiculous amount of time playing with the Playstation. By the end even Uri admitted that it was a bit like being 16 and having a sleepover. All in all it was a very fun weekend.

Now, a week later, I'm done with classes, I have one final and a few papers and then - that's it! The semester will be done, and I'll be free to nest (and blog).

Last but not least - as promised, the recipe for the coffee cake

Cranberry crumb cake

Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my home to yours

For the crumbs:

5 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp chopped rosemary (my addition)

For the cake:

3 tps cranberry sauce (originall:1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed))

2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter at room temp

2 large eggs, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

preheat oven to 350. butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.to make the crumbs: put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse, then add nuts and pulse again just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. piece of plastic wrap against the surface. refrigerate until needed. (covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

to make the cake: whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic ( I didn’t do this). add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) you will have a thick, creamy batter. If using berries: with a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.

scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Dollop cranberry sauce on batter and, using a sharp knife of toothpick, make swirls in batter. pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. there’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.

bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.