Thinking ahead towards Thanksgiving baking

[Mike Nolan]

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with a group of about 25 relatives, and we've volunteered to bring the breads.

So far, we're leaning towards a celebration Challah (two layer) plus an assortment of dinner rolls (probably some Parker House rolls plus some whole wheat and/or rye ones) and maybe some breadsticks. And for any gluten-free people, probably a batch of Brazilian Cheese Rolls. I can make a number of these ahead of time and freeze them. The Brazilian Cheese Rolls really need to be fresh, so I'll probably time those so that they're out of the oven shortly before we need to leave.

If I had a Kaiser roll stamp I might include some smaller Kaiser rolls, but in order for hand-folding to work they really need to be on the large side.

I'd like to find a recipe for the kind of breadsticks that are made with two different types of dough that are laid out side by side and then twisted together, but I don't really know what they're called. I'm also looking for other breads that you might find in a bread basket at a fancy restaurant, maybe a cheese fougasse (ladder bread). I've dug through my cookbooks and I have Carol Field's recipe for grissini (thin bread sticks) but that's pretty much it for 'bread basket' items. Any suggestions where else to look?

The last time we went to this group dinner, we brought some home-made marshmallow to put on sweet potatoes, and wound up using most of it to make an impromptu batch of Rice Crispy Treats. The younger kids had never had them with from-scratch marshmallow, which is so much different than either the stuff in a jar or a package. My wife thinks if we don't show up with a pan of them, there will be a lot of disappointed people, not all of them young.

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[Joan Simpson]

As much as I love marshmallow treats I know from scratch they have to be great.When I make them I add more butter and marshmallows than the recipe calls for.Your bread baking Mike sounds good.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I saw a recipe for Peppery Cheese Breadsticks in the latest issue of Sift. It's also on the KAF website:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/peppery-cheese-breadsticks-recipe

I'd like to try it, but the yield is 9 dozen, which is a lot for two people. I wish KAF would give storage or freezing information.

I would have mixed feelings about watching a neat homemade treat be used as an ingredient in a recipe that could easily get by with the store stuff. Sigh.

• This reply was modified 5 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

We will be hosting three friends for Thanksgiving dinner. They came to our rescue last year when we were in the midst of moving into our apt. before the start of renovation and didn't have the energy to mount a regular Thanksgiving dinner. This year, their chief cook and baker, is dealing with a continuing leg injury and cannot stand for long periods of time, so I invited her, her husband, and their son to celebrate Thanksgiving in our re-done house.

She will bring a special cranberry-apple relish she makes, as well as canned cranberries for their son. My husband will roast the turkey (probably using the apt. oven). I'll do the blue bag Pepperidge farm dressing, and since there will be five of us, I will add mashed potatoes and gravy. I'm not sure what to do for a green vegetable. I will bake two different kinds of rolls--probably Ellen's (Moomie's) and maybe Stella Parks' maple pumpkin rolls again (she gives directions for converting it from a bread). I'll bake my adaptation of my mother's pumpkin pie, which probably started its life on the back of a Libby's or an evaporated milk can. Apple cider would be nice, as well, perhaps hot with spices.

[RiversideLen]

BakerAunt, do you have your pumpkin pie recipe posted?

[Mike Nolan]

Yeah, that's the problem with a lot of breadsticks recipes, they make more than two people can possibly eat.

[BakerAunt]

Len, I don't think that I've ever posted it, but if you are interested, I will--along with the oil crust that I now use.

[chocomouse]

Mike, what a great way to contribute to a meal! Several years ago I did that for a large family gathering in the summer, a barbeque. I brought two huge basket/trays of rolls and breads - plain, sweet, savory, in all different shapes. I made things such as garlic knots, pain de epi, breadsticks, focaccia, cheese-olive, herbed, zuchinni, soft white dinner rolls, rye, whole grain, small (3 x 5") sliced breads, etc. My goal was to impress relatives with tasty and interesting shapes - to show off my baking skills! This hit the Wow! factor. And I had a blast.

[RiversideLen]

Yes BakerAunt, I am interested.

[BakerAunt]

Len--I'll post it in the next day or so.

I had dreams of doing the kind of bread variety showcase that Chocomouse did and Mike plans to do, but my husband's cousins seem to prefer the bread that one cousin brings from a bakery. The bread is ok, but it isn't wholegrain and not what I am wild about eating. So, this year I focused on cinnamon rolls, and those went over very well.

[chocomouse]

Today I baked orange cinnamon buns. I used candied orange peel, which I made from oranges I had used, in the filling. They are OK - the dough is great and was very easy to work with, but the filling needs more cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. The icing is simply orange juice and powdered sugar. My inspiration was the Tick Tock Orange rolls from Dachshound Lady on the OBC, but I didn't want to use orange marmalade called for in the recipe.

[BakerAunt]

Yes! The Nordic Ware Pumpkin Muffin pan (12-wells, each holding 1/2 cup) works!

[Mike Nolan]

This is the sort of recipe I was looking for at Thanksgiving. I've filed it away for future testing.

Cheddar cheese twists

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for sharing this link. I've been looking for something besides popcorn to snack on at night, and this may be it. Currently out of cheese, but will put it on the shopping list for this recipe.

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