Giving thanks: some impressions from the holiday

"Ocean Might" © 2015 by Judith Grissmer

Wednesday
Running on the Audubon trail (running at all)
Road trip to the Northern Lights Bakery & Island Bookstore with Brad & Clint
An exciting game of cornhole 
Cassie playing the Mozart Bassoon Concerto
Cooking with Clint 
Dinner: good food, good company, Dylan explaining the true meaning of Thanksgiving 
Watching the UVA basketball game snuggled up with Mom

Thursday
Full moon over the sound first thing in the morning 
Watching everyone run the turkey trot 
A good nap
Watching soccer with Dylan
Talking to Grandpa Guy
A great meal
Watching "The Family Man" with Andi & Cassie

Friday
Keeping up with Brad on his slow recovery run
Lunch: ham and cherry chutney sandwich 
Backing up Brad's guarantee of victory at cornhole 
Island Bookstore with Cassie & Grandma Judy, then ...
Racing to find a good place to see the gorgeous sunset over the sound 
Mozart Bassoon Concerto (Reprise)
Playing "dumbass" games with the whole crew

Saturday
A perfect morning to run on the Audubon trail
Mom's enthusiasm for cornhole (and everything else)
Watching the UVA-Tech football game with the guys (despite the result)
Playing cards with the guys (despite the result)
Squeezing in one last meal with everyone 

Vegetarian Mushroom Thyme Gravy

Adapted from Food52

Time: 35 minutes

The original recipe has you steep the dried mushrooms in hot vegetable stock for 20 minutes, then chop the reconstituted mushrooms and add them to the gravy at the end. After seeing Cassie pick out all the little mushroom pieces, I realized I could get the same umami effect from the dried mushrooms by grinding them to a powder and adding them to the gravy that way instead. That has the added bonus of making this quicker and simpler to prepare, in addition to making it more palatable to Cassie. You can cut back to 2 tablespoons of flour if you want a less creamy, more free-flowing, gravy. How salty your vegetable broth or stock is will determine how much tamari or soy sauce you need to use.

10 grams (~⅓ cup) dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms (see note)
3 tablespoons (22 grams) all-purpose flour or Thai sweet/glutinous white rice flour (see note)

3 tablespoons (42 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons minced shallot (~1 small shallot)

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or stock

½ cup (116 grams) light cream

2–3 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce (see note)

1 tablespoon dry sherry

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt, if needed

    1. Grind the dried mushrooms to a fine powder in a spice grinder (a coffee grinder used only for grinding spices works well for this job), 15 to 30 seconds. You should have about a scant ¼ cup of mushroom powder. In a small ramekin or pinch bowl, stir together the flour and 1 tablespoon of the mushroom powder. Store the rest of the mushroom powder in a clean spice jar in the cupboard.

    2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the flour-mushroom powder mixture. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture turns a light beige color, about 2 minutes.

    3. Gradually add the vegetable stock, whisking well after each addition until thickened. Add the cream, tamari or soy sauce, sherry, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil (still over medium heat), stirring frequently, then cook just until thickened to the desired consistency. Taste and adjust for salt (you probably won’t need any) and pepper.