My superchef nephew is roasting the turkey this year

[eridani]

That used to be done by my husband's younger brother, but he died of cardiac arrest a couple of weeks ago. We are trying to focus on all the things we can still be thankful for.

Two SIL's and I are playing dodge 'em in the kitchen doing the side dishes. I just put the green salad in the fridge, and made cream cheese frosting for the carrot cake cupcakes. Also having cranberry upside down cake. (Does anyone else loathe that canned jellied cranberry crap that was standard Thanksgiving fare in the midwestern 50s as much as I do? On the west coast I finally learned about getting fresh organic cranberries and cooking them with a little orange juice and zest.)

Everything should be ready in another hour. Have a great Turkey Day!

[Kali]

1. please tell me more about cranberry upside down cake!

[eridani]

3. Recipe

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tbs unsalted butter, softened and divided
2 tbs + 1/4 cup fresh orange juice, divided
1---12 oz baq of fresh (or frozen ans thawed) cranbereies; about 3 cups
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup whole all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup low fat milk at room temperature
whipped cream for garnish


Preheat oven to 350F

Heat brown sugar, 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs orange juice in 12 inch non-reactive skillet until the butter melts and the mixture starts to bubble. Let it cool and coat the sides of the skillet with cooking spray

Boil the remaining 1/4 cup of OJ and cranberries to a simmer in a medium saucepan until about half the cranberries have popped. Pour evenly over the brown sugr mixture in the skillet.

Whisk whole wheat and all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Separate egg whites and yolks. Put the yolks in a large bowl and add 2 tbs butter, oil, sugar and vanilla. Beat with mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Stir in flour mixture alternatively with milk using a spatula, starting and ending with flour. Stir just until the flour is incorporated.

Beat the egg whites in a clean and dry mixing bowl with clean dry beater (medium-high speed) until they hold soft peaks. Fold q/3 of the egg whites into the batter, then fold the rest in gently until almost no white streaks remain. Spread the batter over the cranberries.

Bake until the top is golden brown and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan (30-40 minutes). Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the edge of the pan and carefully invert on a serving platter. Let cool at least 30 more minutes. Serve garnished with whipped cream if desired

[Kali]

4. yum, thanks

will try this soon! sounds delish!

[eridani]

6. Well, after all that, we're too full to eat any!

Maybe in a couple of hours. I wondered why SIL had whipped cream out. Turns out it was a spray can of stuff to douse kitchen fires. I think I'll leave the garnishing up to someone who has had much less chardonnay.

[Kali]

8. OMG!

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. I made that cake a couple years ago.

It was delicious!

And don't tell anyone, but I secretly love the cranberry crap from my childhood. But we always had both, so I also love the freshly made cranberry relish, sauce, compote or jelly. Any of those on a turkey sandwich, with mustard and cheddar...Yum!

[japple]

5. That cake sounds heavenly. Thanks so much for posting the recipe. I don't like

canned, jellied cranberry sauce either. I make that standard recipe where you put one orange, a bag of cranberries plus a cup of sugar in the food processor and pulse until it makes a relish. Sometimes, I use a Meyer Lemon and other times I add a bit of basil, rosemary, or sage, if it's still alive.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

7. We did ours in the crock pot.

with chopped up apples, chicken broth, and maple syrup. Came out pretty well, even if I did have to hack off a few vertebrae at the beginning so it would fit. Also our standby side, cauliflower with sharp white cheddar melted over it, and stuffing with sausage. Dessert was leftover cinnamon candied almonds (which taste a lot like jordan almonds) that we bought at the 'festival of lights' at the zoo yesterday evening.

Made me remember why I don't go to zoos, though. They're depressing. Many of the animals are from warmer climates, and don't have nearly enough space to move around in good weather, much less in winter. And the arctic fox, which at least was ok with the weather, was neurotically running back and forth in a small path from one fence to the other, over and over and over.

[grasswire]

9. turkey sandwiches, pie, and tortilla soup..

...on the agenda for this afternoon. In Portland's city center square (Pioneer Square), the enormous tree will be lit at 5:30, with a holiday sing-along by Pink Martini band. I think we will go downtown for that. Very festive. Macy's Christmas windows are right there, and Santaland etc. But first I'm going to watch Stanford beat UCLA (hopefully).

Thanksgiving is truncated this year because one whole household of the family is down with norovirus. UGHHH. Not going anywhere near that! There must not be anything much more miserable than a parent with norovirus trying to tend two young ones with norovirus.