A, one of my closest college friends, was moving to Cairo for the year. I did what any selfless friend would do in the situation and sent her off properly, accompanying her with one week in Cairo and one in Lebanon. D, another friend of ours, is Egyptian. Even though she would be knee-deep in her studies (a blossoming PhD), D offered to take us to her beach hideaway for a weekend away from the craze that is Cairo. (D also introduced me to roasted pigeon on this trip, a succulent feast that should be eaten with your hands, courtside the main Cairo market.)

D’s mother is yet another food goddess incarnate I have met in the voyage of life. Upon our arrival, she fluttered about, pushing her homemade and fresh delights onto us: Stuffed grape leaves, stuffed eggplants, chicken, lamb, flatbreads, olives, fruits, and countless varieties of feta. At each meal we merrily plunged more and more food into our bellies, and D’s mother, in true Middle Eastern hospitality, kept pushing more onto us. In between bites I discussed recipes with her, especially for my favorite, the stuffed eggplants. We would finish each meal with fresh brewed Arabic coffee on the roof, smelling the salted air now tainted with cardamom, while D’s mother would hurry off to bed in preparation for her dawn beach appointment.

These eggplants are sweet, savory and delicious, but a poor imitation of perfection (they also look like a ruptured artery in the picture). If I could sweep D’s mother away from the beach to make these for me I gladly would. Even better, I prefer spending my days with her on the beaches of Sinai being stuffed to the gills with her home-cooked amusements.

STUFFED EGGPLANTS W/ POMEGRANATE & PINE NUTS
Serves 6. Prep time= 45 min. Cook time= 45 min.
8 small (4-5 inch in length) eggplants (if you can find smaller ones, by all means use them– just purchase more. They are easier to clean and will be more flavorful.)
Filling
¾- 1 lb ground beef (or lamb)
1 cup wild rice
1 onion, chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
5 Tbl pine nuts, toasted
5 Tbl pomegranate molasses (available at specialty, Asian and Middle Eastern stores)
8 fresh mint leaves, chopped
juice of ½ lemon
1 pomegranate, deseeded

1) In a saucepot, begin the rice according to the directions on the package
2) While rice is cooking, in a large saucepan, on medium heat, add meat, onion and garlic. Break apart meat and cook until meat is browned, stir occasionally.
3) While meat-onion-garlic is cooking, toast the pine nuts (in a toaster oven on medium or 5-10 min in the oven on broil) until lightly browned. Deseed the pomegranate.
4) Hollow out the eggplants: Clean and cut the tops off. Use a small knife to start the process then a spoon to scrape the remaining meat (and mostly seeds) out. Be careful not to puncture or tear the skin (eggplant skin is fairly tough pre-cooked so this should not be too much of a problem). Hollow out the eggplant as much as possible. It is okay to leave a small perimeter of meat along the edges. (To do this quickly takes a little practice so keep an eye on the meat and rice. If either are finished just turn the burners off).
5) At this point, the rice should have about 10-15 min cook time remaining. Preheat the oven to 350F. When meat is done, turn stovetop off, add pine nuts, pomegranate molasses, mint, lemon juice, and pomegranate seeds. When rice is complete, add rice to the meat mixture (or add the meat to the rice if the saucepan is not large enough). Stir until evenly blended.
6) Using a spoon, stuff the filling into the eggplants, packing it in well (as you see ice cream scoopers pack a fresh pint of ice cream). Once done, cover with aluminum foil and bake on middle rack for 35-45 min, until eggplants are soft.
7) Keep any remaining filling to stuff more eggplants, zucchini or bell peppers—or just eat it on the side.

As I debarked the plane in Chicago this past Tuesday, my mother surprised me: “So I thought you can drop your things at home, create a menu for Thursday, and we can go shopping?”
“What? You haven’t done anything yet?”
“No, I thought you could help out this year.”
What she really meant was, “Oh, I thought I would enslave you to do pretty close to everything this year.”

To answer Mr. Shinn, I think having a large feast for Thanksgiving is okay. Yes, you cannot eat everything, you will be bloated for days, have leftovers for weeks to come, but it is nice when everyone brings an item to share (no one did this in my family this year, instead they brought wine) you will also have all your favorites present. After all, it is the traditional vision of Thanksgiving many of us hold historically correct, no? Besides, the variety would be a spectacle in and of itself. But I will say, a small feast can also be a delicious one.

My family awaits the leftovers to make our Latvian Pancakes and turkey soup from the carcass (and whatever meat cannot be picked clean). My high school friends (who mostly live in Chicago) await the leftovers at my house for a tasting of what was missed– even when they are “stuffed” from their meals and “cannot fit another bite in,” somehow most of them manage to make room for what lies in my family’s fridge.

This year, my mother reversed roles. While she checked my proceedings to “make sure they are not poisonous,” prepared the turkey and two-day gravy (which she claims to be the most essential part of the meal), I cooked the remaining choice items for my aunts and cousins who would soon arrive. Without further ado…

The Thanksgiving Menu
Hors’doeuvres
** cheese platter with olives and fruit
** salad (much like the previous post of the “Play on the Mediterranean Classic”
** butternut squash soup
Entree
** mashed sweet potatoes
** garlic mashed potatoes (leaving some of the red skin on for color)
** steamed asparagus in a black truffle vinaigrette
** oyster stuffing (not very heavy, no fishy taste, pure decadence)
** (two-day) mushroom gravy (from www.cuisineathome.com, December 2004)
** turkey stuffed with orange, lemon and an herb bouquet
Dessert
** cranberry macadamia white chocolate chip cookies
** pumpkin cheesecake
** A good, inexpensive, Washington Reisling

If any recipes not posted are desired… please call out.

The Process:
Tuesday: Make cranberry-macadamia-white-chocolate chip cookies
Wednesday: Make butternut squash soup, pumpkin cheesecake, and gravy. Pre-cut and mix all salad items (except for the avocado)
Thursday: Prepare stuffing and bake before putting turkey in the oven. Stuff turkey and put in the oven. Put cheese out 1 hour before guests arrive (cheese should be served at room temperature). Cut avocado and add to salad before ready to serve. 45 min before eating start potatoes. Prepare vinaigrette for asparagus. 5 minutes before eating, lightly steam asparagus. Dessert is already complete.

I am now older, and I like to think wiser. I have come to understand a few of the essential vitamins my body needs, and I have come to understand combinations that taste good– who knew fruits, vegetables and nuts are delicious? And how many combinations can there be…??

This Thanksgiving, when I asked my brother to aid in the food production (did I mention I made everything this year?), I almost fell to the floor in convulsions when he turned to the iceberg lettuce, began reaching for tomatoes, and announcing he could not find the cucumbers. No, no, no! (No worries, I set him on the right path.)

Saturday I put myself in charge of the luncheon salad. It was delicious, crisp, crunchy, sweet, salty, with each item perfectly indecipherable from the next. I make these salads in various fruit-cheese-nut-greens combinations depending on my fridge’s availability and you can do the same. This was today’s:

EASY GOURMET SALAD
Serves 4. Prep time= 10min
2 heaping handfuls of mixed greens
1 ripe avacado, sliced
1 ripe pear, sliced
8 dried apricot pieces, chopped
small handful of pecans, whole or chopped, candied or not
top with crumbled feta (or goat or parmesan)
3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional) sprinkle on salad

I covered this with a simple dressing to enhance the flavors:
1/2 orange, juiced (or lemon)
4-5 dashes of hazelnut oil (or olive oil if not available)
dash salt
fresh pepper to taste

Either juice/ throw all over top or mix separately and put over salad when ready to eat.