Sunday, November 7, 2021

A Thanksgiving Side to Make Ahead: Broccoli-Celeriac Mess

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Perfectly in line with yesterday's spirited discussion of Thanksgiving plans, here's our own Celia Wakefield with a deliciously unique side dish for the holiday meal. It has all my favorite attributes: it's easy, it looks fancy, and you can make it the day before. I know the name sounds funny, but you'll be very happy to be introduced to Broccoli-Celeriac Mess.

 

Good morning JRW Community, and thank you Julia for giving me space and encouragement to share my food hacks with everyone. I really love coming to talk with you all. I have decided this time as the holiday season approaches, probably much faster than we are ready to receive it, that I would do my one and only original Thanksgiving side, which can be made ahead and shared throughout the year. Julia also said that I must tell you a Thanksgiving tale.

 

My first Thanksgiving was not on the shores of Massachusetts, but in a plane flying to St. Vincent for a delayed honeymoon. To set the stage Victor and I were married on Friday, May 23rd, 1969 at Caxton Hall in the Borough of Westminster (Google where the Beatles were married). He returned to NYC and IBM two weeks later while I languished in my small Pimlico house probably driving my room mates batty, as I awaiting the call from the American Embassy for my green card interview. 

I flew to the USA and landed at JFK on July 31st, 1969, to a husband that I really had not seen for any length of time over the previous 3 years. But in November 1969 we set off for a lovely time in the Caribbean. I knew it was Thanksgiving as Victor had a holiday, and had read about the Pilgrims, but I was really quite ignorant beyond that fact. We were served a Thanksgiving lunch on the flight down, and arriving at the Sugar Mill Inn on St. Vincent, we were served a Thanksgiving dinner. So lots of Thanksgiving food and that is what I associated with Thanksgiving -  large meals.

 Two years later Victor was now working for IBM in the USA, we had immigrated. Now we had a house in the ‘burbs, a daughter fast approaching preschool, and a US Thanksgiving on the horizon, which we spent quietly at home. However the following year Olivia was in preschool, her classroom filled with cutouts of turkeys, Pilgrim hats, pies, all carefully colored in. I realized that if we were to make our life and future in the USA, we needed to do as the natives did and embrace this rather singular holiday. 

Thinking back brings up many memories of friends and interesting doings. Olivia’s first grade teacher, Ms Mantell, decided that the kids would make a Thanksgiving feast for the parents with some adult volunteer help. Somehow I got landed with the pies. Picture me in the classroom with 25 or so first graders having them mix graham cracker crumbs with a little oil to make pie crust. If I find the photo in time I will add it in. 

Another year arriving in Maine for Thanksgiving with dear friends who had just bought a real (rundown with no heat) Maine Camp on Estes Lake.The parents had gone up earlier to open up while we waited for the school day to end to drive their daughter and Olivia up the night before Thanksgiving. We arrived to find the pipes had burst. Bob with Victor, his untrained assistant, had appointed himself plumber, and a weekend with no water other than that which we scooped from the lake. - washing, flushing the loo etc - and water from a local spring which was fine for drinking. I remember having to boil water for everything including enough to give the girls hair a wash as they were most upset over no showers. But dinner was cooked, was delicious and consumed making just another adventure. 

In 1976 amid all the Bicentennial celebrations another friend invited us to her parents home and a huge family celebration in a very large house with at least two long tables for the adults and another for all the children. It was my first extended family celebration and I was a little confused as to whether or not I was doing the correct thing several times but it all went well.

One year I bought a celeriac, I think I must have found a recipe for celeriac roumoulade, but between the acidulated water needed and difficulty in peeling the rough outer skin I didn’t get very far. But in the same way as authors have flashes of ideas, I had an idea. I microwaved the celeriac till the knife went in, steamed some broccoli and threw it all in my Cuisinart with some butter, sour cream and S&P. A beautiful pale green puree emerged with which Olivia fell in love. So there it was, my special Thanksgiving dish, no sugar required. 

 

 

 

DIRECTIONS:

To make my Broccoli /Celeriac Mess (apologies to Eton College) you will need some sort of Food Processor. It could be made in one of the small ones but it might mean cutting down the size of the dish or several turns to get all the ingredients mixed. With a very strong arm it might  be possible with a potato masher which while that might be fun is hard work. The other tool though one can do the recipe without it, would be an ice cream scoop but not the sort with the metal bar.

 

INGREDIENTS: This will depend on how many you are serving.

 

2 medium heads of Broccoli with or without stalk

1 large or 2 medium Celeriac

8 Roasted Garlic cloves, or a shallot sautéed in butter. (The shallot can be sautéed in some of the butter needed for the puree, just let it cool before adding to the other ingredients).

2 Tblsp soft butter (not melted)

1/2 -1 Cup of Creme fraiche, sour cream, or mixed goats or cream cheese (the real stuff not Philly, it would give the wrong mouth feel)

A splash of heavy cream if needed

Generous grating of Nutmeg to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

PROCESS: 

 

Cook the celeriac in the microwave for 6-12 minutes, testing with a thin knife after the first 6 minutes. Remove when soft and allow to cool.

Trim the broccoli into florets

Peel as much of the outer skin from the stem as possible, and chop the stem fairly finely

Steam broccoli till just done, check the stems. Keep the bright green color by draining and running under cold water to stop the cooking.

Cut the celeriac in half and using the scoop, or a spoon scrape the flesh from the skin, then using sharp knife held parallel to the skin, cut the remaining flesh from the skin.

Put the broccoli, celeriac, butter, garlic cloves* or shallot plus cooking butter, creme fraiche into the Food Processor. 

Give a good grating of nutmeg, and add the salt and pepper

Pulse several times until the ingredients are mixed well

Taste for seasonings and add what may be necessary

Now add heavy cream if the mix appears too stiff

Pulse again, then scrap out into a bowl. I like to use a clear glass bowl to show off the color

Store, covered, in the fridge, and reheat in the microwave 

 

* I keep roasted garlic on hand. I usually roast 4 garlic bulbs wrapped in foil and sprinkled with Olive Oil, at a time in a 350 degree oven for approximately an hour. Save in the fridge for all sorts of uses.

 JULIA: Readers, tell us about some of your favorite side dishes? Any recipes we should try?

54 comments:

  1. CELIA: Thank you for sharing your Thanksgiving memories and side dish recipe.
    I get it. My mom immigrated to Canada from Japan in the early 1960s and the huge Thanksgiving holiday meal was a new celebration she learnt to embrace.

    I still make her sausage stuffing with my turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The stuffing is made with ground pork, onions, celery, cubed bread and poultry seasoning (the only time of year she used that jar of spices).

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    1. You are most welcome Grace, congratulations to your mom for embracing Thanksgiving. Her stuffing recipe sounds much like mine, only I can't add bread due to a celiac sufferer in my family.m

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  2. My goodness, Celia, you’ve had some interesting Thanksgiving celebrations!
    Thanks for the recipe . . . it does sound delicious.

    One of our favorite side dishes is maple carrots . . . cook one pound baby carrots with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, 3 tablespoons butter, and about 1/3 cup water. Mix everything together; bring to a boil; cover and simmer until carrots are tender-crisp. Uncover; cook and stir until liquid is reduced and carrots are glazed.

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    1. Thanks Joan! Just found my new side to try for the holidays!

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    2. Thanks Joan, well when one arrives as an adult with no past history, it's all up for grabs and it has been fun. Your glazed carrots sound delicious. Good enough to eat without all the other dishes.

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  3. What a wonderful-sounding recipe - thank you for sharing it, Celia, and for sharing your colorful stories!

    I always make my mother's bread stuffing, although I have switched to whole wheat bread. Sautee chopped onion and celery in lots of butter, add loads of torn up bread (with crusts), chopped walnuts, and poultry seasoning (the can of which, like Grace's mom, got used once a year). Either bake in the turkey or pour on some stock and bake in a covered pot.

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    1. EDITH: Yes, I also try to make my mom's stuffing a bit healthier by switching to WW bread, but I forgot to mention in my post that the onions and celery are sauteed in butter, too.

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    2. I now usually substitute my own dried and crumbled rosemary, sage, and thyme (and now I have a Simon and Garfunkel earworm - could be worse) and fresh parsley for the old powdered stuff.

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    3. Same here...I use both fresh and dried herbs instead of the dreaded poultry seasoning now.

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    4. You're most welcome Edith.
      I just love all the stuffing recipes so will share mine. Now everything in this doesn't have to be in it such as chicken livers. Basically I combine ground pork (unseasoned), onion, chestnuts (a great substitute for bread), chicken or turkey livers and heart (yes I know but that's the European in me), parsley, thyme, garlic, wine and stock, butter /oil. Some of it items are briefly sautéed. This is a traditional Christmas stuffing which would go into the crop of the bird, with a bread stuffing in the cavity. But I often bake it in a dish adding some of the turkey drippings. It is delicious. In fact my last family thanksgiving younger grandguy stated that it was better than the bread stuffing he had demanded that I make. Did I write about this previously?

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  4. https://www.steverscandy.com/search.asp?keyword=ribbon+candy

    The above is for those of you who like ribbon candy. This is handmade/homemade and the very best. Enjoy.

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    1. FINTA: I saw the candy discussion on yesterday's post.
      Too bad the ribbon candy is too fragile to ship (pick up only).
      I have never heard of ribbon candy or tried it...I am intrigued.

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    2. In the 1950s our grade school always sold ribbon candy for a fundraiser. My mother loved it, so we had it a few times. It was so pretty, but it cut my mouth, and wasn't chocolate. But it still says "old-fashioned Christmas" to me.

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    3. We always had ribbon candy in our Christmas stockings! I loved it because it was so pretty. Too bad that NY candy can't be shipped, Ann!

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  5. Celia, you always share these stories and then recipes that you just threw together--you've got a magic touch in the kitchen, for sure!

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    1. What a lovely compliment, Flora, thank you so much. I do love thinking new ideas up and trying to keep them simple. I have a new risotto technic which I am dying to share.

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  6. I've always wondered what to do with celeriac -- this feels a little like a first cousin to creamed spinach, something I have never been able to make so it tastes the way I want it to. Or: creamed spinach meet mashed potatoes.

    at our Thanksgiving table it's all about the gravy. I always make a stock, boiling the giblets and neck (that way they never end up getting roasted inside the bird) with carrots and onion and celery. It always makes me sad to toss out everything but the stock an hour later, but by then the veggies and turkey bits are pretty much wrung out. Then use the turkey drippings to make gravy in the roasting pan -- sprinkle with flour to make a roux, add the stock, whisk until it's the consistency you like, and Bob's your uncle.

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    1. I do exactly that, too, Hallie! And I use the stock to sprinkle over the stuffing that gets baked separately.

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    2. Hallie, celeriac is a wonderfully useful winter veggie. It can be used fresh and grated in salads, too. It has a nutty sweetness, especially when cooked, and adds a subtle new note in the likes of chicken stew.

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    3. Which reminds me of: Kohlrabi which I mix up with celeriac and am equally clueless about, though I loved it when I had it once in a restaurant in pre-thaw Czechoslovakia (it was the only side veggie they were serving).

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    4. I once made a celeriac and celery creamed soup that was delish!

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    5. Yes, celeriac and kohlrabi are two veggies which were a mystery to me. But they were sold in the Ottawa FM and I gave both a try.

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    6. Yes, it makes delicious soup. Share that recipe, Lucy!

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    7. I am with you 100% Hallie, though with a celiac sufferer in the family I have had to stop making roux with flour and now find potato starch is the most satisfactory. Celeriac is interesting, it's really a bit bland by itself, but I think Roberta's soup would be delicious. I am also thinking of making a fennel and celeriac soup. I have lots of great local veggies. BTW on Kohlrabi, if you can get them a local farm when young they are delicious raw.

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    8. We used to celebrate Thanksgiving with a family -- 3 vegetarians and 1 celiac. We cooked a turkey- and the vegetarians didn't eat it. And used corn starch to make the gravy, which works just fine. I'd have used potato starch if I'd had it. It was a very complicated meal. A lot of dishes to wash before we even sat down to eat.

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  7. Scrumptious early-morning reading! Your videos are getting better and better, Julia and Celia. Lovely to watch.

    I mentioned bread sauce in my comment in yesterday's thread. It's super easy to make: heat milk in a pan with an onion in it; once the milk is infused with the onion flavour, compost the onion, then thicken the milk with breadcrumbs -- careful not to make it too stiff. Flavour with a generous knobble of butter, grate in nutmeg, add salt 'n pepper to taste. Voila. My mum always served warmed potato chips with turkey, in lieu of any other kind of starch -- I know, I know, sacrilege, but very good (and easy) and excellent for scooping up the bread sauce.

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    1. Oh, thanks so much Amanda, and I enjoy your blog too, though I must admit I don't comment. And yes, Julia is becoming quite the videographer isn't she? I apologize Julia, for not giving you the graphics shout out, you did a great job.
      Amanda, I do love bead sauce. I shall have to do some chicken and make some just for me. It's ages since I made it. I rem

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    2. Bread sauce! WHo knew?!? (But am I the only one who can't abide nutmeg?)

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    3. Hallie: No, you are definitely not alone in not liking nutmeg. Maybe it's an acquired taste? I learned to grate it fresh over the British dessert "Junket" -- milk-based, flavoured with vanilla and set with rennet. Sounds vile, doesn't it, but I loved it.

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  8. That looks wonderful, Celia! I've not tried celeriac, but this recipe puts it on the must make list. I'm a huge fan of make-a-head dishes, even if they need to be cooked on the day of the celebration. My latest go to is Hasselback potatoes. Crispy tops, creamy bottoms. Heavenly.

    As a side note to celeriac, I have made braised celery from an old recipe I found in Gourmet magazine. It sounds meh, but everyone goes back for seconds.

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    1. I still make recipes from Gourmet thirty years ago, when I was a passionate subscriber. I do miss it.

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    2. Thank you Kait, we do love it and I served it to Julia who approved too. I don't think I've made Hasselback potatoes but will look for a recipe.
      As for using Gourmet, I think it was the first magazine I bought upon arrival, we had nothing like that in London in 1969. I hated finally throwing my old copies away. I have 15 years worth saved but they were damp and moldy. I still use the techniques I learned, and loved all the great travel photos. their only real mistake was that last cookbook. Just too hard to handle and really poorly edited which surprised me.

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  9. Lovely Celia!
    My favorite side dish is Louisiana sweet potato casserole topped with chopped pecans and brown sugar.
    Happy Turkey day to you and yours.

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    1. Very Happy turkey Day to you to Margaret. I didn't grow up with sweet sides to accompany the turkey but I love them if they are served to me.

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  10. I am always so happy when you are here, Celia! I love your stories and your detailed recipes are so wonderful! I'll bet that Mess is a very tasty dish!

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    1. Well I love being here with all of you Judi. I feel as if I've made so many more friends and maybe sometime I will get to meet you all. I'm so glad you enjoy the recipes. Julia and I do work to make them work for you.

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  11. Thank you, Celia, for a new way to use and process celery root! I usually peel it, which can be a pain. It never occurred to me to microwave it and scoop.

    A month ago I was visiting my daughter at her new home in Traverse City, and they took me to their incredible Saturday morning farmers market. At one stall I stopped to admire the most beautiful celeriac I've seen in the States, and was chatting with the farmer about it, who was surprised anyone knew what it was. Another shopper was listening in and asked what she could do with such a homely thing. I suspect my rhapsodizing led her to buy one.

    When I was a child, and fresh vegetables in November were not as easy to find in stores, my mother made candied sweet potatoes. She made it atop the stove, freeing the oven for other things, and it was my favorite part of the meal.

    Drain a large can (or two cans) of sweet potatoes, add to a flat skillet or cooking dish (Mother used the flat Corningware skillet). Dot generously with butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar and/or white sugar. Brown sugar is better, but she was known to mix them if supplies were short. Cook covered until caramelized and shiny. I liked this better than the pumpkin pie.

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    1. It's my pleasure and you are so welcome Karen. Always good to learn a new, useful technique and one that can be purchased for under $10 I think.
      Looking back with you I think we forget the amount of fresh veggies that have come into our lives most recently. Moving to Maine has changed my food purchasing and cooking. I was completely dependent on the local supermarket when in NY. It's such a joy to cook with farm fresh veggies. But I am all in the your moms sweet potato pie.

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  12. I have a great receipe for cranberry sauce. You put one bag of fresh cranberries, 2 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 regular can of ginger ale, 1/3 cup lemon juice in a sauce pan, simmer til the cranberries pop, take pan off heat, let cool for at least half an hour and then add one package of rasberry jello. I make mine ahead of the day and put in jars in the fridge. Made this one year as hubby did not like cranberries and he loved it so much we had it all year, with chicken!

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    1. That is a great hack Donna, Cranberries are so good for us too. I think I will try some of your elements this year. Many thanks.

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  13. Acidulated water? Celeriac. Clueless. But this is SO much fun to read--you have such a perfect voice, Celia! I once had a kohlrabi and it waited in my fridge until it died and was...discarded.
    And my cranberries are so easy..simmer til they pop, add grated orange rind and the juice of that fresh orange, sugar, and copped walnuts if you want. And Triple Sec. :-) Into a crystal bowl, into the fridge, and it jells and is absolutely gorgeous, and lasts forever. If it's not all gobbled up.

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    1. Oh Hank, I am ashamed to mention the root veggies that have shriveled and died chez nous. In fact I saw a nervous looking small celeriac hovering at the back of the veggie drawer this morning. I think it's the one I decided wasn't photogenic enough for our shoot. So off went Julia to one of our local farms to hand pic my produce. Yes, your cranberry sauce sounds just like one Imade from Gourmet, and still do. I've got some local apples so am thinking of making a batch with apple and cranberry this year. Probably make a nice dessert too.

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  14. This is way beyond my skill set, so I’ll just have to invite the Hub over to your house so you can teach him! Love the videos - what a truly delightful cook you are, Celia. Our own Julia Child! Thanks so much for sharing your gifts with us.

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    1. Jenn, thank you so much for your lovely words, you have made my day, and you are so welcome. I would be happy to come over and show your Hub, and note I am very jealous here as mine used to cook but no longer. But send him the link if you feel like trying this. And please let me now what he thought.

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  15. So let's see - like Hallie, when we cooked a whole bird, the neck and giblets spent most of the day in a saucepan with water at a slow simmer, water was added from time to time so it didn't go dry. This magic liquid was used to make our oyster dressing, which is similar to Grace's except that we use cut up oysters instead of pork sausage. Grandma and mom used canned oysters, I have graduated to oysters found in the seafood counter in jars. We didn't use poultry seasoning, just plain old sage. They used the dried stuff in jars, I find fresh, often in poultry packs in the produce department, so I've got the rest of Simon and Garfunkel's song covered, except parsley, which would be lost on my family. Our dressing included butter and water softened onions and celery, the liquid could be used to moisten the dressing after the egg was added. I use dried sourdough bread cubes, with the really thick crust trimmed, for my dressing. That same magic liquid was then added the roasting pan, after it was deglazed with some hot water and the fat skimmed off for our gravy. We made a slurry of water and corn starch to thicken it instead of a roux from the drippings.

    Years ago, former colleague introduced me to Cranberry Green Chili sauce. He found it either on the chili company's website or small can. It's basically a bag of cranberries, small can of green chilis or, I think, 3 tablespoons of canned jalapenos, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar cooked in a saucepan for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick and the cranberries have burst. Add chopped cilantro or flat leaf parsley off the heat. Cool and serve as a side with poultry and pork. My mother liked it with cream cheese on sliced sourdough baguettes for appetizers.

    Thanks for the new side dish idea, Celia and Julia.

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    1. Oh oysters, how I do love them. Deana that stuffing sounds just wonderful, may I come over? Yes and like Hallie, making the stock in advance. While I hate to boast, I picked up about 5# of giblets from our local Harris Turkey Farm yesterday and I will be making stock for thanksgiving and turning the turkey lives into a country pate too. I think some younger members of my family would love the Cranberry Green Chili sauce, but I have to be careful with chilies.

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  16. Celia, that was delightful! And thank you for reminding me of celeriac, which I love but I don't remember seeing in the shops here recently. Now I am on the hunt! If I can find it, I'm trying your recipe for Thanksgiving.

    The non-negotiable side recipe for Thanksgiving is cornbread dressing. It is actually usually made with half cornbread (which I make from scratch) and half rustic white bread. Lots of celery, onion, sage, and butter, and all moistened with good stock. Growing up, there was always one pan with oysters and one without, but there's no one left who likes the oysters except me, so the oyster pan has fallen by the wayside.

    By the way, I am bizarrely allergic to kohlrabi, the only food in my entire life I've ever had an allergic reaction to! A shame, as I like it. It's lovely in salads especially.

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    1. Thank you so much Debs, and you're welcome re celeriac. The only supermarket that I find it at consistently is WhFoods (WhPension in my case!) but lots of our local farms grow it and that's where I found the beauties we used. I love cornbread, mind you there's not much I don't love. I can see it would make a great stuffing. Come up to Maine to visit Julia and I can meet you and we will go and splurge on local oysters.

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  17. Hello everyone, I am having a lot of problems with Blogger today. It won't let me make more than one post in Reply before it throws me off the system. I think that Google and Apple are having a snit. I will continue, but if you don't hear from me it's not that I am ignoring anyone but just too frustrated with Blogger. Thanks for all the lovely comments. - Celia

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  18. Another wonderful recipe and cooking lesson! Thank you Celia and Julia!

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  19. You are so welcome Pat, it's an excuse for Julia and I to play together. I love doing this.

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  20. What a tour de force in cooking techniques!

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