Revealing Shopping Carts

   



My Thanksgiving was a little off from what I had in mind. I got a nice whopping cold a few days before. Dinner was postponed because who wants to eat food made by someone with a drippy nose.

Then the ick spread to smaller people with a bonus of a stomach attack. It wasn't the prettiest of Thanksgivings. Needless to say, I was still thankful and full

I spent my actual Thanksgiving day grocery shopping in a cold medicine haze that made me overly reflective, a bit merry, crazy with the fancy squash and happy to be so blessed.

I realized you can tell a lot about ones Thanksgiving by checking out their shopping cart.


I may have been loopy from the medicine, but I had a great time wandering around. I slowly made my way through each isle, grabbing what I needed, carefully observing the actions of everyone and the contents of their wobbly carts.

First and foremost I wanted to scold anyone who added jarred gravy to their cart. No, just no. If you're already roasting a turkey you're in it to win it, so go for the easy pan drippings into delicious gravy.

Aside from the throngs of teens and husbands on their cell phones, lurking around the evaporated milk with bewildered faces, were the quick grabs- spices, heavy cream, butter, and donuts for breakfast.

I liked watching people scurry around, shopping for their day. Some carts were filled with lots of veggies. Perhaps those seeking super fresh, even all vegan eating. Others were catching up on lot's of prepackaged; canned cranberries, box stuffing, and Cool whip (I still love Cool Whip even though everything about it says I shouldn't).

From my quick inebriated observations I've found many people are willing to go pre-made on the dessert, but mostly home made for everything else.  Me? I'll settle for pre-made pie dough, but get outta here with the frozen pie.

I saw lot's of things that could have appetizer potential - crudités, dips, bruschetta makings. This is new territory to me. My family threw out some canned olives pre-dinner and called it a day. However this year my mom ventured out into open waters and made some stuffed mushrooms. They were fantastic, but I killed a lot of my appetite in 2 bites.

My favorite cart study of the day was spied just as I pulled out. They were unloading their purchase into the trunk; lots of ice, a couple cases of beer and a few larger bottles of wine. Now that's a Thanksgiving shindig in the making. Do you think they even made it to the turkey?

Along with all this snooping, I picked up a daring new ingredient to me. A kabocha squash. I am quite fond of most squash and usually grab a few of the usuals during the fall season; butternut, acorn, pumpkin and a couple of spaghetti squash to torture the kids with. This one was funky and bumpy and very unfamiliar. I grabbed it thinking that I'd heard the name somewhere and I needed to branch out.

Branch out indeed. I love this kabocha squash. Close to butternut in consistency, a little sweeter than a pumpkin and very velvety. The color is rich and deep, something everyone suffering a cold needs - antioxidants.

I stole away with my better-late-than-never-Thankgiving-makings, and decided to turn the funky squash to soup for a nourishing thankful feast. It was perfect for my sickly day. It was spicy, rich and full of flavor. I think even frilly enough to be a starter to a different Thanksgiving feast, but simple enough to come together in my murky, sniffly state.

                    

Kabocha Squash Soup

serves 4

Kabocha squash, halved and seeded

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed

1/4 small onion, peeled

2 dried chili arbol

salt 

Preheat oven to 375º. In a large oven safe pan place the squash cut side down. Add 2 inches of water to the pan and roast in oven for 40-45 minutes or until easily poked with fork. Cool, remove skin and place flesh in colander over a bowl to drain any leftover water.

While the kabocha roasts, in a medium large sauce pan add heavy cream, stock, garlic, onion, and chili. Heat over very low heat and cover with lid. Steep the large ingredients, but don't let the liquid boil. After an hour strain out the garlic, onion and chili, and add back to the pan. Add 1/2 cup of the liquid to a food processor and add 2 cups of mashed, cooked Kabocha. Let the machine get the squash VERY smooth. Add the smoothed squash to the pan with the liquid. Heat to warm. Season with salt.

I served mine with a nice dollop of cranberry in the center. The nice tart acid is good with the rich smooth soup. I think this stuff would be amazing drizzled over the top, but I have yet to find any in my stores. I've reduced a bottle of POM down to a thick syrup with delicious results. You could also sprinkle some mexican crema or roasted pumpkin seeds over the top for individuality and spunk.

So, now I'm wanting to know how your Thanksgiving went. How do you fill your cart? Lots of veg? Cool whip? Canned cranberries? Mucho booze? Nyquil? 

I certainly hope it was a good one!