Incredibly late post, I know. I’ve been swamped at work, and I was at An Event Apart design conference all last week. The food has long since been eaten, but you can still have the recipes. I’ll let you figure out the procedures, I’ll just list ingredients.

My best friend, Gaby, my sister, Lily, and I cooked our entire Thanksgiving meal from scratch. It was the first year with no parents or extend family. Gaby’s grandmother was nice enough to let us use her kitchen in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Everything we made was completely organic, most of it was paleo/vegan (my sister can’t eat dairy etc), except for the stuffing, gravy, and turkey. If you’re afraid of that kind of thing, don’t be. It all tasted delicious. Nothing was trying to act like anything else, we just celebrated the pure ingredients.

We prepared multiple dishes simultaneously, but I’ve grouped the photographs into their respective recipes.

What we made:

Turkey, obviously. Gaby made a dry brine and marinated it overnight, then baked according to New York Times’ cooking instructions.

STUFFING

6-8 medium Carrots, shaved/grated
one head of celery
2 yellow onions
fresh sage
fresh thyme
one fresh fennel bulb
two pippin apples
a few chopped fennel leaves
crimini and chanterelle mushrooms
one whole wheat challah loaf, toasted

Sautée the mirepoix in a French oven (room for all the ingredients), then slowly add the other ingredients based on cook time. Add the cubes of toasted bread, mix, then bake stuffing mixture until done.

YAMS

4 kinds of Japanese yams, mixed chopped
Fresh Rosemary and sage (sprigs that were in with the turkey)
Olive oil
Baked at 400*F for 35 min

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

two red onions
one shallot
fennel leaves
fresh mint
butternut squash, cut into chunks
pine nuts
served over a bed of sautéed kale with sesame oil

BRUSSELS SPROUTS HASH

brussels sprouts, finely chopped
fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon
olive oil

CRANBERRY SAUCE

Zest from two lemons
Juice from one lemon
Zest from 3 clementines
Whole fruit chunks from 3 clementines
8 oz cranberries
1/2 cup of water
1/2 a med-large pippin apple, shredded
Pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp each of honey and maple syrup

I’m proud of this one because I didn’t follow any recipe and it came out great. Keep simmering the sauce until it doesn’t taste like raw spices or oranges anymore; it may take an hour or so.

GRAVY

turkey neck
one shallot
crimini mushroom stems
olive oil
splash of white wine
1/4 cup of rice flour
1/4 cup broth with flour mixed
splash more broth
all the drippings from the turkey
fresh rosemary

SALAD

fresh baby kale, lightly sesame oiled
red leaf lettuce, torn not chopped
seeds from one whole pomegranate (see instructions)
sliced persimmon
pecans
currents
balsamic vinaigrette

PUMPKIN PIE

We combined the filling from one recipe and the crust from another. Tip, if you’re doing this: Cook the filling on the stovetop first, as it takes much longer to finish cooking than the crust does, and you don’t want the fragile crust to burn.

Filling
(for more detailed instructions)
1 tin of pumpkin purée
250ml of coconut milk (1 cup)
3 tablespoons of raw honey
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon each of the following spices: cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger

Crust
(we doubled this recipe because we like thicker crust)
(for more detailed instructions) You’ll need to bake this before you put the filling in it.
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Some pictures from the farmers’ market before we started cooking.

And finally, breakfast