printNovember 7, 2008
Lunch before Thanksgiving
Feeding your kids while cooking Thanksgiving feast
Amy Landsman
I like cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I really do. In fact, I’ll gladly take care of the whole production, from the turkey to the pies. What drives me nuts, however, is having to crank out dinner the night before, plus breakfast and lunch on Thanksgiving Day, to my clamoring kids while I’m trying to get a major feast on the table.
Now there are lots of quick meals I can make for my family, like scrambled eggs or hot dogs. But I’ll tell you, when I’ve got all the burners going, a turkey in the oven and a sink overflowing with dishes, I really don’t want to pull out another frying pan and start making grilled cheese.
On those occasions when mom is cooking a big meal, mother-of-two Sara Zeldman suggests declaring “Sandwich Day.” Zeldman runs a Web site called SolutionsForBusyMoms.com and also has lots of make-ahead ideas on her blog at healthyshabbat.com .
“If you want to go dairy you can have cream cheese (with or without lox), egg salad, tuna salad, peanut butter, hummus, etc., or you could have cold cuts or chicken salad (instead of the cream cheese) if you want to have meat,” she notes in an e-mail from her home in Toronto.
One person who does not get worked up about whipping up Thanksgiving dinner is Gil Leder of Owings Mills. A former professional chef, Leder does all the cooking for his wife, Dayna, and their two kids.
Leder’s 4-year-old goes crazy over his homemade chicken tenders, which are easy to make the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (or even earlier in the week and frozen), then reheated the next day.
Florida-based public relations executive Leigh Cort has an unusual approach to keeping restless kids both fed and entertained on holidays. She prepares uncooked cheese sandwiches in advance, with the bread buttered on the outside and the whole package wrapped tightly in aluminum foil. While she’s busy in the kitchen, she assigns a guest to her laundry room to iron each packet. Safely wrapped in the foil, Cort swears the iron stays dry, while the sandwiches come out hot and sizzling.
Amy Landsman’s Macaroni and Cheese
I adapted this from a 1986 cookbook called “Comfort Food,” It’s a great make-ahead dish that’s easy to reheat for a quick meal.
2 lbs elbow macaroni
1 1⁄2 sticks melted butter, unsalted
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese, cut into chunks
7 cups milk (2 percent makes a richer dish, but 1 percent will work.)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the macaroni until two-thirds done. Pour into a colander. Rinse well under cold running water, with your hand or a wooden spoon. Stir the pasta around so the water reaches all of it.
3. Put the macaroni in your largest, deepest casserole dish. (I use a disposable aluminum lasagna pan.) Toss with the melted butter. Season with a bit of salt and plenty of pepper. Using a wooden spoon, thoroughly mix in the cheese. Pour in milk to just barely cover the macaroni.
4. Cook uncovered for 1/2 hour, or until the cheese begins to melt. Pull out the pan and stir everything with a wooden spoon so that the melting cheese is evenly distributed through the macaroni. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if needed.
5. Return the pan to the oven and cook, uncovered, for about an hour, until it is browned on top and the milk has been absorbed.
Gil Leder’s Chicken Tenders
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup pareve all purpose bread crumbs
3 eggs
Salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Crush cashews in a food processor. Combine bread crumbs and cashews.
3. Whisk eggs.
4. Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder
5. Keeping one hand dry and one hand wet, dip chicken into eggs with your wet hand.
With your dry hand, dip chicken in bread crumb mixture. Coat thoroughly.
6. Place on a greased sheet pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until chicken has reached
160 degrees internally.
7. Let rest for 5 minutes.
8. Serve with your child’s favorite dipping sauce.
Holiday Desserts
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet Potatoes:
2 13 oz. canned yams, mashed
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 sticks butter, melted
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
Topping:
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 stick butter, softened
1. Preheast over to 350 degrees.
2. Combine sweet potato ingredients and place in a 13”x9” casserole dish.
3. Mix topping ingredients together and sprinkle over the sweet potatoes.*
4. Bake for about 45 minutes, until center doesn’t jiggle.
*You can make the sweet potatoes ahead, but don’t put topping on until ready to bake.
Baked Fall Apples
3 Matsui or Granny Smith apples
3 Tbsp margarine
Splash of vanilla extract
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
Dash salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and slice apples. In a bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.
3. Place in a greased casserole dish.
4. Bake for 25 minutes, or until apples are soft and caramelized.
— Gil Leder,