No. 280: A New Gingerbread Recipe; Thanksgiving Gratins, Sides, Desserts, Rolls & More
Plus: Join our chat today at 3 p.m.! And the Great Martha's Vineyard Bake Off happens this weekend.
🍰 Is Dessert the Best Part?
Choices! Three Thanksgiving desserts are better than one, don’t you think? Even after the big meal (and hopefully a walk or a nap), we still look forward to the dessert buffet. We all want a little piece of this and a sliver of that. (Just a tiny slice, please! Right.) À la mode, of course. That’s why this year I’m making a trio of Abby Dodge desserts: Classic Apple Crumb Pie, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Tart with Crushed Pretzel Crust, and a brand new recipe for Gingerbread with Pear Cranberry Compote.
I’ll admit, I asked Abby for the gingerbread recipe, as it is something I crave during the holidays – from Thanksgiving straight through New Year’s. It’s a nostalgia thing for me, I think. My mother baked gingerbread often, and somehow the smell of those warm spices reminds me of snow days and not having to go to school!
Yeah, I know, we’re not going to have any snow this Thanksgiving – at least not on the Vineyard. But we can still bake gingerbread. Abby’s recipe has a perfectly moist texture and comes with a bonus – Pear Cranberry Compote – to spoon on along with a swirl of whipped cream. In Baking Together #49, Abby suggests using any leftover gingerbread with the compote and whipped cream to make a quick, casual trifle in a wine glass.
Other Thanksgiving dessert ideas (clockwise from top left): Meringue Cake with Whipped Cream and Berries, Berry Rustic Tart, Apple Crisp, Apple Rustic Tart, Vanilla Cheesecake Puddings, Any Fruit Pie, Pear Crisp with Dried Cherries and Dried Apricots, The Ultimate Flourless Chocolate Cake.
🧑🍳 That Martha, Those Veggie Sides
The day before Thanksgiving thirteen years ago, I was on the Martha Stewart Show making quick Thanksgiving side dishes. Eek, every Thanksgiving since has been better than that one! But I still stand by those veggie recipes that I demo-ed. (And to be fair to myself, Martha did like them.) All three of them can go in the oven when the turkey comes out to rest, which truly is “a good thing” as Martha would say. (I have not seen the new Netflix Martha documentary yet, have you? And the one that CNN produced came out in January. It’s been the year of Martha!)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Orange Balsamic Butter Squash
🧀 🍠 🥔 The Great Gratin Affair
If you have a little more time to make your veggie sides, consider a gratin. A gratin of course, is really just a casserole, but with veggies arranged in layers. While I love my summery gratins, like the Layered Zucchini, Tomato, and Parmesan Tian, fall and winter gratins are a creamy, cheesy affair.
This Sweet-Potato-Potato Gratin with Caramelized Leeks, Spinach, and a Pecan Crumb Topping is so jazzy that it could be all your veggie sides rolled into one.
A little more straightforward but still delicious: Potato Gratin with Gruyère, Thyme & Horseradish.
And a recipe to highlight two of our favorite veggies: Cauliflower, Leek and Fontina Gratin.
🔪 Tip: To double a gratin recipe, use two separate baking dishes, not one larger one.
🫚 Truly Fresh Ginger
I finally got a chance to pick up some of the ginger Beetlebung Farm grew this year. (There’s still plenty at the farmstand.) I’m obsessed with how beautiful fresh ginger is with its green stalks, thin glossy skin, and knobby rhizomes that click together like puzzle pieces. It takes a long time for ginger to mature, and it has to be done in a hoop house in our climate, so it’s not cheap. But the spicy flavor and juicy texture is worth it. You could try it in Abby’s Lemon-Ginger Butter Cookies if you wanted to get a jump on holiday baking.
For Thanksgiving, I’d put it in a Ginger-Apple Squash Soup or in one of my favorite side dishes, Roasted Root Vegetables with Ginger Batons.
🦃 Bird in Hand 🐔
There’s a bird for every crowd. Just the two of you? Skip the turkey and go with a Simple Roast Chicken with Pan Gravy or Lemon Herb Sauce. Garden Green Beans with Lemon Oil and Crispy Smashed Potatoes would go well with that.
A small family gathering? Use this Simple Roast Turkey with Pan Gravy Recipe. Cook a pan of Tina Miller’s Vineyard Stuffing with Shiitake Mushrooms and Leeks on the side.
Need an entire menu that serves 12 people? Recreate this menu by Chef Michael Brisson, the longtime proprietor of l’etoile in Edgartown. Fun fact: Michael and I first worked on this menu together more than 20 years ago when I was at Fine Cooking magazine. It’s a lovely menu that includes Spiced Pecans; Wild Rice, Spiced Pecan, Apple & Sourdough Bread Stuffing; and Roasted Turkey with Apple Cider Thyme Gravy that’s cooked under a brown paper bag.
Here's the full menu, which includes a handy timeline.
If you need a vegetarian entrée for your table, these Roasted Koginut Squash with Apple, Cranberry & Brussels Sprouts Stuffing are delightful – and filling.
🥐 Rolls & Biscuits For the Bakers
In addition to making a dessert ahead, I also like to make rolls. I find the process soothing leading up to the hectic main event. My mom always made James Beard’s Sweet Potato Rolls for holiday dinners, but my staple is yes (no surprise) Abby Dodge’s Buttery Small-Batch Dinner Rolls. I’m also a huge fan of her Cheesy Biscuits Squared. And last year we were introduced to Abby’s Cheese and Herb Spiral Biscuits. So if you or someone in your family (or a willing guest) is a baker, share these recipes.
Find all of our holiday recipes in our Thanksgiving Recipe Collection.
👩🏻💻 Chat! Join Susie Middleton and Abby Dodge for a Thanksgiving Q&A Today.
Join us this afternoon – Wednesday, Nov. 20 – from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. as we “chat” (text only, no video this time!) about all things Thanksgiving. Ask us anything, and we’ll try to be helpful. You can share your own ideas – favorite side dishes or serving tricks – and post photos as well, and we’ll all help each other out. Canadian readers, we’d love to have you too, even though (or maybe especially because) you’ve already celebrated Thanksgiving this year.
The chat is only available to paid subscribers, so if you have been thinking of supporting us in the way of a paid subscription, now is a good time to upgrade. That way you’ll get your full newsletter every week, be notified early of events, and enjoy bonus content, too.
If you’re a paid subscriber, we’ll automatically send you a link via email when the chat opens. Or you can click on the Chat button on our navigation bar at 3 p.m.
Paid subscribers – or anyone who reads more than one Substack publication – you’ll find navigating around Substack and participating in chats easier if you download the app. (You can, however, participate in the chat via an iPad or desktop.)
🍽️ What’s Happening Around the Island
🥐🧁🍪 The Great Martha’s Vineyard Bake-Off is this weekend, Nov. 23 to Sunday, Nov. 24. The brainchild of Julia Blanter, author of the upcoming Martha’s Vineyard Cookbook (Rizzoli, March, 2025), the community event will feature participation from more than 20 Island businesses as a fundraiser for Island nonprofits and organizations who serve the vulnerable.
You don’t have to bake anything! Just grab a friend and take a trip around the Island (pick up a passport at participating locations) and purchase pastries, breads, and other treats to support organizations like Friends of Family Planning and Martha’s Vineyård Community Services.
Participating businesses include Aquila at the Y, ArtCliff Diner, Beetlebung Farm, Black Joy MVY at Orange Peel Bakery, Catboat Coffee Co., Soiree MV at Conrado, Delicious MV, First Light Cafe at Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Mo’s Lunch (Saturday), Morning Glory Farm, North Tabor Farm, Orange Peel Bakery, Pie Chicks, Rosewater (Saturday), Scottish Bakehouse, Grey Barn and Farm, and Vineyard Grocer. Two special afternoon teas are also scheduled at The Pawnee House and S&S Kitchenette. Follow Julia on Instagram for updates, and for more information.🍰🥧🥠
The Winter West Tisbury Farmers’ Market is on for this Saturday, Nov. 23, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., indoors at the Ag Hall.
Sugar and Stone Chocolate is having a Thanksgiving Chocolate Pop-Up at Mo’s Lunch on Thursday, Nov. 21 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Photos: Turnips, Alison Shaw; Brisson menu and pear crisp, Ben Fink; Any Fruit Pie, Elizabeth Cecil; Bake Off and Stuffing (and Susie head shot), Jeanna Shepard; all others, Susie Middleton.
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