Can’t let Rod Dreher have all the fun.

• Pureed white bean and tomato soup with kale and sage pesto.

  Sauté 2 onions in olive oil until soft, add several cloves of garlic for a minute, then add a 16oz can of white beans, a 28oz can of whole tomatoes, and a quart of broth (chicken or vegetarian). Cook for 30-45 minutes. While the soup cooks, chop 1 large bunch of dinosaur kale, and sauté in olive oil. Then, put fresh sage, fresh parsley, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, salt and pepper, zest of one lemon (optional) and parmesan (optional) in a food processor and blend to a paste. Puree soup, and pass through a strainer to remove the tomato seeds and bean skins. Return strained soup to pot, add another can of white beans (you can use dried beans you soak and cook yourself if you’re ambitious) and the sautéed kale, and cook 10 minutes until flavors blend. Serve with a dollop of the pesto.

• Roast Turkey with gravy.

  Start roasting the turkey on its back, stuffed with citrus, onions and celery. After an hour, turn it on its stomach, so the skin gets crisped all around, and so the juices run into the breast. An hour before it’s due to come out, rotate onto its back again for the last hour.

• Cranberry-fig chutney. This one is from the internet.
• Challah bread stuffing with mushrooms, veal meatballs, chestnuts and dried fruit.

  Another standard, apart from the veal meatballs which were a substitute for sausage since I forgot to buy sausage and had some ground veal in the freezer. The meatballs were made of ground veal, duck fat, white wine, rubbed sage, nutmeg, salt, pepper. I roasted them in the oven first, but you could also sauté them in oil or fat. Chop the challah bread into cubes. Toss with olive oil and toast in a pan. Set aside. Soak dried cranberries in white wine until soft. Meanwhile, sauté onions and celery (and/or fennel) in olive oil until softened. Add garlic, then quartered crimini mushrooms. Then add herbs (I used a mix of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme . . . really) and chopped chestnuts. Finally, add the cooked sausage and broth, and pour over the bread cubes, together with one or two beaten eggs. Pour bread mixture into a casserole dish, top with slices of clementine, and roast 45 minutes along with the turkey.

• Roast squash, carrot and parsnip dice.

  Chop carrots, parsnips and butternut squash into 1/2 inch dice. Sauté in olive oil, butter or chicken fat until just beginning to soften. Set aside. Sauté chopped leeks, adding fresh thyme when softened. Return diced squash and roots to leeks, add white wine, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, and roast until well-softened, around 40 minutes.

• Sautéed green beans and persimmons. Another one from the internet.
• Roast brussels sprouts and shiitakes. Halve brussels sprouts and toss with minced garlic and olive oil. Roast at 450 for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, quarter shiitakes and saute in olive oil, chicken fat or butter. Add fresh thyme, salt and pepper. When they’ve release their water, add white wine, and cook down until sauce is thick. Add to brussels sprouts and return to oven for 10 minutes before serving.
• Pumpkin pie. Courtesy of my sister – have to ask her for the recipe.
• Brownies topped with sea salt. Courtesy of my wife – ditto.