The Sunday before Thanksgiving Day…

visions of the meal…

From the summer garden: Cherry Basil syrup thawed for a cherry-basil balsamic reduction. Pumpkin thawing for pie and ???. Spinach thawing for a before TDay soup!

This is the first year that I have had such wonderful bounty in my own freezer.

Vegetable remnants simmer to make vegetable broth. In previous years, I spent a small fortune on organic vegetable broth. And while those boxes of broth were convenient, they were not only spendy but even the best of them had a lot of sodium. This summer, as I prepped veg from the garden (CSA), I saved bits and pieces and stems. Now, they simmer to make a wonderful, salt-free broth.

On Sunday morning, in the midst of cooking…one must have a treat!

It turns out that cashew cream will also whip!

Caramel latte – the cashew cream version: Peet’s Italian Roast with Summers’ cashew vanilla bean caramel and cashew whipped cream.

Meanwhile…Bob and Bear enjoy their Sunday morning in bed…a dog and cat kind of Sunday morning decadence.

Back in the kitchen…

I clarified butter…my second go at this and as I re-read the process and thought and I GOT it! The process removes the moisture at low heat. When the butter stops sputtering, it is “done”!

This version – perfect!

The weather this weekend was better than advertised with sun more often than not.

So, we enjoyed.

Each in our own way, we enjoyed.

The moon. The sliver of the waxing crescent moon.

And finally…

Sunday supper: Cream of Tomato soup with grilled cheese. The soup…puree of Roma tomatoes with red pepper “cheese” (cashew) sauce plus fresh basil, garlic and coarse ground black pepper.

Sunday before Thankgsiving Day.