This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Why would I start a post about Caramelized Chestnuts & Brussels Sprouts in a Cider Vinegar Glaze with a William Carlos Williams poem about stealing plums?

Well because I am a part of a group of people who relish in stealing metaphorical plums whenever and wherever we can. And like the plum thief in the these lines above, we are not really sorry when we do. Because it satisfies something in us. Something about us. I feel lucky to know these people. But if it weren't for our shared love of the symbolic plum, we may never have met. And if it weren't for the internet we may have never known the bond we share. The bond that makes us an extended family.

So how does a group of people like this celebrate the plummiest Holiday of them all– Thanksgiving?

Well, with our mouths wide open of course. Because open mouths lead to open hearts. So I was happy to share a little pre-holiday food love with my second family of online plum lovers. We got together to make and share a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving meal. We did it partly to bring you Holiday inspiration. But we gathered together mostly because the ripe plums, "so sweet and so cold", compelled us to.

So make the jump and check out the meal we brought to our Thanksgiving table. Because we hope you are inspired to steal a few plums yourself. GREG

Yep Really.

I am still wrangling with my obsession with summer fruit. This time it's blackberries. In fact if you yourself were a member of the bramble berry family, you might want to take out a restraining order against me. Because blackberries bring out the Glenn Close in me, and together we will not be ignored. So rather than ignore either one of us, I thought I would play a little summer catch up and use blackberries in ketchup (yikes I am bad writer...).

Now I want to be clear. This condiment is much more ketchup than sauce. And it's certainly not jam because it has a big vinegary bite. There is also enough complex spice in it to make it much more compatible with grilled meat than vanilla ice cream.

But this is no ordinary ketchup concoction. Tomatoes aren't even invited to this show, because the real stars here are the darkest and most luxurious of all the summer berries. The aptly named blackberry.

It's easy to make too. Once you have tasted it I know you'll think of all sorts of ways to serve it. But I wanted to pay honor to its ketchup-y nature so I used mine on a bun with grilled sausage. In this case classic garlic sausage with crunchy red onions and peppery watercress– oozing with intensely flavored blackberry ketchup. Sweet, and spicy with enough umami to make you scream oh, mommy!

Escabeche (es-kah-BECH-ay) is usually associated with Mediterranean cuisine. It is not a recipe as much as it is a preparation. At its most basic it is fish marinated overnight or longer in something acidic before serving.

It is traditionally served cold or at room temperature on a hot day. The acid in the marinade is usually vinegar but can also include citrus juice or wine. Essentially it is pickling, but I hesitate to admit that because I don't want any preconceived notions about pickled fish turning you away from this perfectly delicious recipe.

That said, there are versions of escabeche in many, many cultures. It is not always made with fish either. In Spain chicken, rabbit or pork versions are common.

There are examples in Pacific-Asian cuisine also. But the origin of the word escabeche is Persian. The idea was brought to Spain by the Arabs during the Moorish conquests. The word derives from al-sikbaj, the name of a popular meat dish that was cooked in a sweet and sour sauce, usually vinegar and honey or date molasses.