Eating From the Ground Up

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whipped mashed potatoes with celery root

Friday, November 27, 2009 by alana

How is everyone today?
Yeah, we’re okay too. Joey’s well enough to be silkscreening off site, so I’m holding down the fort, slowly cleaning up the glorious mess that was the holiday.
The girls are fighting, and I’m realizing that might be sort of my fault, because all they have had today is leftover dessert. Oh wait, Rosie’s eating cheese crackers now. There’s protein in those, right?
I’m going to be bold here and make a plug for friend thanksgiving next year. We convinced everyone to abandon their families (Thanks Nancy, Linda, and all of you for being so generous) and come over here. My family ended up slipping in at the last moment, so there was at least one grandma present.
I know this is a family holiday and all, but family has a lot of different meanings around here, so I think that it’s a good time to open up the definition.
And how did it go? We cooked all day while the kids ground fancy crackers into the rug. We ate hours after the planned time, and no one complained. We ate ten stalks of brussels sprouts. The food came out really well. I had such a bad headache by the end of the day that I could hardly eat, but I was happy anyway, and I had a great lunch today. We had a wayward traveler up from the city who made us pumpkin hot toddies with dessert. Joey was finally well enough to do dishes. And it was warm, and cloudy, and the kids were outside all afternoon. And I was thankful for that and a lot more.
Today it’s cold and windy, and I’m moving slowly. I promise that I won’t give you any more Thanksgiving recipes, but I’d feel mean if I didn’t tell you about our mashed potatoes. They’ve got celeriac in them which is totally brilliant, and they’re not everyday mashed potatoes, but I’m sure that you can find some special occasion to make them.

Whipped Mashed Potatoes with Celery Root
adapted from Saveur November 2008

1 lb celery root (celeriac), peeled and cut into cubes
2 cups half-and-half
1 stick unsalted butter
8 sprigs fresh thyme
3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
salt and pepper

In a 2 qt. saucepan, combine the celery root, half-and-half, butter, and thyme. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer, partially covered, until celery root is tender, about 25 minutes. Discard thyme. Meanwhile, combine potatoes and 2 tsp. kosher salt in a 6 qt. saucepan add water so the potatoes are covered by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the celeriac and cream mixture to a food processor and blend until very smooth. Drain potatoes and mash with a masher. Add celery root puree and mash a bit more. Add pepper to taste.

Filed Under: celeriac, On the Side, potatoes, thanksgiving Tagged With: dinner, holidays, vegetables

« thanks.
nikki mcclure »


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I’m Alana, and I write about food, family and the wonderful chaos that ensues when the two combine. If you’re new to the site, here are a few good places to start, or learn more about me on my about page.

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Instagram post 2337331591407595410_13442450 Sending off my taxes today with intention and prayer that they will be used to support programs for the most vulnerable, and that my little contribution will join with others to help move us towards the country I know we can be. #taxmagic ✨
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Instagram post 2332756427273440195_13442450 So technically you’re not supposed to send food when trying to find an agent, but I did it it. 10 years ago, my granola helped seal that deal, and he insisted I send it to publishers when we were selling The Homemade Pantry (another general publishing no no) That Landed-a woman-with-no-platform-a-book deal Granola is up for grabs in this amazing bake sale, as well as goodies by some of my very favorite bakers (@madeinghent , @raisinporpoise , and @thedooryard to name a few). Oh and maybe my favorite item in there are the magical @susanspungen ginger chocolate cookies I mentioned a few weeks back, made by Sadie herself. All of this is to support the work of @multiculturalbridge , and the order form is up in my bio. Get to it! #bakersagainstracism
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Instagram post 2322615811734696638_13442450 Black lives matter.
Instagram post 2319329508599466327_13442450 I did not bake these cookies, as I am no longer the cookie baker in this house. But this is the second time that  Sadie has made @susanspungen ‘s Triple-Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies (and also the second time I’ve talked about a recipe Sadie has made from the #openkitchencookbook), and I think these might actually be the best cookies I have ever had. I’m often looking for the perfect ginger cookie and this is it, and I’d also choose it over a chocolate chip cookie (or let’s be honest-any other kind of cookie) any day.
Instagram post 2316311882260313364_13442450 No matter how many rulers and pizza cutters and other magical tools I use, it seems that the straight line will always elude me.
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Instagram post 2311325683330503572_13442450 @paulaperlis sent us @susanspungen ‘s new book and of course the first recipe Sadie picked is marked with the *project* heading. She’s been cooking all afternoon and the house smells like ✨✨✨ (With gorgeous images by @gentlandhyers ❤️)
Instagram post 2311141543964321092_13442450 When I took on a day job a few years ago, I found that the first thing to go was all the homemade stuff I’d been making and writing about over the years. I’m still going out to work most days, but I’m finding now with a full and captive house and more downtime in general that those things I love to make are back. For me, it’s granola, yogurt, bread. Hello, old friends!
Instagram post 2308503311808232748_13442450 All the things in the house pasta: roasted cauliflower, a few sad leaves of kale, one jar of fancy tuna saved for a special occasion (how about Wednesday?), Rosemary, homemade breadcrumbs from the freezer fried in butter, crispy sage leaves, pasta water, salt, so much pepper. Success!
Instagram post 2307412630968777107_13442450 @artbywoodgy made this beautiful thing for me for Mother’s Day. All the veggies are on Velcro so I can plan to my hearts delight.
Instagram post 2306345003953662730_13442450 Happy Mother’s Day to my brave and beautiful mom, who birthed two different humans in such different times in her life. With me she was so young, and she figured it all out just as she was learning how to be an adult. This picture was taken nineteen years later, when she was pregnant again and I was almost an adult myself. Thanks for keeping at it, Mom, and for always showing up with love. ❤️
Instagram post 2304888771283579843_13442450 What we do for cake.
Instagram post 2302665269449083186_13442450 It’s a magnolia year for sure.
Instagram post 2295808104927071821_13442450 A long time ago, Joey talked about his crush on this particular alien-like flower with a good friend of ours. Months later, little bulbs arrived in the mail. We put them in the ground last fall, and now they are everywhere. If that isn’t some kind of magic, I don’t know what is. ✨ (🙏🏻 to @wildflowers1 for the cool vase, too.)
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