Alabama Thanksgiving

So one of the best things about this eating project has been recruiting friends and family to join in on our local diet, even if it is just for a meal or two when we get together. My parents have a huge garden of their own, and can usually be found eating from their stash of homegrown vegetables every night. They especially love kale, and it is not uncommon to see it on their plates multiple times a week. So when I showed up this Thanksgiving with a couple of coolers full of my Alabama food, my parents didn't protest one little bit. I brought a small fully-cooked, smoked turkey to share from Bates Turkey Farm in Fort Deposit, AL, cauliflower from my CSA share, broccoli from the Tuscaloosa Farmers Market, radishes from my own garden (although they didn't actually make it into Thanksgiving dinner proper, their cranberry color did lend a festive air to our salads in other meals that weekend, not to mention a little crunch), and a variety of greens that had turned my refrigerator into a leafy mess. The line-up for the greens included Spigariello (aka Italian Leaf Broccoli), radish greens (well, I guess they did make it into the Thanksgiving dinner after all!), the greens from the cauliflower and broccoli, collard greens, turnip greens, and beet greens. Now, that's what I call eating high on the vegetable! We made a sweet potato casserole using sweet potatoes from Scott's Orchards in Hazel Green, Alabama, and splurged a little by adding the requisite holiday cranberries and brown sugar, non-local of course. I also had hopes of making an apple pie from our Elmore County flour and Scott's Orchards apples. It worked, and I can now add successful apple pie baking to my list of accomplishments (although, I only managed to snag one piece of the final product! It turns out my dad also loves apple pies). I also brought eggs from Katie Farms and local cornmeal, grown and ground by Sue Lewis of the Tuscaloosa Farmers Market. My grandma took over cornbread duty, which we then crumbled into delicious cornbread stuffing. Yum! Alabama-eating in late November. Now for that, I am truly thankful.