During the week of Thanksgiving, we always leave NYC on Tuesday and stay through Saturday avoiding all the holiday congestion and allowing us some time to settle in and relax. This has worked so well for us for so many years. Our dinners throughout the week have been routine as well. Tuesday night is pasta with meatless lasagne and ziti accompanied with green salad and garlic bread. Wednesday night is broccoli pie (my fav) accompanied with green salad. For lunch during the week, we'll have egg and tuna salad, bagels, bread, pineapple chunks, assorted cheeses and gefilte fish for those that choose to eat it (not me). Then there's Thanksgiving dinner, which I'll talk about shortly, and Friday dinner, which is usually reserved for ordering pizza, having leftovers or going out to dinner. Oh, and I must mention the endless supply of baked homemade brownies and honey cake on hand during our stay.
I can't express how grateful I am to be a part of an annual family tradition and just how much work goes into planning Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, after awhile it becomes easier year after year, but it's still hard work. Anita has been doing so without the help of any of us and making everything from scratch. It's amazing! She has everything timed out perfectly, and if you're a cook, and love cooking meals for large parties, you know it's very hard to do, but she does so with ease or at least she makes it look easy.
Thanksgiving dinner menu always includes: stuffing, pot roast, green beans with slivered almonds, cranberry sauce, cucumber salad with sliced onions, sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows, and of course, turkey! We started a new tradition a few years ago having someone prepare a new side dish, so this year we had brussel sprouts made by Bill. There was also a new side dish (Aunt Rita's recipe) that had butternut squash, apples, dried cranberries and sliced almonds that was delicious! It could have made a good dessert too if topped with vanilla bean ice cream.
Oh, I did not forget dessert, oh no! Anita makes the best desserts. This year she made her traditional apple and pecan pie and delicious lemon cake smothered in whip cream. The lemon cake is so delicate and fluffy and the lemon flavor is outstanding. The next door neighbors usually join us for this part of the meal and brings some kind of dessert to share, but this year they were invited to join us for the entire meal. We also finish with coffee, tea and good conversations to end the night.
After dinner Friday night, Anita found an old menu from their honeymoon trip in Puerto Rico in 1968. The menu is from La Zaragozana, which was located in Old San Juan back at that time. She took it because of the black bean recipe and surprisingly it has become a WWW sensation. I saw it posted on several food websites. Click here for recipe: Cuban black bean soup or see below. It's also fascinating to see menu items for less than $5.00.
After doing some online research, it seems like the restaurant may have been around since 2012. I'm not sure, but I did across across someone trying to sell the menu for $35. Click here for more info: La Zaragozana menu. Also, there was another restaurant with the same name located in Havana, Cuba, but it looks closed too.
I will miss Thanksgiving in Roswell, GA., but it doesn't matter where I have Thanksgiving, really, all that matters is that I am happy, healthy and alive to be able to have it wherever and with people I love. Thank you Littman parents for the many years of hosting and having us. I look forward to future Thanksgiving meals wherever that may be.
Gobble, gobble!
La Zaragozana
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
*CLOSED*
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| La Zaragozana |
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