Thanksgiving Back Home

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving was a week ago. I had the pleasure of spending the holiday back in Newton. Ever since I got a free copy of Bon Appetit, I had been dreaming of making a few choice dishes from it, namely sauteed brussel sprouts with chestnuts and pumpkin creme brulee.

So there I was, Wednesday afternoon, in the kitchen with my momma making the pumpkin creme filling. The recipe was really simple (find it at the bottom of the post) and the best part was that I was forced to buy one of those kitchen torches in order to make the brown sugar melt on top. This little gadget is really easy to use and my next idea is to sear tuna with it for sushi. But anyway, with an hour to go til Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, I found myself in the garage torching ramekins.

The brulee came out perfectly:
and went well with chocolate pecan pie, cranberry pie, and sugar cookies.

I know there are some people out there who don't really even enjoy Turkey, but my mom's brining was delectable.
The turkey was succulent; my sister's cranberry sauce divine; my mom's stuffing classic. We had sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes, with a gravy courtesy of yours truly. I love Thanksgiving, and I think that keeping it simple is the way to go, maybe with a few flourishes here and there (we had never had brussel sprouts before but they were welcome addition).
Having my aunt and cousin and Elizabeth's family there was great and although we never went around saying what we were thankful for, I can tell you that we were all quite thankful for such a feast.

Pumpkin and Brown-Sugar Crème Brûlée

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups heavy whipping cream
• 8 tablespoons raw sugar or golden brown sugar

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk pumpkin, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in large bowl. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla, then spices and salt. Bring cream just to boil in medium saucepan. Gradually whisk hot cream into pumpkin mixture.
• Divide mixture among eight 5x1-inch ramekins. Divide ramekins between 2 large roasting pans. Add enough hot water to pans to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custards are just set in center, about 35 minutes. Chill custards until cold, about 6 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon raw sugar over pumpkin custard in each ramekin. Using kitchen torch, melt sugar until deep amber. (Alternatively, use broiler. Place ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle tops with brown sugar [not raw sugar] and melt directly under broiler until deep amber.) Refrigerate 15 minutes to allow sugar to harden. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 hour ahead. Keep chilled.