Holiday Recipes from Leda’s Urban Homestead

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I’m in a holiday prep state of mind. Here’s some of the stuff I’ve been experimenting with in the kitchen. I’ve linked to the recipes where possible:

Black Walnut Ice Cream. This one is thanks to my mom, Jackie Gordon, and Nicole Taylor, with whom I spent a fun few hours shelling black walnuts.

Naturally Red Spiced Apple Rings

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Jellied Cranberry Sauce with Spicebush and Orange. If you didn’t forage any spicebush berries earlier this fall, or if Lindera benzoin doesn’t grow where you live, you can either use the spice substitution I suggest in the recipe, or order some spicebush from Integration Acres (they sell it as “Appalachian Allspice”).

Homemade Bacon I used some of this in a dish for a holiday brunch yesterday (the recipe has been dubbed “L’eggs Meredith”). Kind of a cross between eggs florentine and eggs benedict: I did the whole poached egg on an english muffin covered with hollandaise thing, but under the each egg was a melange of lamb’s quarters greens and homemade bacon bits.