Watching football with the family and friends. After the communal prayers of gratitude and then settling down after the holiday feast. Oven-roasted turkey and pumpkin pie that’s just that right amount of too much.
Thanksgiving Day was initially Thanks Giving. When the 102 Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts from England to a bountiful autumn harvest in their new found country and celebrated their first Thanks Giving.
The holiday today is acknowledged around the world. Japan declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, as has Canada. Also Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Korea, even China with its Autumn Moon Festival.
Now in November, the pumpkin harvest inspires pies and cookies, and none are better than at The Ivy or at its sister cafe Dolce Isola, aka The Ivy Bakery.
Meanwhile, Rick Dees, the handsome deejay who sold more than 6 million Disco Duck records and whose internationally syndicated radio show, The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 is heard each weekend by more than 70 million listeners, is a fine baker, acclaimed by our very own Wolfgang Puck.
Rick’s cookbook, Rick Dees All-Time Top 40 Greatest Desserts, comes to us now, and in ripe time for the Thanksgiving table.
A Floridian by birth, Rigdon Osmond Dees III was raised in North Carolina, and confesses, ”I was the fattest kid in fourth grade.”
Two grades later, he shed the extra poundage by playing sports and becoming a longtime sports fan.
Gathering fresh pecans from his grandmother’s backyard in Goldsboro, North Carolina, he impressed schoolmate friends by baking his first pie. Pecan pie, what else?
“From that first pie to the countless tastings through the years, I’ve been on a mission to find the greatest desserts of all time. My profession has taken me around the world, in search of those tastes that make me sigh, ‘I’ve never tasted anything this good!’”
Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer deem many of the recipes “classic,” their favorite being Rick’s peach cobbler.
The recipes, with color photographs, include pies to cobblers (Aunt Mary’s pumpkin pie). Cakes, souffles and flans, cookies and crowd pleasers, etc. are here. All easy to read and easy to follow. Rick also divulges “mastering the perfect pie crust.”
That Thanksgiving sweet feast – or Christmas, New Year’s, birthdays, anniversaries – will never look so good.
Rick Dees All-Time Top 40 Greatest Desserts is a holiday gift cooks will love, and keep in their kitchens for a long time to come.