I looked at the calendar and realized Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away. I've slowly been trying to figure out what I'm going to contribute to our family Thanksgiving spread (Mom, I decided I'm in charge of vegetable sides!), but there's one thing our table is never without - Piment d'Ville Chile Cream.
Chile cream sauce was one of the first things I learned to cook in my days in the Boonville Hotel kitchen. It's a simple cream sauce made SO flavorful by adding Piment d'Ville (your choice if you want to use Classic, Smoky or Spicy). I prefer PDV Chile Cream to gravy on my turkey, mashed potatoes, and anything else that happens to be on my plate.
If your Piment d'Ville stock is running low, we've got the 2023 harvest of Classic and Spicy Piment d'Ville ready to ship! These chiles were harvested at the end of September and are tasting SO good. And as a little upgrade for this fall, you can now purchase single jars of Piment d'Ville!
I really don't think you can go wrong with a bowl of Piment d'Ville Chile Cream on your table. Keep scrolling for the recipe. If you make it, send us a photo and let us know how it tasted!
What I'm making for Thanksgiving:
- I already told you about the Piment d'Ville Chile Cream. I think I'm going to use Smoky Piment d'Ville for it this year! But honestly you could use any of our chile powders for this. Guajillo would be delicious. Just adjust the amount you add depending on how hot you want it to be.
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad: My friend Danielle brought this to a grad school Friendsgiving and I've made it every year since. It is crunchy and so satisfying. I opt for tamari almonds instead of plain almonds.
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Roasted Squash with Sage Yogurt from Natasha Feldman's book: Dinner Party Project. The mix of the caramelized roasted squash over herby yogurt was the perfect combo. We're hoping to carry this cookbook on our website soon!
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I just remembered that I also have to make a pot of Tiger's Eye beans! It's my grandma's 94th birthday and she helped plant these beans when she was last in town so it feels like a special day to celebrate her!
- And in the coming weeks I'll be making Dorie Greenspan's Sweet Potato Galette at least once. Partially because Gideon bought a lot of cream cheese for some reason, but also because it is delicious!
Where we're at in the season
As we dive into the week of eating, giving thanks, and making pies, I wanted to share a note on why we don't offer steep discounts this time of year.
The end of November for us is the culmination of our entire year's work. The chile seeds that we germinated in our greenhouse in January and planted in our fields in May, have made it through a tumultuous growing season that was stressful on both us and the plants. They have produced beautiful chiles that were each picked by hand from September till later this week! We dried every one one of those peppers and have turned them into delicious goods that we hope you use liberally and often.
The end of November is also an incredibly important time for small businesses/farms like ours. We've spent the past 325 days growing each of our crops and making it into something delicious for you and it is a sprint to have it ready in time. The holiday season is our chance to recover from the large expense of harvest as well as get some cash in the bank to not only start the process again in January, but also hopefully help with some of the big expenses that we have ahead of us (A 2nd dehydrator! An electric tractor for Nacho!).
While getting a slamming deal can be great, it is not a financial reality of what a small farm can offer. We don't put our labor on sale and we don't want to join the race to the bottom for low prices. If we did that, we wouldn't be able to produce the high quality chiles that you know and love nor would we have the incredible team that we do.
What we can offer are incredibly fresh and versatile chiles that you won't want to cook without. We can offer California grown options that haven't traveled across oceans to get to you. And we can offer the starting flavors for something delicious to gather around with your friends and family.
Whether you send a jar or 12 to the people you like the most, we so appreciate your support. Spend over $100 and we'll pay for your shipping. Add a gift note and we'll include a handwritten card. Or just send us a message to let us know what you cooked recently with our chiles! Our holiday shipping cutoff is Thursday December 14. Until then, we're here packing orders, harvesting a few more ancho and cascabel chiles, bringing in our olive harvest on Monday, and eating more pie. Scroll down to see what all we have ready for you!
Thanks for being a part of our chile community. And have a delicious holiday season!
