Thanksgiving seems like an excellent occasion to write my first post.

First let me share how grateful I am for The Fresh Loaf. It has been inspirational, educational, and invaluable in developing my enthusiasm for baking.  Thank you all who continue to post and share your ideas and expertise.  I really value what everyone has to share and I hope that we all never take this forum for granted.
 
I am a member of a spiritual community and religious order of about 100 people who keep me baking in bulk weekly and this last 4-day Thanksgiving weekend afforded me the opportunity to heartily indulge in my baking addiction.  I started on Wednesday getting dough ready for 150 "Zakai Challah Whole-Wheat Dinner Rolls" (The bread of innocence; named after the latest addition to my extended family, Zakai Michael, who was born a week before Thanksgiving.)  I joyfully arose at 4am to bake the rolls so that the turkeys could occupy the ovens by 6.  I took a quick nap on Thursday morning before preparing 100 pounds of mashed potatoes.  Boiled, riced, and seasoned for our Thanksgiving luncheon at 1 o'clock.  After feasting, I went to the kitchen and set out my whole-wheat sourdough starter, knowing that people where going to want bread with the next day's turkey soup.

I've been pining for some bannetons and decided to make a few from some #10 cans, but that is another post. 

By Friday evening I made a dozen loaves of whole-wheat sourdough rye to complement the soup and got my starter going for a half-dozen more loaves of straight sourdough (4 batards/3 boules in the new bannetons).  Saturday night I was up to the wee hours, finishing these last loaves; ruminating on dough and bread, spirit and flesh, God and man.  Baking gives me great joy, and most of the time gives others joy as well.  I have so much to be grateful for, but the opportunity to bake and break bread with friends and family is high on my list of blessings.  Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, ha‑motzi lehem min ha‑aretz. Amen.

We are headed 300 miles tomorrow to visit our daughters so I had to bake last weeekend. The loaves in the back are Susan's Sourdough with kalamata olives and rosemary. The darker loaves are toasted pecan with blue cheese inspired by PR. The rolls are Floyd's sweet potato. It has been a great 9months of learning to bake. Thanks for the recipes and inspiration, this is a great site for learning if you take it one bite at a time.

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and I am wondering what TFL-ers plan to bake for the holiday weekend?

Any special recommendations for old favorites or fresh new ideas? 

I'm thinking of baking some old-fashioned soft white (southern style) dinner rolls, but have yet to choose a recipe (any thoughts?).

Then what else?  Of course, a good sandwich bread for the day after? 

And...there must be a few knock-out recipes you're going to try?

Let us know what you're planning! 

Thanks!  (gobble-gobble!)

Here is a link to PR's Thanksgiving Day recipes published in this month's Bon Appetite magazine.

http://www.bonappetit.com/search/query?contributorName=Peter%20Reinhart

I tested all of them and they're all winners.

--Pamela

We always have some Italian dishes during our holidays. Whether it is Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve or Easter, there is always ravioli on our table as a first dish. We would set up an assembly line with all of us pitching in to make hundreds of them before Thanksgiving so that we could have them for Christmas also. They freeze very well, but don’t ever defrost them before cooking them, just put them into a large amount of salted boiling water directly from the freezer.

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/ricotta-ravioli-from-“the-old-country”/

Please take pictures of your holiday spread on Thursday (with particular emphasis on the baked goods) and share them here!

If you are unsure how to post photos here, please see the Posting Photo FAQ.   If you have accounts there, you can also include your photos in our Photopool on Flickr or our Photobucket group.

I baked more of my sweet potato rolls.

How about you?

A thanksgiving bounty! TBBA's anadama loaves and a cranberry-walnut celebration double braid.

-Joe

I made this recipe up last night. We thought they were great, so I think I'll make them again for Thanksgiving.

The sweet potatoes give the rolls a beautiful orange color. They also give off a nice earthy smell. You don't taste them very much, though they do keep the rolls soft and supple.

I made mine too large, more like hamburger buns than rolls. Next time I'll divide the dough into smaller pieces.

Hi All,

Looking for some suggestions: what kind of bread should I bake for Thanksgiving? If all else fails, I'll do some butter dipped rolls from Bread Bible, but I was hoping some of you might have some yummy recipes that fit the occasion.

Thanks,

Ian