Serenbe Style and Soul

with Marie Nygren

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December 2015

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Tales from Thanksgiving: Carving Out Time with Lucas in the Kitchen

Written by , Posted in Miscellaneous

marie and lucas thanksgiving turkey 2015For most, Thanksgiving is a time to gather with friends and family in a delicious haze of good food and gratitude. For the Nygren family, Thanksgiving has historically been a time to travel (when the girls were off school for the holiday) or work (serving countless plates stuffed with stuffing at The Inn).

But this year, for the first time ever, Steve and I hosted Thanksgiving in our home.  

Garnie was with Matt’s family and Kara was with Micah’s, so we celebrated with Quinn, her boyfriend Lucas and his parents, who recently moved from upstate New York to Tennessee in search of kinder, gentler winters.

Lucas is the newest addition to our lives—the third in a wonderful group of young men our daughters have brought home. He’s Matt’s childhood best friend and former roommate, having moved in with Matt when his company brought him to Atlanta. When Matt moved to Serenbe, Lucas sought out his own spot in the community, which is only 20 minutes away from his job. Lucas is a regional sales manager for a concrete company and an instinctual, self-taught cook who made a mighty fine companion in the kitchen on Thanksgiving.

Steve and Quinn piled up in the Gator with Lucas’ parents for a tour of Serenbe while Lucasturkey 2015 and I tag teamed the sweet potato soufflé, loaded smashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts with prosciutto and organic, free-range turkey, which I got from the General Store at Serenbe, only to find out it was from Plainville, New York—just a few miles from Lucas’ hometown.

Lucas brined it overnight with onions, garlic and herbes de Provence and we stuffed it the next day with shallots, garlic and apples then roasted it with butter and more herbes. We also did a gluten-free cornbread dressing for his father, and I was surprised how well it turned out with rice flour.

In honor of our guests, I wanted to have something inherently Southern on the table, so I did collard greens in a sauce with lemon, onion and butter. It’s Quinn’s favorite and a thirty-five-minute take on the traditional five-hour process.

View More: http://peachtreephotography.pass.us/cookbook

Collards with Lemon Onion Butter Sauce

  • Serves 4
  •  2 quarts collard greens, stemmed and chopped
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 pound unsalted butter
  • 1 cup yellow onions finely chopped
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt

In a large pot with a lid, melt the butter add onions, stir and cook for 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and salt then stir in collards and add water. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and cover for 5 minutes.

Remove cover, stir collards and cook for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

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