This Thanksgiving weekend I have much to be thankful for. Just a year ago to the date, fresh from a NYC holiday and a fat Thanksgiving dinner, I learned that our family of two would become three. Now with our little flower Violet just four months old, I’m already thinking about all the things I want to teach her, to pass on, and to instill…and of course a love of food and family food traditions will be at the top of the list.

The beauty of food legacies is something I hold close to my heart. Each time I make a dish that has been a part of my childhood and family tradition, I put a little extra love into it. I fondly remember the feeling of sitting at my Grandmother’s big dining room table at the little house in Beverly, watching her make Sunday morning pancakes for a dozen people, flitting about taking care of every one’s needs, hand making dozens of pyrogies and tiny cabbage rolls with hands raw from the acid of the sour cabbage, and never actually sitting down to enjoy her beautiful creations until everyone had been fed. My Grandmother has always expressed her love for her family with beautiful food. Hungry or not, she would open a jar of her homemade borscht the minute I arrived so she could feed me. Made fresh from the bounty of her garden, she fed more than my hunger. Years of watching my mother carrying on that tradition by making my Grandmother’s recipe for borscht, and learning myself how to execute her delicious variety of that hot pink goodness, I feel like I am carrying on a part of my family legacy every time I whip up a batch.

So with harvest celebrations upon us, and much gratitude for my little bundle of girlie delight and all of the beautiful women in my family that have taken the time to pass on their love through cooking, what better time to share a delicious and very “pink” way to bring the fall harvest together into one delicious dish!? Now to try and write down a recipe that never finds itself on paper, but in true family recipe tradition, is born from a little of this and a little of that…

Borscht…according to “Sugar”

3 tbsp butter
5 beets, cut into chunky matchstick sized pieces
1 onion, diced
2 shallots, finely diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, quartered and chopped
5 baby garden potatoes, quartered and chopped
1 cup of garden peas in the pod, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (or you can use frozen peas if needed)
1 cup of string beans, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
juice of 3 lemons
1 tsp dry dill
2 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped
1L of vegetable stock
2 cups of water
1 cup of heavy cream
1 tbsp kosher salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
sour cream, to serve

In a large dutch oven (I use my Le Creuset for this dish) or soup pot, melt butter and saute onions, shallots, and garlic until soft (2-3 minutes). Add beets, carrots, and potatoes, and saute until they begin to soften (10-12 minutes) stirring regularly. Add more butter if necessary to keep vegetables moist. Add peas and beans, and saute an additional few minutes. Next add lemon juice, kosher salt, pepper, vegetable stock, water, and dry dill. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to medium to slowly simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are at the desired tenderness. Lastly, add cream and fresh dill. Stir well and serve with a dollop of sour cream.

Nostrovia!