As the preparing of the Thanksgiving dinner, you have ultimate power. And power, in this case, is a very good thing. You see, as the cook, you have the power to make sure that your favorite part of the meal is made the way you like it and enough of it is made that it will last long after the guests have gone home so you can enjoy it, re-heated on a sandwich, made into a croquette, or simply on a fork straight out of the leftover container with the fridge door still open. I’m talking about the Thanksgiving stuffing of course!

 

Now the last thing you’ll want to do is try to make the stuffing while you’re trying to do everything else. If you’ve never made Thanksgiving dinner before, you need to know that while you are cooking the meal all your guests will be in your kitchen, talking, asking questions, looking for a snack, etc… You need to focus on just one thing at that moment, and the stuffing is not that one thing. Because to me, the stuffing is the most delicious and precious part of the meal, it deserves advance attention and the good thing is… you can prep it almost entirely ahead of time. Here’s how… [Read more…]

Ok. Two weeks and counting to the biggest food holiday of the year! If you’re feeling more concerned about that than excited, then we need to talk! Last week, I talked about getting the gravy fear out of your life by making it entirely ahead of time (aside from adding the drippings to the pan at the very end). This week, let’s talk about step #2 in how to be more prepared than every before - cranberry sauce!

Cranberry sauce is probably the easiest part of the Thanksgiving meal, and yet most people buy it instead of making their own. This will take you only 20 - 30 minutes and most of that time will be you doing other things while the sauce simmers in a pot. Cranberries are abundant in grocery stores at this time of the year, so pick up a bag and make your own cranberry sauce. It will definitely put you in a league of professional Thanksgiving cookers!

A few tips about making your cranberry sauce:

• If the sauce is not thick enough, simply simmer it a little longer to thicken it up. But remember that it will get thicker as it cools.
• If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it with some orange juice, apple juice or even a little water.
• You can freeze cranberry sauce! That means, of course, that you can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it until Thanksgiving. Just remember to defrost it.
• Homemade cranberry sauce will keep for two weeks in the refrigerator. You know what I’m going to say… that means you can and should make it ahead of time. Do it now!
• Finally, remember to bring the sauce to room temperature before you serve it. It will be more flavorful and you won’t be putting a cold sauce on warm turkey.

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“Life is better than death, I believe, if only because it is less boring, and because it has fresh peaches in it.” - Alice Walker

It’s the peak of summer! You can tell, not only because everyone is fleeing from the cities and heading to the shores, but because peaches are in their best shape of the year. They are sweet, delicious, falling off the stones and crying out to be put into salads, made into ice cream, baked into crumbles and turned into jams and jellies.

 

Lately, I’ve been putting half a peach into my morning smoothie and so enjoying the sweet, gentle flavor it adds. I’ve been making my favorite salad of tomatoes, peaches, burrata cheese and fresh basil – so pretty that it’s hard to eat it sometimes. Last but not least, I’ve been making different variations of peach ice cream and frozen yogurts and devouring every batch. There are so many ways to use peaches in all your meals, from breakfast to dessert!

 

There’s nothing too complicated about peaches. They originated in China and are a member of the rose family – as are nectarines, plums and almonds (which is one good reason why peaches and almonds go so nicely together). The most interesting thing about peaches is that they can be categorized into three different groups – clingstone, freestone and semi-freestone. Perhaps you’ve wondered why sometimes it seems impossible to twist a peach and get it to release from the pit? Well, it’s the variety of peach that you’re using.

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