Cranberry sauce can be controversial.  In fact, often enough the issue cannot be resolved unless a family can agree to have two types of cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving dinner – fresh and canned.

Though often treated as a supporting character in the feast, cranberry sauce is certainly the most versatile dish next to gravy, delicious piled atop nearly any other dish.  Cranberries were considered a seasonal fruit until Marcus L. Urann, an attorney, realized he harvested more cranberries than he could sell.  So he made a sauce, canned it, and called Ocean Spray.  In 1941, the jellied cranberry log was put on the market.

Canned cranberry sauce is made with berries, high fructose corn syrup, water, and corn syrup.  As fresh cranberries were once a rare thing in the U.S., the canned relish gained popularity until it became a Thanksgiving staple.  If you’re interested in seeing Ocean Spray’s instructions for removing the log, intact, from the can, they offer detailed steps here.

A log of cranberry sauce, naturally, was not served at the first Thanksgiving – sugar was scarce in colonial times.  There may well have been fresh cranberry relish, however.

Fresh cranberry sauce has been gaining popularity since fresh cranberries have become widely available.  The berries in fresh relish are generally not cooked, but simply mixed with sugar and anything from orange zest and nuts to ginger and kumquats.

Because fresh sauce tends to be more tart than the canned, it actually makes a lot of sense to serve both at Thanksgiving.  A little of one balances out a little of the other.  And any leftovers can easily be incorporated into Morning After Cranberry Muffins or Cranberry Ribbon Cake.

Lastly, a little known fact about cranberry sauce – while listening closely to the end of the song Strawberry Fields Forever, John Lennon can be heard repeating the words “cranberry sauce”.  In an interview, Lennon said that the words have no special meaning except to contribute to the weirdness of the song.

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I love to impress my guests with my food, everyone does. Many seek out that best recipe for pumpkin pie or the most elegant side dish. Well seek no more friends, I bring you only the best.

Firstly, your Thanksgiving soiree needs pizazz!. Don’t do the ordinary fruit platter or crudités for your appetizers. Wow your guests with this Chocolate Brie en Croute at Kitchen Hacker. It’s cheese, chocolate, and wine. What’s not to like?

If that isn’t interesting enough, try the Poutine Rolls, filled with french fries and cheese curds, served with a gravy dipping sauce. A good appetizer in case you have an excess of gravy…and french fries and cheese curds. If you don’t have those ingredients lying around, just make some Lardz, doughnut-hole sized lard balls, deep fried and topped with sugar. I have half a heart to try them. And I’d only have half a heart left after trying them.

Now forget the same old yams with the marshmallow topping, dig into a Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding! A delightful, dare I say decadent, option for a side dish at your Thanksgiving feast. The Hot Beef Sundae is an excellent choice to impress the in-laws. Made of mashed potatoes, gravy, shredded cheese, and a cherry tomato. They’ll be talking about it for years to come.

For the main course I would have to recommend a Porkgasm or a Turbaconucken. The Porkgasm, found over at Porktopia, seems like a decent, even cute, alternative to the traditional turkey. And by cute I mean disturbing and nauseating. If you’re not already grossed out, take a look at the Turbaconucken by NYC Food Guy. It’s exactly as it sounds–an infamous Turducken, with bacon. Because bacon makes the world go ’round.

But to top it all, for you Thanksgiving bird enthusiasts, whether it be turkey, duck, or chicken, behold…the 12 Bird True Love Roast. A real people pleaser. Now this you don’t have to make, you can buy it from the people over at Heal Farm. It has 12 different kinds of bird, 8 different stuffings, takes two people to lift and will feed 125 people. Sold yet?

Dessert is served! A Turkey Meat Cake, for those who really want to break away from the mold of Thanksgiving pies. Too much meat? Wash it all down with Tofurkey and Gravy flavored soda. I’d try it, would you?

Photo by tomcensani.

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Tags:	Thanksgiving

It’s less than a week away from Thanksgiving do you know what you will be cooking? If you are a last minute person like me, you find the Foodista Thanksgiving Recipe Guide super helpful. Not ready to talk turkey? We’ve got a couple great links to take your mind off menu planning.

1. Good news if you love Indian and Thai food, new study finds Curry Spice Kills Cancer Cells
2. Need a new twist to bacon and eggs? Stacey Snacks blog shows us how to make Baked Eggs in Bacon Baskets
3. Veggie art puts Mr. Potato Head to shame.
4. Playing with your food never looked so good- check out this amazing sandwich art from TOXEL.com.
5. Some strange canned food, it seems like you can put anything in a can on Food Network Humor.
6. Food & Wine magazine feature Supper Clubs that have gain cult following.
7. Start happy hour early at work by checking out some vodka porn.
8. Al Dente Blog has a great suggestion for a fun host/ hostess gift with a Lucky Break Wishbone.
9. Not everyone loves pumpkin pie, but everyone loves Thanksgiving cupcakes!
10. Still need a dessert idea? Womansday.com suggests switching it up with Four Decadent Thanksgiving Desserts

Above Photo by Suttonhoo

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Categories:	Beverages • Canned Goods • Holiday • Uncategorized • breakfast • gift ideas	Leave a Comment
Tags:	desserts • Friday Fun links • Thanksgiving

Everyone has their favorite Thanksgiving recipes, but let’s be real – the ones we care about are the those written by the famous people.  Fortunately, celebrity chefs are more than willing to spread their turkey (and stuffing and pie…) knowledge around.  Here are a few.

Anthony Bourdain made a holiday meal for ten at his brother’s house in Connecticut.  Here are some of the dishes he made.

David Chang tells you how to make Turkey Breast With Ginger-Scallion Sauce with your leftovers.

Dan Barber makes Thanksgiving dinner from locally grown ingredients.  Recipes include a Sweet Potato And Apple Gratin and a Pumpkin Tart With Plum Marmalade.

Emeril Lagasse helps get rid of both turkey and mashed potato leftovers with his Thanksgiving Leftovers Shepard’s Pie.

Grant Achatz stars in a video about how to sous-vide a turkey.

Bobby Flay likes fresh flowers and custom cocktails at his Thanksgiving and he usually rises at 4 am to get his turkeys started.  Also, here’s his sweet potato recipe.

While he may not have had Thanksgiving in mind while coming up with this recipe (being French and all), Alain Ducasse’s Chestnut Bouillon soup would be a lovely first course.

Tom Douglas demonstrates how to make King Boletus Stuffing with fresh king boletus mushrooms (they’re very similar to porcinis).

And, just for fun, here’s how Gordon Ramsay feels about Thanksgiving.

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Categories:	Chefs • Holiday	1 Comment
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Legend has it that the Georgia-bound Mayflower only stopped at Plymouth Rock because its passengers ran out of beer. By that logic, if it weren’t for beer, we wouldn’t even be celebrating Thanksgiving.

As much as I wish this story were historically accurate, it’s most likely not. While the Pilgrims did drink beer on their transatlantic voyage, as beer in the 17th century was safer than water due to the antimicrobial properties of hops, they probably landed because they were running out of provisions in general. Some accounts say that the Pilgrims set up a brewhouse soon upon landing, but given the hazardous conditions the Pilgrims faced in their first year (47% died in the first winter) it is doubtful they would have made brewing a priority.

So, odds are slim that the Pilgrims and Wampanoag raised glasses of ale at the first Thanksgiving. But let’s face it: most of the dishes that will be on the table come next Thursday would not have been present in 1621 either: mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, pumpkin pie. Still, that’s not going to stop me from enjoying any of these on Turkey day, beer in particular. Here are a few recommendations on what to drink.

Before. Before the big meal is prime football viewing time. The day is young: you want to pace yourself with something lower in alcohol. Beer Advocate recommends drinking Pilsener or other light lager so as “not to kill palates too early in the day.” This doesn’t mean you need to reach for a Bud. I recommend Oskar Blue’s Mama’s Little Yella Pils: it’s on the lighter side yet incredibly flavorful. Plus, it comes in a can, so you still feel like an American while drinking it.

During. Pale Ales, Märzens, Ambers and Oatmeal Stouts pair well with turkey and gravy, whereas Belgians and higher ABV beers cut through the rich fats that are in pretty much every Thanksgiving dish. It’s really your call. However, you don’t want to serve a beer with flavors that will overpower the food, like a well-hopped IPA or a smoked beer. The one time I hosted Thanksgiving I poured Chimay Blue because is packaged in an elegant corked bottle and everyone likes it, and its lightness and high ABV complimented the meal without overpowering it. New Belgium’s Fat Tire, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Harpoon Octoberfest are safe bets, but I encourage you to try something locally-produced.

Dessert. Whether you’re a member of the pumpkin pie or the pecan pie camp, both pair well with chocolate, so why not a sweet stout? I’m thinking Pike Entire, a rich, barrel-aged offering from Seattle’s Pike Brewing Co. It’s not the sweetest offering out there, but an amazing one. Young’s Double Chocolate Stout or North Coast Old Rasputin are also good choices.

After. Thanksgiving is about indulgence. This is the day to bring out the beers you’ve been hoarding or whose price point frightens you, the ones you might not buy for everyday drinking. Anything with ‘Imperial’ or ‘barrel-aged’ in the name is a good choice. I asked a beer writer associate of mine what he is serving on Thanksgiving; his answer: Autumn Maple from Southern California’s up-and-coming The Bruery. At around $14 a bottle, it’s not cheap, but is a bargain compared to a bottle of wine of similar quality.

What are you drinking?

(Above image by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com)

Other perspectives:

• Fermentarium: Thanksgiving, pilgrims, and beer myths
• Beer Utopia: Thanksgiving dinner beer pairings
• Seattle Beer News: Be Thankful for Beer This Thanksgiving
• A Blog About Beer: Don’t Forget the Beer this Thanksgiving

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Categories:	Holiday • beer	2 Comments
Tags:	Thanksgiving

First of all, is it called stuffing or dressing?  And do most people actually prefer it cooked in the bird?

Growing up, I’ve always known it as stuffing and traditionally it was made outside the bird and by one of my aunts- and more often than not- it was heavy on the celery. For awhile, I thought stuffing was just okay, not great but good. Then, I tried oyster stuffing and realized I really hadn’t been eating what I now consider stuffing. I’m talking about rich, fatty, flavorful stuffing that could be eaten as a main course by itself.  Call me crazy, but I simply love a good oyster stuffing.

Traditionally what kind of stuffing, or “dressing” do you eat? I’m curious to find out what the norm is?

Other kinds of stuffing I absolutely adore:
Shiitake Mushroom Stuffing- Recipe Girl
Southern Cornbread Dressing by Deep South Dish
Gluten Free Thanksgiving stuffing by Off the Wheaten Path

Not Stuffed Yet? Quick Links to More Stuffing!

Above Photo by Maggie Hoffman

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Categories:	American • Cooking tips • Holiday	3 Comments
Tags:	dressing • Holiday • side dish • Stuffing • Thanksgiving

For many of us, Thanksgiving is about the day, not just the evening meal.  And though eating is a time consuming affair (in my family we have one meal mid-afternoon and a second later in the evening), there’s always some down time.  Here are five ways to fill it – consider them ice breakers, education tools, or the Thanksgiving equivalent of a treadmill.

1.  Food Lover’s Trivia – With food as your game pieces and 1800 questions about all things food, this game may replace the turkey as the highlight of your Thanksgiving.  It manages to be a challenge to the food-educated without isolating the less food saavy.

2.  Foodie Fight – A somewhat simpler version of Food Lover’s Trivia with a thousand questions about all things foodie – formal service, celebrity chefs, cooking methods, cookbook authors, and ingredients.  There’s room for debate with some of the questions, which can lead to discussion, debate, laughter, and occasionally an actual food fight.

3.  Celebrity Chef!  The Game - Do you have what it takes to land a TV show, run a fabulous restaurant, or sign a book deal?  How’s your chef pop culture knowledge?  Take a break between stuffing and pumpkin pie to find out.

4.  Winerd – Move your cork playing piece across wine label spaces by answering wine trivia questions of all sorts…and by drinking wine.  The blind tasting aspect of the game keeps things interesting in a way other trivia games just can’t compete with.

5.  Eat It! – The perfect way to distract guests from a turkey that’s taking a bit longer than planned.  No questions about grass fed beef here – instead, find out how much you really know about Keebler, Little Debbie, and Cheetos.  What is the oldest Girl Scout cookie, anyway?

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Amongst my family members there are those who clearly favorite one or the other, and there are those that don’t care, as long as it’s pie. And then there are those who don’t even like pie.

My brother-in-law loves pumpkin pie, my husband’s whole family really. Growing up they used to buy a stack of pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. I, on the other hand, love pecan pie. Specifically homemade. And guess what? November is Georgia Pecan Month, which I think speaks very highly of which is the better pie for Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, pumpkin is great. But pumpkin is better put to use in a cheesecake than a pie, in my humble opinion.

Which is your favorite pie, pumpkin or pecan? Maybe strike a compromise with Pumpkin Pecan Pie? Are you one of those no-pie people? Or do you serve an entirely different dessert at your Thanksgiving feast?

Photo by Cameron Nordhom

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Holiday • desserts	4 Comments
Tags:	Baked Goods • Dessert

image from riptheskull

Thanksgiving is technically about giving thanks and spending time with loved ones, but it’s really just an excuse to eat copious amounts of delicious food- depending on what you consider delicious.

A holiday nicknamed “turkey day” certainly does not bode well for vegans and vegetarians, especially those spending the day in a crowd of meat-eaters. Annoying vegetarian jokes aside (snappy comebacks here), the day’s emphasis on poultry heightens the omnivore/herbivore rift. The veggies worry about what on the Thanksgiving table will be edible, while their omnivorous hosts worry about what to cook that meets the criteria. After a few Thanksgivings of going through this myself, I’ve found there are a few things to do to circumvent unnecessary conflict.

If you are vegetarian:

Let your host know what you eat and don’t eat. It sounds like a no-brainer but can be surprisingly difficult, especially if you are dining with a group you do not know well. Perhaps you’re worried about judgment (what, no turkey? What’s wrong with you?) and feel you can slip beneath the radar. Or you may not want to trouble your already stressed-out host with an additional concern. However, it is a host’s duty to make sure their guests, including you, are comfortable. Plus, he or she will be offended if you do not eat anything, and possibly upset that you didn’t say anything sooner.

Offer to bring something. Your host may not know what to make, so ask if there is anything you can bring. Thanksgiving dinner may not be the best occasion to showcase your famous carob-tofu-agar pie. Instead, bring something delicious that you know everyone will want to try and enjoy.

Eat before and pocket an energy bar. If you are nervous about what on the table will meet your dietary requirements, eat a small meal prior to leaving the house. At Thanksgiving, it’s better to be too full than hungry. If worse comes to worse, have a safe snack on hand that you can slip away privately to eat.

Understand that there will be dishes you cannot eat. Your host won’t please everyone, but hopefully they will offer enough to satisfy you.

If you are hosting a vegetarian guest:

Ask what they would like to eat or if they can bring something. You may feel ungracious asking a guest to help with the meal planning or to bring a dish, but most vegetarians will be happy to lighten your load and relived to know that they have at least one thing on their plate.

Make accommodations. You do not need to ensure that every dish meets your guests’ needs, but have enough dishes that do so your vegetarian guests leave as full and happy as the rest of the crowd. Simple tricks can make this easier. Cook some stuffing outside the turkey. Bake a plain yam in the oven with the candied yams. Swap out butter for olive oil. Make universally acceptable vegetarian dishes, like roasted root vegetables, stuffed pumpkin or an elegant salad. Even an act as simple as microwaving a Field Roast loaf goes a long way. Discretely point out to your guest what foods on the table fit their diet.

Any additions?

A few meatless recipes for the Thanksgiving table:

Holiday Loaf

More thoughts on the matter:

• Tips and recipes from NPR by Nicole of Cucina Nicolina
• Cheap Healthy Good: Veggie Might: Vegetarian Thanksgiving Tips, Part I- The Main Dish
• Healthy.Happy.Life: Vegan Thanksgiving 101: Tips, Advice and the Basics.
• U of C Vegan Society: Vegan Thanksgiving Tips

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Categories:	Holiday • Meatless Monday • Vegetarian • vegan	4 Comments
Tags:	Thanksgiving

Did you know that the standard commercial turkey is a called a Broad Breasted White?

It’s a breed specifically bred to turn the least amount of feed into the most amount of weight the fastest. This, in turn, creates a bird with such a large breast that it is unable to mate. How can one expect to get a tasty bird if they’re grown in such a way?

For a more sustainable option and a tastier meal, choose a local heritage turkey. Learn more at Local Harvest or read this post about a farmer who raises them.

Oh by the way, commercial turkeys are white-feathered. Shh, don’t tell the children, their color-by-number drawings of multi-colored turkeys aren’t what they’re eating for Thanksgiving.

Photo by stevevoght

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Categories:	Holiday	1 Comment
Tags:	Food • meat