As we rethink how to have a big holiday dinner during a pandemic, here are some of my best recipes and dishes for Thanksgiving 2020 - whatever size your gathering may be. What are your Thanksgiving plans this year? Chances are, they are different than last year. To be blunt, many of us are abandoning our usual traditions - especially the ...
Persimmon Pie with Pecan Streusel
Instead of (or in addition to) pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, serve something unexpected: persimmon pie with a sweet pecan streusel topping. I created this recipe and blog post as an entry in the Florida Crystals® Pure Joy Recipe Challenge. Be sure to follow Florida Crystals® on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. It's almost Thanksgiving ...
Making Stock Using Your Turkey Carcass
When Thanksgiving is over,don't throw away that turkey carcass! Use it to make delicious turkey stock and treat everyone to turkey noodle soup this week. Will your family enjoy a wonderful roast turkey this Thanksgiving? When you are cleaning up after the big feast on Thursday night, be sure to save the turkey carcass! You can turn those ...
Apple Honey Challah Stuffing
The perfect holiday stuffing made with rich challah, crunchy apples and sweet honey. A Jewish take on stuffing! Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I have time to give you one more recipe before you have to start cooking. So far, this month, we have talked turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, vegetables and, naturally, dessert, ...
Pear Tart with Pecan Streusel
Not feeling pie for Thanksgiving dinner? This Pear Tart with Pecan Streusel is elegant, easy-to-make and a fresh twist on dessert for the biggest meal of the year. I think pears are overlooked as a fruit for Thanksgiving. Everyone, including me, automatically thinks about apples and pumpkins and perhaps sweet potatoes. But pears are just as ...
Brussel Sprouts with Pickled Cranberries and Pecans
A perfect Thanksgiving side dish: roasted Brussel sprouts drizzled with a touch of honey and tossed with pickled cranberries and toasted pecans. After I posted the recipe for pickled cranberries last week, I received a few comments along the lines of: "That's nice, but what am I supposed to do with pickled cranberries?" I mean, I did give ...
Stokes Purple Sweet Potato Souffle
Gorgeous Stokes Purple sweet potatoes bring an earthy warmth to this just-sweet-enough soufflé. A perfect way to end a holiday meal or impress guests at brunch. I don’t think there are enough purple foods. Purple is not only beautiful and vibrant — my favorite color, in fact — but when you see it in a food, it is a sign of heathfulness. A ...
Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Today’s post for classic mashed potatoes enhanced with real Parmesan cheese is sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano. I am proud to be a 2017 Parmigiano Reggiano Brand Ambassador. Real Parmigiano Reggiano, imported from Italy, is the only parmesan for me! Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes. That's a given. But what kind of ...
Pear Cranberry Relish
Combine fall favorites pear and cranberries with spicy ginger for a sweet-tart relish that will add zing to your Thanksgiving turkey. It is officially November and that means it is time to start planning your Thanksgiving menu. I will be here to help all month long. So, let's dive in! Not much of the Thanksgiving feast can be prepared in ...
How to Make Pumpkin Pie with Fresh Pumpkin
Curious about making pumpkin pie, a fall favorite, with fresh pumpkin instead of canned? It's easy and worth the extra effort! It's October, so we can talk about pumpkin pie, right? I didn't want to jump the gun, but once October hits, I think that all things fall are fair game. Thankfully, the unseasonal heat wave Chicago experienced at the ...
Stone Fruit Blueberry Pie
The perfect end-of-summer mashup pie: stone fruit mixed with berries. Don't let summer end without making this! I really love to make pie. My love for making pie probably exceeds my family's love for eating pie. My husband is all about a good fruit dessert, but given a choice between pie and cobbler, he will take the cobbler every time. He ...
Mashed Potatoes with Parsnips
I don't know about you, but I am constantly tinkering with the recipe for my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. I’ve tried garlic mashed potatoes, horseradish mashed potatoes and every other trendy version of this classic dish. (The garlic mashed potatoes went by the wayside when we began inviting a friend with a garlic allergy to our feast.) You know ...
All-American Cornbread Stuffing
Because Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, I like my menu to reflect our country’s culinary heritage. That means cornbread stuffing, thank you very much. For what is more American than cornbread? But America is a big country. If you start with cornbread from the South, you also want to make sure you include up north and out west. ...
Thanksgiving Cranberry Relish
Fall is the season for cranberries and they are available now at the farmers’ market. Cranberries freeze like a dream, so buy them while they are in season to enjoy all winter long. I adore baking with cranberries because they retain their shape so well. The tart flavor of these scarlet-hued berries pairs well with oranges and another great fall ...
Pumpkin Apple Bread with Garam Masala
October means two things to me: pumpkin and apple. Luckily, those ingredients actually go together! Like in this Pumpkin Apple Bread. You use canned pumpkin in the batter -- although have you seen those articles that say that canned pumpkin is really squash? The horror! -- and then fold in chunks of delicious, diced apple right before baking. I ...
Mashed Potato (Boxty) Bread
Come Friday, you will have leftover mashed potatoes sitting in your fridge. Don't try to deny it. I am sure that those mashed potatoes will be absolutely delicious at your Thanksgiving dinner. I hope that your guests will smother them in gravy and mix them with turkey and stuffing to get all that deliciousness in one insanely good bite. But come ...
Potato-Parsnip Puree with Brown Butter
Today's post is sponsored by Door to Door Organics, an organic grocery delivery service in Chicago. Keep reading to learn how you can get $10 off your first order and win a $50 gift certificate from Door to Door Organics. Along with stuffing, I am constantly tinkering with the recipe for my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. I've tried garlic ...
Chipotle, Pecan, and Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #VivaLaMorena #CollectiveBias Some dishes on our Thanksgiving menu never change. Some are different every year. My mother and I have cooked our turkey the same way for a decade. We never tinker with the pumpkin pie or the Balsamic-glazed ...
Scenes from Thanksgiving Dinner
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Was your meal a success? Did you try new recipes or stick with your tried-and-true favorites? My mother and I hosted my family and several friends at her house in Florida, as has been our tradition for several years now. We have honed our menu over the years and feel like we have the perfect balance of ...
Apple Caramel Tart for Thanksgiving
Today's post is sponsored by Riveridge Produce, a Michigan grower and distributor of twenty-four delicious varieties of apples. Look for Riveridge apples, including Macintosh, Cortland, Jonathan, Empire, Rome and Honeycrisp, for your Thanksgiving table in fine grocery stores, such as Publix, Meijer, Mariano's, Copps, Pick 'n Save and HEB. In ...
Homemade Cranberry Sauce for National Cranberry Day
Did you know that November 23 is National Cranberry Day? I suppose it makes sense, being so close to Thanksgiving, which is cranberries time to shine. But I love to cook and bake with cranberries all winter long. In fact, I stock up on cranberries during the last few weeks of the Oak Park Farmers Market because these babies freeze like a dream. I ...
Cortland Apple, Fennel and Bleu Cheese Salad for Thanksgiving
Today's post is sponsored by Riveridge Produce, a Michigan grower and distributor of twenty-four delicious varieties of apples. Look for Riveridge apples, including Cortland, Jonathan, Empire, Rome and Honeycrisp, for your Thanksgiving table in fine grocery stores, such as Publix, Meijer, Mariano's, Copps, Pick 'n Save and HEB. Thanksgiving ...
Perfect Cornbread Dressing
When life gives you leftover cornbread, make cornbread dressing. That is exactly what I did last week. In anticipation of a busy day, I had made turkey chili in my slow cooker in the morning. When I got home, less than an hour before dinner time, I decided that the chili wasn't quite enough for the hearty dinner that we needed after a busy fall ...
Gala Apple Orchard Salad
November is upon us. As soon as the Halloween decorations have been cleared away, I begin to think about Thanksgiving. I bet you are starting to think about it as well. Are you hosting this year? Traveling to see friends and family? As always, my mother and I are hosting Thanksgiving for friends at her house in Florida. My children are eagerly ...
Your Best Apple Pie
Are you finzlizing your Thanksgiving menu? Will you make the same foods as last year or will you try to mix it up? My mother and I love to host Thanksgiving together and we have pretty much honed our menu over past the few decades so that it is just how we want it. I did revolutionize the way we cooked the turkey about 7 years ago. (See this ...