Cuisine Capers

The pumpkin pies are done!  But, to quibble, I feel the need to point out that they are not pumpkin pies.  They are butternut squash pies.
Thanks to my involvement in a terrific CSA, I learned years ago that good pumpkin pies… aren’t.  In fact, often the canned pumpkin that one buys in the store is [...]

One of the side dishes that disappears fast at our Thanksgiving table is the Cheese Sauce.  In many ways, it is really a side of a side dish, served up alongside the broccoli and cauliflower, though I will note that in reality it gets poured over almost everything on the plates, very much like a [...]

I’ll start with a quick look behind the scenes.  You see this picture?  Yes, the picture on the left.  The Thanksgiving-oriented picture.  Yes, that one.
 This blog gets literally hundreds of hits a day around this time of year from people who are searching for this picture. Oh, they don’t know that this is exactly the [...]

The Traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage… (sort of…)
I suspect that this is a picture that has shown up on almost every food blog in existance this weekend. Yes, it was St. Patrick’s Day, which means the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. Or does it?
There is a big difference between Irish American St. Patrick’s Day [...]

The Turkey!
This year we prepared a 28 pound fresh turkey. I rubbed it with Penzey’s Galena Chicken and Rib rub, then added some garlic and onion for good measure. I popped it into the oven, put the oven on Convection Bake at 300, and let it go for 5 hours. There is no comparison between [...]

Calm Before The Storm

We’re about to be descended upon by 25 or so people. Amazingly, things seem quite under control.

The Wild Rice & Italian Sausage Stuffing is prepared…

The turkey is stuffed, seasoned, and resting on its nice, shiny new All Clad Turkey Roasting set…

The turkey is in the oven….

The table is set…

And the [...]

It’s that time of year… you know, when you gather in great masses and eat yourself silly while imbibing a bit too much? That’s right, I mean Thanksgiving.
Each year my immediate family gathers for the feast. This year we’ll have somewhere around 22 people descending on the dinner table. I think I’m ready. I’ve ordered [...]

We’ve long ago outgrown the desire to go out and live it up on New Years Eve. In the last few years we’ve made a tradition of settling in for a special meal, with special food and wine.
This is getting somewhat more and more challenging. We eat “special” meals all the time - we enjoy [...]

In a bit of a surprise, Christmas morning dawned with the first snowfall of the season. This first snowfall was unusually late, and fairly welcome, given that the landscaping for our new house is on hold til the spring thaw, and it’s better to look at a blanket of white snow rather than a mud [...]

I’ve got a 14 pound boneless prime rib sitting in my refrigerator. It will be sacrificed to the hordes of people descending on the house tomorrow. Along with the prime rib will be a spiral cut ham, mashed potatoes, blackeyed peas, broccoli and cauliflower, peas and pancetta, and bread. And possibly shrimp scampi, depending on [...]