Apple Pie

The classic... best if it's not too sweet and, ideally, served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Short of that, good at room temperature, too.  (On a technical note, I'm in love with my new camera.  That photo was taken without a flash and in crappy lighting conditions-- just our dining room overhead light and one lamp.)

Double Pie Crust (again)

I've written about how to make a pie crust before, but here's a slightly easier way to do it.  With better pictures.

The crust is rolled out between a folded-over sheet of waxed paper idea (SO much easier, and it means that your rolling pin doesn't get all sticky.)  The wax paper idea is from an episode of Good Eats.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, filled with lots and lots of good food, family, and friends. 

Although it may be a little late for this year, my Thanksgiving recipes can be found here. 

Turkey sandwich

I'm a firm believer that turkey only reaches its full potential after the main Thanksgiving meal is over.  My very favorite turkey dish by far is not the glorious whole roast turkey, but the humble turkey sandwich. 

No recipe, really; just cold turkey on thick slices of homemade bread, with a generous spread of mayo and cranberry sauce.

Roast Turkey

Only a week to go until Thanksgiving!  Do you have your turkey lined up?  It is, after all, the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner:

This is a fairly simple, straightforward way to roast a turkey, taken from the always excellent How to Cook Everything.  It uses very high heat to start, which means nice, crispy skin; plus, it only takes 3 hours to roast a 12-lb. turkey, which means you get to sleep in a little the morning of Thanksgiving.  My only complaint is that it was a little bland; next time, I'll try brining.  However, the skin was crisp and the meat was moist. 

Vegetable Pot Pie

This is an amazing side dish for Thanksgiving; there's no reason pie has to be restricted to dessert!  Also works as a vegetarian centerpiece dish.

I was extremely pleased with myself for coming up with this; it's very, very loosely based on a chicken pot pie recipe.  Also only goes to prove, once again, that while vegetables are delicious, add about a pound of butter and they're AMAZING.

Double Pie Crust

This is a good, all-purpose double pie crust, adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.  I believe it's easier with a good food processor, but here's how to do it by hand.

Sage Bread Stuffing

I'm actually not a huge fan of stuffing that was actually, you know, stuffed inside a turkey, but I do like this baked in a casserole.

Apologies for the terrible picture (it looked even worse blown up to full size) -- in the rush of cooking all the Thanksgiving foods, I didn't take the time to get good pictures of everything.  This is the only photo I have of the finished product, and was cropped down from a photo of the whole spread. 

Which was amazing.

This stuffing is pretty basic-- very simple, just a few ingredients, but also very tasty.

Hint:  The secret to really good stuffing, like so many other things is to use a lot of butter.  In this case, an entire stick.  

Cranberry Sauce, part 2: Cranberry-Orange Relish

Mmm... zingier than the regular sauce-- tart and tangy.  I haven't yet decided which is better on turkey sandwiches, despite extensive lunchtime field research.  They're both really good, so I've been combining them. 


It's also very easy to assemble, and can be done ahead of time, but a food processor is a must.

Cranberry Sauce, part 1: Whole Berry

This was a bit of a revelation... I'd only had the kind straight out of a can before.  Which is fine.  This, however, is almost as easy as opening a can and is much brighter tasting-- fresher, more tart.  Just tastier.

This recipe is straight off the side of a bag of Ocean Spray cranberries. 

Pumpkin Pie #1

Good, but not great... I think I like Betty Crocker's recipe better.  And no pictures (see last week's memory snafu)... still, Pumpkin Pie is pretty easy.  No slicing fruit, just open a can.  Even if you use a premade pie crust, it's still SO much better than anything you'd buy in a store.