With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it was time to
experiment with some turkey recipes. Some years I have a house full of
people and often cook two big birds, but other times it’s just a small
group and cooking a huge turkey just seems to be too time consuming.
Roasting a turkey breast is a great solution for small gatherings and it makes a great dinner any time of year – not just at Thanksgiving! Most of the “experts” (Alton Brown, Emeril, Cooks Illustrated, etc.) recommend brining in a saltwater solution to season the meat and keep it moist, juicy and succulent and though it does add to the prep time, it’s really worth it.
The festiveness of the holidays is upon us and it's time to make a plan of attack. What to serve? How to serve it? What I am bringing where? And how the heck am I going to feed all these people?
There are some cookies that are destined to become a holiday tradition. In my family's case, the traditional cookies were those that had become favorites -- my dad loved the thumbprints that his mom made each year and then they became my favorite. My brother loved the Chocolate Shot Cookies.
Latkes, also known as potato pancakes, are a traditional treat to eat at least once during the eight days of Hanukkah. The reason you eat latkes for Hanukkah is because they are fried in oil. Why oil? Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the second temple after a battle and along with the victory came the miracle in which mere drops of oil in an oil lamp lasted eight days. The "miracle" is much like a story about a fat man coming down a chimney with presents...
