What's cookin'?

[Mark Zeger]

I do most of the cooking for Thankgiving. Here's the menu: - Butternut Squash Soup - includes Granny Smith apples, no cream, very little fat (less than 4g fat, 1g sat. fat per serving) - Arugula & Orange Salad w/pomegranate seeds - Herb Rubbed Turkey with Shitake Mushroom Gravy (no, not that kind of herb), Wild Mushroom & Hazelnut Stuffing (our traditional turkey & stuffing) - Pan Roasted Root Vegetables (rutabaga, beets, parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes) - String Beans with Citrus-Rosemary Gremolata - Mashed Sweet Potatoes - store bought pumpkin and apple crumb pies probably drink Pinot Noir with dinner So, what's cookin' at your house?

[Jeebus]

I too do most of the Thanksgiving cooking. We are having: Roasted turkey, served with roasted butternut squash puree, topped with a port wine sauce. Wild rice pilaf or mashed sweet potatoes. Baby spinach with a raspberry vinaigrette, topped with grilled pear, roasted walnuts, fresh mandarin orange slices and brie cheese. Grilled vegetables, marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, garlic and fresh herbs. These include portobello mushrooms, sweet onions and belgian endives. Bruschetta, topped with a fresh tomato and jalapeno pepper concasse. Tiramisu, as well as raspberry and lemon sherbet. Apple and Pumpkin pies (baked in advance) The Jesus

[Dak Lander]

My better half does the soft stuff. Her mother brings some goodies & I do the Turkey on the Barby. I have this old gas grill that I don't use for anything else & have the briquets to one side, place the turkey on the non-fired side with a drip pan under it. I fire up the one side and get the briquets hot, set the turkey & hit the hot side with soaked hickory or mesquite chips to smoke the bird. I then cover it with aluminum foil & let it cook, rotating end to end about every hour. About 4 hours for a 20-22 lb bird with stuffing. Don't have to baste. Pull it at 180 degrees, let it set for 20 minutes & then carve away. Use a thermometer both in the bird and on the un-fired side of the grill to keep the temps right.

[whitefang]

Our group is so large, several of us swoop down on one house and bring various stuff. I usually bake the pies. Nothing fancy, mind you. Standard recipe, no Martha Stewart flairs. The turkey is usually done standard, with a cornmeal/sage stuffing(we buy EMPTY turkeys). With about 30 people crowded into the place, the bird winds up looking hacked with an axe rather than carved, but it all tastes as good. Whitefang