The simplest recipes are always the most popular. I need to remember this when I am creating and sharing with you and my students. It’s cookie season and although I don’t know how many cookie swaps will happen, or maybe they’ll happen without people getting together physically, I know you will all appreciate the ease and simplicity of this Peppermint Bark Shortbread recipe!Continue reading
If you’ve been hanging out here long enough, you know that my favorite night of the year is Christmas Eve at my Aunt Sheila’s house with my dad’s family – all 100+ of us. It’s a fun night with all the traditions I grew up with: a million fish dishes, carols being sung while waiting for Santa to come down the stairs, dozens of gifts flying everywhere, chocolates and panettone and espresso to round out the evening. Well, I know what you’re thinking. That’s a super spreader event that is NOT happening this year.Continue reading
I expect some of you are going to have some significant leftovers this weekend. Many people, myself included, are doing a big traditional Thanksgiving dinner for fewer people this year. So what are you going to do with all that extra food? One idea is to identify a neighbor who may not be able to cook for him/herself and bring some leftovers to him/her. I often freeze food like cooked turkey and extra pie for another time. But leftovers can obviously be repurposed and turned into a whole other meal. My family is perfectly happy to have Thanksgiving 2.0 on Friday and Saturday! In case you’re looking for some recipes, I pulled together a few from my site with links below.Continue reading
This post has been edited from the original which was published on November 17, 2011.
It’s always hard to accomplish your Thanksgiving tasks when you don’t know how many people you’re having over or what your menu is! But my menu is done and we will be approximately 9 people, including my oldest daughter who is coming home this weekend. I am so excited to have all my kids in the kitchen this year prepping and cooking with me. I had a stroke of genius 8 years ago, which was to tack my Thanksgiving to-do list on the refrigerator and have everyone sign up for three tasks. Even my husband helps out!
It is so unbelievable to me that I didn’t teach a single in-person Thanksgiving class this year. I normally teach 5 per week for 3 weeks! I miss my peeps. Sigh. I have done most of most grocery shopping other than a few items which need to buy purchased when I pick up my turkey. I plan the days leading up to Thanksgiving pretty carefully so I don’t forget anything and also so that I have a list to cross things off (that makes me feel so accomplished!) I think about regular meals and activities, too. Here’s what my schedule will look like from Sunday until we eat on Thursday at 4:00 pm (-ish). This shouldn’t make you feel exhausted, but merely show you what you can do ahead for your own Thanksgiving! The Chalkboard Mag published a really great blogpost four years ago with tons of tips from lots of food experts (including me!) I highly recommend giving it a quick read.
As if I hadn’t already told you, my Thanksgiving ebook is available for only $15!
This PDF contains all my Thanksgiving recipes, tips and tricks, in one document! You will have everything you need to plan and execute your best Thanksgiving ever, says me and everyone I know who has bought it. Click here to access the Thanksgiving ebook.
Here it is – the last Thanksgiving recipe I will share this year. I never post any Thanksgiving recipes after this point because I am hoping you will have committed to your menu in its entirety by now. No more going back and forth, hemming and hawing. Don’t overthink it. Whatever you have chosen will be wonderful. The important thing is to have it set so you can secure all your ingredients and tools and be well into prep-ahead mode as soon as possible!Continue reading
This post was edited from the original published on November 10, 2011.
Life is unpredictable, but Thanksgiving is not and it is 2 weeks away! My family and I are excited! Don’t let these Thursday posts stress you out. The whole point is to show you what you can do in advance, not what you must do in advance. All these tips and strategies are most relevant to the hosts and hostesses who are preparing most or all of the meal themselves and who have a busy schedule leading up to the holiday. If I didn’t get a lot of these tasks completed early, I don’t see how I could pull off this meal without tons of stress.
I’m so thrilled so many of you are happy with the Thanksgiving ebook! Thank you for sharing all of your feedback. For those of you on the fence, if you are planning ANY large holiday gathering or meal with many components, this ebook will be the best $15 you have ever spent! Click here to get your ebook. 🙂
Usually, I am a Don’t-Mess-With-Chocolate kind of gal, but I am also Team Chocolate-Makes-Everything-Better. I am definitely in the latter camp for this recipe. Pumpkin Pie is not the one I go for on Thanksgiving. I like it perfectly well, but with everything else I make, it’s not my #1. Unless I add chocolate.Continue reading
This post has been edited from the one originally published on Thursday, November 3, 2011.
If you followed the advice in my post last Thursday, perhaps you you thought about how many guests you will be hosting on Thanksgiving. What about your menu? The more solified your menu, the more you can start prepping. Coincidentally, I taped a Thanksgiving segment with Rachael Ray that aired on her show on Friday, November 2nd, 2018. It was a very fun segment to do and I shared some of my favorite things to get done three weeks before Thanksgiving. I actually did 90% of my grocery shopping! Another reminder that my 2022 Thanksgiving ebook is available! For $15, you will get all my Thanksgiving recipes, tips and tricks, do-ahead strategies and more! You will have everything you need to plan and execute your best Thanksgiving ever. Click here to access the Thanksgiving ebook. My November online cooking class has just been uploaded and is available here for individual purchase. This month’s menu is AMAZING! If you haven’t committed to a menu, use this one.
This week we have a few more tasks that we can check off the list.
