Eating New England

Holiday Travels

Sampling New England Offerings

January 8, 2010 at 10:21 AM | 2 Comments | Post a Comment

Let me begin with a wish for all of our readers out there: I really hope this new year and new decade brings you great wealth — emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially. I also want to thank you for your support — in reading this blog, Yankee Magazine, and our sister publication, The Old Farmer's Almanac.

When Thanksgiving Starts in May

Enough with the turkey, already

December 2, 2009 at 4:55 PM | Post a Comment

I don't mind writing the truth about this year's Thanksgiving: It was great. Half of my family was able to gather, and that meant lots of people sharing bedrooms and bathrooms, preparing large meals together, and playing with dogs and -- my favorite -- the little ones.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Top 25 tips to make your holiday fun

November 17, 2009 at 3:35 PM | 1 Comment | Post a Comment

The big feast is just around the corner! To help make your holiday fun and something you can be grateful and thankful for, too, here are my top 25 tips:

1. Whether you're at a big celebration, or on your own, be thankful. Take time to pause and reflect on the big and small things in your life that you're grateful for.
2. A week beforehand, make a timeline so that you can schedule steps and oven usage throughout the days preceding and the big day itself.
3. Read through all of your recipes to make sure you're clear about the order of instructions, the ingredients you'll need, and how long each recipe will take to prepare.
4. Make a list of all the ingredients you'll need. Look at it each day and add/delete as needed.
5. Check to make sure you have all the pots and pans you'll need.
6. Check to make sure you have all the plates, flatware, napery, serving utensils, glassware, and chairs you'll need. If you're short, ask a guest to pitch in.
7. Go easy on the table décor — avoid fancy, elaborate floral arrangements and knickknacks. You'll have a lot of color with all the foods you're serving, and with all those plates getting passed around and the serving utensils poking out here and there, you'll need more space than usual on your table.
8. Do as much as you can before Big Thursday. You can make most purées, soups, and marinades a week in advance and freeze them. Make the pies, stuffing, etc. the day before.
9. Pick up a few extra bags of cranberries and pop them in the freezer—after the holidays, they'll be scarce.
10. Make use of extra hands in your house. The night before, rent a movie and put family members to work peeling butternut squash, green beans, or other time-consuming jobs that would slow you down the next day.
11. If your turkey is frozen, start defrosting it on Monday. In your fridge, a 14-pound turkey, for example, will take two to three days. If you forget, fill a large, clean cooler with cold water and put your bird in there, changing the water every other hour. If you're lucky (we told you to defrost your turkey earlier!), your bird will be ready to roast in eight hours.
12. Invite guests to your home and don't get hung up on the table's being too crowded or things not being perfect ... It's better to have a neighbor, friend, or relative over who would otherwise have been alone than to fret that someone is sitting on a folding metal chair or eating from a plate that doesn't match your pattern.
13. If a guest brings a surprise dish that doesn't go with your menu, serve it anyway. So much of Thanksgiving is about tradition and memories. If Aunt Sarah needs to make chocolate cranberry turnip salad as part of her tradition, let it slide.
14. Thanksgiving is not the day to try out a new recipe. Stick with what you're comfortable with and that you know will work.
15. Instead of one giant turkey, consider two or three smaller ones. Everything will cook faster. (Consider cooking one the day before and one the day of, so that you can present one beautiful browned bird tableside.) Also, smaller birds will be juicier and more tender, and if you have a large crowd, you'll have more drumsticks.
16. Turkeys are notorious for being finicky to roast, because the white breast meat cooks faster than the drumsticks' darker meat. There are several ways to even the playing field: Brine your turkey, butterfly it, remove the legs and cook them separately, and/or cover the breast with foil (remove it for the last 45 minutes to brown the skin).
17. To stuff or not to stuff? Most food-safety experts will tell you not to (some of the raw turkey juices could soak into the dressing and not cook thoroughly), but I prefer a stuffed turkey. Note that stuffing does slow down the roasting time.
18. To baste or not to baste? Basting does very little in terms of adding to your turkey's flavor (not much of that flavor actually gets absorbed), but basting the breast does cool it down (by evaporation), slowing the breast meat's cooking time and letting the legs catch up a little.
19. At 325 degrees, most turkeys cook at about 15 minutes per pound (stuffed, about 20 minutes per pound). But keep your eye on things. According to food-safety experts, your turkey is done when a meat thermometer reaches 180 degrees in the thigh, 170 in the breast, and 165 in the stuffing. Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I'd go 170 on the thigh and 160 on the breast.
20. Remember who's wagging this holiday's tail: If your turkey is done at 2 o'clock, but you were planning on serving at 3, that's fine. Remove the turkey to its carving place and "tent" it with foil (don't wrap it in foil, or it'll steam and the skin will lose its crispness). It will stay warm — I promise.
21. Have a few simple jobs for guests to do (such as pouring drinks, setting out water glasses, minding the ice bucket, making placecards with the kids, sitting next to Grammie and making sure she has what she needs, and so on).
22. If you're a guest, be a good one. Don't stand in the middle of the kitchen and ask, "What can I do?" If you bring children, watch them and keep them entertained. If you bring an appetizer, make sure it's ready to go, not something that needs complicated assembly or oven cooking. Jump in and help with cleanup.
23. Have extra ice on hand. For some reason, you always need more ice than you or your ice maker can produce.
24. It's the one day of the year to eat with no restraint. This is not the day for diets. It's okay to be full ... unbutton your pants if you have to.
25. Buy disposable plastic food containers, so that you can send leftovers home with your guests. My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal is the turkey sandwich the next day.

Loads of Good Eating

Visiting friends and meeting new people

October 20, 2009 at 11:55 AM | Post a Comment

I've been remiss in keeping in touch via this blog - I've just been so busy! Lots of work, but as the food editor here at Yankee, I've found that work means loads of good eating and traveling around New England visiting friends and meeting new people.

Dinner at the Farm

And Nan's Peach Pie Recipe

August 21, 2009 at 10:59 AM | Post a Comment

Last night we had our usual Wednesday-night dinner at the farm. This is the best time of year, because, well, it's a farm ... and the farm is very happy right now (despite the devastating loss of most of the tomatoes). I made, if I do say so myself, a fantastic gazpacho with fresh tomatoes, peppers, red onions, sherry vinegar, and a bit of avocado. Very refreshing. But the real treat was Nan's peach pie. I was too full from dinner to eat pie last night, but I did have some this morning as I was rushing out the door, late as usual. Dear me. It's fantastic and a perfect this-time-of-year dessert. The peaches aren't "ours," but they're local.