New Life'n

How to stay right-side-up at Thanksgiving

There's nothing like the smell of turkey cooking in the morning -- even if it is upside down!  Yeah, in ignorance, I accidentally did that once.  But it turned out great!  We were shocked!  We figured it was because it was on its back, and so the juices flowed down to the breast.  We ended up doing it that way on purpose for several years -- we learned to cook it just long enough right-side-up to brown the breast. 

You might find these helpful...

Help with the food:

• 40 ways to simplify Thanksgiving -- timelines, everything you need to know about roasting a turkey, what to do if your gravy is too thick or thin, etc
• A bunch of recipes -- from turkey to cranberries to greens to sweet potatoes to dessert
• How to carve it -- they make it look so clean and easy
• Best boxed stuffings -- make it even easier

What's it all about?...

• Plimoth Plantation -- where it all began (yeah, they spelled it that way)
• What would the Pilgrims think? -- they might think ours is a lot like theirs
• Who were the Puritans? -- serious, on fire and radical.  But not prudes or party-poopers
• Lincoln said, DO IT

Panting for pepitas

Yikes!  The veggie stand down the road has already closed up shop!  Pumpkins, hay bales, fall flowers -- all gone!  (Christmas trees must be arriving next week!?)  Ok, no need to panic, I'm sure Teeter or Food Lion still have pumpkins.  Must...have...seeds...  It's been a whole year.  The smell of them baking; the crunch; the irrisistablity of one more handful.  Recipe HERE.

How to make cider

OK, not exactly -- the real thing can be complicated and take months (and is alcoholic).  But here's some quickie feels-like-fall apple cider drink recipes

• Hot mulled cider in the microwave
• Minted cider punch
• Spiced apple cider in a slow cooker with a real apple
• and Cider GRAVY!

How to understand food expiration dates

Our refrigerators aren't cold enough for meat (or dogs)...some foods just taste bad before they really go bad...but eggs can go way past the sell-by date.  Try to keep up HERE.   

Food poisoning at home -- it's not just the spinach

When I prepare fish or beef in the kitchen to go on the grill, I get a little kooky about scrubbing things down afterward.  And I won't use the same spatula to take things off the grill that I used to put them on raw.  One bad day-long belly ache will do that to you.  How to recognize and prevent it at your house -- When Bad Food Happens.

Tastes a lot better than paint-by-numbers

What's in your 'fridge?  What's in your cupboard?  Click the boxes and shazaam, instant recipe!  Do it at COOKING BY NUMBERS.

Pancakes!

Saw it on GMA this morning

Baby Hoagie

You probably figured it out before I did; I knew I didn't want to eat it but I wasn't sure why.  Had to GO HERE.

How to grill corn on the cob

Peel the husks all the way back but don't remove them.

Make a handle of the husk by using a rubber band or string (or even a strip of husk) to tie the husks together.  This mainly just looks cool; you can turn the corn with tongs or your fingers if you don't want to mess with the husks.

Put butter or olive oil on the corn, or spray with Pam.  Or don't, if you want to do the real adventure last step.

Lay the corn cobs nekkid on the grill over high direct heat.  The tied-back husks extend off the grill.

Pay attention and turn the corn with the handle as it browns.  You can close the lid if you want, but keep an eye on them.  It takes me about 15 minutes.

They're done when the kernals are turning a light brown all around.  If you did it right, they'll almost fall off the cob as you eat.  Then add your butter or salt or whatever.

For a real adventure, cut open a lime, rub it on the hot corn, then sprinkle with chile powder--yowza good!  You'll never eat corn any other way.

Most of this is from Steven Raichlen's How To Grill.  His website's here.