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How to carve a turkey from the New York Times
Filed under: Poultry, Newspapers, How To, Fall Flavors, Thanksgiving 
A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my dad. He had phoned because he had just watched one of the Thanksgiving episodes of Fork You and wanted to give me a little advice. The piece of wisdom? Never offer to show someone how to do something on camera if, in fact, you don't know how to do it. The thing I didn't know how to do? Carve a turkey!
I agreed with him and explained that I didn't know that I was going to be asked...
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Canned cranberry sauce sandwiches?
Filed under: Dinner, Recipes, Fruit, Newspapers, How To, Fall Flavors, America  Is your family totally devoted to canned cranberry sauce, despite all your best efforts to sway them to the world of orange-scented homemade compote? If so, maybe you're looking for a way to spice up that cranberry sauce (because serving it in the shape of the can does leave something to be desired). Paula Deen, in her trademark over-the-top style, has come up with a new way of serving canned cranberry sauce. Here's how she described it in a...
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Ginger squash puree
Filed under: Dinner, Vegetables, Recipes, How To, Fall Flavors, Spices 
Late last week, I happened to drop mention of the Ginger Squash we often have for Thanksgiving around my family table. I got several requests for the recipe and so I'm now going to do my best to create one for you, despite the fact that this is not a dish I've ever tried to write down and I don't think I've ever made it exactly the same way twice.
My cousin Jeremy is the one who first innovated this dish, using...
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French onion soup tips, tricks and recipes
Filed under: Dinner, Recipes, Newspapers, Fall Flavors 
I still remember the first time I tasted french onion soup. We were out to dinner with my grandparents (I must have been seven or eight) and my sister and I were allowed to order anything we wanted. As we were checking out the menu, I saw a waitress go by with a little crock-shaped bowl with melted cheese on it. I knew I had to have it. Thus started a life-long love affair with this delicious soup.
Over the last twenty years I've had some good french onion...
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It's cold - time for hot chocolate!
Filed under: Chocolate, Fall Flavors, Comfort Food, Hot chocolate 
It's really chilly here in the Northeast. I love the cold weather, it's just that the first big chill of the season can be shocking, especially since we had such an oddly warm October. This is the first time I had to turn on the heat this fall. So how about some hot chocolate? Having a nice hot mug of hot chocolate on a cold evening is one of the great things in life. Here's a recipe for Easy Mexican Hot Chocolate (which includes cinnamon and chili powder) and here's one for Avenue' S Hot Chocolate...
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Apple Walnut Muffins from a much-maligned book
Filed under: Breakfast, Nuts/seeds, Recipes, Fruit, Books, Baking, Fall Flavors 
More than once, I've been caught saying nasty things about my 1997 edition of the Joy of Cooking. It's not that there's anything inherently bad about that volume, I just happened to grow up with one printed in the early seventies (white dust jacket, turquoise fabric cover) and love that one totally because it is so deeply familiar to me. However, last night I had to swallow all my heartless words, because the '97 version came through for me big time.
Last week I...
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Antique breeds of turkeys available again
Filed under: Dinner, Farming, Poultry, On the Blogs, Fall Flavors, America  This last weekend I went shopping for a turkey (I know it's early, but I needed to do a little experimentation). I had some trouble finding a bird that wasn't frozen solid (I wanted to use it the next day) but finally found a fresh one that clocked in at around 12 pounds at Whole Foods. It was a serviceable little bird, but was fairly conventional and mass produced.
The next time I make a turkey, I'd like to get my hands on one of the heirloom birds that was featured...
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Happy National Candy Corn Day!
Filed under: Snacks, Candy, Fall Flavors, Holidays  Ah, candy corn. Many swear allegience to it, others can't stand the things. I'm somewhere in between. I like candy corn, but I'm also glad that it's usually eaten and talked about in the fall, right around Halloween (though I'm sure it must be available all year round). I'm not a big candy corn eater, but I don't mind it.
Today is National Candy Corn Day. It's one day before Halloween, which makes sense. But the question is: are there any recipes that involve candy corn? Of course! Here's one for Candy Corn Rice Krispies Treats, and...
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Today is Pumpkin Day!
Filed under: Vegetables, Recipes, Trends, Fall Flavors, Holidays  Well, with all of the pumpkin-related Halloween stuff we did yesterday, this seems like it's a day too late, but there's still plenty of pumpkin food to talk about.
It's Pumpkin Day, so maybe this is the day you can go to your supermarket or your favorite pumpkin-selling farmstand to get some pumpkins for your home and/or yard. But what about recipes? PumpkinNook.com has a ton of recipes, including many pumpkin pie, cookie, and cake recipes. Here's a recipe for Pumpkin Custard from Bon Appetit, while PastryWiz has one for Pumpkin Nut...
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South Africa whips up world's largest pumpkin pie
Filed under: Dessert, Baking, South Africa, Fall Flavors, Super Size Me  I've never given much thought as to whether South Africans celebrate Thanksgiving. However, when I read that a team of bakers created what they're calling the the world's largest pumpkin pie last weekend, I'm beginning to think folks in Pretoria might just have their own version Thanksgiving.
The 1.15 ton treat took two days to make and bake and measured some 3 feet deep. It's worth noting that the pie's other dimensions were 28 feet long and 7 feet wide. While I'm all for the South Africans trying to break a record...
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