thanksgiving -

by gansie

Open Thread: Thanksgiving Eats

Good god. Thanksgiving is a week away and I’ve yet to come up with some fresh ideas. Dad Gansie will take care of the bird, but I need to thrill our guests with sides.

Here are some recipes I’ve spied and might try. Please add in your favorites or new recipes you’re giving a spin around the stove this year.

Thanksgiving 2010 – Tryouts

Beet Carpaccio
Would make for a fab presentation.
[NYT/Minimalist]

Carrot, Olive and Feta Salad
Feta!
[Make It Naked]

Cauliflower and Parmesan Cake
I needed one egg dish in there.
[Smitten Kitchen]

Fried Brussel Sprouts
At least one dish wouldn’t use butter.
[The Food in my Beard]

Five Ways to Drink Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Turkey…stuffing…mashed potatoes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re all great, but in the ES book holidays are a time to get booze-y. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up traditional Thanksgiving flavors. These five liquor-fueled concoctions put the yay in turkey day.

1. Pumpkin Martini

We’ve been seeing this one pop up a lot lately, whether made with pumpkin spice or pumpkin syrup. At Devil’s Alley in Philadelphia, they say screw the FDA and throw some caffeine in there too. Their espresso pumpkin martini is made from Van Gogh Expresso Vodka, Bailey’s Irish Cream and pumpkin syrup. Leave pumpkin pie for the babies. (Photo by M. Edlow for GPTMC)

2. Cranberry Cocktail

We all know that frightening blob of canned cranberry sauce is gonna be left on the table at the end of the meal, right? Fortunately for cranberry lovers who want their antioxidants in a more easily digestible form, there are now several types of cranberry liquor on the market. At Patina Restaurant in LA, the turkey day menu gets washed down with “the fall cocktail” — 1½ oz. Pear Vodka, ¾ oz. Cranberry Liquor and 1 oz. Apple Juice.

100 Ways to Cook a Pumpkin

Pumpkin season is here! Now let’s be honest — for most of us, that means leftover pumpkin season is here, too — because how many times can you make boring old pumpkin pie? Never fear, Endless Simmer is here. Whether you’ve got half-a-can of pumpkin puree sitting around, a cupboard full of pumpkin pie filling, the stringy insides of a Jack-o-Lantern or just a few stray pumpkin seeds, we scoured the web for 100 creative recipes that will help you use up all that beautiful orange goodness.

Click on the photos for full recipes…

Previously on ES:

100 Ways to Cook a Banana
100 Ways to Cook a Tomato
100 Ways to Cook a Sweet Potato

in 100 Ways / Featured / Lists / Recipe / Veggie 50 comments

by BS

What Are We Leftovering?

ES reader MonkeyBoy writes in with this shot of his post-Thanksgiving breakfast the Endless Simmer way — with an egg on top.

What are you doing with those t-day leftovers? Boiling up a carcass or just classic sandwiching? Any creative ideas? Let’s hear it in the comments!

in Eggs / Holiday 4 comments

by Liza

Ham thrown at Paula Dean’s Head

Yes, Paula Deen was hit in the face with a ham (and I’m really trying my hardest to hold back laughing hysterically).

While helping unload a truck of Thanksgiving food donations at Hosea Feed the Hungry, I guess someone decided it would be good idea to just throw the hams out of the truck and one of them hit Paula Deen smack in the face.

Deen is said to be doing OK and did not suffer any major injuries.

Deen told WXIA-TV that the ham “hit me full long in the face and ’bout knocked me cuckoo, but I’m fine.”

…and there’s video.

in Celebs / Pig 1 comments

by BS

Pardon Our Turkey Dust

Hey ES-ers! Your favorite food blog will be trying on some new looks this Thanksgiving weekend, so please don’t freak out if things start to look a little different around these parts. ES will be back to normal (but looking slightly more fabulous) next week, and ready to hear all about your face-stuffing weekend adventures.

If you’re still looking for T-day inspiration, check out A Procrastinator’s Thanksgiving (bad chefs!) or listen to our turkey cooking ideas on the ES podcast (now available on iTunes!)

(Photo: ~sage~)

in Holiday / Personal 1 comments

by Russell Warnick

Thanksgiving Extras: A Turkey Carcass Concoction

Let’s forget for one moment that I’m British, and just pretend that I’m an experienced hand at all things American, including Thanksgiving. I’ve lived in DC for many years now and during that time I’ve cooked several Thanksgiving dinners, and have even been trusted with the turkey.

Most of my friends venture home for Thanksgiving so we always make a point of getting together and celebrating the holiday ahead of time. I find that this is a great way to experiment with new recipes without the added pressure and guilt if something should go wrong. This year I experimented with the turkey. I grilled it, or should I say roasted it on the grill. It was an opportunity to do something different and create the extra space in the oven for all the sides — a dinner for twenty-three people brings with it a lot of sides. I’m not going to tell y’all about my turkey or how to cook it, ES has done that already but what I am going to tell you is what you can do with the turkey once it’s been hacked apart.