Katie Meadow

Agreed. Although Crisper Soup has a certain directness about it. If the item in question is so old that you believe it has undergone a genetic mutation you can call it Crispr Soup. I've been calling those meals put together of invisibles "kitchen sink" meals, but I like Catfish Pie way better.

Is there a perfect pairing topic? With my Pina Colada I need a pupu platter with pigs in a blanket. Once, in a galaxy far far away, I must have had that. It must have been at a late 70's 50's party.

Liuzhou, nothing like an old wives' tale, right? Eat a banana a day for leg cramps. Plus yams and other potassium rich foods. Seriously I have a friend who swears by bananas for this. Your sandwich looks very tasty. The eggs look perfect, with the yolks exactly the way I like them. Sleep well!

For new moms or in fact for anyone who might need help with food and cooking-- those recovering from surgery or grieving or just not up to cooking--most friends and neighbors bring casseroles that are heavy and cheesy. Bring something different, like soups with lots of vegetables. Home made chicken soup; does anyone not like that? (Well, anyone who isn't a vegetarian). A loaf of really good bakery bread is always welcome for obvious reasons. I made a lentil and tomato soup once for a friend who was so thankful; she said she was overwhelmed with casseroles and had to stuff them in the freezer. The above pot roast is a good idea, as it can be versatile. Green beans dressed with lemon and oil that can be eaten room temp. Keep in mind that many people have partners who also don't have time to cook but who probably DO have time to run out to get a sandwich or take-away. The support system needs a home-cooked meal too.

This "raclette melter" is a hilarious contraption. I had no idea! I couldn't grasp how it might work, so I googled several videos of them in action. I wish I had a video of some 5th graders figuring out how to use it without adult supervision. I am guessing the Swiss instructions are more detailed than than the Ikea ones would be, if the Swedish ever wanted such a thing. But I'm sure the Swedes would come up with a good name for it. Like "Maelstrum" or "Gloop." There are various amazing iterations of these melters, aka raclette grills. One uses three votive candles as a heating element. I assume the Swiss have been making giant wheels of raclette long before they figured out the ideal use for electric heating coils. Is there a mini Swiss Army one for use on camping trips? I think my husband needs that for a holiday gift.

Same here, I add cooked noodles or rice at the end. But if I have a lot of soup and expect leftovers I only add them to individual portions; just sitting in hot broth and then cooling down makes them too soft for me.

I adore pot pie, if it's the real thing. In the past I have often found leftover cooked turkey to be less than forgiving when it comes to pot pie or gumbo or even added to soup, but this year we made some changes to the way we cook our turkey and the result was some amazingly moist and tender meat. So, turkey pot pie, which I admit is a lot of work, was in order, especially as my favorite nephew was coming over and he is a definitely a pie fanatic, sweet or savory. (Only pies at his wedding!) I used a mix of breast and dark meat, potatoes, carrots, parsnip, turnip, a few grilled baby onions, chard and peas and a binder of sautéed leeks and shallots, turkey stock, a little cream plus a bit of the rich gravy left over from Thanksgiving dinner. I had enough filling for two pies. My husband made the pie dough. We cooked the first one and my nephew and his wife took home what was left of it, which wasn't much. We baked the second one today. The filling doesn't suffer at all from being in the fridge overnight. The only adjustment I made was to add a bit more gravy to kick up the flavor and make up any lost moisture resulting from a night in the fridge. This will be a yearly tradition from now on. David Ross, I love smoked turkey. It's especially useful for making stock for red beans and rice -- always appreciated by guests who don't eat pork. Truthfully my motivation for cooking turkey is mainly the uses I can put it to afterwards.

We had a drink we liked very much last week: equal parts gin, Aperol, cointreau and lemon juice, plus a dash or a few drops of Absinthe. The friend who made it got the recipe from someone and didn't have a name for it. I think it is similar to a Corpse Reviver 2, in which Lillet is used in place of Aperol. Does anyone know the name for this drink?

Turkey soup, my drug of choice. This year I ended up with two carcasses (thank you my great neighbor!) and there was so much bone and meat that I had to make two batches of stock. I now have about 9-10 quarts in the freezer. And for two days I've been drinking bowl after bowl out of the stockpot or whatever won't fit neatly in a container. I like to start out very plain: just broth, salt and a little sichuan pepper. I might throw in a little cooked rice or a squeeze of lime juice. Then I start dreaming about what kinds of soups I will make in the next couple of months. Minestrone with Marcella beans and greens? Mexican tortilla soup? All good. What kinds of turkey soups do you like?

I hope you live near Zabar's. That at least would provide some solace. Seriously, restricting a diet, whether related to religion, solidarity with living creatures or the vast variety of health reasons that necessitate individual food plans is always hard at first. Only in the case of Kosher there are in fact Kosher restaurants and bakeries (depending upon where you live). Even those who chose to cut way back on salt discover that many of their favorite restaurants are serving food so salty they can't eat it. At one point I was forced to eat a low-acid, low-cholesterol diet. Then I had to add wheat to the list of no-no's. Talk about depressing. Italian food was out. Viet and Japanese were in. The only thing I could eat in a BLT was the lettuce. Be glad you can eat bread and tomatoes! Life has changed and my diet is way more inclusive now. But becoming an amazing home cook, as you suggest, or at least a good creative one, can get you a very long way. I'm astonished at how adaptable our taste buds are, and how many things we may not have considered eating before that can be exciting and exotic. At my lowest point on the low-acid diet I came down for breakfast and saw my husband's pyramid of grapefruits and I bust out crying. So I get it, believe me, but I was pretty surprised to find how well I managed. And you won't believe how much money you will save by not eating out a lot. Cheers! And welcome to eG, where whining and dining are considered a pairing.

I agree about the garlic; I don't let it color. Actually I find the smell a better indicator. Anyway, if it is starting to overcook, dump in the tomatoes quick, is my theory. For all-purpose sauce I like Mario Batali's; olive oil, some minced onion, a little grated carrot, garlic, Italian canned plum tomatoes (DOP), and some fresh thyme, a pinch of red pepper flakes to taste. If I want a thick sauce for pizza I cook it longer and add a little dried oregano, for that New York pizza taste I grew up with. I'm so used to the flavor of Italian tomatoes I don't think I'm a good judge of sauces. Muir Glen doesn't taste right to me. I too love the Marcella butter sauce, just for the purest pasta sauce, but I don't find that it freezes as well as an olive oil based sauce nor is it as good for pizza sauce. Making sauce with fresh tomatoes is totally another thing. I chop up juicy tomatoes, add salt, let it sit while the pasta cooks. Then just warm it a bit, add a pat of butter, maybe some pasta water if the tomato isn't giving up much liquid, and that's it. I love it over rice, too--an option for those who are gluten free.

The Berkeley Farmers' Market was a busy place this morning. There are still some decent tomatoes, but they are scarcer every week. One great find was a beautiful pile of fresh black-eyed peas, courtesy of the Asian vendor who has the great fresh peanuts and fresh ginger. Got a mess of them to make tomorrow as Hoppin' John over rice. My favorite apple guy had Black Twigs! I've only ever seen them before at Berkeley Bowl, and not for a few years, but when they are good they are really good. If you watch Vivian Howard Twigs are clearly a local apple for her. Also bought some Page Clementines, or what were labeled as such, which are fabulous. Really juicy and on the sour side, which I like. I don't recall if I've ever had them before, but they don't peel the way mandarins do, nor are they easy to section. They are firm with a tight skin and built more like a small orange. Also there's a pomegranate person now selling juice, and it is pretty different from Pom Wonderful--intense and earthy. I've been buying it for several weeks, and it's been delicious except for one time, when I might still describe it as earthy but tasted just a bit too much like dirt.

I have purchased exactly one pepper mill for myself since I was born 69 years ago. When I first started cooking in my twenties I bought what looked then to be a revolutionary little item. That was the Perfex. I still have it. The adjustment nut always worked pretty well. The capacity is very small (I was a cash-poor student then.) My husband of 30 years came with a pepper mill, one of those classic teak Danish jobs that he inherited from an aunt. Adjustments also were pretty decent and we used it for many years. I never minded the fact that you had to unscrew the top, in fact I sort of liked it. When my mother died four years ago I acquired the Magnum that I had in fact given her several years before. I like it just fine. It grinds easily, has good capacity and is a snap to fill. The wrist action is very satisfying. I don't find the adjustment to be that accurate but it holds a medium coarse grind which works fine for me, so I rarely bother to change it. I do agree that if you want a fine grind or you like to change grinds frequently it isn't that easy to control. I use the Magnum every day for cooking and table use. The Perfex is now dedicated to Sichuan peppercorns. It's a bit cranky after all these years but it doesn't get used more than a couple of times a week, takes up just about no counter space and certainly has paid for itself after 45 or so years. The Danish Modern mill is around somewhere, but where is a mystery. I'm sure I kept it in case of some kind of pepper emergency. You never know. I hear fallout shelters may be coming back.

Just picked up my copy from the library and I've been glued to it all afternoon. I've already marked enough recipes for it to qualify as a definite wish list item. So fun! Love her! How can I smoke corn without a smoker or a grill? How many of you can actually get your mouth to your elbow?

If I was Jack Bishop I would push CK off the roof of the rustic barn he pretended to live in. Or into the pig pen, Deadwood style. Swidgen! I really know nothing about this, but have always disliked CK and his inflated ego. I watched ATK a few times, but never cared for it much. Bridget was cute. Jack was sweet. Once upon a time I made the mistake of trying to get a free year's subscription to CI just to see what it was like by submitting a quick trick idea. They went for it and I got my subscription. After a year of that boring self-satisfied magazine I was happy not to subscribe, but CI hounded me with unwanted emails for several years, no matter how many times I asked them to forget about me, unsubscribe me, etc. The ATK philosophy boiled down to: "We are genius, you know nothing, do what we say, and never imagine that we will give you even one free recipe on line." Okay, so I exaggerate a bit. And I've wasted brain cells on thinking about it. And now I swear I am not going to look at this thread ever again.

PHO NOTE For those of us who order rare beef pho (or rare beef in combo w/ other cooked beef) I learned a great trick last year. I've been eating pho for many many years. Sometimes the beef really is rare, other times it isn't. If the kitchen doesn't get it out to you quickly it will no longer be pretty in pink. Sitting at a neighboring table was a couple ordering pho. They both asked for the rare beef on the side. I watched as they were served a lovely platter of thin slices of raw beef. They dropped in a few slices as desired--you get the picture. It only works if your soup is truly hot when they bring it to the table, so hopefully you know whether your fave pho place routinely serves it steaming. Love pho even mo"!

Just a little googling and it seems that the Cottage Roll or Cottage Ham originated in Cincinnati (you have to be proud of something in your home town) and is a part of the shoulder that is brined and not cured or smoked in the same way as "ham." Does that mean it's sort of the pork version of corned beef? Supposedly it is sold raw after brining, wrapped in a net, and often got boiled rather than baked. My mother, coming from a fairly strict Jewish household in Cincinnati, never cooked a ham in her life, although she moved to NY in her twenties and acquired a taste for bacon.

Speaking of milk on the cusp of turning, I experienced that this morning. It doesn't froth up at all with a wand. Not that that has anything to do with rice pudding. The perfect rice pudding eludes me. It's a rare thing. I want it creamy but not too fatty, toothsome but not chewy, rich but not eggy, with a layer of just creaminess but no rice at the top.

Okay, thanks! So hardscrabble ham is exactly what? Just ham tipping its hat to hard land and tough folk?

I would eat anything that was spatchcocked, cloverleafed or hardscrabbled, although I admit I have no idea what hardscrabble is, but they are all such excellent words. Oh, and how do you scratch-cure something? Get the turkey to walk back and forth on it for several hours before the poor bird is dispatched for spatchcocking? And what is turkey jus gras? I'm guessing it's modernist for extra fatty turkey gravy. I could get behind that on mashed potatoes. Okay, onion bagel dressing is hilarious; forget tedious chopping and frying of onions and go right to the source! I would eat that in a New York minute, if only to tell the tale. And stale onion bagels are a snap.

Like you I don't buy a lot of bacon. But you are probably not far from The Local Butcher, which is at Cedar and Shattuck. Don't they have some good bacon? I haven't been up there in quite a while.

Thanks, prof, for the detailed onion pix and instructions. Lovely. I've been seeing those cipollini onions all season and just haven't bought any, mainly because I really didn't know what to do with them. If I were doing an Italian Thanksgiving I would make sweet potato (garnet yam) gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce. A friend served that the Friday after T day one year and it was everything anyone could want out of that vegetable. I think I will cook my turkey as planned the day ahead but then let my relatives figure out what to do with it along with their traditional bucket of cement, also known as mashed potatoes. (They mean well, but as you can see I'm on a roll.) Meanwhile I will be dining in SF Chez Shire. Say that several times, very fast.

I am always impressed by the variety in the breakfast thread. Ninety nine mornings out of one hundred I eat toast with butter and marmalade. I do enjoy several types of bread, as long as it gets toasted. Once in a while we make popovers, but only if we have forgotten to buy bread. I could imagine pho or some kind of Asian soup for breakfast, not that I ever have leftover pho around. What I would really love is someone who plies the streets with a pho cart every morning. You hear them calling or ringing a bell and you run outside with your big bowl in hand. Then half an hour later the Vietnamese Coffee Cart comes by....

Thank you all for your comments. The real goals here are simplicity, less work for me the day of, and being able to bring a platter of parts plus slices to the table reasonably moist and edible. There is no sous vide in my life. There is no desire to make it look like I just took a perfect whole turkey out of the oven. This family is way beyond presentation. I love them deeply and I am also sick of them, if you get my drift. And, to their credit, none of them really care as long as the table looks pretty much like it has every year since they were born, there's an abundance of vegetarian dishes and the wine is flowing. Creativity is not typically a plus with this crowd at Thanksgiving. I do think there would be takers for those onions, though, as long as no bacon fat is involved. So, as per some suggestions, after the bird is cooked on Wednesday and we have had the crispiest parts for dinner, I will break up the beast into several pieces and wrap them well in foil and put them in the fridge. The day of I will put a selection of pieces in a roasting pan with a bit of turkey stock for moisture, cover the pan with foil, and heat it in the oven. As far as keeping the turkey from drying out, is it wiser not to slice anything before reheating? Slices would get warm a lot quicker, no? But some people do like the option of whole parts, so maybe slices would dry out, unless they were heated in a separate pan for less time, which is an option. What do you think?

My husband and I have been making the turkey for about 30 years. In those 30 years neither of us has missed a Thanksgiving with his family: his parents (now only his mom), three siblings plus partners and some or all of their five millennial offspring. This is a family of very different habits. Some are vegetarians, some don't really care for turkey but think it belongs on the table, three large 20-something boys can inhale a fair amount, and so can my hollow legged husband. And then there's me. I'm bored with cooking it, I don't even like turkey that much, but I swear turkey soup is a narcotic for me, so I need the carcass. Also I'm in it for my husband's gravy, which is fantastic; leftover gravy makes for a fantastic turkey pot pie. None of this has anything to do with the latest family wrinkle. We always sat down to dinner around 6:30. But one strong-minded in law has now decided she wants to eat early in the day, like 2 pm. No one wants to cross this woman, and that's all you need to know about her. My husband and I do a lot of work for this meal, and one thing I'm growing increasingly tired of is the chaos in the kitchen working up to dinner hour. Also I don't wish to be in a hurry, scrambling to get things done, etc. When I pointed out to said family members that I wasn't keen on waking up early just so I could get a turkey in the oven by 11 am, one BIL suggested I set an alarm. And he actually meant it. Well, hell will freeze over before I do that on Thanksgiving morning. So, although I grumbled at first, I am now secretly thrilled with our solution: we are going to cook the turkey the day ahead. We will wake up alone at a beach house. It will be peaceful. We will have a long leisurely breakfast. And later we can nibble on the crunchy parts in private. Sounds naughty, doesn't it? Mmm, the Pope's Nose, as my mother used to call it. And we won't have to navigate the kitchen or fight for oven space during the main event, which is Grand Central Station. Yes, I do have a question. How best to heat and serve the turkey meat the day of? Can it be kept in a cool place overnight, but not in the fridge, so it doesn't dry out at all? Heat it in the oven? Microwave? It will be a dry-brined turkey with no stuffing. No clue, any ideas welcome. And remember, my goal is to do as little work as possible on Thursday, so no rolling it up or layering or anything interesting. I'm looking forward to sitting around at 1 pm with a cocktail and and not caring what happens next! Sadly the five cousins, including my daughter, either can't or don't like to boil water, so future is a bit murky when it comes to tradition. And if she continues to live in Atlanta she won't be cooking my turkey an time soon. Prof. Hobbit those onions are to die for. How do you do them? OMG I've written a novel.