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I'm sure I'll take flack for this ... but everything but the turkey. A forkful of mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, and cranberry sauce all topped off with turkey graving. Heaven.

I am giving this mushroom and goat cheese puff a go.

@wicked & dbcurrie - it's watery, not oily. I only use a tablespoon or so of olive oil to cook the onions at the start.

I used to use a ricer, but it made including the skins a total pain. I finally remembered my mother's method, and it turned out pretty well: boil your potatoes (I do want to try steaming them after reading this though), mash them roughly, then use a hand mixer to incorporate your dairy/butter/etc. I kind of did it on the fly with the dairy proportions, but it worked really well and wasn't as labor intensive.

I'll second the library and third Bittman. I bought the how to cook everything veg and love it. I kind of wish I had the other one too because the books are so user-friendly that I want his answers to my meat-based questions, but I was looking to go healthier and cut down on meat so I went with the veg book - and I love it.

But yes, definitely hit your library up. I stop there once a month or so to grab a new cookbook. Sometimes it just gets ignored, but most of the time I grab at least one or two (if not more) new recipes, which does wonders for avoiding a rut. And if you find yourself using something constantly or loving every recipe you make from it, then you know it's worth buying.

I'll also echo the beans and squash suggestions. So good, so many ways to make that even if your kids may not think they like it from one instance, you could probably just serve it and they might not recognize it. Also, get creative with your salads. You can make salads the norm for lunch and go nuts with what you'll put in: fruit, nuts, seeds, goat cheese, etc.

Good luck!

you might have better luck following a recipe for braised lamb shanks (or turkey legs, if you can find it) and use that temperature/timing for your stovetop conversion using whatever ingredients you found appealing in the original slow-cooker recipe.

I would *really* like a stand mixer, but my santa is still unemployed, so it would be terribly rude of me to ask for it, so I might just have to buy it for myself (or keep pining) ... or fake an engagement and register for one? :P

I'd be happy with a replacement bowl for my food processor since Santa melted the original one by putting it in the bottom rack of the dishwasher.

@ScoutinSpokane - sounds like something that might be good for the toaster oven.

I don't have any personal dietary restrictions (aside from what I consider to be standards of what constitutes good food!), but I have full-on shared every part of a meal with others both in restaurants and home-cooking and had experiences where I became *violently* ill while no one else had as much as an upset stomach. I have no idea how, but these things apparently happen.

I used to just set the laptop on the counter, but I've accidentally sent more flour onto that sucker than I will admit to my boyfriend (who actually owns the laptop). Shhhhhhhhhhhh!

My binder is absolutely boring, but I put the printouts in page protectors and keep a Page-Up thing on my counter. That way you can just wipe it down if you splatter or spill stuff on it (which is why I haven't "just gone digital" with my recipes either). The DIY book things seem nice, but my personality is a dangerous combination of lazy and cheap, and the binder/page protector makes for easy additions to the book as well.

enchiladas especiales tacuba is the last real dinner left on my menu for the week. But. We've got a houseguest who we are taking out to happy hour after I get off work, so we may end up deferring to grabbing something downtown instead ...

Tortellini soup - great, filling, reheats well.

1 lb sausage (hot and/or sweet)
1 c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
5 c (3 cans) beef broth
½ c dry red wine
½ c water
2 c chopped peeled canned tomatoes
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
8 oz tomato sauce
1 ½ c sliced zucchini
1 c thinly sliced carrots
8 oz frozen tortellini
1 medium red pepper
1 ½ Tbsp parsley

1. Brown sausage and drain, reserving 1 Tbsp grease. Sauté onions and garlic in reserved fat.
2. Add broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
3. Skim fat. Stir in zucchini, tortellini, parsley, and red pepper. Simmer covered for 35-40 minutes.
Serve with parmesan cheese.

Thai-spiced pumpkin soup is always a hit. But after trying out a new recipe last night, I've been inspired to do a cinnamon rice pudding in roasted pumpkin thing.