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I find that wrapping anything in store-bought puff pastry makes it "fancy" and a big hit. Whether it's caramelized apples, onion and fontina, sauteed mushrooms with cream cheese (as mentioned above!), chicken curry (not quite "thanksgiving", but delicious) or chicken sausage for a fancy pig in a blanket - most can be made a day ahead of time and popped in the oven when you're ready to serve.

Also: spiced pumpkin seeds are great nibbles, seasonal and super easy to make.

Favorite fall weekend breakfast: Brussel sprout hash with bacon & potatoes and a poached egg sitting on top. Outrageous!

I was just trying to figure out what I possibly can make at home to avoid having to order in (fresh foods are at critical low) ... read yesterday's "what's for dinner entry" and was inspired! I have salmon in the pantry so I will be having salmon cakes and roasted broccoli.

Can't wait to get home now !

How could I forget?! This summer there was an incident with some lobster alfredo. White pasta, copious butter, free flowing cream and a pile of cheese. Aaaaahhhhhhhh, delicious!

let's see ... bagel with chicken salad, cheese and bacon ... that was a gnarly hangover day. In college, we'd come home late night and make nachos out of doritos .... not ideal.

Most recently, a chicken and leek pie ... butter, cream, puff pastry ... delicious but not so much heart friendly!

I just read an article in F&W with some Asian options that sounded great. Mind you, this was not chinese specific. It can be found here:
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/best-fast-asian-favorites

Also: there is a recipe from meat lite for dumplings that I use often that's easy and much butter if you have help wrapping!

See ... All those places sound great. But to me? An impressive in lunch for out of towners would be taking someone to baogette for awesome banh mi, or caracas for some delicious arepas , momomfuku for some ridiculous ramen ... I love NY food for the diverse, delicious, cheap eats you can get. I think it's something that a lot of other cities are missing. And you can top it all off with dessert from the cupcake truck :)

Soooo ... I'm looking forward to redeeming myself for thanksgiving this year. I tried out one too many recipes for the first time and they all could use some tweaking. I brought a few different sides / accompanients to my parents

The cornbread with red pepper was too spicy - I think I'll make good ole cheddar chive this year. The sweet potato / banana casserole thingy I made (courtesy of Tyler's Ultimate) was great when I made it the day before but did NOT reheat well. (so much for saving time). I also made spiced pumpkin seeds and even though you can eat them with the shells, the general preference was for the shell-less ones I made (with a spicy curry concoction, delish). Will recreate this year, only all sans shells

Pecan pie and cranberry sauce were old standbys that were a hit, though my family, too, prefers the canned stuff. I would love to try the ginger cran version though, recipe please?

poached or runny fried egg, fresh whole wheat toast, slice of heirloom tomato and homemade pesto. lived off these this past summer ... sublime.

NOW, if I'm hungover, that's another story. then it's quick and dirty: fried egg (with butter), white toast and a slice of american. hits the spot!

go to eleven madison park for an extra special treat! yes, for lunch it's pricey - but the service is lovely and the food phenomenal. It's a great deal at $28 for a 2 course pre fixe lunch. (remember: this is relative!). That also includes an amuse bouche and great warm bread. Enjoy!

Brownies are so easy to make from scratch, that it's really uneccessary to use a box mix. Melted chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, flour - done! My go to recipe is the "supernatural brownies" from a couple of years ago in the times. They come out thick and decadent.

I'm going to have to puzzle over how to incoporate some peanut butter in those bad boys though, because that sounds delish

I've never been so enticed to eat a pig's ear as I am right now. Chichi, I look forward to your posts every week. Keep them coming!