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Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

instead of putting allspice in the pumpkin pie we screwed up and added cumin.... ew

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From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

instead of putting allspice in the pumpkin pie we screwed up and added cumin.... ew

From Serious Eats: New York

Book Giveaway: Mike Colameco's Food Lover's Guide to NYC

Mantao Chinese sandwiches in Midtown was a real hit when I visited last weekend.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: Easy Gluten-Free Baking

cupcakes! vegan or gluten free cupcakes are tasty as well.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: '660 Curries' by Raghavan Iyer

I didn't enjoy my first curry experience. I think I was overwhelmed with the flavors and expected something completely different. On the second try, I tried a tomato-based curry which was probably easier to warm up to. It's been love ever since.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Modern Spice'

Indian! I try and try but it never tastes as good as my favorite restaurant dishes. Whats the secret?!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Urban Italian'

I love a creamy pasta dish with fresh corn thrown in. Its rich with a nice sweet and crunchy zing.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'On the Line'

I had a tuna tartare last night that knocked my socks off. Give it to me raw -- tartare or ceviche style any day!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: The Essence of Chocolate

Just made flourless chocolate cake similar to David Lebovitz's recipe mentioned above...it was heavenly! Perfect for V-day or everyday...

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics'

Roasted baby potatoes, heavily salted and tossed with fresh herbs. Crisp on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Think Like a Chef'

braising, what a wonderful way to bring out tremendous flavor!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

my first thanksgiving, my dad was insistent that we not spoil our appetite - but as a kid, there was no way I was waiting until 3 o'clock for some boring turkey, and until 5 for pie! so my mom snuck us some turkey broth she'd made and we got to feel like spies sneaking around the house.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Years ago I wanted to impress a new beau by making a Thanksgiving turkey for him. When he asked me if I knew how to do this, I pretended to be slightly enraged and assured him I knew how. I washed the bird and put it in the oven for the right amount of time. It browned very well but when he went to carve the turkey he pulled out a bag full of who knows what out of the carcass of the bird. I had forgotten to take out the bag with the gizzards and neck and all that stuff. Pretty embarassing.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My brother was sitting next to me with a mouthful of stuffing when he got a funny look on his face, and stuck his fingers in his mouth to retrieve something small and round, that appeared to be made of plastic. "What the hell is this?" he asked, while examining it. My mom, from down the table, looks up and says deadpan "I was looking for that." When everyone at the table calmed down enough to stop laughing at her delivery, she explained that it was the foot of her cutting board, and she actually had been looking for it. She's an amazing home cook, and had never done anything like that before.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Well . . . there was the time in high school when I went over to a friend's house on Thanksgiving and we found her mother in the kitchen drunk and trying to pry the neck out of the frozen turkey with a pair of pliers . . . .

But my favorite memory is last Thanksgiving, my first with my honey. He had a stroke about a month before the holiday (at age 40!), but was well on his way to a full recovery by Thanksgiving. We had (and have) so much to be thankful for.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Definitely the time my mother was carving the turkey, and a large slice fell onto the floor! The dog scrambled for it and we decided there was no point in taking it away from her...

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

First roast cooked and did not realize that cooking time on the package was per pound. Needless to say, there was quite a wait to eat.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

A few years back I was determined to cook my first Thanksgiving turkey, and on Alton's prompting I was sold on brining. Turns out that kosher poultry is salted to adhere to Jewish law, so you really cant brine a kosher turkey. Now my immediate family is not kosher, but my grandmother and some cousins are... I think we know where this is going, but the way I see it is that God would totally understand if he tasted how juicy that bird was.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Two years ago, I was absolutely run down from work and NaNoWriMo to the point where I couldn't even remember the date. This turned out to be a huge problem because before I knew it the night before Thanksgiving had come along and I wasn't ready! There was still work to be done: preparing the defrosted turkey, making the desserts, chopping up the ingredients for the side dishes... I tirelessly chopped and mixed and baked until the wee hours of Thursday morning.

My mother, woken up by the smells of pumpkin pie, asked if I was doing a rehearsal dinner. No, I said. This is all for tonight. She looked at me strangely. But Thanksgiving is next Thursday, she said at last. And you're going to be late for work.

Moral of the story: always check the calendar, especially when you're sleep deprived! It sounds like a horrible memory, but you can bet that when Thanksgiving actually came round, I was 100% ready. Plus not only did I get in the practice, I got feedback from the amused family members too :D

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My maternal grandmother used to give me all the Cool Whip I could possibly want. On Thanksgiving, she'd serve us pumpkin pie, and I'd eat all the Whip, take the plate with its untouched orange wedge back to the kitchen, and tell her that I "needed some more pie." I'd do this three or four times before my mom finally made me eat the pumpkin part.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My favorite incident was terrible at the time but so funny years later so it has become my favorite memory. When I was younger, I loved the canned cranberry sauce. The family would pretty much put it on the table just for me and I would eat it all. Well my aunt was a terrible cook so I don't know exactly what kind of creation this was but it was made from beets and looked pretty close to the canned cranberry sauce. I dug in gleefully only to spit it all out on my plate. I now like beets but sure didn't when I was eight. I was scared to eat the canned cran at her house for years after that.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

The one that my husband and I refer back to over and over was the very first Thanksgiving I had with his family when we were first dating. I was helping in the kitchen, and at some point my MIL started rooting around in the fridge. She pulled out a couple bottles of salad dressing that were completely empty. Tossed them.Then she pulled out a bottle of ketchup that was also empty except for the bits clinging to the sides and bottom. She put some water in the ketchup bottle, swished it around, and dumped the results onto the salad. And then she handed me the bowl of salad and told me to go put it on the table.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My favorite Thanksgiving was in college, when I went with my roommate to her aunt and uncle's house. The two best parts - 1. I had homemade cranberry sauce for the first time, and have made it every year since, and 2. her cousins had invented the "full rug" - whenever we were too full to eat another bite, we would lie on a rug in front of the fireplace until we had room again.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

The first year my wife and I were married was also my first year of seminary. We lived in a 2 room apartment that was adjoined by a hallway kitchen. There was a tiny oven, no counter space, and barely any range real estate. My wife was the eager bride and wanted to make a full blown meal for both of us. First up, she bought a 20 pound turkey. For 2 people. To cook in an oven that fit the turkey like a pair of '80's Calvin Klein jeans. Then, when I was pulling the turkey out to rest on the "counter" I spilled more than half of the turkey juice all over the floor. Second, my wife decided to make a home made pie. Crust and everything. I was in the bedroom playing on the computer and came out to find a snack. At that time my wife begins to cuss out the pie crust that would not roll out. On a kitchen table. I walked back into bedroom and didn't come out until the pie crust went away. It was a memorable Thanksgiving.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

A family member had a big family thanksgiving thing and a butterball turkey involving a bag and ginger ale and orange juice or some nonsense. I got a really nice turkey from a farmer I know, roasted it tout simplement… which do you think was better?

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

One year I was invited with my wife to a distant relatives house--how bad could it be? Well, they served brussel sprouts--possibly the most gag inducing food known to me. I got it down--which was remarkable considering I believe there are still some hidden brussel sprouts somewhere in my childhood home yet unfound

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Enjoying my mom's manicotti right next to the turkey and dressing--followed by a weekend away with my cousins while my parents got a little vacation.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

When we all got so drunk off manhattans beforehand, that we forgot the turkey and burned it to a crisp

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Last year a guest arrived with mini pumpkin pies that had been spiked with vodka. Essentially they were vodka pies. They were also a gateway to what is now forever known as Drinksgiving.

The highlight of the evening is when I convinced a soon-to-be-sick friend to carry around a fashionable "Party Bucket" on her arm for the entire night! It was just the bucket we use to mop the floors.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

During one of our first Thanksgivings after being married, my husband made the gravy. He kept adding more flour to thicken it and eventually it was so thick that when we turned the gravy boat upside down, it stayed in place.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

do you mean the one where the firemen came after the neighbors called about the smoke? and they sprayed all the food on the counters? It was a restaurant meal that year!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My mom taught me how to make the pie crust, which I always thought WAS way more difficult. And then I got a lesson on fillings. And now the day before Thanksgiving I'm always on pie duty, and I love it.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Oooh pick me! Pick me! Alton Brown is the reason why I took food science in college!

Ok my story: One year I made Alton Brown's brined turkey. As per his show, I preheated the oven to 500 degrees, slathered the bird in canola oil, and put in the oven for 30 minutes to brown the skin. Well, half an hour later I opened the oven to drop and heat and cover my bird and a completely naked turkey was staring back at me. ALL THE SKIN HAD BURNED OFF!!! It charred and slid off to the side leaving a pale white, naked turkey. I continued to cook it and still served it, but we had a good laugh. I'll never forget that bird!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

My aunt and uncle came from Bangladesh to visit and led us to discover that roasted turkey tastes absolutely wonderful alongside dahl and rice.

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

I'm loving the stories.

My favorite food memory is eating at my Grandma's house - lots and lots of people, lots of food, and so much love. There was the 'adult' table, the 'kids' table and the floor in one area for the 'inbetweens.' One year there were more people than silverware or plates. We 'tweens' used anything we could find - pot lids, casseroles, to hold the food and felt lucky to find at least a spoon or a fork too! We ate, the women did the dishes, some of the men napped or watched tv, and our favorite uncle would take us kids out for a walk in the woods. Then it was time to eat again!
Oh..and we always sang 'Over the River and Through the Woods" on our drive north.
Happy Thanksgiving all!

From Serious Eats

Cook the Book: 'Good Eats: The Early Years'

Ah, picking just one favorite Thanksgiving story will be a challenge. I am afraid that I will have to out my mother with her recipe for giblet gray that she invented the first year we had a smoke alarm (you know where this is going, don't you?): Put giblets in small sauce pan, cover with water, bring water to a boil, forget about pan until smoke detector goes off, throw out giblets and stick with pan drippings for gravy making. I would love to report that this only happened once, but I am afraid that it became something of a tradition.

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