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The above suggestion is good, but place the squash on a sheet pan before putting in the oven.

Another way to get some color and extra flavor on the butternut is to grill slices of butternut squash. Using a veg peeler, peel the whole the whole squash. Then split in half the long way, remove seeds, slice into inch thick semi circles (or slightly thinner), brush with oil, salt, and grill til you get some caramelization. At this point you can chop up and freeze to include in future recipes or you can use it immediately for other dishes. You will need further cooking time since butternut takes some time to soften up. Or you can put the slices on a sheet pan and cook it til tender. Just dot with butter, then towards the end of cooking time sprinkle some brown sugar/maple syrup and cinnamon and nutmeg. I like a touch of madras curry powder for a savory back note.

Butternut squash soup is delicious--you don't really need to puree it, keep it chunky if you want. Blenders work fine, too, you don't need a food processor. Butternut squash risotto is delicious, too. Ina Garten has a recipe--I'll try to find it and post it.

Collard greens cooked with smoked ham hocks and a generous splash of vinegar. The bitter greens are the perfect foil for the rest of Thanksgiving's starchy meal.

Something with texture. I saw some inexpensive baby arugula yesterday at Kroger (don't know where you are, but check it out if you have one). Red bell pepper also on special for $1 a piece, too! Crazy. Anyhow, back to dinner. Baby arugula salad, shaved fennel, citrusy vinaigrette, maybe a bit of gorgonzola or chevre, some toasted pecans/pinenuts/whatever, julienne of Honeycrisp apple or Granny Smith or even a few orange supremes, couple of twists of the peppermill.
Or sautee brocollini with garlic, a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, squeeze of lemon wedge at table.

My husband and I love blue cheeses. Sometimes we do a side by side tasting of different blues. Danish blues that are readily found in most groceries are not as creamy as the Gorgonzola dolces that are available. Also, if you see Pt. Reyes in the market, it is worth the price. It's firmer than the gorgonzola dolce, but has a wonderful rich texture and nice rounded blue flavor.

Man, I love that cover!

I actually have a friend who married a guy with weird food issues. She LOVES food. He has an odd set of food criteria that make it challenging for us when we have them over and for himself, but he does not force his food issues on anyone. She has different issues of her own. After all, no one is perfect. WE ALL HAVE OUR ISSUES.
They've been married 10 years, have a gorgeous and hilariously independent four year old daughter, a beautiful home, loving family and friends, they are both accomplished, gorgeous, and truly wonderful people. If they had a Golden Retriever, they'd be pushed into a Stepford version of the perfect family. The reality is that during the course of the 10 years, the food issue was the least of the problems they overcame. Their problems are pretty universal to all marriages--worries over money, worries over job security, where to live (he was working for NASA, she was working for Capital One, both workplaces were in different cities), buying a house, selling a house, buying another house, worried that the other house isn't selling, moving, the economy, why can't he scrub the toilet for a change, not enough sex, too much sex, let's renovate omigod why'd we renovate, etc.
What I'm trying to say is that a relationship is more than what he won't eat. It is what WILL he eat? How will WE handle issues, big and small? If you're ready to throw in the towel, then be honest. But if he's a keeper in every other way--you know he'll be there in a crisis, he's honest, he's motivated, he makes your heart skip, he makes you laugh, you make him laugh. Oh! FLASH of inspiration! Do you read The Pioneer Woman?! If you don't, you must. Her husband is Meat and Potatoes. She is sushi and starbucks (well, not together). The thing is, she says he makes her hiney tingle or her skirt fly up or her ovaries leap or something like that (she's pretty funny). She's a food blogger--food's important to her, but she fell in love with a man who want's steak and baked potato and a wedge of iceberg with ranch dressing (I think that's right). AND they made it work!

There are so many issues floating around on this discussion. The original question was how much to tip when alcohol is involved. The restaurant (including managers and owners--not just the wait staff) assumes that, at a minimum, 15-20% of the total bill will be left as tip. For example, let's say you book a party for 30 people, you pick a menu, you pick your wine (whether it's a $50 or $1000--it has been marked up anywhere from 250% to 1000%, give or take, depending on the cost at which that particular wine was purchased, how rare/desirable/allocated, or what is motivating the sommelier, e.g. protecting the vertical or holding it to allow for further maturation, trying to move it, etc. More on factors affecting restaurant wine prices later on or on another thread if need be), you and guests eat and drink, at the end of the night, the bill will reflect the total plus gratuity on the ENTIRE bill, not just for food. They do not assign one rate of gratuity to food and another rate to beverages.

Serious Eats was my gateway drug, I mean, blog; it's how I found PW, Steamy Kitchen, David Lebowitz, Bitten, Rasa Malaysia, White on Rice Couple, TasteSpotting, etc., etc., etc.

Growing up, we always had meatloaf with gravy and no tomato product. 80/20 ground beef, finely diced onion, bread crumbs from heels of bread, egg, plenty of s&p. It was always moist and tender. We almost always had it with mashed potatoes and green beans or corn. And plenty of gravy.

Nowadays, I might make meatloaf once or twice a year, but rarely is it the simple meatloaf of my childhood. The last meatloaf I made was many moons ago and the recipe came from a post by Pastor Ryan on The Pioneer Woman's website http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/cajun-meatloaf/
Quite tasty. I used ground turkey, there are so many moisture adding ingredients that it was still a moist and tender final product.

I don't know you, but I love you for having done all this and shared it with us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I'm gonna make pho!

Just so you don't think I'm crazy, here's a little context. I love pho. I moved to a town in the midwest about 3 years ago and have not had even a halfway decent bowl of pho in this town. THREE YEARS!

oh yeah, I'll finish up the night with a cup of hot tea and honey...probably in an hour or so.

I'll put a ramekin on the corners or in the center until I can get the food onto the parchment. OR I'll put some creases into the parchment folding across the roll and then smooth the creases.