dressing « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Dill and Balsamic Salad Dressing

Heather — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:02:20 +0000

My simple creation after growing dill in the garden:

Ingredients
yields ~1.5 cups

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tbs balsamic vinaigrette
1 tbs fresh dill chopped
pepper to taste

Prep
Mix everything in a bottle. Store in fridge. Shake well before using.

The Most Wonderful Time...

Cory Jones — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:22:34 +0000

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for one reason: dressing. I wait 11 months to eat the cornbread and sage goodness – especially reheated on a roll around dinner time Thanksgiving night. Yes, we eat it at Christmas sometimes too, but Thanksgiving is the first taste of the year.

A hair below the dressing is the together time of Thanksgiving. It’s Christmas minus the gifts, together just to be together. The kids are bored out of their minds because all the adults do is “talk” so they have to make up games like “Invisible Football” in their grandparent’s front yard (yes, we actually played it). We crash on the couch to watch a meaningless football game, we play cards, we laugh, we tell stories and hear from the family patriarchs and matriarchs of what holidays once were like. For the Jones/McCarty houses it’s family at its best.

A whisper below togetherness (honestly, the #1 reason) is the feeling of contentment. I find it ironic that the day after we all gather at the table to share how blessed, fortunate and thankful we are for the blessings we have, we rush out the next morning at 5:00 a.m. to buy as much stuff as our debit cards can hold. Thanksgiving is too short-lived. We start making our Christmas lists after Halloween, stores display their Christmas decor in September. Christmas trees go up before the tryptophan has lost its effect.

We’re a blessed people. We’ rich. We’re well-fed. We’re more fortunate than most of the world.

Enough mushy stuff. Time to throw some elbows at BestBuy!

Spruce Up Your Salads

wattlebirddesigns — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:30:10 +0000

By Annie

When it comes to homemade meals, it doesn’t get much easier than salads. But it’s a little too easy to get stuck in an iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing rut. To avoid this state of salad monotony, you need to build up a collection of interesting toppings and dressings.

Photo: Savour Life

There are so many great things you can do with salads, but sometimes you have to think outside the box. Try fruit instead of vegetables. Try nuts or seeds instead of cheese. And not all of your dressing needs to come from Kraft.

During the holiday season, there are a lot of festive ways you can dress up your salads. Here are some ideas you can use for inspiration.

Stuffing Recipe - Thanksgiving 2009

aixelsyd13 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:27:53 +0000

Stuffing has got to be my favorite Thanksgiving food. I remember Thanksgivings past where my dad & I would fight over the stuffing bowl like it was filled with gold, diamonds, and (for me) guitars. The stuff is perfect. Alone, with turkey, with gravy… the decadent amount of carbs is ridiculously awesome.

Last year was my first ever attempt at making stuffing… and my grandma told me that it tasted just like hers. Is there a compliment better than that? I had used as a guide an old recipe that my grandfather & grandmother had both used when making holiday meals. My mom lent me the old cook book with my grandfather’s notes last year, I collected some others, and I made scans for myself.

I say “guide” because it’s not always an exact science when doubling/tripling recipes… and there really aren’t any cooking directions… it’s just a guide to make the stuff. Also, I tend to do a lot of “oh, that looks about right” and a little bit of “hey, let’s add a little of this” in the kitchen, as most people comfortable there usually do.

A lot of times I see stuffing recipes online, on TV, or in the little books by the cash register at the grocery store… and they include sausage, apples, raisins, (yuck!) nuts, or even peppers, carrots, or mushrooms (all of the latter of which I’ like to try some time). The philosophy behind this recipe seems to be a K.I.S.S. one. I like that. It’s a very simple accompaniment, and the taste that my mind goes to every time I think “stuffing”.

This year, it was definitely a two person effort. I don’t know how I would have done it without Bethany and all four of our hands. We made a lot of stuffing. Sadly, I didn’t think to chronicle the thing with photos like I sometimes do with new recipes… but I did want to make a guide with my own notes, so when I do this next year, I remember what I did differently this year. I know I altered things slightly last year, but the details were a little fuzzy. I figured that if I’m going to do it for myself, I might as well share, right? Plus, we got compliments from two moms, two grandmas, and an aunt… all excellent in the kitchen themselves!

I did take a photo today, because really, what’s a food blog post without a photo? Perhaps I’ll see if my mom got any with her camera and amend the post later.

This year's effort was delicious, if I do say so myself.

This is my first time really writing out a recipe… so pardon me if it’s a little convoluted or long winded. I don’t want to miss anything, and I hope to get it all in the right order as well as make it an entertaining read.

Here’s what you’ll need to do it the same way I did…

Food:

5 loaves of bread (equaled 56 cups once cubed)
1 bundle of celery (3 cups, chopped – the rest can cook w/ the turkey or be a snack)
2 Spanish or Sweet onions
The giblets & neck out of your turkey.
1 can (14½ oz.) vegetable broth
1 tablespoons of salt
½ tablesppon Season All Seasoned Salt
1 heaping teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1 heaping teaspoon sage
1 heaping teaspoon poultry seasoning
10 eggs
4 sticks (2 cups) butter
some water
1 cup fresh parsley
1 bottle of Yuengling

Stuff:

2 cookie sheets
cutting boards
small pot
electric skillet
Magic Bullet^®
electric roaster
large crock pot
knives
a few large bowls
whisk
spatula
several large spoons
paper towels

OK, on to the directions…

Monday night, get your loaves of bread, open the bags, and put the loaves on cookie sheets before dinner. Leave ‘em out on a table or counter while you do your thing.
Right before your favorite prime time TV shows come on, set up a station on the coffee table in front of the couch with the cookie trays of bread, some cutting boards with knives, and the pans out of your electric roaster. Cube the bread and fill the roasting pan. When I say fill it, I mean fill it. It will be ridiculously full.
Cover it with paper towels, and set it on the kitchen table that you only use when company comes over anyway. Over the next few days, stir it a few times a day, whenever you think of it. This will get it nicely & slightly stale. If you’re going to be doing anything that smells, like using cleaning chemicals, put it in the oven… but don’t turn it on. It’s nice & warm & dry & not stinky in there. The bread will absorb that stuff and the stuffing will taste like Mr. Clean made it.
Wednesday night, get out your turkey… and pull the disgusting papery bag of giblets out of the neck cavity, and the neck out of its butt. (Why exactly do they put the neck in the butt, anyway? Who’s idea was that?) Boil the giblets in your can of vegetable broth, or just use plain water… or even turkey or chicken broth. I thought the vegetable broth would add a nice flavor. I boiled them for a nice long time, and let it cook down quite a bunch.
Finely chop up your celery & onions… or use the Magic Bullet, like I did. I’m not real big on chunks of slimy or crunchy stuff in bread-like consistency foods. I probably had half of each chopped finely, the other half rendered to near-paste by the genius little piece of equipment that list the Magic Bullet. I’m sure any food processor would work.. but this one is easy to pot pout of storage, use, and clean when you’re done.
Then I popped out the electric skillet to sauteé the onion & celery mixture… probably in some Country Crock & a bit of extra virgin olive oil… adding some of the spices mentioned above, and maybe even some paprika… although, they don’t come the totals listed above. These are the aforementioned “oh, that looks about right” and “hey, let’s add a little of this”. You’ve sauteed stuff, you know how it works. I love this step because it turns the onions from gross into awesome… especially the Spanish onions. The sweet onions are oddly enough not as sweet to me when cooked.
Next time, I’m totally getting a pair of swimming goggles or those glasses that I’ve seen at Bed, Bath & Beyond for when I chop & pulverize the onions. I was crying like a little girl who just watched a car run over a kitten.
I popped the onions and celery into separate containers for the ‘fridge to save for Thursday morning.
Next, I pulled out the giblets and chopped them into tiny pieces, & put them with the reduced broth from cooking into a 3rd refrigerator bound container to be used on Thursday morning.
Go to bed. You have to get up early.
Thursday get up about an hour before your turkey needs to go in the roaster oven, and start to mix all this crap together.
Add the dry spice ingredients to the now stale-ish cubed bread. Good luck not getting any on the floor.
Chop the fresh parsley.
Nuke your butter in a microwave safe bowl, add it to a large mixing bowl, crack open the 10 eggs, and whisk away.
Add the fresh parsley to the buttery gooey egg mixture.
Add 2-3 cups of the broth from the giblets, and the finely chopped giblets to the now even gooier butterier egg mixture.
This is where I got the bright idea to dump in some Yuengling. It wasn’t a whole bottle… but I had it out & only needed about ½ cup for my butter/garlic/beer turkey injection/baste, so I dumped some into the gooey buttery gibletey mixture, and drank the rest… all before 8:00 am.
Dump the celery & onion concoction on to the bread, mix around, and then dump on the gooey buttery gibletey Yuenglingey mixture. This is where it was imperative that there were two of us. Bethany opted to use her hands to mix while I poured. The mixing gets easier when it’s wet, as it goes down a little. You should probably wash your hands before you do this. Not that I think you’re stupid or anything… but there are signs out there all over the place… so someone somewhere must need reminded. Use soap, and hot water.
Now, this needs to come out of the roaster so the turkey can go into it… and you should be doing this around the same time as turkey prep… so stuff what you can into the turkey carcass’ various cavities, and put the rest in the crock pot. I had Bethany scoop it into a bowl small amounts at a time as I stuffed it into the bird, so I wasn’t touching raw poultry and the stuffing that wasn’t going into the bird. She made it clear that she wasn’t touching the raw dead bird, or sticking her hands into it.
I sewed up the turkey and popped it into the roaster to cook, and then put the stuffing in the crock pot on low to cook for the same amount of time.
Everyone told me last year that stuffing + crock pot = bad idea. This is where I say that you could not be more wrong. It was perfectly moist and heated well throughout. I did break the cardinal cock pot rule by removing the lid every hour or so and stirring a little so it didn’t stick to the sides or burn. This worked well, except that I didn’t get the bottom well enough. You could add more liquid throughout if t looked necessary… or not stir if you like the crusty part as much as the other part. If you use the crock pot enough, you get to know what works for yours. Pop it on to warm or off a while before you eat.
When the turkey’s ready, the stuffing’s ready. Stuff yourself silly, send people home with leftovers, and eat for breakfast, lunch, & dinner the next day.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the process, and I’m sorry for jumping tenses. I think I did anyway. All over the place. Maybe Dave and Kristin can give me some pointers on that.

I’d love to know what you think of this recipe, and how you do your stuffing. I’m always up for trying things new ways… and I’m always up for eating stuffing. In fact, even better — make some, and invite me over for dinner!

Tip #8 Grated Carrot

YouAreNotAFitPerson — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:03:33 +0000

This is a little bit of an odd tip, but it is a great tip. I love salads, I always have. My old dream salad would have been lettuce, croutons and some store bought italian dressing. Since I started eating the greek salads (after enjoying tomatoes and onions on pizza, etc), I now add tomatoes, cucumber, and onions whenever I can.

The more important change for me though has been going to low-fat and lower calorie dressings. My favorite is Renee’s. This change is important because an average italian dressing, like Kraft contains 55 calories per tablespoon. I am likely to put at least 3 tablespoons of dressing on my salad (probably more, I love huge salads). Renee’s dressings have between 20 and 30 calories per tablespoon. That is a substantial difference. Fat free dressings are 20 calories as well.

This isn’t just one of those food swaps that takes a terrible food item and just moves it to bad, but it is a move from a food that is borderline into a food that you can pretty much eat as much as you want (salad that is, don’t drink the dressing). Great tasting foods that you can eat as much as you want will be a key element in succeeding in keeping weight off. Feeling full is extremely important.

The problem with these dressings though is that they are quite low in sugar too. Who knew sugar was important in dressings, but it is. They don’t have a lot of sugar (about 0.7 grams per tablespoon), but that sugar (like all sugar) becomes an important habit. A hard one to kick. When I first moved to these dressing, I found them bitter and nearly impossible to eat. Now I enjoy them very much. I made the transition by adding grated carrot. Yes grated carrot (make sure you grate the carrot, that is the important step).

Make yourself a salad. Take a couple of carrots and grate them right on top, then put on your 20-30 calorie per tablespoon dressing. You will find that grated carrots are strangely sweet. You will love this salad and by doing this you will gain a huge ally in the weight loss battle.

Enjoy your salads and remember that when people are saying ridiculous things like, ’salads are as bad for you as a Big Mac’, know that you are eating them with low calorie dressings and this couldn’t be further from the truth (as well, know that the salads [with chicken], even at their worst with tons of creamy caesar dressing, bacon and cheese-three things to avoid-may have the same calories and fat as a big mac, but they are huge by comparison. Try going to McDonald’s and just eating a Big Mac and not being hungry. That isn’t going to happen).

Being Judge-Mental

thenomad — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:30:38 +0000

Let’s face it. Despite all the claims about being non-judgemental and impartial, we ALWAYS ten

THOUGHTFUL SALAD

Agi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:11:27 +0000

There’s this thing on a certain social networking site, known as Facebook, where one writes up 25 things about themselves and sends the list to 25 people. The idea is to share intimate, less known facts about yourself with people of your choice. Instead of writing down my 25 things and posting it on the above mentioned website, I thought I’d toss them here and make a salad out of it.

1. Almost every morning, as I dress up my bottom, I glance in the mirror and smile with approval at the sight of my profile.

2. The more I cook, the more appreciation I gain for my mother’s culinary talents. I didn’t realize how good of a cook she was until I tried the trade myself. The goal is NOT to be able to make a few dishes I can later alternate when making dinners for my family. Instead, I cook to free my soul and go to heaven for having discovered and exploited my potential.

3. There’s something about Jason’s nipples I cannot simply resist.

4. I am on non-speaking terms with Starbucks for their new line of VIA Ready Brew. While the world screams “RECYCLE! USE LESS PACKAGING! STOP CUTTING DOWN THE AMAZON!” they come up with those tiny coffee sachets worth 1 cup each. Hello! Have you not heard of global warming and The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is twice the size of Texas?? These Starbucks people are bananas! Argh!

5. The awesome thing about the holidays is that Jason can’t stop me from making peanut butter and chocolate brownies, or a shit load of chocolate cookies, or even a brownie pie!

6. My favorite candy store? Sur la Table for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

7. My favorite day of the week? The bra-free day. I like to keep my girls free and give them all the play-time they want before I get them to work for food when I get pregnant next year.

8. Hey, Mister! Have you not noticed your car has built-in blinkers? Nooo, these are not Christmas ornaments. You ought to use blinkers all year round dammit. Oh, yeah, that’s a huge pet-peeve of mine.

9. I grew up surrounded by books. Love ‘em to the last page. However, since I started this blog, I’ve been mostly purging words rather then inhaling them. I miss that.

10. Cosmo is a four-legged Pelè in disguise.

11. I have a vivid imagination. In my head, I see pictures of myself and/or people close to my heart in extremely catastrophic scenarios. Those images come to me randomly and out of the blue. Often they are so realistic I start to cry. I am unaware of the origin of this condition. I don’t know how to overcome it either.

12. Beauty moves me. It fills up my chest till it hurts and I start to cry. Again.

13. I secretly fart.

14. I haven’t used a hairbrush in six months, since I cut my hair short.

15. I was a witch in one of my previous incarnations, who lived in the woods and brewed herbal concoctions for various ailments.

16. – 24. Last night I made a salad, a twist on Coleslaw, that was so good the world stopped spinning for a moment. It was so fantastic in fact it’s worth 9 points of the 25 Important Things From Agnieszka Graczyk’s Life. Here’s how I did it…

I bought a package of shredded cabbage. I’d have gotten a whole head if the store offered one, as you know how I feel about the unnecessary packaging, etc. They didn’t carry the veg in its natural form. Back in my kitchen, I emptied the bag into a large bowl and added shredded Granny Smith Apple along with a bunch of chopped scallions. In the meantime, I toasted maybe a 1/2 a cup if raw walnuts, let them cool, and then roughly chopped them into small boulders of brain nuts.

Don’t they totally look like brains? The truth is they are really good for your brain, so it’s a clever tip to remember. The smurfs that write on Whole Foods web pages made my life easier for describing in detail the nuts’ magic:

Walnuts have often been thought of as a “brain food,” not only because of the wrinkled brain-like appearance of their shells, but because of their high concentration of omega-3 fats. Your brain is more than 60% structural fat. For your brain cells to function properly, this structural fat needs to be primarily the omega-3 fats found in walnuts, flaxseed and cold-water fish. This is because the membranes of all our cells, including our brain cells or neurons, are primarily composed of fats. Cell membranes are the gatekeepers of the cell. Anything that wants to get into or out of a cell must pass through the cell’s outer membrane. And omega-3 fats, which are especially fluid and flexible, make this process a whole lot easier, thus maximizing the cell’s ability to usher in nutrients while eliminating wastes–definitely a good idea, especially when the cell in question is in your brain.

The salad would not be complete without the dressing I quickly whipped up in our Magic Bullet. These were the components:

- freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon

- 1 tbsp of honey

- 2 tbsp of heavy cream

- 3 tbsp of olive oil (the whole nine yards – organic, extra virgin, first cold pressing, etc.)

- 2 tsp of sea salt

- 1 tsp of black pepper.

Everybody in the bowl (the cabbage, scallions, apples, and nuts) got coated evenly with the silky dressing, then chilled in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes before consumption time. Then I took a bite, and with it I heard music and saw fireworks on a horizon. It was amazing, beyond delicious. There was the tartness from the apples and the dressing, but instantly the nut took off the edge and spread comfort and bliss in my mouth.

I didn’t need anything else for dinner. That was my delight of the day. For Jason, however, I reheated leftover penne over pancetta and garlic, and grilled three chicken tenders. Just like that. Nevertheless, the salad still took the Guest of Honor’s seat, and got a round of applause. Pure brilliance on a plate.

25. I am madly and uncontrollably in love with that white boy from Texas named Jason Blaine. Moreover, I am madly and uncontrollably loved by that white boy from Texas named Jason Blaine. He loves me just the way I am.

Gobble, gobble…!

Giving Thanks

terrepruitt — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:11:50 +0000

I am not a big fan of Thanksgiving. I don’t care for any of the traditional fare; sweet potatoes (especially with marshmallows, what is up with that?), stuffing, dressing, turkey, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. I don’t get excited for the big dinner. I do, however, like the idea of having a day where we give thanks.

It looks like the United States and Canada are the countries that do the Thanksgiving celebrating. But according to Wiki Grenada and the Netherlands do some celebrating to. The time of celebration was about the harvest, but now, as with a lot of Holidays it has morphed into something else.

I have been blessed with so many things to be thankful for, I make it a point to say thanks everyday. But with a day designated for giving thanks I get to gather with my family near my home in San Jose. Sometimes we get to be with both families, but this year it didn’t work out that way and we are staying local. I am thankful for all my blessings. Including you.

Skinny Arm

eccedentesiast — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:33:29 +0000

Thanksgiving Tradition?

theraceforthetruth — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:50:10 +0000

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit. A friend sent my this and I thought I would share.

No Thanks to Thanksgiving

By Robert Jensen, AlterNet. Posted November 23, 2006. One indication of moral progress in the United States would be the replacement of Thanksgiving Day and its self-indulgent family feasting with a National Day of Atonement accompanied by a self-reflective collective fasting. In fact, indigenous people have offered such a model; since 1970 they have marked the fourth Thursday of November as a Day of Mourning in a spiritual/political ceremony on Coles Hill overlooking Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, one of the early sites of the European invasion of the Americas. Not only is the thought of such a change in this white-supremacist holiday impossible to imagine, but the very mention of the idea sends most Americans into apoplectic fits — which speaks volumes about our historical hypocrisy and its relation to the contemporary politics of empire in the United States. That the world’s great powers achieved “greatness” through criminal brutality on a grand scale is not news, of course. That those same societies are reluctant to highlight this history of barbarism also is predictable. But in the United States, this reluctance to acknowledge our original sin — the genocide of indigenous people — is of special importance today. It’s now routine — even among conservative commentators — to describe the United States as an empire, so long as everyone understands we are an inherently benevolent one. Because all our history contradicts that claim, history must be twisted and tortured to serve the purposes of the powerful. One vehicle for taming history is various patriotic holidays, with Thanksgiving at the heart of U.S. myth-building.

From an early age, we Americans hear a story about the hardy Pilgrims, whose search for freedom took them from England to Massachusetts. There, aided by the friendly Wampanoag Indians, they survived in a new and harsh environment, leading to a harvest feast in 1621 following the Pilgrims first winter. Some aspects of the conventional story are true enough. But it’s also true that by 1637 Massachusetts Gov. John Winthrop was proclaiming a thanksgiving for the successful massacre of hundreds of Pequot Indian men, women and children, part of the long and bloody process of opening up additional land to the English invaders. The pattern would repeat itself across the continent until between 95 and 99 percent of American Indians had been exterminated and the rest were left to assimilate into white society or die off on reservations, out of the view of polite society. Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers. The first president, George Washington, in 1783 said he preferred buying Indians’ land rather than driving them off it because that was like driving “wild beasts” from the forest. He compared Indians to wolves, “both being beasts of prey, tho’ they differ in shape.” Thomas Jefferson — president #3 and author of the Declaration of Independence, which refers to Indians as the “merciless Indian Savages” — was known to romanticize Indians and their culture, but that didn’t stop him in 1807 from writing to his secretary of war that in a coming conflict with certain tribes, “[W]e shall destroy all of them.” As the genocide was winding down in the early 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt (president #26) defended the expansion of whites across the continent as an inevitable process “due solely to the power of the mighty civilized races which have not lost the fighting instinct, and which by their expansion are gradually bringing peace into the red wastes where the barbarian peoples of the world hold sway.” Roosevelt also once said, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.”

How does a country deal with the fact that some of its most revered historical figures had certain moral values and political views virtually identical to Nazis? Here’s how “respectable” politicians, pundits, and professors play the game: When invoking a grand and glorious aspect of our past, then history is all-important. We are told how crucial it is for people to know history, and there is much hand wringing about the younger generations’ lack of knowledge about, and respect for, that history. In the United States, we hear constantly about the deep wisdom of the founding fathers, the adventurous spirit of the early explorers, the gritty determination of those who “settled” the country — and about how crucial it is for children to learn these things. But when one brings into historical discussions any facts and interpretations that contest the celebratory story and make people uncomfortable — such as the genocide of indigenous people as the foundational act in the creation of the United States — suddenly the value of history drops precipitously and one is asked, “Why do you insist on dwelling on the past?” This is the mark of a well-disciplined intellectual class — one that can extol the importance of knowing history for contemporary citizenship and, at the same time, argue that we shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about history. This off-and-on engagement with history isn’t of mere academic interest; as the dominant imperial power of the moment, U.S. elites have a clear stake in the contemporary propaganda value of that history. Obscuring bitter truths about historical crimes helps perpetuate the fantasy of American benevolence, which makes it easier to sell contemporary imperial adventures — such as the invasion and occupation of Iraq — as another benevolent action.

Any attempt to complicate this story guarantees hostility from mainstream culture. After raising the barbarism of America’s much-revered founding fathers in a lecture, I was once accused of trying to “humble our proud nation” and “undermine young people’s faith in our country.” Yes, of course — that is exactly what I would hope to achieve. We should practice the virtue of humility and avoid the excessive pride that can, when combined with great power, lead to great abuses of power. History does matter, which is why people in power put so much energy into controlling it. The United States is hardly the only society that has created such mythology. While some historians in Great Britain continue to talk about the benefits that the empire brought to India, political movements in India want to make the mythology of Hindutva into historical fact. Abuses of history go on in the former empire and the former colony. History can be one of the many ways we create and impose hierarchy, or it can be part of a process of liberation. The truth won’t set us free, but the telling of truth at least opens the possibility of freedom. As Americans sit down on Thanksgiving Day to gorge themselves on the bounty of empire, many will worry about the expansive effects of overeating on their waistlines. We would be better to think about the constricting effects of the day’s mythology on our minds. AlterNet orginally ran this article on Thanksgiving 2005

Why I Don't Like Numbers

Kristi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:05:21 +0000

I have been working frantically on crafty projects lately. Almost to the exclusion of all else. Almost.

Anyway, I am planning on making a quilt for each of my children for Christmas, which has become an overwhelming project. Not to mention that my daughter (and I) are (still) out of clothes to wear. Although, Jordyn did get a few nice play dresses from Eric’s co-worker, which is getting her by for right now. I just don’t have enough and what I do have is awful.

Here come the numbers: I cut strips for the nine-patch blocks for my kids’ quilts. I cut all of them precisely 13 inches long. After all, my blocks were going to be 6 inches square and that is the double after seam allowance that I came up with. You might need to know at this point, that alternating with the nine-patch blocks, are going to be simple 6 inch squares and I did my math for those squares first. If you note, a 6 inch square doubled would be 12 inches, but, HA, you need to add seam allowances and their are four (top and bottom, twice) in these blocks. At 1/4 inch, my math is SPOT ON. Everything worked out great, the 72 (ish) blocks that I cut out for my children’s quilts are exactly 6 1/2 inches square. Perfect. Problem is, I knew that those squares were correct and I just assumed that it would be perfect for my nine-patches. I guess I didn’t really think because if I had, I would have remembered that when cutting long strips to be sliced for the patches in a nine-patch block, their would be more than 2 seam allowances…there would be TWELVE!!! Basically, it boils down to: I was 3 inches short on every strip, for both quilts. Now I approxiamately (because I refuse to do the real math now) 15 blocks short on each quilt.

Are you confused yet? My head is still swimming and it is 2 in the morning (which is another number problem!) and I just finished making a tent dress which makes me gain about 100 pounds just by putting it on, really. I think I am giving up on dresses. They will flatter my figure when I’ve lost an additional 50-75 pounds. In the meantime, I will stick with button down blouses and 6 gore skirts. Simple to sew, simple to tailor, simple to change (ish). It’s not ideal, but it will have to do. Now what do I do with all this yardage that I bought for DRESSES???

Bunny's house

the south in my mouth — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:21:01 +0000

So here I am at Bunny’s house. It’s almost 10 p.m. and we have had a full-on Bunny day. First of all, by the time we get to Knoxville, Bunny is over getting ready for Thanksgiving. I don’t mean she’s done. I mean she’s over it. She’s been peeling apples all morning for the Waldorf salad, she’s made 48 deviled eggs, the rest of the casseroles are in the icebox but she’s reached her limit.

We head for a sports bar, where we can both eat lunch and smoke. Between bites of her club sandwich wrap, she’s on the phone with umpteen real estate people concerning a deal that is just a giant pain in the butt. We eat homemade potato chips. They are good.

Then we head to the Kroger for last-minute Thanksgiving supplies. What a mistake. There are people in there who haven’t been in a grocery store in five years and it shows. They wander aimlessly up and down the aisles, blocking everyone else from shopping. The Kroger has run out of chopped brocolli, pumpkin puree and Mrs. Smith’s pies. There are desperate people and it’s not a pretty sight.

We head back home to find Bunny’s sister, Brenda, and her husband installing a toilet. It is Bunny’s birthday present. It is a very high-end toilet. I think it is just a fine testiment to Bunny that she is getting a toilet right before Thanksgiving.

In the midst of all this chaos, Bunny makes spaghetti sauce for supper for nine. It’s too late at night for a recipe, but here’s her secret. She doesn’t drain the fat off the ground beef. It’s good. Then, we make green bean bundles. You will get the recipe for this after Thanksgiving when I get home. But now, it’s time for bed. We have to get the dressing, turkey and gravy at Ramsey’s tomorrow. And we have to eat oysters on the half shell, another tradition. And then there’s Thanksgiving itself. I love this holiday above all else. And not the least because it’s at Bunny’s.

Half Assed Thanksgiving Sides

birminghamdrunkcooks — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:00:04 +0000

I’m gonna keep it real with y’all today. I’m tired. I’ve been furiously baking for other people all week. I’ve churned out 9 pecan pies, and 6 dozen cookies. My plans for thanksgiving include a bong, a huge ham sitting in my fridge right now, and a handful of other delights, but let’s get to the meat of this post, shall we? Like I said, keeping it real- those of you who are doing the whole she-bang, you’ve got your turkey and your dressing recipe down, right? Cause I’m just saying…it’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and especially if you’re going to be brining your turkey, you probably should already have some things in motion. If not, well- you might as well just let the cat handle it for you…

So, just in case you’re currently up to your ears in turkey and dressing, I’ve dug up some tasty, fairly easy sides that you can most definitely half ass throw together, and complete your Thanksgiving table. NEVER FEAR, DRUNKY’S HALF ASS SIDES ARE HERE!!

First:

Glazed Carrots- you can do them several different ways, but my two favorites are from Alton Brown and Pioneer Woman. I’m partial to the latter because the recipe calls for whiskey. YEE HAW MOTHAFUCKA!!

Second:

This Broccoli Salad. Don’t turn your nose up, peeps, this shit is for the win. Not Kidding.

Third:

MAH RANCH SALAD. Shameless self promotion, also for the win! To be festive, you could nix the cucumbers and toss in a few dried cranberries, and even some pecans if you’d like. Ranch tastes good with everything, don’tcha know? (DON’T JUDGE MEH)

Fourth:

Garlic Knots. There are about 5890234890234 recipes floating around out there for garlic knots, but y’all should check out this forum for some very clear step by step instructions, and several solid recipes. I’ll tell you my secret though- in a pinch, it’s so much easier to just say Fuck It and buy some Pillsbury canned breadsticks, and use them like you would the homemade pizza/breadstick dough. Trust. This little trick will shave at least an hour off your prep time. Look at these glorious little things:

Which brings me to my last half-assed side:

WINE. No it’s not technically a food, and no it’s not technically a side item, but it can certainly put the festive spirit back into things. Have a glass, and Happy Fucking Thanksgiving, friends.

Here’s one of my pies, for kicks:

Peace, Love, and Pecan Pie, y’all! I’m out this bitch!

Why I'm Thankful

tarheelpirate — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:29:50 +0000

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving–a time when we gather with family and friends to feast, as we give thanks for all of the things that we hold dear. In some ways, it is unfortunate that we might wait until Thanksgiving to give thanks for those things that we should appreciate throughout the year. And that is something that I would hope will change for me, personally. I want to give thanks every day for all of the blessings that I have been given.

When I was younger, I never really understood the true meaning of this holiday. I always focused on the part of Thanksgiving that involved turkey, ham, dressing, gravy, pie, and the rest of the fixings. I always focused on the pick-up football games and the chance to see uncles, aunts, and cousins. At school, we learned about the origins of Thanksgiving, including Pilgrims and Native Americans. We celebrated by making turkeys from painted handprints. As I have grown older and have seen some of the more difficult parts of life, the true meaning of Thanksgiving has become clear.

These are just some of the things for which I am thankful:

-I am thankful for my mother. She has done so much for me throughout my life, and I would not be here without her.

-I am thankful for my little sister. She has served our nation in Iraq for the past year, and she continues to grow into a person that would make any brother proud. I used to think that it was my responsibility to protect her. It is ironic, now, that she is a part of the force that protects all of us. Also, her husband, my brother-in-law, who also serves in the military.

-I am thankful for the rest of my family and all of my friends. Explaining why I am thankful for each of these people would turn this blog post into a novel.

-I am thankful for the US Military. These men and women have volunteered to serve their nation, to place themselves into harms way, all in the name of America.

-I am thankful for all of the veterans who have served to protect this nation throughout its history.

-I am thankful for the families of those in the military. Many times forgotten, they make sacrifices that cannot be measured by any scale.

-I am thankful for our police officers, firefighters, and teachers. They do some of the most important work that I can imagine.

-I am thankful for every breath that I am given. There were times that I thought that my next breath could be my last.

-I am thankful for everyone who volunteers for or donates money to our charities. You make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate and, at this time, nothing could be more important.

-I am thankful for this great nation in which we live. I couldn’t imagine a greater force of good in the world than the collection of people and institutions of the United States of America.

-I am thankful for the state of North Carolina. This is the greatest states in the union (in my opinion, anyway).

-I am thankful for Thanksgiving Day football. Although I think that the games should rotate from year to year, rather than having Dallas and Detroit hosting, I still love it. I am not thankful, however, that the third game is on the NFL network, which is not available for subscribers to Time Warner Cable.

-I am thankful for the food that I have to nourish me. When I think of all of the people throughout the world and, unbelievably, in this country, I am heartbroken. Whatever it is that makes me so fortunate, I am thankful.

-I am thankful for our dogs, Max and Rocky. They give all who know them such a great deal of joy and love. Pets are not just pets, they are family.

-I am thankful for all of the opportunities that I have received, educationally and otherwise.

These are just some of the things for which I am thankful. I surely left someone or some things out, but they are no less important for a complete, well-rounded life. Let us give thanks each and every day, and do not wait for a holiday to be reminded.

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble-Gobble!

Thanksgiving - My Favorite Holiday

Nathan Schmidt — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:38:47 +0000

We can learn a lot from the lessons of Thanksgiving. I’m not going to back-story this post with a bunch of historical mishmash. You can find all that here. There are a lot of holidays in the world. Not everyone in the world has a Thanksgiving, but some may have something close. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is that it’s not tied to some religious event. It’s not about one person. It’s not focused on the past. It’s not focused on the future. It’s focused on now. We make Thanksgiving ours. Thanksgiving is about love and compassion. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what we have and not giving a damn about what we don’t have. Thanksgiving is about spending time with family, those who aren’t yet officially family, and most importantly with people you care about.

An iconic Thanksgiving

What is it we really need in life? A lot of people ask that question. We can look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, and at the base, with some of my other important things, is food. It helps, in my book at least, that Thanksgiving involves food. I love food. Thanksgiving brings all my favorite heart-warming foods together in one feast. But more than that, at Thanksgiving we eat together. If you can take time out, look around, and realize that there are people in your life that you care about, and there are people in your life that care about you, well then Thanksgiving gives just about all you need in life. We can learn a lot from the lessons of Thanksgiving.

Can't we all just get along?

Life is nothing but the experiences we share. If we spent more time making those experiences that we share positive and good, we’d all be in a much better place. If we opened our hearts and minds, taking a moment to stop and realize how much we do have instead of worrying about what we don’t or won’t have, our lives would that much richer. No one is saying it doesn’t take hard work to get there, but what in life isn’t made better by investing in something we care about? If I’ve said it once, I have said it a million times, and I’ll say it a million more –

We can learn a lot from the lessons of Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

STUFFING

timbryce — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:21:54 +0000

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, probably because it has less to do with the marketing madness of Christmas, and more to do with family. Turkey Day has always been a big event in our household. We would get the kids up early to watch the parade on television, prepare the meal, feast, then close our eyes while watching football. In the last few years, we’ve started to invite friends over to the house at noon, which we call “halftime” before the big meals start, at which time we serve up Bloody Marys and cook up deep-fried turkeys for anyone interested (a southern specialty).

As a kid, I loved the white meat of the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and turned my nose up at just about everything else, such as cranberries, string-bean casseroles, pearl onions, beets, sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, even stuffing. Now, of course, I’m a sucker for these delicacies, but to me, I’ve found the real trademark of the Thanksgiving dinner is not the bird but the stuffing instead, something that is unique to each family. In fact, unless it comes from a box, I believe no two families fix stuffing exactly the same, there is always some nuance that differentiates it from family to family.

Some people prefer a corn bread type of stuffing, others like stale day-old white bread or sourdough, some like to add oysters or perhaps sausage, ground beef, even venison. There is also wild rice, apples, raisins, cranberries, etc. I understand there is also an excellent recipe involving White Castle hamburgers I would like to try some day. The list is practically endless and is only limited by your imagination.

Despite the many combinations available to us, when it comes to stuffing, we suddenly become pretty picky about what we eat and loyal to the peculiarities of family recipes. Even the slightest suggestion of changing the stuffing recipe is strongly rebuffed by family members. You would think you were preaching heresy. If you really want to try a different stuffing, you have to either go over to a friend’s house, or cook a turkey some other time and away from prying eyes. The only other food item I can think of that commands such loyalty and devotion is the family’s Chili recipe, but that will be the subject of another article.

Yes, we should be giving thanks during Thanksgiving. Thanks for having the family and friends together, and for a bounty of food to share and enjoy. Thanksgiving is definitely a personal thing which is why it is endearing to me.

But I still hate those damn cranberries.

Such is my Pet Peeve of the Week.

Keep the Faith!

Note: All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com

For Tim’s columns, see:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/timbryce.htm

Tune into Tim’s new podcast, “The Voice of Palm Harbor,” at:

http://www.phmainstreet.com/voiceph.htm

Happy Turkey Day and a Thanksgiving excerpt from The Blonde Samurai

Jina Bacarr — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:02:56 +0000

Jina with her Thanksgiving turkey

On this cool autumn day before Thanksgiving, I can’t help but think about how giving thanks for all the wonderful blessings in our lives is universal.

It became so real to me when the heroine in my upcoming novel, The Blonde Samurai, is in 1874 Japan celebrating Thanksgiving with her samurai family.

Check out my blog at NAUGHTY AUTHOR CHICKS and see what my heroine, Katie O’Roarke, wrote in her memoir.

Best,
Jina

February 2010: meet The Blonde Samurai
“She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.”

44 Diaries wishes everyone a...

audiegrl — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:24:47 +0000

Welcome to 44-D’s Annual Thanksgiving-Palooza 2009. Whether you’re looking for turkey recipes, stuffing, side dishes, pies or other desserts, we’ve got you covered. Find great advice and Thanksgiving recipes to plan your Thanksgiving dinner menu. Also, please feel free to add your own special family recipes in the comments section!

Click here to read: Thanksgiving Letter From First Lady Michelle Obama

Giving Thanks to Our Heroes This Holiday

Posted by Dr. Jill Biden

There is nothing like the warmth of home during the holidays. In this spirit, the Vice President and I hosted an early Thanksgiving Dinner last night for servicemembers and their families at our home, the U.S. Naval Observatory. It was the Biden family’s small way of saying thank you to these heroes, and we could not have been more honored to share a table with this group. As my husband said, “Never before has this place been accorded such an honor as tonight. No individual group has walked through that door that has lent more dignity than you.”

read more: The White House Blog

Make desserts the day before Thanksgiving. This really makes sense. It’s so hard to bake everything at the same time because everything seems to bake at different temperatures. Even if you aren’t baking this easy preparation tip comes in handy. Having your pies, candy, etc already made will give you more time to work on preparing the turkey, vegetables, etc.

Peel potatoes the day before Thanksgiving. This easy preparation tip may not seem to save a lot of time, but it really does. The day before Thanksgiving I peel the potatoes, place them in a bowl of water, and then put them in the refrigerator. This way, they won’t oxidize and turn brown. When you are ready to cook your potatoes, simply drain off the water and cook them like normal.

Make cornbread for homemade dressing the day before Thanksgiving. I can’t believe I went so many Thanksgivings without doing this. I used to bake my cornbread while my turkey was baking and hope I could get my dressing mixed and baked before the turkey was done. Now, I always bake my cornbread the day before and then all I have to do is mix up the ingredients and bake the dressing.

Cut up vegetables the day before Thanksgiving: This also saves a lot of time. Whether you need vegetables for homemade dressing or you’re putting out a vegetable platter, this is an easy preparation tip that will make your Thanksgiving more enjoyable.

Thaw turkey well ahead of time. Nothing is worse than going to fix your turkey on Thanksgiving and it’s still partially frozen. By following this easy preparation tip, this Thanksgiving, you will be able to get everything finished on time rather than having to wait longer because you turkey still isn’t done.

Purchase rolls rather than making them from scratch. You may be completely against this easy preparation tip, but believe me you can buy rolls that will be just as good as homemade. There are rolls in the freezer section that you thaw and then let rise. There’s also wonderful crescent rolls found in the dairy section next to the biscuits. If you honestly cannot do this, prepare you dough in advance and freeze it before it rises. Then remove it from the freezer and allow it to thaw and rise before baking.

Buy desserts from a local bakery. If you think making desserts from scratch will drive you over the edge this Thanksgiving, use this easy preparation tip. Go to a local bakery and choose desserts that you can pass off as homemade.

Have someone else do the little things. Whether it’s buying precut vegetables from the produce section or buying pre-made mashed potatoes, this is an easy preparation tip that just makes sense. Why should you waste your time this Thanksgiving cutting vegetables or baking rolls?

Share the responsibility. This Thanksgiving ask your friends and family to bring different dishes and then all you have to do is cook the turkey. This is an easy preparation tip that will truly allow you to have an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Order a Thanksgiving dinner from the store. In this day and time you can get wonderful Thanksgiving dinners from your local grocery store. If you aren’t comfortable with having the whole dinner catered, only buy the items you dread making the most.

I hope these easy preparation tips will help you easily get through Thanksgiving this year and many years to come.

Alton Brown’s Thanksgiving Menu
Alton Brown’s flair in the kitchen developed early with guidance from his mother and grandmother, a budding culinary talent he skillfully used later as a way to get dates in college. On Feasting On Asphalt, Alton had only his motorcycle, a few buddies and the clothes on his back during a nostalgic trip across the country to rediscover the disappearing people, places and stories of great American road food.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos

Alton Brown shares the best techniques for carving the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

Paula Deen’s Thanksgiving Menu
Who would think that a housewife from Albany, Ga., with no formal training in food, would become one of the country’s most beloved celebrity chefs? Paula Deen is a self-made success story who learned the secrets of Southern cooking from her Grandmother some 30 years ago. She had no idea at the time that the love for Southern cooking her grandmother instilled in her would lead to a life-long career.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos
Download Paula’s free Holiday Hosting Guide

Paula Deen bakes a terrific sausage stuffing for a Thanksgiving feast.

Good Old Country Stuffing Recipe

Ina Garten’s Thanksgiving Menu
In 1978, Ina Garten went from working on nuclear energy policy to running a small specialty food store in the Hamptons. Ina has been a columnist for Martha Stewart Living magazine and O, the Oprah magazine. Since March, 2006 she has been a columnist for House Beautiful. She shares her cooking expertise in a series of cookbooks and on her show, Barefoot Contessa.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos

Ina remembers her favorite Thanksgiving memory, favorite dessert (Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart), favorite place to be at Thanksgiving, favorite Thanksgiving meal highlight, favorite Thanksgiving short cut, and her Thanksgiving confession.

Giada De Laurentiis’s Thanksgiving Menu
Born in Rome, Giada grew up in a large Italian family where the culture of food was a staple in and of itself. As the granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis, Giada consistently found herself in the family’s kitchen. Giada is a master at transforming simple, everyday ingredients into dishes that are quick, healthy and satisfying.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos

Try her recipe for Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus.

Rachael Ray’s Thanksgiving Menu
According to Rachael Ray, she grew up in food. “My first vivid memory is watching my mom in a restaurant kitchen. She was flipping something with a spatula. I tried to copy her and ended up grilling my right thumb! I was 3 or 4,” says Rachael, who insists that cooking is a way of life she was simply born into. Rachael has parlayed that birthright into a wildly successful career as an iconic Food Network television personality, bestselling cookbook author and editor–in-chief of her own lifestyle magazine.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos

Rachael Ray whips up the best and creamiest butternut squash soup.

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Bobby Flay’s Thanksgiving Menu
Bobby Flay’s versatility is evident in the multiple talents he brings to the field as a chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and media personality. He is also the Resident Chef and Lifestyle Correspondent for The Early Show on CBS and CBS Sunday Morning, where he regularly informs a national audience about seasonal dishes and ingredients. Bobby works tirelessly to challenge the way Americans view and taste food – making it bold, zesty and always fun.

Get Menu
View Photos
Watch Videos

Bobby Flay helps viewer Elizabeth prepare Thanksgiving appetizers for the love of her life.

Pat and Gina Neely’s Thanksgiving Menu
As co-owners of Neely’s Bar-B-Que, Pat and Gina Neely have turned their family restaurant into one of the most successful barbecue restaurants in the South. Now they share the secrets behind their favorite dishes and their passion for food, family, and fun on Food Network’s Down Home with the Neelys. The Neelys launched a second Food Network show in July 2008, Road Tasted with the Neelys, a cross-country search for specialty stores and family-run businesses that make hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind edibles. In May 2009, the Neelys released their first cookbook entitled Down Home with the Neelys, which quickly earned a place on The New York Times‘ best-seller list.

Wound Dressing Types

Gardenrain — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:35:15 +0000

Gauze

Advantages: Readily available in many sizes and forms, gauze can be used on infected wounds and can be combined with other topical products. It’s effective for packing wounds with tunnels, tracts, or undermining.Disadvantages: Gauze must be held in place by a secondary dressing, and fibers may shed or adhere to the wound bed. Gauze dressings should be changed frequently—if it dries out, it may stick to the wound bed and disrupt wound healing. Gauze isn’t recommended for effective moist wound treatment or bacterial barrier. Although research supports moist wound healing, the old standard of wet-to-dry gauze dressings is still being used in some places.

Transparent film

Made of polyurethane or copolymer, this type of dressing has a porous adhesive layer that lets oxygen pass through to the wound and moisture vapor escape from the wound.Indications: Partial-thickness wounds, Stage I and II pressure ulcers, superficial burns, and donor sites. It also can be used as a secondary dressing.Advantages: This dressing doesn’t have to be removed when you examine the wound. Transparent film also is impermeable to external fluid and bacteria, promotes autolytic debridement, and prevents or reduces friction. Available in numerous sizes, it conforms to the body. Change the dressing every 5 to 7 days, or if it becomes soiled, wet, or starts to leak fluid.Disadvantages: The dressing may stick to some wounds. Most transparent dressings don’t absorb moisture and aren’t indicated for draining wounds. However, some of the newer transparent films have absorption properties. Fluid retention under the dressing may lead to periwound maceration. This dressing can’t be used on third-degree burns.

Foam

Nonadherent and nonocclusive, foam is an absorptive dressing consisting of hydrophilic polyurethane or film-coated gel.Indications: Stages II through IV pressure ulcers, partial- and full-thickness wounds with minimal to heavy drainage, surgical wounds, dermal ulcers, and under compression wraps. Check the package insert to determine if the product can be used in infected wounds or those with tunneling or sinus tracts.Advantages: Many sizes, shapes, and forms are available. Foam is conformable, easy to apply, and easy to remove because it’s nonadherent. The frequency of dressing changes depends on the amount of wound drainage.Disadvantages: A secondary dressing or tape may be needed to secure some of the first foam dressings. Newer versions have an adhesive border to help keep them in place. Foam isn’t recommended for nondraining wounds or dry eschar. Some foams can’t be used on infected wounds or those with tunneling or tracts. Always read the package insert to determine if you can use the product for a particular wound type. If not changed appropriately, foam dressings can let excess moisture accumulate, macerating periwound skin.

Composites

Manufactured as a single dressing, composites are combinations of two or more different products. Features may include a bacterial barrier, absorptive layer, foam, hydrocolloid, or hydrogel. The dressing may have semi-adherent or nonadherent properties.Indications: Use composites as primary and secondary dressings for partial- and full-thickness wounds, for minimally to heavily draining wounds, dermal ulcers, and surgical incisions. Check the package insert to see if the dressing is suitable for pressure ulcers.Advantages: Composites facilitate autolytic debridement, are conformable, and are available in many sizes and shapes. Most include an adhesive border, so they’re easy to apply and remove. Check the package insert for frequency of dressing change.Disadvantages: Some composite dressings are contraindicated for Stage IV pressure ulcers. The adhesive borders of composites may limit their use on fragile skin. Not all composite dressings provide a moist healing environment, so monitor frequently for desiccation.

http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=762247

Thanksgiving Memories

susanshay — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:00:47 +0000

What ’s you favorite Thanksgiving memory?

My favorites go back to when I was very small, and all my Grandma Reeves kids would come home for the holiday. We didn’t see each other often, like the Spess side of my family, who all worked together and lived near one another. Grandma’s kids lived in Texas and Colorado as well as Oklahoma. When all seven of them got together with their spouses and kids, it was a house full!

Grandma lived near Tahlequah near the small town of Park Hill. She and granddad had a chicken farm (ranch?) for a while when he wasn’t working in the oil field. Grandma was an award-winning hot roll baker–her rolls were to die for, baked or not. She made oyster dressing (aka stuffing) mashed potatoes, home canned green beans. And desserts. Lots of desserts.

The Spess side of the family usually had Thanksgiving at Grandmother’s house. Grandmother made dressing that would make your tongue lap your brains out. Her dressing should be a food group all its own, it’s that wonderful. She made homemade noodles. And her signature dessert was a pineapple cream pie. OMG–it was WONDERFUL!!!

In case you’re thinking that all my memories are of the food, you’re wrong. (Mostly.) I have great memories of grandparents, parents, cousins, uncles and aunts. There was a pile of us!

One Thanksgiving, one of my cousins’ kids who lived in the country needed to go to the bathroom, and since he was just a little guy, he decided to take a leak on Mom’s front porch. Us townies freaked out and quickly sprayed off the porch to keep the “accident” from being tracked into the house.

Another time, the same kid decided to see if he could walk on the pool cover. It was a little chilly that time of year to go swimming, but he did.

I remember sitting at the kids’ table, and having much more fun than the adults did.

I remember asking for the turkey’s wishbone because Dondi, a comic strip about an adopted Korean boy, had painted some gold and sold them to earn money for Christmas presents. (Mine was broken when I got it. And I couldn’t imagine anyone paying for a painted bone. Ick! It landed in the trash.)

The first time I made a Thanksgiving dinner by myself was for my DH’s family. Their extended families didn’t get together to celebrate, so it was only DH, me, his parents and his brother and one sister. I was thrilled that no one spit out the food and yelled, Yuck! And later, when everyone left and I was faced with a boat load of dishes, DH was there, helping. Cleaning. Putting everything away.

We ended up freezing the leftover turkey, which we ate for weeks!

So what’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving? The dressing/stuffing? Desserts? (Aunt Betty made an awesome prune cake!)

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving memory you can share? Nothing too x-rated, please. Hm. On second thought . . . :-)

Gluten free stuffing recipe

Free Range Cookies Blog — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:49:06 +0000

Is it stuffing or dressing?

All I know is, this is very tasty stuff.

Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe

4 cups gluten free garlic croutons

1 stick Earth Balance, melted

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

About 2 cups chicken stock

Melt one stick Earth Balance in an 8×8″ pan (my oven was already on, so it was easiest to just melt it directly in the pan I planned on using for the dressing). Add about 4 cups of garlic croutons. Toss to coat in the melted buttery stuff. Add celery and onion. Toss it some more and enjoy yourself. Pour about 2 cups chicken stock over mixture, slowly. Let the stock soak into the croutons a bit. Cover pan and bake for about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove cover from pan and bake 5 minutes longer to get the top toasty and crunchy.

I’m stuffed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Linda

Thanksgiving Feast

embalog — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:20:58 +0000

roasted turkey breast

I braved the daunting task of cooking for about twenty (20!) of my friends this past weekend, and believe it or not, it went off without a hitch. The holidays are times for your family; and for me, friends are as much family as the people that raised me. So I was pleased to prepare this meal for them and spend time together before we scatter to the four winds to be with our families for the holidays.

the buffet; and yes, i wear an apron.

Here’s the menu:

Roasted Turkey Breast
Traditional Sage and Sausage Dressing
Apple and Leek Dressing (v)
Turkey Gravy with Sherry
Baked Whipped Potatoes (v)
Spinach Gruyere Gratin (v)
Honey Glazed Carrots (v)
Cranberry Conserve (v)
Golden Beets and Pomegranate Salad (v)
Yeast Rolls (v)
Jack Daniels Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Bread, Ginger and Orange cookies (v)

(v) – no carne; vegetarian

You might be wondering how I pulled this off. Well that secret weapon was my mom, who graciously helped with preparation and supplies. Thanks, Mom. She also served as my phone hotline while I was cooking for any emergency questions like, “Can you refrigerate gravy, nuke it, and have it come together again?!” The answer: yes!

Herb Roasted Turkey

I could do without turkey at Thanksgiving. Yean, I’m in that camp. It’s on the buffet, but it’s not the highlight for me. And it’s probably more trouble that it’s worth. That said, I had to forgo the full bird. Instead, I roasted and carved two turkey breasts (bone-in) Friday night, refrigerated the slices, and intended to bring it up to room temperature for dinner on Saturday. (I forgot, and served cool turkey; but everything else was hot, so who knew?) The advantages of turkey breast over the full bird are: reduced thawing and cooking times, more quality meat, less carving, and it will comfortably feed a crowd with some leftovers.

turkey bird

To begin, thaw the bird according to the packaging recommendations for the specific weight of turkey you have. Rinse and pat dry. (Clean your sink thoroughly after this to avoid cross-contamination!) Preheat oven to super hot: 450°F. Because I lacked a roasting rack, I used halved onions and lemons to prop up the bird. Melt a stick of butter and stir in salt, pepper and fresh thyme leaves. Brush the bird with half of this mixture, and then half-way through the cooking time, brush the bird with the remaining.

The key to getting the turkey right is checking the internal temperature, which should reach 165°F in the middle of the breast. I used a snazzy oven probe meat thermometer with alarm. When the turkey reaches the desired, programmed temperature, an alarm goes off, and out comes the turkey. Easy, right? Then just let the bird rest, tented with aluminum foil for about 30 minutes. Then carve. I followed this video to get the best results.

turkey

Turkey Gravy

When the turkey was done and resting aside, I placed the roasting pan on the stove top over medium-high heat, and added a gravy base from Williams-Sonoma with equal parts milk. This allows for full-proof gravy when there are other dishes to get together. Scrape the bottom of the roasting pan to pick up some of the tasty bits. I sprinkled in poultry seasoning (on the aisle with herbs at the grocery store), cooking sherry, salt and pepper. Then taste and season until you’re happy. I let it cool and refrigerated it overnight. When I was ready to serve, I just microwaved it in 1-minute intervals, whisking between until hot. While it’s optional, I highly recommend adding the sherry. It made the gravy more complex and acidic.

clockwise from top: apple & leek dressing, turkey gravy, sage and sausage dressing patties, turkey

Traditional Sage and Sausage Dressing Patties

Recipe to come…this is a family favorite.

apple leek dressing

Apple and Leek Dressing

This is a vegetarian option from Martha Stewart, with the major flavor components being country bread, Macintosh apples, leeks and rosemary. Yum! I’ve got to start using leeks more. They’re a pain to clean (grains of sand lodge in the layers of the plant), but well worth it. Leeks are a lit like a cross between an onion and celery.

baked whipped potatoes and spinach gratin

Baked Whipped Potatoes

This is my mom’s recipe. What’s great about this is that it’s a casserole. You’re not whipping and seasoning potatoes at the last minute before they go on the serving table. Instead, you make it and bake in advance and just keep warm until served. All of the delightful baked potato toppings are already mixed in, and you end up with this very flavorful, airy potato.

8 baking potatoes
3/4 cup hot milk
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons onion salt
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter on top
paprika

Directions
1. Peal, cube and boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain.
2. With an electric beater, combine hot milk, cream cheese, sour cream, butter, onion salt, and salt and pepper. Add potatoes and whip. Check seasoning—it may need more salt and pepper.
3. Pour into a Pyrex dish and sprinkle with paprika. Dot top of casserole with small slices of butter. Bake for 20-30 minutes in a 350°F oven.

Ina Garten’s Spinach Gratin

This cheesy little number was a favorite at the feast. And when you read the rich ingredients you’ll know why. One thing I like about this dish is that there’s a good balance between inexpensive—even some frozen ingredients—and the fresh, more expensive ingredients. And when it all comes together, it tastes truly divine. The cheese is gooey, and a bit crispy on top. And it’s well worth the extra penny for the Parmesan and Gruyere.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk
3 pounds frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (5 (10-ounce) packages)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425° F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Add the cream and milk and cook until thickened. Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer the spinach to a baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and the Gruyere on top. Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

my favorite dish

Cranberry Conserve

This dish is absolutely my favorite item on the Thanksgiving plate. It’s sweet and tart, and crunchy and smooth. It beats the heck out of the canned, ringed cranberry gelatin stuff. And it is wonderful side item to not just turkey and dressing, but also chicken tetrazzini and other such bird dishes.

1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh cranberries (can use frozen)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 orange, zest grated and juiced
1 lemon, zest grated and juiced
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
a splash of port (optional)

Directions
Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests, and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts. Let cool, and serve chilled.

honey glazed carrots

Honey Glazed Carrots

These carrots serve as a nice contrast to the creamy, heavier recipes of mashed potatoes and spinach gratin. The preparation is simple, but ever so tasty!

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 pounds carrots, halved lengthwise, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup canned reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
fresh thyme leaves

Directions
1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add carrots; cook, stirring once, until beginning to brown, 2 minutes.
2. Add broth, honey, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, 10 minutes. Uncover, and cook over medium-high until carrots are tender and liquid is syrupy, 7 to 9 minutes more (there should be only a small amount of liquid remaining).
3. Remove skillet from heat; add butter, and swirl skillet until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Top with fresh thyme leaves.

incredible salad

Golden Beets and Pomegranate Salad

I love love beets, and especially love them on a a bed of lettuce with a delicious cheese. Raleigh Times Bar serves a tasty pub salad with pears and roasted beets with Gorgonzola, so that was my inspiration in hunting down a Thanksgiving-appropriate recipe. I noticed that not many Thanksgiving guests were thrilled with the beets. It’s a vegetable that’s not too common, apart from mentions on The Office by Dwight Schrute (Bears, Beets, Battlestar Gallactica). To me beets taste like a combination of carrot and potato, and when oven roasted, they’re far superior to their canned counterparts. As for the pomegranate, I picked one up at the grocery store, out of sheer curiosity never having used one before. I had to look up how to open the darn thing.

This salad dressing is…ahmazing. It’s rather sweet and concentrated, so I added olive oil and a touch more red wine vinegar to cut the sugar and cover more greens.

4 golden beets
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 cup red wine vinegar, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
3 Tbsp Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur *I had some leftover from margaritas
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Seeds of 1 pomegranate
Salt
2 heads Boston lettuce, 1 head green lettuce, 1 head red lettuce
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

golden beets, pre-roasting

Directions
1. Wash the beets, trim the greens from the top. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in a packet of aluminum foil and place on oven rack. Roast at 375°F for an hour. Test the tenderness of the beet with a sharp knife. Continue roasting if not tender. Then allow to cool. Then peel and cube.
2. In a medium skillet over high heat, bring beets, shallot, vinegar, broth, liqueur, sugar, and orange peel to a boil, stirring often, until liquid is reduced to 2 Tbsp, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
3. Stir pomegranate seeds into the beet mixture and salt to taste. Serve on top of salad greens. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Toss with remaining red wine vinegar and olive oil.

How to get to those pom seeds…

chop off the top or the crown of the pomagranate.

score the pom in segments around the fruit from base to the chopped-off end

submerge the pomagranate, and pry apart the segments. separate seeds from the pith. seeds will sink. sift off the pith and skin from the top of the water.

Yeast Rolls

I will never make bread from scratch, when I can I buy these. They’re so good.

Dessert

For dessert, we feasted on a a variety of items—pumpkin bread, ginger and orange cookies, and J’s Jack Daniels Pecan Pie! Wowsah. This is a show-stopping pie. So pretty.

julia's pie pie pie

That wraps up our Thanksgiving Feast. Thanks to everyone that came from all over, and for those that couldn’t make it, I missed you! (Katie Co—I poured out a little champagne for you.) Much love and safe travels this holiday. Love, Miss Em

PS—Thanks to Ashton for taking most of these pictures.

Sausage and Apple Dressing

manila58 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:52:35 +0000

We don’t usually stuff our turkey. That method brings too much risk of salmonella, and the extended cooking time dries our the meat. So we simply serve a delicious, savory dressing with Italian sausage, apples and nuts as a side dish.

2 C low-sodium chicken broth

2 bags/1 box of stuffing bread crumbs/croutons

1 lb mild Italian sausage (out of the casing)

1 large onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 large apples, cored and diced

1 C walnuts, chopped

1 C dates, pitted and diced

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot sweat the onions, garlic and celery. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Add and brown the Italian sausage and make sure it is crumbly. Add the apples and stir until well mixed. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as desired. Remember that the bread crumbs/croutons will soften the seasonings.

Remove the pot from the heat. Add the bread crumbs/croutons and nuts. Sprinkle in the dates. Stir until well-mixed.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9′ x 13′ baking dish. Transfer the dressing mixture to the baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 40 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

Homemade Cornbread Dressing

danasma — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:30:21 +0000

Thanksgiving is my most FAVORITE day to cook. I thought I would share my dressing recipe – not quick but I like it.

My grandmother always saved left over cornbread, and the ends of white bread. As I perfected my dressing each year I dropped the white bread. I always save left over cornbread through the year and keep it in the freezer.

A KEY ingredient to this recipe is fresh sage. My sister grew sage and we would all receive it from her. I still have much of what she had, so I am grateful. Eventually, well pretty soon, I am going to have to start growing it myself. If you have fresh sage, you have to hang it upside down to dry it out. It makes a HUGE difference in taste. Do not use ground sage…it just does not work well..Trust me (I have done it and it was not good)..An alternative would be to find sage leaves..most of the time you can find that in the grocery stores near the Hispanic area with the other seasonings.

Another KEY ingredient is the cornbread. If you don’t have old cornbread and/or you need more…Bake Jiffy cornbread a few days ahead of time if you can. Let it sit out, or inside the oven to dry out as much as possible…Mrs Cubbisons cornbread dressing can be used to fill in…it WILL change the taste..I only use it if nothing else is available.

Prepare the dressing AT LEAST one day ahead of time…TWO days if possible.

This is one of those times I cannot tell you what to measure. If you are using two boxes of cornbread…I would say the bellpepper, celery, onion – should be about 3/4 cup each.

Ingredients:

Corn Bread

Milk

Eggs

Bell pepper

Celery

Onion

Garlic

Seasonings: pepper, seasoned salt, thyme, old bay

1 stick of butter

In a skillet saute’ bell pepper, onion, celery, and garlic with a stick of butter or two if you are making a lot of dressing for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat. You want them to be opague and soft. Add the seasoning in the mixture as well while it is cooking. Take the dried, brittle sage off of the stem and grind it in the palm of my hand. Put hands together and grind in a circular motion and add to the celery mixture as it is cooking.

While that is cooking, by hand crumble the cornbread in a large bowl. When the celery mixture is ready, pour it into the cornbread mixture and stir. I would taste it at this point and make any adjustments of more seasoning, more sage. Once it’s where you like it, add 1 to 2 eggs and mix. Remember it depends on how much cornbread you have. Add about 1/2c of milk or less, just add a little bit at a time until you have consistency that you prefer. I like mine to not be completely stuck together as if you could be put into a ball. I like for it to still be in a crumbly state for lack of a better description.

Once it’s complete, put in a plastic bag and put it into the refrigerator. When the turkey is ready and seasoned and it’s time to cook…stuff the turkey with the dressing. Do not put it in the turkey and then put it in the refrigerator, that is not safe…only put in the turkey right before you put it in the oven. Put any left over dressing in a glass dish to be baked later. As the turkey cooks, put drippings from the pan into the extra dressing to add moisture and flavor. When you bake additional items, bake the dressing for about 30-45 minutes – again depending on the amount.

Enjoy and Happy Turkey Day!!