Thanksgiving is tomorrow!!! Don’t know that I can help you now if you haven’t gotten busy yet, but just in case, I give you – Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

OK, so I have caved and I have made the dough for the potato rolls. How can I not, after The Audrey Files made them for her family and then raved about them on her blog? I’d feel like a heel if I stood my ground on that one. But I must rebel in some small way, so I am NOT going to make a homemade pumpkin pie this year! Instead I am making a pumpkin bundt cake, so take that, my whining family! But, I even felt a little guilty about that, so I purchased a little pumpkin pie at Trader Joe’s… oh well.

I do not trust a bundt cake to come out of the bundt pan cleanly. So I never, and I mean never, use Pam to grease it. I always melt plenty of butter and brush it on every visible interior surface and then dust the pan with flour. That usually does the trick, but not every time, sometimes it just sticks in one little spot, just to spite me.

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Turkey-Day is only 2 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. Better get there now!

I’ve known this fact for about a year now, bloggers are very nice and supportive people! Look at this sweet post from a fellow blogger and often, nice comment sender, Audrey Larsen, of The Audrey Files. She is my new BFF – so sorry Jen and Peggy and Anne!

Wanna know something that makes my day (in addition to having a new BFF)? Finding a cool new item at Trader Joe’s, that’s what! While standing in the dried fruit/nut aisle I was scanning for dried cranberries. Not that I really need another bag, I’m guessing that I have at least a half dozen partial bags of dried cranberries tucked behind various other partial bags of nuts and fruits and chocolates in one of my two extra freezers, but I am too busy/lazy to dig for one. That is really a whole other story and could be a post on its own! Anyhow, as I stood there scanning, I saw, the new item – dried pomegranate seeds.

Awesome! I was so excited to try them, I had to control the urge to open the package right there and then. The very second I was in the car, I ripped into it. They are tasty, and according to the package they are a “good source of fiber” too. There you go, run out and snag a couple of bags so that it becomes such a popular item, there is no way TJ’s would even consider discontinuing them. Even though I am enjoying eating them straight from the bag, I decided to create a Thanksgiving recipe using them and share it with you… hey, it’s just how I roll.

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If you love shopping, then you probably love Black Friday. As for me, absolutely NO WAY! I never venture out on that day or any Saturday or Sunday between now and December 24th! But for those of you diehards, I give you some Foodie Deals I found while searching the web for the upcoming ads. The things I do for you… it’s only Monday, so keep your heart rate down and start planning ahead!

As expected, many of these are “limited quantity” doorbuster deals so please rely on the fine print and exact details in each specific ad in Thursday’s newspaper or online ads. None of the information is guaranteed – remember, I found all this on the internet! But maybe it will help give you a helpful heads-up before you head out to the malls. Have fun, I’ll be praying for you.

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Turkey-Day is only 4days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

Honestly, our Thanksgivings are drama-free. But we’ve all heard those stories of families that just let it fly on that special day. When you have a small group, let’s say just four people for dinner, those problems probably won’t arise.  Another thing that is different about Thanksgiving without the crowd is the “turkey-situation”. Unless everyone is a huge fan of leftovers, a big turkey may seem like too much, so instead, how about opting for turkey breast?  It’s most everyone’s favorite part of the bird anyhow, and takes much less time to roast. Or, maybe you have just a few too many people for one turkey and don’t have the room to roast another. The addition of a breast or two is the answer!

I am going to skip my usual two birds and do just that, one bird and 1 extra breast half for our crew this year. My dilemma was how do I show you how to do the breast without having to do one ahead of time for this post? I worked it out by stuffing and roasting a boneless chicken breast instead.

To be clear, the recipe is for turkey breasts, the photos are of chicken breasts. Follow the recipe and you’ll be fine.

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Turkey-Day is only 5 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

OH MY GOODNESS!  I stumbled upon the easiest (we’re talking 4 ingredients – two of which are olive oil and S&P), most decadent, most delicious, most wonderful, richest, and probably one of the most fattening roasted chicken recipes – purely by necessity and accident. You see, I had a 3-pack (from Costco, of course) of Boursin cheese in my fridge. The entire thing was unopened and the expiration date was a few days ago… why the heck did I buy it? I don’t remember, all I can think is that I must have read the date wrong and intended to use it during the holidays. Boursin is too good and too pricey to waste, so I needed a way to use most, if not all, of it up – NOW!  I went to FoodNetwork.com and searched “Boursin” and this recipe, from the adorable Emeril Lagasse, was the first one I saw – plus it uses 2 packages – Perfect!

I had the pleasure of working with Emeril in 2001 when I was the producer of the Culinary Concert for the International Association of Culinary Professionals and he was one of the Star Chefs.

When I say he is adorable, I mean it! He is one of the nicest, most genuine, sincere, warm, and sweetest guys around. Emeril dear, my taste buds and I thank you for this recipe, but my waistline and cholesterol levels curse you!

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Turkey Day is only 6 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

I was going to call these appetizer ravioli “Mascarpone-Spiced Pumpkin Ravioli.”  But upon Marissa’s first bite, she declared them “Pumpkin Pie Ravioli” – a new and improved name is born.

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Turkey-Day is only 7 days away!!! Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline.

Shhh, don’t tell my family, but I am going to make different rolls this Thanksgiving. This is a big deal!  There will be whining, complaining, moaning, crying, and even a possible revolt, but I’m still going to do it! Our traditional roll is the absolutely delicious and addictive James Beard Potato Bread Rolls that I made each year. The thing is, I also make these rolls only a short 4 weeks later for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day dinner, and use the same dough for my killer Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls on Christmas morning. So… these people, who I have to feed every single day, (sometimes up to 3 times a day!) can try something different on Thanksgiving this year! That something different will be cloverleaf rolls.

Cloverleaf rolls sometimes have tiny crosses marked on each of the three sections, referring to the Holy Trinity, which in Ireland is often compared to the clover. I’ll save that little embellishment for Easter. You may also dip the balls in melted butter after forming and before placing in the muffin cups, that makes for one very rich roll!  Another option is to brush the tops of the rolls (after rising in the muffin tins) with and egg wash or melted butter and then sprinkle the tops of the rolls with sesame, poppy, or mixed seeds. Do so if you wish.

The composed butter that accompanies the rolls calls for pomegranate molasses, which I’ve posted about before and you can get the recipe for by CLICKING HERE. You can make a full 1 cup recipe or reduce it by two-thirds, which will produce exactly 1/3 cup, as called for.  And finally, I’ve added a pumpkin variation for this recipe, just in case, you too, want to mix things up next week. That and the measurements for a scaled down amount of pomegranate molasses are found at the bottom of this post.

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Remember to check out my Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. Turkey Day is only 8 days away!!!

One other note before getting on with it… To the students in my series classes at Les Gourmettes Cooking School: The recipe for the pepitas I used in the soup last night can be found by – CLICKING HERE – it will take you to the link from an older post. Happy Thanksgiving, see you on November 30th!

What we have today is another “easy-breezy” recipe that you can nake as written or mix it up with what you have on hand. This version uses Italian parsley, but cilantro would be a great substitute or a mix of parsley and cilantro. Even switching from Italian parsley to curly parsley would change it up. The topper I used is shrimp – but minced chicken or turkey, coarsely chopped scallops with a little pancetta, or even flaked crab or tuna would also work fabulously. And of course, the cheeses and spices can be altered depending on the occasion or your taste. Let me know what ideas you have – I’d love to try them out!

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I had a load of marshmallows left from last Friday night’s “S’Mores Party” TV shoot. It was just Dave, Marissa, Tram, and me around the fire pit so not too many of the 60 homemade marshmallows were eaten! I don’t want them to go to waste, they are too good for that. So I’ve made fudge, which will, in turn, be given as hostess and Christmas gifts next month. It is possible to freeze fudge – it must be tightly and well wrapped, actually double wrapped is best, and then place it in an air-tight container before placing it in the freezer.  When ready to defrost, place directly in the refrigerator (without opening or unwrapping) for 24 hours before eating or packaging for gifts.

Speaking of that TV shoot, it will air on Monday, November 29th, at 3:30 on Channel 12 Valley Dish. And speaking of holidays, I need to remind you that last year I posted a Complete Thanksgiving Planning Guide and Timeline. And since the big feast is only 9 days away, today would be the perfect day to check it out. I’ll keep putting up reminders for the next few days… be sure to get there soon!

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Today I can’t decide which recipe to post. The one that uses the rest of the duck that I received back on Tuesday of last week. Don’t worry, I’m not just now using the duck – nearly a week later! I’m just getting around to posting it. Or the recipe that uses up the leftover homemade marshmallows from the S’Mores Party…  OK, decision made – I’ll put up the yummy duck recipe today and use the marshmallows tomorrow…

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