PUMPKIN SEED PESTO RAVIOLI
Using prepared wonton wrappers (available in the deli section of most markets) makes it easy to make ravioli.

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
• 1 cup packed parsley leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoon miso
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 8 ounces firm tofu
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 (50-piece) package round or square wonton/dumpling wrappers

Mince pumpkin seeds, parsley, and garlic together in food processor. Add sea salt and tofu, and process until mixed. While processor is running, drizzle oil through the top.

Flour a tray or board for prepared ravioli, and flour a small work surface for their preparation. Place a cup of water next to your work station. Form ravioli as follows: Place a wrapper on floured work surface and put about 1 teaspoon of pesto filling in center. Dip finger in water and wet edges of wrapper. Fold wrapper over diagonally to form half-moon (round wraps) or triangle (square wraps). Press to seal. Place ravioli on floured tray or board. Continue with remaining wraps and filling.

When ready to serve, drop ravioli into a large pot of boiling water. Cook 2 to 4 minutes, or until they float to the top. Remove to serving platter with slotted spoon. If cooking all the ravioli at once, do it in several batches.

Serve the ravioli drizzled with olive oil, and with a little salt, pepper and Parmesan.

Makes 8 servings.

1. put the stuffing in cheesecloth if you cook it inside the bird; it makes for a much easier and cleaner removal

2. roast the turkey upside down; only if you don’t care about the presentation part because while moist and delicious, it will not look like the Norman Rockwell painting when done

3. lay pieces of thick-sliced bacon on the top for roasting – as the turkey cooks the bacon renders, sending deliciousness down upon the bird making basting unnecessary and cutting cooking time (because you are not constantly opening the oven); but beware whether cooked upside down or right side up this also does not make for a Norman Rockwell bird – BONUS you have turkey-infused bacon to chew on while the turkey cools

libdevil:
Making good use of the microwave helps. No one but me likes the stuffing from inside the bird, so I don’t stuff it. Instead, I make a BIG casserole dish of stuffing and cook it in the microwave. Takes 10 or 15 minutes, and is awesomely moist. (Which reminds me that I should do a small trial run before Christmas. O, darn.) Small dishes of stuff will fit around the turkey roaster — VERY small dishes — and some stuff like potatoes are done on the stovetop anyway. It helps that we don’t have lots and lots of side dishes that all need to “bake at 350 for an hour or until bubbly”. OR more than a half a dozen people to feed. *grin*

When I lived with my step-mother, we did a bunch of stuff the night before, but a lot of it was the cold dishes — cole slaw, etc. — or stuff that could be put together and warmed up, or things like pies that we didn’t serve warm. The last 15 minutes or so are always just *insane*, and it helps to have one or two helpers who can all work together well in the space you have. My kitchen is so small that my brother-in-law stands on the other side of the peninsula counter to carve the turkey, leaving my husband and me to dance around each other in the tiny, 1970s split level excuse for a kitchen. *snort!* After 16 years of marriage and several holiday dinners, we really do have it down to a dance. :) But getting it all to the table hot? Still working on that….

Roast the bird breast side *down*. Seriously. If you aren’t going for the big “presentation of the bird” thing, flip it on its breast after rubbing the whole thing generously with butter (or oil of your choice). As it cooks, the juices migrate *down*, so they go into the breast and keep it really much more moist than I’ve found basting to do. (The dark meat still stays delightfully moist, and I’ll fight you for it. ;) You can still baste if you like, but I tried roasting it belly down a couple of years ago, and it *works*. :)

Also, be careful not to overcook the bird. Turkeys are not fatty birds to begin with, and even with food safety issues firmly in mind, I do believe that a lot of folks just cook the crap out of turkey. *Cover* it, with foil if not the actual roasting pan lid, baste it if you must, but don’t overcook it. Consult a NEW cookbook for roasting times, and keep an eye on it. If you get one of the conventional birds that has the little timer thingie in it, *pay attention to it*. When the little button pops out, the bird really is done. It has to rest for a while anyway before you carve it.

I’ll be having Thanksgiving at my step-families’ home (nephew with newly finished downstairs is hosting — expecting something like 20 – 30 people. Yikes.) so I won’t be cooking THIS holiday meal, but I trade off Christmas Day with my sister-in-law and this year is my turn. (Actually, it’s my turn more than not, but that’s OK. I can cook in my jammies if I want to, and we get to have dinner at a decent time. Like, supper time — 5:00 or so — rather than stupid early for dinner and late for lunch, as is normal in these parts. ) Strangely, I rather like cooking the big meals. The hardest part is getting everything on the table warm at the same time, and getting the gravy right. I generally over thicken it….

Enjoy your holiday!

Cranberry Conserve

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix 12 oz. of fresh cranberries with 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a 9×13 pan (or a Pyrex casserole) and cover tightly with foil (or the glass lid.) Bake for 1/2 to 3/4 hour, stirring two or three times to dissolve the sugar. The berries should remain whole but will be squishy, so stir carefully. The juice and the sugar will form a syrup. Cool the mixture, and then add 3/4 cup of a good orange marmalade, preferably English and dark-ish and a little on the bitter side, and 3/4 cup broken walnuts. (The recipe calls for English walnuts, but they are very expensive and frankly no better tasting in this than American. Just don’t stint on the marmalade. Buy the good stuff.) Stir together and chill before serving. This keeps well in the refrigerator and will serve a lot of people with enough left over to make those turkey sandwiches with.

I’m also tired of making reservations on Thanksgiving — that’s often a day when the restaurants that are open are just swamped — food’s usually better when they are less crowded, less harried.

This year all precooked from one or another market. turkey, roasted root veggies, corn souffle, etc. Very traditional, all just heat and serve. Easy cleanup.

Food may not be the best, but it will do. In addition, we can try something different.

I’m looking forward to a peaceful, quiet, mellow Thanksgiving — my partner, myself, and all our lovely cats.

By the way, our “old time” traditional Christmas dinner has always been a standing rib roast as main course. Antipasto to start, maybe a little light soup, then the heavy stuff. Sides can vary — I always loved Yorkshire Pudding as a part of the meal.

As I’ve aged and my taste for beef has waned, that sort of meal is a thing of the past — still, I do remember them fondly. Shrimp cocktails or oysters were also a luxury touch, if we wanted to forgoe the antipasto.

Those were some heady times.

My mom is boycotting Thanksgiving this year. She grew up in a large, poor family where the mother and daughters were expected to do all the cooking and cleaning and cater to the men of the family and didn’t get much respect for it. Thanksgiving was just an intensification of this: the women would rise early and cook all day (or, often, start the day before) while the men sat in the living room and drank beer, and it was the women who did all the setup and cleanup. It wasn’t treated as a particularly spiritual day, and to my mom it felt more like a celebration of traditional gender roles.

These days, my dad isn’t much better — he’ll get mad if there isn’t a “traditional” spread, with turkey and everything, but he won’t help and has to be reminded to even express appreciation of the work my mom puts in.

I’m proud of my mom for going on strike, so to speak, to make the point that all that turkey and stuff comes from someone’s labor, and that one person’s relaxing holiday is another person’s obligatory chore. I’m sure the day will just end up erupting in screaming arguments, but her life has shown that just keeping quiet and putting up with crap doesn’t get you anywhere.

But all these recipes do sound delicious!