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November 27th, 2024

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, How To & Tips, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Easiest, Go-To Roast Turkey Recipe – All in Pictures

Here’s an easy-to-use, go-to cooking technique that makes for a terrifically tender, fully flavor – and good looking – roast turkey.

First some quick tips:

I highly recommend using an oven-proof meat thermometer, as shown in the equipment needed picture below, to ensure roasting the turkey to the proper doneness temperature.
Traditional recipes usually call for roasting the turkey with stuffing in the main cavity. I recommend roasting the turkey without stuffing for the best turkey roasting result.
Make sure the turkey is completely defrosted, if you’re using a frozen turkey, and then allow that defrosted or fresh turkey to warm close to room temperature before roasting.
Start cooking the turkey breast-side down for most of the roasting timeand turn the turkey breast-side up for the last 50 minutes no matter the turkey weight.
Let the freshly roasted turkey rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before carving and serving.

Regarding temperature and timing, start with the turkey placed in a roasting pan BREAST-SIDE DOWN and cook at high oven heat (450℉/230℃) for the first 30 minutes no matter the turkey’s weight. After 30 minutes, turn the oven heat down to 325℉ /165℃ for the bulk of roasting time with the turkey still breast-side down. Again, no matter the turkey weight, turn the turkey breast-side up and keep the temperature at the same 325℉ /165℃ for the last 50 minutes of cooking. See the note below about how to turn the turkey breast-side down to breast-side up.

Here are all the ingredients you need to make a stress-free roast turkey.

Here’s the equipment you need.

The most difficult part of this recipe is turning the turkey from breast-side down to breast side-up, but the picture book directions show how to do that as easily and safely as possible as shown here.

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete, newly revised step-by-step picture book recipe.

November 26th, 2024

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Side Dishes, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Fresh Cranberry Sauce and More Thanksgiving Help

Fresh homemade cranberry sauce blows the canned version out of the water and is as easy to make as boiled water

Only two days til Thanksgiving but no need to make yourself – or anyone else – crazy.

One of the best ways to make Thanksgiving Day as fun as possible is to get some easy dishes made in advance, like fresh cranberry sauce. Fresh, homemade cranberry sauce, with its rich sweet and sour flavor and mouth pleasing snap-pop, blows canned cranberry sauce out of the water, is no-kidding just as easy to make as boiled water and keeps fresh for weeks in the refrigerator.

Here’s all you need for ingredients. You’ll see a carton of orange juice in the picture below. Most cranberry sauce recipes call for cooking the berries in water. Instead of water, I like cooking fresh cranberries with fruit juice – orange juice as shown or apple or any other juice – for added flavor.

Click this link or any picture above or directly below for an easy to follow picture book recipe and/or…

…this link for a short step-by-step video.

You can also click this link or the picture below for the Gotta’ Eat Thanksgiving Help page that I’ve been updating with additional recipes to give you more freedom of choice.

November 25th, 2024

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, How To & Tips, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Planning & Timing Guide With Recipe Links

Thanksgiving food shopping list by grocery store aisle and stress-free Thanksgiving dinner planning and timing guide blog banner image.

All right! Thanksgiving’s just 3 days away, and if you’re the one on the hook to make Thanksgiving dinner, it’s time to flip the action switch to on – without making yourself crazy.

First, if you haven’t yet gotten all the ingredients you need to make Thanksgiving dinner, please get to the grocery store today (Monday) or tomorrow (Tuesday), especially if you’re roasting a frozen turkey as frozen turkeys take at least 2 days to defrost properly. To make grocery shopping as easy as possible either click this link or the picture below to download a Thanksgiving Dinner Shopping List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

Thanksgiving Food Shopping List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle

Next, either click this link or the picture below to download the Stress-Free Thanksgiving Planning and Timing Guide so you know in advance what to expect realistically over the next few days, which is all manageable even if you have little to no experience in the kitchen.

Next couple days: fully flavorful and easy-to-make Thanksgiving Day recipes.

November 23rd, 2024

Blog, How To & Tips, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Easy-to-Use Thanksgiving Food Shopping List by Grocery Store Aisle

Thanksgiving Grocery List - Step One Banner

Look at it like having to get a high school or college research paper done on time. If you chip away over time, no problem. If you wait til the last second, like I always did – right to the gonging bell, big time stress.

Same with putting together a fully-flavor Thanksgiving dinner. If you give yourself time, and you do have time if you’re reading this 4-5 days before Thanksgiving, you’ll be fine – even if you’ve never put together any kind of dinner before. I’ll help you right here. If, on the other hand, you don’t give yourself the time you need, you already know the answer.

looking down the barrel at Thanksgiving less than a week away

As of this weekend, we’re looking straight down the barrel at Thanksgiving less than a week away. No problem.

The first step: use the next 2-3 days to get what you need from the grocery store. I’ve made it easy for you. Just click this link or any picture on this page to download a Thanksgiving Grocery List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

Thanksgiving Grocery List Organized By Grocery Store Aisle.

More Thanksgiving help real soon!

November 22nd, 2024

Blog

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Pear-Cranberry Fruit Topping Improv in Pictures

Holiday beverage and pear cranberry fruit topping ingredients

I’m sure you feel it; we’re on a rocket shot to Thanksgiving. In the meantime, though, breathe easy – or make something like what you see in the middle of picture above (Manhattan cocktail), and let’s have some fun with flavors.

Here’s a link to an Apple Cranberry Topping I posted here first around this time in 2021.

Warm apple cranberry fruit topping picture book recipe

I just took off from Hickory, North Carolina, yesterday to spend Thanksgiving in the Northeast with family. Before leaving, I used some fruit in my fridge to improvise a fruit topping based on the apple cranberry topping above to take with me.

Here are the ingredients I pulled together to make a cranberry, blueberry & blackberry fruit topping:

Ingredients to make an improvised warm pear, cranberry, blueberry & blackberry fruit topping

First thing I did was rinse fresh cranberries, blueberries and blackberries right in their containers – much easier than using a strainer.

Rinsing fresh cranberries, blueberries and blackberries right in the containers the came in from the store.

Then I fired up the pan, used a good chunk of butter, added a good shot ground ginger not pictured in the ingredient shot above. That’s a good part of what improvising is all about.

Cooking fresh cranberries, blueberries and blackberries.

After a cold, wet but very fun walk through downtown Greenwich, Connecticut late this morning,…

Cold but very fun walk through downtown Greenwich, CT.

…I put that topping over chopped pork, pears, cheese and more. Killer!

So, have it! Click this link or the picture below, pull up the apple cranberry topping recipe and either use it as is or use it as a springboard to improvise. All fun – and fully flavorful.

More Thanksgiving recipes real soon!

November 15th, 2024

Blog, Breakfast, Cooking Technique, Cycling Food, Fruit Pancakes, Pancakes

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Fresh Apple Pancake: Full-On Fall Flavor All in Pictures

Here’s a great way to warm up to full-on Thanksgiving flavors. Apples are the iconic fall fruit, and there’s nothing much more comforting on a cool morning than the soul-warming smell of cooked apples and cinnamon.

The hardest part about making the fresh apple pancake you see above is turning the pancake from fruit side up to fruit side down in the frying pan and then back to fruit side up to serve on a plate.

No problem.

The step-by-step directions you can get here show how to make those turns as easily and safely as possible using either a pan top (as shown below) or large plate (shown in the recipe).

Here’s what you need for ingredients and…

…equipment.

Click this link or any picture on this page for a complete, easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

More Thanksgiving seasonal recipes very soon!

November 13th, 2024

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, How To & Tips, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Stress-Free Thanksgiving Dinner Grocery List and Timing Guide

Like I mentioned recently in Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help, Thanksgiving’s by far my favorite holiday! All that’s expected is a good meal and getting together with family and friends. Not much more to be thankful about than that.

Of course, if you’re the one putting that uniquely traditional dinner together and are not comfortable in the kitchen, the challenge of pulling it off successfully can be overwhelming. I’ve sure been there, and relieving that stress is what this post and others like it are all about.

The two most important keys to putting together a successful and stress-free Thanksgiving dinner are planning and timing. That means making sure you have all the ingredients you need in advance (stores are usually – and thankfully – closed on Thanksgiving Day) and coordinating cooking timing in the kitchen.

To help you get the ingredients you need as efficiently as possible, click this link or the picture below for a grocery shopping list to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 6-8 people that includes roast turkey, gravy, bread stuffing, fresh cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pie dessert. Of course, just adjust those quantities as needed based on how many people you expect to join you for Thanksgiving dinner.

And, though though it’s a little early to start actually preparing any Thanksgiving dishes, click this link or the picture below for a timing guide that lays out clearly just about everything you’ll need to do to put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

More about specific Thanksgiving recipes to follow that we’ll have fun putting together!

November 7th, 2024

Blog, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Shagsgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Killer Fun 2nd Annual Pour Choices “Shagsgiving”

Friends and family make all the difference – always! And that difference lives on vibrantly in our warm, energetically tight Hickory area Carolina Shag dance family.

Sure, we love tearing it up on the dance floor. But we’re tight in a way that’s no kidding soul-to-sou and always there for each other no matter what. Nothing better!

I told that to good Westborough, MA, friend, Deb Ledoux, about a month ago. She’d never heard of Carolina Shag dancing and got a laugh when I old her about our Thanksgiving shag family dinner-dance at our favorite weekly Wednesday night spot, Pour Choices in Newton. “Thanksgiving? Why don’t you call it Shagsgiving?”

“Great idea!” That’s what we call it now, and that’s what we had last night for the second straight. Killer food,…

Shagsgiving food spread: roast turkey, layer cake, and much more.

…hoppin’ dance steps,…

Terrifically fun Carolina Shag dancing at Pour Choices, Newton, NC

…and best of all, having it all with a full-on loving family that goes beyond the fun of good food and dancing!

November 4th, 2024

Blog, Cooking Technique, Dessert, Poultry, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetables

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Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help

I know it’s just the beginning of November, and Thanksgiving comes late this year: November 28th. But time flies, and these next posts will be about how make the most of that most excellent holiday.

First, Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. All that’s expected is a fully flavorful meal with good friends and family. Great – unless you’re the host AND you’re stressed about how to put that meal together.

Breathe easy – no problem!

To make any of the standard Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as stress-free as possible, just click any picture on this page or this link to the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving Help page for step-by-step picture directions that will show how how to make any of the fully flavorful Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as easily as possible.

In following posts, I’ll highlight some of those recipes along with other recipes and tips to help you make your Thanksgiving as fun and flavorful as possible.

More soon!

October 30th, 2024

Blog

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Best Chestnuts Foreign and Domestic

Here’s a piece I posted a couple years ago that still rings entirely true and follows up last week’s Killer Flavorful Roasted Chestnuts: Picture Book Directions piece.

Roasted chestnuts have been a big part of Tretter family tradition for many decades. And though I knew we had some chestnut trees here in the US, almost every chestnut I’d had until 2022 came from Italy. That’s because American chestnut trees, billions of them that were a staple for both food and lumber, were decimated by an Asian blight beginning in the 1880’s (for more information, click this American Chestnut Foundation link) and therefore made US chestnuts hard to find, though there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel, as you’ll see below.

Regarding chestnuts from Italy, by far the most explosively flavorful Italian chestnuts I’ve ever had I found in an Acme grocery store imported by Bella Vita (“beautiful life”) while visiting my stepmom in Greenwich, CT. Those chestnuts roasted so well, had such a comforting chewy texture and tasted so fantastically good that I had to call the company to let them know how much I liked them.

I called, and funny thing, Bella Vita is headquartered in Harrison, NY, and its smart, personable owner, Celso Paganini, lives within a half mile of where I grew up in that same Town of Harrison. You bet, small world. And, though those killer flavorful chestnuts are not yet available in North Carolina, something I hope we can change, please do look and ask for them if you live in the Northeast. They are well worth the effort and price.

Regarding the domestic “bright light” mentioned above, I just found an exceptionally rich resource for American-grown chestnuts available from early November to mid-December through Suttle’s Farm out of Pelzer, South Carolina. Those fresh-off-the-tree chestnuts, along with other fresh nut varieties, come to Hickory, North Carolina, where I live, by the truck shown below staffed by Shane Stuart (great guy) and his team. I have to say, with decades of chestnut roasting experience, those South Carolina chestnuts are the freshest, easiest peeling, and sweetest tasting chestnuts I’ve ever had – exactly as noted by the American Chestnut Foundation.

Like I mentioned in the last post, roasting chestnuts is very easy, especially in a toaster oven. Here’s all you need.

You can get complete picture book directions that show both how to roast chestnuts in a toaster oven or a standard kitchen oven by clicking this link or any picture on this page.