by on November 19, 2012   •   31 Comments Cooking School

How to roast a turkey {simply}


(Excerpts from this post were published in November, 2010. This is an updated, printable tutorial for the best way to roast a turkey – the simple way.)

Whether you’re planning on roasting a turkey for American Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner or New Year’s Day, you can always use a few helpful tips to make it the best it can be. Since roasting a gargantuan bird is not on the usual M-F menu plan, it can cause even the most experienced cook to hesitate before proceeding. Fortunately, I know my tips and tutorial can boost your confidence for preparing your event’s main attraction.

My Crash-Course on Turkey

You may be wondering what a relatively young lady such as myself could have to add to everything that has already been said about turkey, and you would be right to wonder. After all, how many Thanksgivings have I been cooking? Not nearly as many as some experts out there…right? But here’s the thing, I’ve been to Turkey Boot Camp.

When I was nineteen, I had the privilege(?) misfortune(?) – honestly, it was a mix of both – of working a summer at a remote fly-in fishing resort on the Pacific Ocean. Another fellow and I were the chefs for the camp, cranking out three square meals for over forty people. Every three days, a couple of float planes would fly in carrying a new group of clients – and a frozen turkey. Along with the requisite pancake breakfast, shrimp bisque lunch, and other culinary highlights, we were obliged to prepare a well-rounded turkey dinner for each group of guests.

Two groups per week, eleven weeks of work. Yes, that’s right, in the span of one summer, we cooked twenty-two turkeys! If that doesn’t make me qualified to talk turkey, then I don’t know what does.

Read on for the full tutorial and printable recipe.

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by on October 17, 2012   •   47 Comments Bakeshop

The Best Maple Pumpkin Spice Pie Recipe (and a virtual baby shower!)

For as long as I have been making them, the feeling of satisfaction when pulling a pie from the oven never goes away. Whether their all-butter crust is perfectly crimped or not or whether they are filled with seasonal fruit (my preference) or topped up with custard – any pie is reason to celebrate.

How long have I been making pie? It wouldn’t be a stretch to reply, “as long as I can remember”. I had been making them well before my dear parents bought me a pie cookbook for my twelfth birthday; perhaps they were trying to improve their chances of eventually getting a flaky crust (I tended to let my enthusiasm for baking get in the way of delicate pastry execution) or maybe they were gently encouraging me to expand my repertoire of apple pie, raisin pie, and wild Saskatoon berry pie. Not that there’s anything wrong with those options.

Regardless, branch out in my pie-making I did, as my stained and tattered cookbook bears witness. Let’s see, there was the lattice-topped orange cranberry pie, which inspired one of our favorite Christmas-time desserts, Cranberry-Orange Pie with Cornmeal Streusel Topping, and I remember plenty of orchard apple pies with cheddar crusts, a favorite still, only now I live in Quebec and sweeten my apple pies with maple syrup.

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by on September 26, 2012   •   18 Comments Entertaining & Holidays

8 tips for hosting Thanksgiving outdoors

Written by Simple Bites contributor Jan Scott of Family Bites.

The first time I told my mother-in-law that our annual Thanksgiving dinner was being held outdoors, she replied with “well, that’s interesting.” Not one to openly voice her opinion, or critique her sons and their wives, there was no mistaking the “lady, you’ve lost your mind” tone in her comment.

I’d wanted to celebrate the day of Thanks outdoors for a few years, and every October had arrived with uncertain weather forecasts, forcing me to hold the event inside. It had become a tad tight and crowded in our small urban home, as our family had nearly tripled in size in recent years. Of course, as each Thanksgiving Sunday arrived, the skies were blue, the temperature warm, and I cursed myself for not dining al fresco.

I’m happy to report that three years later, the Scott Family Outdoor Thanksgiving is a delicious success, thanks to our glorious October weather, and I dare say it’s now a holiday the entire family looks forward to. It does take a little coordination, though, as most outdoor meals are casual affairs, and I’m always determined not to loose the specialness of our holiday meal just because it’s being eaten outside.

Here are a few tips to help you host your own holiday dinner in the open air this year, if you’re so inclined.

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by on September 5, 2012   •   17 Comments Preserving

Spiced Apple Preserves

Written by Marisa of Food in Jars.

A couple of years ago, I thought I had the apple preservation thing covered. After all, I regularly did applesauce, apple butter and apple jam. What else was there to do beyond that trio of nearly perfect preserves?

Then one day, while flipping through Eugenia Bone’s terrific book, Well-Preserved, I spotted a recipe for spiced apples. It had you shred the apples on a box grater, squeeze them to pull some of the water out, and cook them briefly with just a bit of sugar and spices before canning.

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by on November 23, 2011   •   24 Comments Quick Bites

A Last Minute Appetizer: Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce and Walnuts

Written by Katie of GoodLife Eats.

I‘m not really an appetizer person, so when Aimée suggested writing about a quick, last minute Thanksgiving appetizer I was a little stumped. I don’t make a lot of appetizers and I didn’t grow up in a family that served them on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was pretty much always just about the main feast. Luckily, my good friend Shaina came through with the idea to do something with baked brie.

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