Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Special Fork is happy to announce that Andrew B of Riverside, California, won our prize package of cooking tools. Thanks to all our Facebook fans who participated.  We plan to have more contests in the future, so please stay tuned.  Congratulations, Andrew!

And now for today’s blog.

By Sandy Hu

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving. I’ve planned the menu and Steve, the family grocery shopper, has my comprehensive shopping list. To beat the crowds, by 7 a.m. on Saturday we were at the Alemany Farmers’ Market. We came home with bagsful of goodies – precious Gravenstein apples for the second pie; turnips, parsnips and Brussels sprouts to roast; gourds and pumpkins for a centerpiece; pears, pomegranates, persimmons…a Thanksgiving bounty.

Steve has already picked up all the staples and will get the last of the perishables tonight. And the free-range turkeys are on order. So I’m ready!

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Starting a New Thanksgiving Tradition

By Katie Barreira

Thirty years ago, my then newlywed parents adopted Thanksgiving as their holiday to host. The blissfully ingenuous pair, along with seasoned sous chef Nana Noonan, undertook a feast for a family of 20.

The meal, an 18-pounder with Challah stuffing, butternut squash bake, creamed pearl onions, Grammie Barreira’s famous mashed potatoes and even the can of jellied cranberry sauce (presented on a silver platter with matching serving utensil) was a hit. It was so good in fact, that the hosts and the menu were penned in as the official bearers of Thanksgiving dinner.

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America’s Food Holiday

By Sandy Hu

If people and cultures are bound by their food traditions, Thanksgiving is the unifying holiday that links all Americans to a common heritage. We may modify the menu to include ethnic favorites such as salsa or sushi, or incorporate new culinary trends, like brines or rubs. But the tradition of turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, are imprinted in our taste memories and are the comfort foods we crave at Thanksgiving.

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