Stuffing in 30 Minutes

By Sandy Hu
A new video for Video Friday

I can’t wait for Thanksgiving! We always observe the holiday at home and it’s always a cooking fest spanning several days. But I don’t mind the work. I love to prepare the meal and I love the leftovers.

Every family has dishes that are sacrosanct. In our house, it’s the stuffing. The cornbread one I make, from The New York Times International Cookbook, takes hours to prepare – chopping vegetables, mincing herbs, cubing and toasting white bread, making cornbread, and using a food grinder to grind the giblets.

Growing up in Hawaii, my mom’s was a Portuguese stuffing studded with pimentos, sliced olives and chopped linguisa.

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Thanksgiving Greens

By Marilyn Hunter
For The Family Table, a blog for busy families

Thanksgiving in our house means both the North and South are represented. Applewood-Smoked Bacon & Greens is one dish that often replaces green beans or Brussels sprouts on our table because it pleases both sides.

We love applewood-smoked bacon because the pork is cured over glowing embers of applewood to produce a slightly sweeter flavor. It’s not as strong as oak or hickory. The bacon, sautéed onions and garlic in this side dish also lend a depth of flavor to the Swiss chard. And it’s a very easy dish to make while the turkey is resting.

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Bacon, Onion and Kale Stuffing

By Lori Powell
For One or Two Bites, a blog for singles and couples

I agree with the many millions who think the stuffing or dressing is the star and the turkey an accompaniment, with the gravy as the saucy bit (gilding the lily) that makes it all a very happy and tasty marriage.

Stuffing, although a humble dish, is not as easy to make as it looks. It’s a fine line between being too rich or too dry or too wet.

Not all stuffing recipes call for eggs. But eggs not only enrich the flavor, but they keep the stuffing moist and help the ingredients bind together.

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Cranberry Sauce, Inspired by Quince

By Ben Mims
For Cooking Newbie, a blog for beginner cooks

Every year at Thanksgiving, I’m an unashamed traditionalist. I love the turkey, the giblet gravy and the green bean casserole. And although I love cranberry sauce directly from the can, it’s the one aspect of the Thanksgiving table that I don’t mind breaking from tradition with.

This year, inspired by the plentiful quince trees in my neighborhood, I’m making a spiced cranberry sauce perfumed with the fragrant orchard fruit. Related to apples and pears, quince is my favorite fall and winter fruit, smelling of an intoxicating blend of rose, citrus and sour apple. Unlike apples and pears, however, they cannot be eaten raw; their concrete-like flesh needing heat to yield it soft and tender.

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An Easy Thanksgiving Appetizer

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Certainly my family -- my husband Steve, my boys, Dave and Chris, my daughter-in-law, Lynn, and our new grandchild, baby Tara.

I’m also thankful that I love my work. I have two jobs: blogging for Special Fork and serving as the PR representative for Kerrygold Irish butter and cheeses, made with milk from grass-fed cows raised on Ireland’s small family farms.

Sometimes, my two jobs converge, as when I get to plan and execute events for Kerrygold and in the process, learn new recipes and food ideas that I can share with you.

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