If you do have it, the cooking is easy. One or two days before 1. Set the table the day before. Get all serving pieces and utensils ready, for each dish. Put them out. Napkins, glasses, stemware and decor if applicable, daughter's stuff. salt/pepper/condiments. Guests won't feel deprived if they dont have pickles(unless it's that strange person....) 2. Clear an area to serve dessert, even if plating in the kitchen. Keep dessert area near the coffee/tea area. Serving pieces and plates ready. Have coffee/tea making stuff ready, near the dessert area. Have sugar and creamer bowls ready for service. Use lemons? have a plate/knife, have it out. Dessert teaspoons/forks? put them out here. 3. Disposables are fine in my book. Fifty years ago I used sterling, china and crystal. Then silverplate. Then various potteries and stoneware with stainless utensils. Wood, chrome, stainless, etc serving pieces. Now I use disposables for appet and desserts, and I don't give a hoot. (70 yrs old now) And I love tablescaping. I have a ton of stuff. Very personal here. If you only have energy or desire for disposables, don't be affected by critical snobs. I love good stuff, but I love good people more-and I surely care more about the people. 4. I roast a turkey breast and dark meat pieces. Everyone's favorites. Use the time guides on the packaged turkey and/or in reliable books or reliable on line sources. 5. I don't stuff the turkey anymore but do stuffing in a casserole/or baking pan. No toxins from turkey juices-which can be simulated, taste-wise, by butter, stock, water and spices. Not the toxins! Packaged stuffing stuff is great. If you add celery/onions/nuts/family faves/ cut the celery/onions, etc the day before-which is two days before tg? Wrap in cheap fold over sandwich bags, double wrapped to contain smells. The single most important roadblock to a successful tg day, is an inadequately defrosted turkey. This has been mentioned often before. Depending on size, at least, three,four or five days of defrosting. You can't do anything with a partially frozen turkey. Keep it simple, less sides. Not 4 cranberry recipes to keep everyone happy. Guests will love 7 starches, but will respect 3 plant dishes. What do you want, love or respect. Well, that's pretty drastic, No, hunnybun, no need to choose between love and respect. I am getting crazed. To be continued.

This is a really delicious, healthy, simple dish I especially love in the summer. Many cultures have a yogurt/cucumber dish, but I like the fresh herbal notes in this one. Tasty alone, with plain rice, or with toasted bread... Persian Yogurt-Cucumber Dish, AKA "Masto-Khiar" 2 lb tub of PLAIN, unsweetened, unflavored yogurt 2-3 small Persian cucumbers or 1 med. Japanese "hothouse" cucumber or reg. cucumber 1 1/2 tbl dried, crushed mint (or more to taste) 2 tsp dried, crushed dill 1/2 tsp salt or to taste dash of pepper to taste 1 tsp honey optional: 3 tbl lebni or kefir if available to give added creaminess Directions: Dice cucumbers into small pieces, about 1/4" square. If using regular cucumbers, seed them and salt them a little to draw out a little water, then rub salt off and pat dry. You may want to peel the skin off if it is bitter. Persian cucumbers are really tastiest... (it's a beit alpha cucumber type--- might be sold under different names, but it is small has smooth skin and no seeds) Gently squeeze excess water from cucumber and mix into yogurt. Add herbs, seasonings, honey and mix well. Serve garnished with a fresh mint sprig and rose petals or other edible flowers for a beautiful dip. :) Hope you enjoy!!! A Note on Yogurt: If your yogurt has a watery consistency or has water pooled on top, you can "drain" the water in a special yogurt strainer or put it all in a large bowl then place several paper towels on top of it with the edges outside of the bowl. Place bowl on large plate to catch liquid drips from the corners of the paper towel that are hanging out of the bowl's edge. Leave in the fridge like this for a day or overnight (make sure the plate will catch all drips and hold liquid w/o overflowing) and you'll have nicely thickened yogurt. Persian brands like Abali, Sadaf, or Karoun are excellent, if you have a middle eastern grocer around. Trader Joe's also has a good plain yogurt, and also a mediterranean yogurt that is nice and thick.

Kale and Quinoa Minestrone Soup (Vegan and GF) INGREDIENTS 1 large yellow onion, diced (2 cups) 3 medium carrots, diced (1 1/2 cups) 2 stalks celery, diced (1 cup) 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 cups diced, fresh zucchini (from about 2 small) 2 cups green beans, cut into 1-inch segments 1 red bell pepper, diced3cloves garlic, minced 1 (32 oz) carton unsalted or low-sodium vegetable broth 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes 3 cups water 3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed 3/4 tsp dried thyme 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 3/4 cup dry quinoa 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 1 (15 oz) can chick peas, drained and rinsed (aka garbanzo beans) 2 (heaping) cups chopped fresh kale, thick ribs removed 1 Tbsp lemon juice Shredded parmesan cheese, for garnish (omit or use vegan parmesan if making vegan) 1. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add diced onion, carrots and celery and saute about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in zucchini, green beans, red bell pepper and saute 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. 2.Add in vegetable broth, crushed tomatoes, water, parsley, rosemary, thyme, granulated sugar, season with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and allow soup to gently boil, uncovered for about 20 minutes. 3.Add in dry quinoa then cover and cook 15 - 20 minutes longer. 4.Add cannellini beans, chick peas, kale and lemon juice and cook, uncovered, until kale has wilted, about 5 minutes. Serve warm garnished with parmesan cheese. Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Mind Body Green NOTES from bbstx: I was not concerned with the soup being vegan or GF; I used chicken broth. I have an aversion to chickpeas; I omitted them. I always rinse my quinoa well.

Here is the info, @agmss15, hope you try it and love it like we do. Adeline's Yogurt Unbelievably easy. And making your own yogurt is so much cheaper than buying already prepared yogurt. I get all the ingredients from Walmart. You don’t have to use the heavy whipping cream. I like it because, to me, it seems to make the yogurt thicker than if you don’t use it. Just my opinion. AS 1 bottle Fairlife brand milk in the red bottle* 1 – 2 Tablespoons fresh, unopened, plain Chobani, Fage, or Oikos Greek yogurt I always use 2 T. that are slightly heaping. 1 cup heavy whipping cream (you can omit the cream) Pour the whipping cream into the IP stainless steel insert and add the 2 T Chobani yogurt. Whisk until it is very well mixed together, whisk fairly easily, you don’t want to get a lot of air into the mixture. Pour in the bottle of Fairlife and whisk together well. For the IP 6 quart Duo, select YOGURT Normal (press the YOGURT button repeatedly until Normal displays). Press the +/- to set incubation time to 12 hours. Then press Start. The IP will beep and start counting up. When it is finished, the IP will beep and display YOGT. I do it right before bed. The longer it incubates the tarter and thicker the yogurt. You don’t have to put the IP lid on but I do. You can just use a lid that will fit or sit a dinner plate on top. The reason is that for the yogurt setting no pressure builds up. I just prefer using the IP lid. In the morning do not stir the yogurt or do anything to it, it will not set up correctly if you do. Take the inner pot out and put in refrigerator with a paper towel on top of the pot to absorb condensation and the IP glass lid or a dinner plate put on top. Chill all day. Again, Do not stir, this breaks down the yogurt. Only scoop. Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop out the yogurt and put into jars. You don’t have to put into jars; you can just leave the IP insert in the refrigerator and scoop out as you need or you can scoop into another container, but be gentle so the yogurt continues to be set. This was so very nice and thick. And tastes great. The addition of the heavy cream really helped to thicken it up. I use the yogurt in the place of sour cream, so don’t make a sweetened yogurt. If I want sweetened, I scoop out about a 6-oz serving and add some honey or preserves or granola or Nutella, fresh fruit, or brown sugar, jam, fruit spreads by Smucker’s, apple butter; anything you want and/or a combination of items. To their individual servings, some people like to add cinnamon, white sugar, some 1 T dry instant pudding mix, Jell-O powder, nutmeg, almonds or any kind of nut, coconut, etc. I have even added peanut butter and jelly to a serving - it was really quite tasty. If you want to make a sweet yogurt from the beginning, you can add one of the following to the above mixture before incubating: If adding one of these, use full two heaping tablespoons of yogurt as your starter. 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (you can use the whole can or half of it) 1 16-oz Natural Bliss creamer (vanilla or sweet cream are my favorites) ONLY USE THIS BRAND OF CREAMER, OTHER BRANDS DON’T HAVE WHAT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE YOGURT ACCORDING TO A YOUTUBE VIDEO THAT FRIEDA FRANCHINA TAPED. OR 1/2 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk and 8-oz Natural Bliss creamer and 1 tblsp of vanilla. I purchased these yogurt cups to make yogurt in in the IP: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017Z060Z6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 They are also available from the Walmart website: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Instant-Pot-Yogurt-Cups-and-Rack/48568088 So, the way I incubate the yogurt now is a bit different from the instructions above. This is what I do. Pour the whipping cream into an old Tupperware Mix-N-Store Bowl/Pitcher (I like to use this because it is not as heavy as the large glass measuring bowls/pitchers). Add 2 T Chobani yogurt. Whisk until it is very well mixed together, whisk fairly easily, you don’t want to get a lot of air into the mixture. Pour in the bottle of Fairlife and whisk together well. I put the cups into the racks before filling the cups. Then carefully pour into each individual yogurt cup. I do this in the sink, so if there are any spills, they are easy to clean up. Put the lids on the cups. Add 1 – 1 1/2 cups water to the inner pot of the IP. Then lower one of the racks into the inner pot and then lower the other and place on top of the other rack. Put the lid on the IP. For the IP 6 quart Duo, select YOGURT Normal (press the YOGURT button repeatedly until Normal displays). Press the +/- to set incubation time to 8 hours. Then press Start. The IP will beep and start counting up. When it is finished, the IP will beep and display YOGT. I do it right before bed. The longer it incubates the tarter and thicker the yogurt. You don’t have to put the IP lid on but I do. You can just use a lid that will fit or sit a dinner plate on top. The reason is that for the yogurt setting no pressure builds up. I just prefer using the IP lid. In the morning, take the racks and cups out of the IP and put in refrigerator to chill all day. Frieda Franchina: You can use as little as 4 cups of milk directly in the liner, which is a half batch of my yogurt recipe. Yogurt keeps for at least 2-3 weeks and if you make plain yogurt, you can use it as subs for mayo or sour cream in many recipes. I make a half batch which comes out to about five servings. In my Cold Start yogurt recipe & FAQ, I indicate that ultra pasteurized or shelf stable milks can be used. This includes powdered, canned ...and boxed milks. This is great news for those who live in remote areas that have a hard time accessing fresh milk. Frieda has a great blog with instructions for her Cold Start Yogurt. Her instructions are what started me on the way to making yogurt using her method: https://www.friedalovesbread.com/2017/06/easy-cold-start-yogurt-no-boil-method.html *This is a comment from another yogurt maker: I’ve used other brands of the ultra pasteurized, ultra filtered whole milk. I had to strain mine any time I used a different brand milk. I tried horizon and Aldi ultra pasturized organic milks and both were much thinner. Then I played with added powdered milk to thicken it but didn’t like the texture. I finally went back to Fairlife since I wasn’t saving much having to strain it and also the additional time it took to strain which was several hours. Just use Fairlife red bottle milk, trust me on this.