Hi - since you said no bread or cornbread, here's 1 my mom makes that her mom used to make (they had a big garden) - no real recipe, but definitely for someone who likes veggies - it's sort of a veggie kugel: finely chopped veggies + parsley (i.e. celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, whatever else you have on hand) egg(s) salt & pepper any herbs desired (optional) Simply chop veggies fine, a blender or food processor works great for this (back in the day Grandma would've used a wooden chopping bowl + hand chopper), then blend in 1 or 2(or more) eggs to make a rather thick 'batter', add seasoning & pour into a buttered casserole dish, dot w/ butter & bake @ 350F until set & lightly browned(30-40 minutes?). This may seem weird to some, but it's really quite delicious. Me, I've discovered Arrowhead Mills organic stuffing mixes(made w/ 2X the am't of veggies) - super easy & good = )

Well, nobody responded but I went out and bought one. Used it yesterday and it works wonderfully! We sliced only half of a 20 lb turkey and it hardly even filled it at all, used one well for dark meat, one for light meat, and one for lets/wings and schnibbles. This is great for keeping the meat hot and not drying it out. I refilled the platter from it later. If anyone is looking at these, I recommend them highly. Happy Holidays, everyone! Cj

I use my Nesco same as the regular oven but I don't need an oven cooking bag since the Nesco makes such a moist heat. My Nesco is an 18 quart. I find that the aluminum half pans that they sell at Sam's fit inside the roaster perfectly. If it is totally messy I can throw it away, but usually I wash them out and get a few uses out of each pan. Seperately at the grocery store those pans are about 1.89 each. I can get 20 at Sam's Club for 11.00. I love taking my Nesco on the screen porch during the summer, or up to the lake cabin to keep the heat outside. People always borrow it for parties, too!

Thanksgiving is the only day we eat turkey. The rest of the time, give me a roast capon or a duck prepared almost any way at all. DH and I are just not turkey lovers. My niece makes a very fine brined and roasted turkey, but once a year is enough for us. We're sauce and gravy people. Stews, braises, casseroles - we love them. I do a fair amount of cooking and a lot of dining out, and we hold that a fine sauce is a work of art. Even though we eat a lot of steaks and roasts, a great sauce is always to be admired. There are too many bad ones around to not acknowledge when something is done correctly. One of our favorite restaurants does a great poached monkfish. This is the fish known as "the poor man's lobster" for both its taste and texture. It's a great little fish, with wonderful flavor. But nap it with Amoricaine sauce, and it rises to a whole 'nother level. This is a Bretonnese classic, and for good reason. Red wine and marrow Bordelaise on a rib-eye? Absolutely! Black truffle cream sauce on a filet? Yum! Mop that goodness up with a well made starch - roasted fingerling potatoes, barley risotto, fresh pasta, freshly baked bread rolls. Gravy and sauce was the way to extend meat to feed a lot of people. Most of the world still loves sauced dishes as treasured childhood memories. Like soup, they are warmth and comfort, soothing and homey. Chicken strips that are velveted and steamed with lop cheong sausage (classic Chinese technique) are stunningly tender, almost as soft as sous vide but we like the flavor and texture better. Perfect with a roasted garlic-oyster sauce gravy over lots of rice! Far better than stir-frying or roasting. As Charles Phan of The Slanted Door restaurant in SF points out in today's WSJournal, steaming is considered the ultimate test of a professional chef in Asia. Getting back to the NY Times' and Pepin's suggestions for steaming, one of the greatest dishes in Chinese cuisine is steamed sliced chicken breast with thin slices of Hunan ham. My mother introduced me to this dish (she took classes from one of the leading Chinese restaurateurs in San Francisco) and it still ranks with DH and me as one of the three finest poultry dishes we've had in our 45 yrs of dining. A glaze should always be light. Heavy-handedness is the mark of a bad cook. Peking Duck would not be the same without the glaze applied, for example.