Gosh, I fell like the lone ranger. I don't always have the exact same menu for Turkey Day! We always have turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, but the sides always change! My sisters and I love to cook so sometimes we try out new recipes at the holiday meals. Some have been keepers, some not so much! None of us like sweet potatoes, so we never have them. I like cranberries, but that jelly stuff makes me gag, too. (And we won't even discuss that nasty green bean casserole that Tim loves so much!) LOL Here are a couple of the keepers from past feasts: Roasted Cauliflower with Fresh Herbs and Parmesan 12c cauliflower florets (about 2 heads) 1-1/2 T olive oil 1T chopped fresh parsley 2Tsp chopped fresh thyme 2tsp chopped fresh tarragon 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese 2T fresh lemon juice 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper Preheat oven to 450F Place cauliflower in large roasting pan or jelly roll pan. Drizzle with oil, toss well to coat. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until tender and browned, stirring every 5 minutes. Sprinkle with herbs and garlic, bake 5 minutes. Combine cauliflower mixture, cheese and remaining ingredients in large bowl, toss well to combine. Yield: 8 servings, about 1 cup each Wild Rice Corn Pudding Source: Emeril Lagasse 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 1 cup heavy or whipping cream 2/3 cup milk 4 ears sweet corn, blanched and kernels removed from cobs, about 3 cups corn 1 cup cooked wild rice 3 scallions, finely chopped or 1/3 cup finely chopped scallions 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/8 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg 1/2 tablespoon butter Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine egg, egg yolk, heavy cream and milk and whisk well to combine. Add all remaining ingredients except butter and mix well. Grease a 7 by 11 or 8 by 12\-inch casserole with the butter. Pour custard ingredients into prepared casserole and bake uncovered for 45 minutes, or until custard is set and golden brown on the top. Serve warm. My notes: Use a little less cayenne. Cranberry Cake with Butter Sauce 1/4c butter 1/2c sugar 1c flour 1tsp baking powder 1/2c milk 1c whole cranberries Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. Mix butter and sugar in medium bowl. Add milk, flour and baking powder, fold in cranberries. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 and bake 20 minutes more. Sauce 1/2c butter 3/4c sugar 1/2c heavy cream Melt butter in small saucepan. Stir in sugar then add cream and bring to slow boil for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and serve warm, spooned over individual slices of cake. [](http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=10&imgid=209512290) Cranberry Walnut Tart Sweet pastry dough 3 large eggs 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 2/3 cup light corn syrup 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries (7 oz; thawed if frozen) 1 cup chopped walnuts (1/4 lb) Special equipment: a 10\- to 11\-inch round tart pan (1 inch deep) with a removable bottom; pie weights or raw rice Make shell: Roll out dough into a 13\-inch round (1/8 inch thick) on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin and fit into tart pan. Trim edge of dough, leaving a 1/2\-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then chill 30 minutes. Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until pastry is set and pale golden on rim, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until pale golden all over, 5 to 10 minutes more. Transfer shell in pan to a rack. Make filling: Move oven rack to middle position and reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth, then stir in cranberries and walnuts. Pour filling into shell and bake tart until filling is set and golden, 40 to 45 minutes. (If pastry edge darkens before tart is done, cover edge with a pie shield or foil.) Cool completely in pan on rack. Cooks' notes: Tart can be baked 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature. For a more unusual presentation, you can make the tart in an 11\- by 8\-inch rectangular fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Makes 8 to 10 servings. Gourmet November 2003; originally published January 1991 My notes: Thanksgiving 2006, this is really good! Kind of labor intensive, but delicious! Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake source: Betty Crocker For the crust: 2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted For the filling: 4 pkgs. 8 oz. each cream cheese, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 cup canned pumkin not pumpkin pie mix 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg Heat your oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with shortening or cooking spray. Wrap foil around the pan to catch drips. In a small bowl, mix cookie crumbs and butter. Press crumb mixture in bottom and 1 inch up sides of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or till set. Cool 5 minutes. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with mixer on medium speed just till smooth and creamy, do not overbeat. On low speed, gradually beat in sugar. On low speed, beat in eggs, one at a time, just till blended. Spoon 3 cups of cream cheese mixture into pan over crust. Spread evenly. Stir pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg into remaining cream cheese mixture; mix with wire whisk until smooth.Spoon over top of mixture in pan. Bake 1 hour and 25 minutes to 1 and a half hours or till edges are set but the center jiggles slightly when moved. Turn off oven; open door at least 4 inches. Leave cheesecake in oven for 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven; place on wire rack to cool. Without releasing side of pan, run a knife around the edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake. Cool in pan on wire rack 30 minutes. Cover loosely, refrigerate at least 6 hours but no longer than 24 hours. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen cheesecake again, carefully remove side of pan. Place cheesecake on a serving platter. Store cheesecake covered in fridge. I had a photo of the pumpkin cheesecake, but must have deleted it from Picturetrail. will have to reload it. Hope these give you some ideas if you're trying to make some changes this year! Linda

John, I diligently rescheduled everything so I could suit everyone else's time requirements. My son in law, Kevin, is a police officer and had to work on Thanksgiving. My daughter, Amanda, is a CNA at a nursing home and had to work the midnight shift the night before. Since she has a seizure disorder and her triggers are stress and fatigue, her being allowed to sleep is tantamount. Plus Bud got his tonsils out last week Wednesday and we wanted to give him a couple of extra days to heal up so he didn't miss the meal altogether. So we just had dinner a few hours ago, with everyone being able to attend and we got an "extra" in the form of Dave and Amanda's nephew Tommy. Not a problem, there's always enough food here for at least a couple of extras. The only problem was seating, so I put everyone around the table to eat together but the food stayed on the counter and everyone filled their plate buffet style. It worked.... I do have one burner that works really well, but with my new double ovens I try to do as many things in there as I can. The real issue is that the cooktop is on a homemade (and extremely ugly) "island". We're planning to rip that out this winter. For some reason that cooktop is situated on the end of the island, but perpendicular to the work surface, which is also several inches lower than the end that holds the cooktop. So, it's kind of like a "t" with a step down, and it gives me no work surface at all other than about 4 inches on each side of the cooktop. It's extremely inconvenient. I'm not living with it for 10 years, since we just bought this place last year. This year we tear that out, or I'm hiring someone! Annie

WalnutCreek and M, here is that salad recipe. It's wonderful, and if there were any leftovers my girls would fight over them. Arugula Salad with Figs, Prosciutto, Walnuts, and Parmesan 4 tbls olive oil 2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto cut into strips 1 tbls raspberry jam 3 tbls fig balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup dried figs, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces 1 tbls finely chopped shallot 5 cups baby arugula 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted 2 oz Parmesan, shaved into thin strips 1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 10 inch nonstick skillet over medium heat; add prosciutto and fry until crisp, stirring frequently for about 7 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towel to drain and cool. 2. Whisk jam and vinegar in medium microwave-safe bowl; stir in figs. Cover with plastic wrap, cut several steam vents in plastic and microwave on high until figs are plump, about 45 seconds. Whisk in 3 tablespoons oil, shallots, 1/4 tsp salt; toss to combine. Let cool to room temperature. 3. Toss arugula and vinaigrette in large bowl; adjust seasonings with salt. Divide salad among individual plates; top with portion of prosciutto, walnuts, and Parmesan. I couldn't find arugula here, so I used baby spinach and it was very nice, now I use tht all the time. I didn't have shallots, so I left them out, it's good either way, and sometimes I use pecans, but walnuts are better. Thanks again, Cathy, for a great recipe, if you are out there somewhere lurking... Annie

Oh man, it all looks delicious. At first I was concerned, then I saw the pink bowl for the stuffing and the pink pan holding spinach dip and all was right with the world. It's amylou, it's gotta have something pink. I think George has taken the correct measures, LOL. He looks a lot like my 25 pound cat, Spark. Orange cats gotta do orange cat things, you know. My Thanksgiving won't be until next Saturday, that's when Ashley has the girls and Makayla can come home for dinner and all other family obligations are fullfilled by all. Elery and I joined the neighbors at the B&B for dinner, the chef there did the cooking and I provided some of the "raw" ingredients. Well brined free range Amish turkey, nearly 30 pounds, some apple/cranberry stuffing, green bean casserole with no C of M soup, just some nicely seasoned white sauce and crunchy pan fried shallots, mashed potatoes from our Kennebecs in storage, gravy, fresh cranberry relish and dinner rolls, dessert was a really nicely spiced apple cake with cream cheese frosting. A couple of cups of coffee, chatting with friends and rooting for the Detroit Lions (who, true to tradition, lost), made a lovely day. Having lost my mother and my brother within the last year it was actually good to have something completely different. I'll start my cooking about Wednesday... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Annie