Many thanks

It has been a while since my last post, so I'll hit the ground running with a big Thanksgiving post.

Driving down a beautifully tree-lined Lake Valley Road.

For the first time in 6 years I traveled home to Northern California for Thanksgiving. My parents were a little sad when they hear, because it meant they wouldn't get to enjoy the 70 degree weather that San Diego tends to provide on Thanksgiving. For me, I was excited to head north for the holiday. Fall leaves and crisp, cool air makes it feel more like the holidays in my eyes.

Even though I was the one traveling this year, I was still charged with making the side dishes to accompany my dad's wonderful bbq'd turkey. This was the first year in a while that I didn't make anything new. My mom requested I make my Pumpkin Muffin Stuffing and to go along with that I decided to make Roasted Asparagus and Gratin Potatoes.

The hardest part about the Pumpkin Muffin Stuffing (or dressing, as we don't stuff it in our turkey) is finding pumpkin muffins pre-made from the store. This year we lucked out by finding some pumpkin muffin mix at Crate & Barrel. So the night before the muffins were made fresh.

Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin ready to go into the oven.

Placing the top layers of potatoes on top of the bacon and cabbage.

I always have a problem with timing when I'm cooking Thanksgiving, so this year I did things a little differently. First thing in the morning I prepped as much as I could. I cooked the bacon for the potatoes, shredded the cabbage and chopped the chives. The only thing I didn't do early for the potatoes was slice the potatoes, because they tend to brown quickly. For the stuffing I chopped all of the vegetables and put them all in a bowl as they would be cooked up at the same time. For the asparagus I chopped the shallots and tarragon.

Grilled asparagus was a nice change from the traditional green bean dish.

When it came time to cook everything came together much easier and my timing was impeccable. All the dishes came out right as the turkey came off the bbq.

The bird was crackling on the bbq. The aroma in the backyard was amazing.

Two thumbs up from the cook. Time to eat!

It was a small Thanksgiving gathering, not kids' table here.

The dinner table was beautifully decorated by my mom and even though I commented on how the plates were too small, I still couldn't finish everything in front of me. All-in-all it was a very delicious dinner and I was very thankful to spend it at home with my family.

Full plate = full belly. Just how I like it.

Kitchen gadget

A great kitchen gadget is something that you can use for any meal, no matter what time of day. I have been looking to get an indoor grill/griddle for quite some time. I nearly purchased one from Crate & Barrel only to find when I got to the cash register that it didn't work on my glass-top stove.

I kind of forgot about the quest for a while until I was flipping through my Costco coupon book and came across the Cuisinart Gourmet Griddler 4-in-1 grill/griddle. At $79.99 with coupon it was a little more than I'd wanted to spend, but after using the new gadget 3 times in one day I was convinced that it will be a good investment in the long run.

Meal: Breakfast
Setting: open griddle


I LOVE banana pancakes and was so excited that all of my pancakes turned out perfectly golden brown on my new griddle. I set the temperature at high, as recommended by the instruction manual.


Meal: lunch
Setting: closed grill/panini press


I didn't have any artisanal bread so I just used some of the whole grain sandwich bread I had in the refrigerator. On my panini I put turkey, Gouda cheese, mushrooms and avocado. I lightly spread some butter on top of the bread before putting it on the grill.



Meal: dinner
Setting: open grill/closed grill


A few weeks ago a friend of mine passed along a bag full of lemons. With those lemons I made a fantastic lemon & asparagus pasta dish. Since it was such a light and delicious meal I decided to add a few ingredients, including grilled chicken and zucchini.

2 small to medium sized chicken breasts

1 medium sized zucchini, cut in rounds then in half again (half-moons)

1 1/2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 pound bow-tie pasta

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Accompaniment: freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Grill or bake chicken. Season with pepper and lemon juice.

Grill zucchini or add it with asparagus in steamer. In a steamer set over boiling water steam asparagus, covered, until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer asparagus to a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus well.

In a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a boil for pasta.

In a deep 12-inch skillet heat butter and cream over moderately low heat until butter is melted and stir in zest, lemon juice, and salt. Remove skillet from heat and keep sauce warm, covered.
Add pasta to boiling water and boil, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Ladle 1/4 cup pasta water into sauce and drain pasta in colander.

Immediately add pasta and asparagus to sauce and cook over moderate heat, tossing, 1 minute, or until heated through. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Sprinkle pasta with a little Parmesan and serve more Parmesan on the side.