To kick off the weekend, you lucky readers can win some free books! Hachette Book Group is offering two free sets of books to Macheesmo readers.
The package includes “How to Roast a Lamb” by Michael Psilakis and Barbara Kafka and “Chocolate: A Love Story” by Max Brenner and Yonatan Factor.
Each winner will get both books! All you have to do to be eligible is leave a comment below with your favorite Thanksgiving dish, please only one comment per person though. Don’t be that guy. I’ll pick a winner at midnight tonight (EST) so get your comments in today!
Winners! There were 61 comments eligible when I got some random numbers from random.org. The winners are #23 Niki and #40 Kenneth! I’ll be emailing you both with details!
I decided I wanted to make chili this weekend but I’m kind of torn on the variety.
And just a few links…
How to Poach Pears – A great walkthrough with fantastic photos. Seems simple enough and the combinations are pretty much endless. (@ David Lebovitz)
Slow-braised Pork Roast with 5 Spice Rub – I think if I had to pick only one method and cut of meat for the rest of my life, it would probably be pork roast or shoulder that is slow cooked. Just doesn’t get much better in my opinion. (@ Blue Kitchen)
Cheeseburger Soup – I’ve never heard of such a thing in my life but I want it immediately. (@ Dine & Dish)
How to Keep Your Herbs Fresh- I have a serious problem with fresh herbs. I buy a lot of them. I cook a lot with them, but inevitably have leftovers that go bad. CHECK OUT this solution that Jason came up with for my little issue. Good stuff! (@ Well Done Chef)
Have a good weekend everyone! Leave a comment and maybe win a few books!
My favorite dish is easily Spinach Madeline. It’s how I learned I liked spinach (I know, I know, it’s slathered in cheese, but still, the kid-cultural backlash against what’s now one of my favorite foods can take any means necessary to overcome) and for years now has been the dish my grandmother and I cook together – we take out the faded, handwritten-note-filled cookbook she helped create years ago with a society of women as a fundraiser for the symphony (and I wrote an anthro-ish paper about in undergraduate) and begin with sauteing onions in butter…that smell takes me right back to her kitchen, learning to cook for the first time. Of course, we always change things up a bit, but it’s always delicious – creamy with a punch of heat from cayenne pepper. mmm.
…and not that it’s a dish, but the sampler platter I concoct on my dessert plate from the array of desserts is quite stunning, to say the least. I’m a sugar addict and total chocoholic, and handily out-eat all the large men in my family when it comes to Thanksgiving dessert: pecan pie, caramel cake, chocolate cake, toffee trifle…
Ohhhh…Thanksgiving. Gotta go with the grill-smoked prosciutto-wrapped turkey breast.
My absolute favorite Thanksgiving dish is stuffing. I just can’t get enough of it. I know you have a recipe in the archives for a killer stuffing, which I am tempted to try this year. Anyway, thanks for a great website and for holding this contest. Hope I win!
By far my favorite Thanksgiving recipe is candied yams with brown sugar and mini marshmallows. My aunt tops them with crushed graham crackers as well. I can’t wait to eat them!
I love pumpkin bread. And pumpkin pie. And pumpkin cupcakes. Anything with pumpkin. Mmmmm… Honey and Jam has this awesome pumpkin cupcake recipe that I want to try. Maybe you should try it and give us all a review d=D
http://www.honeyandjam.com/2009/10/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-maple-cream.html
Love your blog. I check everyday. Thanks man.
Hmm….
The dish I ALWAYS eat first is my own candied pecan sweet potatoes, so delish….
or the green beans with bacon and some spicyness.
my favorite would have to be some sort of spinach pie.
I can’t get enough cornbread during Thanksgiving. I know it’s more of like a side dish, but to me, it’s just as awesome as the turkey or mashed potatoes.
M-m-m-m-m………
Roasted Root Veg: butternut, carrot, turnip, parsnip, rutabaga with fresh sage…..and
Roasted Brussels Spouts with toasted hazelnuts and fresh nutmeg……..and
Fresh Cranberry Relish with ‘roasted’ shallots and port…..
It’s gotta be the roasting that stirs the Thanksgiving senses.
My “favorite” Thanksgiving dish is one I have never eaten, but it is so essential to my family: my grandma’s mince pie. Every year in the second week of November, the “little old ladies of the Methodist church” get together and spend all day making a huge quantity of “mince.” The recipe includes cranberries, cinnamon, dark rum, cloves, and – yes – heaps and heaps of beef. The resulting concoction is canned for use throughout the winter holiday season. It is used in desserts, and the older members of my family always save room for a slice of mince pie a la mode. I probably won’t really sit at the grown-up table until I try some. Maybe this year…
My fellow Americans,
Every year around this time, our thoughts turn towards autumn leaves and the coming winter. From the streets of New York to the sandy beaches of California, we all take the time celebrate the bounty of the harvest. To celebrate a uniquely American tradition. A tradition that brings families together and teaches our children a value we hold dear: sharing.
And every year, when my family gathers around the table, there is one dish that will assuredly be there. One dish that, no matter what we tell Michelle’s mother, she still brings anyway: jello mold. Now, jello mold is an interesting dish. While I suspect it was not on the menu at the first Thanksgiving, I am nearly certain that it has been a staple at every Thanksgiving table since then.
And what is jello mold? Be it orange or cherry or lime, the flavor of the jello itself varies year to year and table to table. But every family has someone who, without fail, brings the jello mold. That aunt or Gramma who thinks that everyone just loves a lil’ jello mold with their turkey and mashed potatoes. And days later, as the leftovers get picked over, the jello mold remains. A staunch, jiggly reminder of our annual feast.
Malia and Sasha always thank Gramma for the jello mold, even though I have asked them not to. It’s a tradition, for better or worse, and one not soon to be broken.
God bless us all and God bless America.
B. Obama
Thanks for the comments everyone! (Especially you Mr. President.)
The winners are #23 Niki and #40 Kenneth! I’ll be emailing you both with details!
julie lied….her favorite is mashed potatoes. good thing she didnt win. it woulda been fraud