Hi all, happy Friday to you!  I was on the phone with my sister yesterday planning our Thanksgiving feast and informed that for the first time in our family’s history of feasts, my brother-in-law has plans to deep fry our turkey this year. This is new to me having grown up on an oven roasted bird, but from what I’ve heard (thanks to plenty of tweets yesterday to reassure me) deep fried turkey is excellent. I’m intrigued and looking forward to it, but just might roast up another smaller bird for old times sake.

The big feast is less than three weeks away, and we’re busily assigning who’s cooking what. It’s just not Thanksgiving without turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish and pumpkin pie which requires my attire include my most stretchy pants on that day. (I can’t be alone in that.)

menu template via must have menus

So let’s talk about food.  A gorgeous keepsake cookbook arrived in my mailbox last week celebrating the 85th Anniversary of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Do you watch the Parade every year?  We always have it on while we prep the feast (yet another T day tradition).

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Fall foods are my absolute favorite, so the other day I had a hankerin’ to fill my kitchen with a few of their flavors. I made pork chops with caramelized onions and pan sautéed pears (oh yeah), then followed it up the next day with roasted butternut squash risotto. It had to be done. 

Today, I share with you my favorite butternut squash risotto recipe.  It has cream.  It has wine. It has butternut squash. And it is so good.

Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash cubed (approx. 4 to 5 cups raw)

½ medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

16 oz. arborio rice

8 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup + 2 tbsp half & half or cream

½ tsp dried sage

8-10 fresh sage leaves

salt & pepper to taste

3 oz. shaved or grated parmesan

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Hey there folks, so happy the Home May’d parties continue this week, Tuesday’s event is hosted by the most gracious hostess in the South and my dear friend, Ms. Rhoda of Southern Hospitality. 

What a perfect opportunity to share my favorite summer pasta salad with you!  It’s made with orzo, which falls under the pasta category, but in my opinion, orzo wants to crossover and be like rice.  There’s some sort of meaningful and deep analogy there, but I can’t think of it right now, I’m too distracted by the feta.  As you know, cheese is my Kryptonite. 

This pasta dish couldn’t be easier to make, and it’s so delicious!  It has cheese, awesome.  Kalamata olives too, oooh, Greek infusion!  Sundried tomatoes and toasted pine nuts add to its savory goodness, I just love it. 

This dish is wonderful when the orzo is warm and the feta gets all crumbled and a little bit melty, but it’s really good served cold on a warm summer evening, and is the perfect gourmet treat for your next summer picnic.  This is one easy recipe!

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A few weekends ago on a whim, I signed up for a cheese making class.  I don’t know why it’s taken me over 35+ years to do so, because one thing is true.  I revere cheese.  Or should I say, cheese is my Kryptonite.  It weakens me.  Yes, chocolate is tempting, champagne and wine are equally desirable (and quite frankly necessities), but the reason I will never be a Size 2 can be summed up in one word.  Cheese. 

There are several things in life that go hand in hand.  Hot dogs and baseball.  Peas and carrots.  Bert and Ernie.  Bo and Luke.  Around these parts, the two delectables that go hand in hand are wine and cheese.  It’s just how I was raised. 

I showed up a few minutes late at this ‘advanced’ artisan cheese making class, and they were doing that ‘icebreaker’ thing where they ask everyone to introduce themselves.  Quickly, it became evident I was out of my league. 

To my left was a distinguished Frenchman who’d been making cheese for a decade.  To my right, a Dairy Queen who knew everything there was to know about butter, eggs, and dairy products.  Then it was my turn to talk.  I was the self proclaimed rookie in the room.  All I could muster after a long awkward pause was this:  “Well.  I’ve never met a piece of cheese I didn’t like!”  They laughed.  I don’t think it was at my joke.  It was at my ignorance. 

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