Thanksgiving creations

I hope everyone out there had a great Thanksgiving like we did!


Here's what started off our series of Thanksgiving creations--a lovely turkey with herbed butter under the skin. Oh man--it smelled heavenly!







And here is the pristine table and the eager eaters. Fiona chose the table linens and set the table.






Of course, for every yin there is a yang, for every black there is a white, for every exquisite Thanksgiving dinner there is the mess created in the kitchen. And so here is ours. sigh. I love how Frodo managed to get into the picture on the right with his nonchalant, hopeful look. Roasting anything drives both dogs crazy. Not to worry, they had Thanksgiving kibble with turkey pan juices (defatted, of course).


After dinner we played games including one of our perennial favorites, Jenga. We didn't set any height records worth mentioning but then Fiona created this amazing construction (no glue, tape or photoshopping, I promise!)


As good as (or maybe even better!) are the TURKEY SANDWICHES the next day. Here's the one I created to Ed's specifications. So far: turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes...

next: wild rice and cooked red cabbage (a german and austrian holiday side dish.)

















et..Voila! Thanksgiving in a sandwich!







The moist layers enabled the sandwich to hold together really well. It was inhaled in short order and declared a success!

I've been through the desert...

Hello all. Its been a dry, gritty desert for my creativity since the beginning of August. As some of you may know, my marriage of 20 years has unravelled and dissolved. My husband (ex any day now) has moved out to another state while I remain here in Florida with my three kids. I am endeavoring to sell our too big house and obtain additional employment. Unfortunately, I have been unable to manage to get into my studio and create--no time or no serenity or both. It makes me sad because when I do sell this house I will lose my lovely, lovely studio. But I just am not in a place to create or even putter away on some of my works in progress. I just feel like I must get some of these major issues at least partially settled before my mind can rest.

But there is still some creativity going on in the kitchen so I'll post a couple of my recent favorites. I guess I can only think about nourishing myself and my kids right now during this scary time. I hope that changes for me soon.


Here is a rendition of one of our house favorites: salmon salad. Whenever we have broiled salmon leftovers, I make some salad with a small pasta like this couscous (I've used orzo and wild rice together too--yummy!) Chop some fresh herbs, purple onion, maybe some tomato or cucumber and add oil and vinegar or commercial vinaigrette type dressing (I usually use Paul Newman's sun dried tomato vinaigrette.) Serve with lettuce, tomato and avocado. Low in calories and omega-3's too!


This is one of my brilliant sandwiches. In another life somewhere, I own a gourmet sandwich shop. Here's one that is divine after being heated and pressed in the panini press. Start with some whole grain bread--I've used sunflower bread here. Add a smear of spread--creole mustard is a good one. A slice of prosciutto and a slice of mesquite smoked turkey come next.



Cut up some avocado--this gets really yummy when heated. Spice things up a bit with a sprinkle of Tony's cajun seasoning on the avocado and then top with purple onion slices. A slice of reduced fat lacy swiss cheese is last. This will melt and hold all of the other ingredients together after a couple of minutes in the panini press. I initially bought this cheese because it was lower in fat but I found that has additional advantages: no messy runny oil running out after it melts. Heaven!

That's the food that feeds my soul--I hope you like it too. Let me know if anyone needs more detailed recipes. Maybe next post I'll show the white chocolate and nut scones that I've been perfecting....