You've Got To Taste This

    If you’re looking to fry a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving without using a lot of messy oil then I have an idea for you. With The Big Easy turkey fryer, which uses infrared heating, it’s possible to get a lighter, fried turkey for your Thanksgiving feast. Although, I don’t think I took the fat free way “per se” in my kitchen. I went a little “Paula Dean” on my bird for a pre-Thanksgiving get together with friends, and it truly wowed a crowd. Two days before our gathering I bought a 19.97 lb turkey before reading the instructions in The Big Easy handbook that stated “will hold up to 16 lbs of turkey.”  Under my stubborn disregard for instructions I proceeded to prep the turkey for excellence. It began with a brine....

Between all the gift buying and grocery shopping, our cars can get pretty cluttered during the holidays. Take a few minutes to toss that trash and wipe down your dashboard.

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.

Thanksgiving is mere days away, which means Christmas is right around the corner. When did that happen? At MyRecipes.com, we've been thinking about holiday food for weeks and weeks, and finally it's time to actually enjoy some with family and friends.

Now I love turkey and green bean casserole as much as the next person, but let's be honest. When you think holidays, you think sweets. And when you think sweets, the prettier they look, the sweeter they somehow taste.

Through a very official selection process known as "I pick the ones I'd most want to eat," I'm giving you the 10 prettiest holiday cookies on our site -- according to Carrie. To find over 1,000 more delicious cookie recipes, visit our cookie page.

And in no particular order, they are...

                            

   Peppermint         Chocolate-Dipped         Vanilla Bean               Rudolph's        Peppermint-Topped
     Pinwheel         Hazelnut Shortbread      Sugar Cookies        Christmas Sugar          Brownies
       Cookies                        Hearts                                                                Cookies     

                         

  Gingerbread              Peppermint                  Amaretto                 Cookie Trees             Gingerbread
        People               Molasses Cookies       Butter Cookies                                                      Pinwheels
 

Comment with a vote for your favorite! Or, tell me about one that didn't make my list! Happy baking!

                 
                                                                         

                                                    

Thanksgiving is just a week away! Be sure to start thawing that frozen turkey in the fridge.

Be sure to browse Our Best Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes - the Turkey 101 gallery includes all the vital Thanksgiving turkey info - everything from how much turkey to buy, to turkey defrosting, and carving tips.

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.

 
This weekend was my daughter's first birthday, and we celebrated in rare form by smoking an entire pork shoulder on the grill and watching the Alabama and Auburn football games on tv.  Since we don't want her to develop the same intense sugar tooth that my husband and I have, Amy Grace tore into a pumpkin muffin while the adults chowed down on good old birthday cake and ice cream. Not being a super talented baker or a fan of fancy fondant, we went with a classic vanilla and buttercream frosting cake from Publix that I personalized with some storebought decorating gel.   

It was, of course, a quick and easy solution, but I was reminded of how great Publix's cakes are.   While planning our wedding, a friend raved about a Publix wedding cake she'd had recently, and I was sold.  No muss, no fuss, and the wedding cake was picked out on my lunch hour.  Plus, it cost far less than the specialty bakeries in town.  Not to sound like a commercial, but if you're in need of a cake for anything from a birthday to a golden anniversary celebration or wedding, check out their selection!  They may just be humble store-bought cakes, but the taste is a step above the usual grocery store bakery fare.

Take a look at your holiday to-do list and decide what task you've been procrastinating about the most. Then tackle it TODAY!

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.

If you're bored with the same old Thanksgiving menu, shake things up with one of these "new" Thanksgiving sides.

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.

Why should you care about the third Thursday in November? It's the day that Beaujolais Nouveau -- a French wine called BN for short -- arrives in stores all over the world.

This is a light-bodied, fruity, fun red, made from the Gamay grape in the region of  Beaujolais. "Regular"

Beaujolais is released the year after the grapes are picked, but BN is released a few weeks after the grapes come in. So the wine you taste was made with grapes picked just a few weeks before. The tradition started when winemakers wanted to use up their Gamay grapes and realized they could make a passable wine quickly with the use of the carbonic maceration method, where the fruity quality is preserved without the bitter tannins of the skins and seeds. What began as a winemaker trick became marketing genius. French law requires that BN be released no earlier than the third Thursday of November - no exceptions.

This is not a serious wine - it's just fun and flirty and can be served chilled or at room temperature, and it pairs with virtually every food on the planet. Just don't keep it too long - it's meant to be drunk within six months of purchase. And in these financially precarious times, you'll be happy to hear that BN is one of the best values out there; most bottles are about $10. A few producers are going green and bottling their BN in plastic bottles rather than glass; it keeps the shipping weight down. 

Most wine stores carry three or four types of Beaujolais Nouveau, and here are some of the better producers to look for: Mommessin, Georges Duboueuf, Joseph Drouhin, J. Arthaud, and Michel Picard.

Stumped as to what to get that crazy aunt or father-in-law-who-has-everything for Christmas? Check out these great food gift ideas. Gifts from the kitchen are budget-friendly, clutter-free, and always full of love.

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.

If you've got children, take a few minutes to throw or give away old toys to make room for the new ones that are surely coming this holiday season!

Come back every day until New Year's Eve for a customized tip guaranteed to make your holiday preparations even easier this year.