If turkeys were more useful they wouldn't be Thanksgiving dinner

If turkeys were more useful they wouldn't be Thanksgiving dinner. According to the story of Thanksgiving, when the Mayflower showed up at Plymouth Rock the Pilgrims had a harvest feast with the local Native Americans, which supposedly included a big juicy turkey.

But why Turkey? The answer to that question is not based in Thanksgiving folklore, but in economics. Turkeys have no purpose. I know, that's pretty harsh, they have a purpose, being DELICIOUS. Back in the day before 24 hour supermarkets (I know, hard to believe people survived) people had to hunt for their own food so choice of holiday main course depended on what was practical. Cows and chickens are more valuable alive, as they supply milk and eggs, geese were expensive to keep and pork was not considered special. Then there was turkey - cheap to own, easy to maintain and great for feeding large groups of people... the rest is history.

Thanksgiving isn't all about the gobble gobble. Oh no, you can't forget the sides and desserts. Let me share with you two of my favorites, so good that you'll have your relatives asking for more, in advance...



Now, these are not my personal recipes, but I always add my own little touches to make them special. Let's start with the stuffing...

Apricot Grand Marnier Stuffing Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 cups Grand Marnier® or other orange liqueur, divided use
* 1 cup dried apricots, diced
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 3 large ribs of celery, diced
* 1 yellow onion, diced
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
* 1 pound turkey or pork bulk sausage
* 1 cup coarsely-chopped apple
* 16 ounces coarse bread crumbs (may use stuffing mix)
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:
Heat 1 cup of Grand Marnier® until small bubbles form around the edge. Pour over the apricots and let steep to plump. Set aside.

Bring chicken broth to the boil in a medium saucepan. Add celery, onions, thyme, and sage. Simmer for 5 minutes until vegetables soften a bit but not to the mushy point. Set aside.

Saute sausage in a skillet until cooked through, stirring often to break it up into chunks. Drain off any excess oil.

Place bread crumbs or stuffing mix in a large bowl. Add apricots with Grand Marnier®, onion and celery in chicken broth, sausage, apples, and remaining Grand Marnier®. Toss gently to combine thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To bake stuffing separately, pour into a casserole dish and bake at 375 F for 30 minutes to brown the top.

If you use the stuffing inside poultry, be sure the stuffing has come to room temperature before stuffing the bird cavities and roast immediately.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Since this stuffing is in high demand, I usually double or triple the recipe. I also add dried cranberries in with the apricots. Since there are a number of vegetarians in my family, I mix in the sausage last, that way I can keep some meat-free stuffing to the side.

And now, dessert...

Top Secret Drunken Rum Cake
Submitted by Queen of Quips

1 1/2 cup pecans

1 yellow cake mix with no pudding in the mix
(important!)

1 (3 1/2 oz) package instant vanilla pudding
mix

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup dark rum (Bacardi's Select Rum works
best)

Glaze:
1/4 lb butter
1 cup sugar
2 tbls water
1/2 cup rum

Butter and lightly flour a bundt cake pan. Chop 3/4 cup of pecans and sprinkle on bottom of pan. Mix together all cake ingredients. Bake at 325F for 1 hour or until golden and cake pulls away slightly from pan sides. Cool on wire rack about 10 minutes, then remove from pan (inverted) and place on cake plate.

To make the glaze, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir well. Add just enough water to liquefy the sugar. Continue to cook until glaze
is bubbly and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Brush over cake, going around 4 or 5 times, until cake is darkened with glaze. Now, the best part! Mix remaining pecans into glaze while still warm. Let soak 1/2 hour. Pour pecans and extra glaze into center of cake.

I strongly recommend using a cake plate or platter with a rim because the glaze can be runny. Also, definitely make this the night before serving to let cake absorb as much
of the glaze as possible.

To be completely honest, I never use the same recipe (mostly because I forget to bookmark the page I got it from, which I believe had something to do with the Ya-Ya sisterhood book) but its always delicious - its soaked in rum. To make it special, I dye the cake a reddish color and bake it in a rose shaped pan. This recipe also makes great cupcakes and leaves everyone with a smile on their face.




Enjoy!!

Smart people don't eat anything in Japan...

Smart people don't eat anything in Japan...because their food speaks. What does it say? It tells them random facts.

Yes, it's true. Proof? Check out one of the (slightly disturbing) trivia videos I found on BuzzFeed:



And there are a bunch of them, and they share random facts like that a flamingo's mothers milk is red, a squid has three hearts and that Mandarin ducks break up once they finish their nest. I checked it out... they are true. I'm not really sure how I feel about this - I'm half intrigued, half creeeeped out.

Turns out Mameshiba are not really talking food - they are just little dog faced bean creatures (kinda like Hello Kitty or Pokemon) that like to hide in what you are about to eat and share knowledge with you.

To see more, visit their the Mameshiba YouTube channel.

A morsel of chocolate will not kill your dog

A morsel of chocolate will not kill your dog, but larger quantities can be deadly. It isn't really the chocolate that is bad for the dog, it is a stimulant found in cocoa beans called theobromine, which can also be found in cola beverages, tea and acai berries.

Theobromine is tolerable for humans, but for dogs can cause poisoning, even death, because they are unable to metabolize it, and it can remain in the bloodstream for up to 20 hours. Symptoms of theobromine poisoning include vomiting and diarrhea, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle twitching and frequent urination.

It is very important to not give in to your dog, no matter how much they beg, whine, whimper and look up at you with those big (green devil) eyes for chocolate.

Just say NO

Dogs are affected differently by different kinds of chocolate. For example, here is how much of the following chocolates it would take to poison Chloe, my 20 lb Jack Russell-Beagle mix...

• White chocolate - 250 lbs would cause signs of poisoning
• Milk chocolate/Semi-sweet - 1 lb or 4 - 6 candy bars would be poisonous
• Sweet cocoa - 1/3 lb would be poisonous
• Baking chocolate - 2 oz would be poisonous

If you suspect your dog (or cat, bird, horse etc.) is showing signs of theobromine poisoning, take it for medical care immediately. Some websites offer tips on how to care for a poisoned animal, but personally, I'd rather leave it to the professionals. If you are looking for emergency animal care in NE NJ, I would recommend Animal Emergency & Referral Associates (love them), otherwise check your local Google search.

Other human foods that are bad for dogs include avocado, macadamia nuts, onions, grapes, raisins, garlic, foods high in fat, salt or artificial sweeteners, and alcoholic beverages...

Oops.

For more info on dog and cat care visit Pet Place.

Superfood for a Superdad

A 'superfood' is a food with high phytonutrient content (say what?), or in other words, has great health benefits. According to WebMD, everyone's favorite Internet doctor, some superfoods that can help you live a healthier, longer life are beans, broccoli, oranges, tomatoes, spinach, soy, pumpkin, salmon, oats, tea, walnuts, turkey and the ever powerful blueberry.

Since it's Father's Day, and my dad is pretty super, I decided to bake him a superfood (blueberry) pie - his FAVORITE. Blueberries are are jam packed with antioxidants, vitamin B6, C, K and dietary fiber. Including blueberries in your diet can decrease your risk of cancer and heart disease and also work as a natural anti-inflammatory.

Here's how I did it...

The Filling!
4 cups blueberries (frozen are fine)
1 cup sugar
Some flour (I rarely follow directions)
Dash of salt

The Crust!
1 bottom crust (store bought)
2 top crusts (store bought) then woven into beautifulness

Combine filling ingredients, pour into bottom crust. Cover with basket weave (or just cover if you are a beginner) crust. Use a baking brush to coat lightly with egg (for shine). Bake at 425 for 10 min, then 350 for about 45 more. It should come out looking like this:



Happy Father's Day to a super dad!

Love you daddy :)

Passover in the U.S. lasts two nights because of the moon

Passover in the U.S. (and anywhere else outside of Israel) lasts two nights because of the moon. Back in the day, the Jewish people followed a lunar calendar, with each month starting with the new moon. Each month, someone needed to witness the new moon and then passed the word on to others that it was a new month. They didn't have 5 million methods of communication like we have today, so the news of a new month didn't always get there on time - celebrating for two days versus one insured that people outside of Israel got the right day.

And what is Passover you ask? Passover, or Pesach, commemorates the exodus of the Jewish people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt over 3,000 years ago (back, back, back, back in the day, believe it or not it's the year 5769 for the children of Israel). We have a very symbolic dinner called the Seder, which is filled with lots of symbolism...

...four glasses of wine...

and like any other Jewish holiday, way too much food.


During Passover Jews refrain from eating leavened bread (or anything that rises) for seven days, which means I won't be eating anything fun until Sunday (which is when I decide to embrace my Branigan roots, and break Passover for Easter).

For more information on Passover visit Judaism 101.

This post was inspired by Crissy and her questions about Passover.