This is my favorite time of year…The wonderful holiday season filled with lots of love, family, friends and great food! As you all know I love to cook and especially during this time of year.  As the years go by the food tends to get a bit traditional and boring so I thought what I could do differently this year to still provide that comfort food that everyone loves, but come up with some new dishes.

During Thanksgiving in our home while growing up we would always have the same traditional dishes every year. And while these dishes were absolutely delicious and I will always eat them. They do get a little boring. We would have both turkey and ham because my dad was a meet man. Always need to have protein so we could grow up big and strong. Then we would have the traditional sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and my favorite green bean casserole.  Oh and of course we would have yummy homemade gravy to serve over top.  They would also have cranberry sauce, but I was never a fan of that and nothing has changed. I am sure there are other dishes served during these times…I would love for you to share some of your family traditional dishes to help give me some new ideas.   

Last year I attended a holiday dinner party and tasted an amazing dish that I have craved all year long. It was a Cauliflower and Gruyere cheese. Oh my goodness; this dish was amazing. The wonderful lady who made it started off by making creamy rue and then mixed in the cheese and cauliflower, followed by baking it and it was the hit of the dinner that night. I also had a dish that a girlfriend made for me about 4 or 5 years ago that I cannot forget about.  Apple sage stuffing and boy is it yummy! Now prior to having this I was not a big stuffing fan because it was boring. Cooked bread with chicken flavors…yuck! Today you can actually buy breakfast sausage that already has sage in it and then diced apples for a sweet flavor along with your traditional stuffing mix, onions and celery. It over flowed with sweet and savory flavors that melted in your mouth.  While these are previous year recipes they are on my list of favorites that I do not get to have that often.  

This year I have been watching my traditional Food Network channel and trying to come up with some new ideas for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner and I have found a few tasty recipes thus far. The vegetable of the season seems to be Brussels sprouts. And while this was not my favorite veggie as a kid I am curious to try cooking it a few different ways that might peek my liking. My dad would just steam or boil them and my mom would put the cheese sauce on them to help cover up the bitter taste of them. I have found two different recipes that might be really good. One was a Brussels Sprout and cheese casserole. It reminded me of the cauliflower dish I mentioned earlier.  Another one was Brussels sautéed with nutmeg, salt, pepper and think pieces of pancetta bacon. Looked very tasty too! I do not have many green bean fans in my family now so the traditional green bean casserole is out of the question. I also saw a recipe for Leek bread pudding made with cream and cheese. Hmmm cheese seems to be the theme. I promise I can eat vegetables without cheese it just so happens to be the trend in the recipes that I have found this year. Any other ideas are welcome for sure. I am responsible for a few side dishes this year so I am collecting ideas.

If any of these dishes sound good to you let me know and I will pass the recipe along. If I happen to try any of them I will let you know how they come out too. In the meantime please send me some of your favorite dishes for the holidays! And I wish the best to you and your family during your Thanksgiving Day of Grace!!

Let’s face it guys and girls…I do not get to watch much TV, but I do have a few select shows that I can not miss out on. The Pick of the Season this year is Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, Nip Tuck and my favorite of all The Food Network. Now I know that is not a show, but a TV channel; there are many great cooking shows that I watch day and night.  The TV is a great break for me and allows me to unwind after long hours on the computer. I am not a real big TV person as you can tell I do not have many favorite shows, but there are some that I just can’t miss.

American Idol is one of them and I have been watching the majority of the shows this season. I will admit to missing a few of the audition shows, but those are more for entertainment of other people’s expense. I mean some of these people that try out for American Idol are awful.  How do their families allow them to go on National TV and humiliate themselves? I am not saying I do not laugh with the best of them, but geese. I really like the part of American Idol once all the weak contenders are voted off. Then that is when the show really gets good.

Right now they are down to some amazing artist on American Idol. I think it is one of the best seasons in a long time and they have really discovered some real talent. There are a couple people that I am not impressed with like Megan Joy for one. She is just ok and there were many “just ok people”. She is a pretty girl, but no comparison to the others on the show as far as talent. And what is with that cork screw thing that she does while she is singing. Ah it bugs me.  Also Scott Macintyre is another one that I think is just ok and really isn’t all that great. Plus he looks weird when he sings because his top lip doesn’t move. Not that makes a difference, but you know how some things just bother you about a person…that is one of them for me. So anyhow while they have made it this far I really do not see much light at the end of the tunnel for them. Now I will tell you who I really like and I think they are amazing. The first one is Adam Lambert and let me say Wow because this guy can sing. Yeah I will agree the theatric side of him is a bit much sometimes and his look can be a little weird, but that is Hollywood for you, right? He really knows how to use his voice and can do just about anything. I have not heard one bad song from him. I know some may disagree, but I that’s my opinion. Allison is another great contender on the show. Yes I will agree she has had some good and bad choices for songs, but I really feel she has a great voice and sounds amazing. Not to mention she is only 16 and can really show some vocals. Great show this far for the season and I am so anxious to see who makes it to the finals.

My other show that I just can not live without is Grey’s Anatomy. This show has caught my heart since day one. I love every character on the show and I am always in suspense as to what is going to happen next. The last show I watched was Mc Steamy freaking out because of his last surgery and is refusing to do any more. I will agree that he has killed some people in his career, but like Meredith stated he does get them as last hope. He really needs not to be so hard on himself and what is he doing pushing Meredith away…I was ready for them to get engaged. The other character that has been bugging me is Izzy and her talking with her dead boyfriend. That was starting to get old and a little weird, wouldn’t you agree? I am sad to hear she is sick and I wonder what is going to happen next. I have the next episode recorded I just haven’t watched it. I can not wait to see what is going to happen. Do you think Meredith is going to be leaving? Ah see this is what keeps me going. Well stay with me for more of my favorite TV show talks and all of my other blogs as a student’s life.