So of course, given all the shit I have to do, I'm kicking it off with a mani-pedi and the DVR.

People who would walk out of a wedding over the food are assholes of the first order, and should be sentenced to a long walk and dinner with Bear Grylls. The kind where he dares not light a fire, and has to eat the snakes and grubs raw.

My two best friends are a vegetarian and a vegan, and never once have they made me feel guilty about my omnivorous ways. We host an urban family thanksgiving for our local friends, and the only thing that has meat is the turkey. I don't trust stuffing in the bird (and I use Trader Joe's amazing stuffing, btw, which is om nom nom), and Alton Brown's recipe precludes it anyway (you put aromatics like a baked apple, rosemary, and cinnamon sticks in), so it seems to work out well. Everyone has plenty to eat, and no one feels judged. Win.

The best inside/outside stuffing compromise I've ever found is Cook's Illustrated's high-roast butterflied turkey. You butterfly the turkey and then roast it on a wire rack over a roasting pan full of stuffing. You still get the full flavor benefit of drippings infusing the stuffing with turkey-y goodness, but also a nice crispy top from being in the oven AND the turkey cooks faster & more evenly.

(It does mean making extra stuffing for the vegetarians and cooking it separately, but extra stuffing has never really struck me as a Thanksgiving problem.)

Mmm Jessica, onion pie sounds delicious. Do you have a recipe handy?

anybody ever try combining cheese and chocolate?

Process cheese (Velveeta) and chocolate make a remarkably smooth and tasty fudge.

Mmm Jessica, onion pie sounds delicious. Do you have a recipe handy?

I usually play around with it a bit, but Paula Deen's is pretty close - more or less a quiche, but with a Southern pedigree:

[link]

One thing I always do is cook the onions until they're completely soft and almost starting to caramelize so there's no chance of biting into a crunchy one in the finished pie.

Cat pee on dog bed. ::sigh:: Message received, felines.

Oh that looks good. In my head I was imagining something different, more like a caramelized onion tart.

Okay, I love the fact that I married a man who does laundry without having to be asked, but I just found ANOTHER one of my socks in Dylan's dresser. My feet are an adult women's 10, his are a toddler 9. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO MIX THOSE UP??

Everyone has plenty to eat, and no one feels judged.

this is very true. I've had the pleasure of attending at least one of these feasts (maybe more, memory she is fickle) and no one had the option of leaving hungry or unhappy.

There seems to be a pretty sharp generational divide. I've been to oodles of social dining events and no one ever gives me grief for not eating meat, but my mom's friends act like a require immediate hospitalization. My poor mom...she has similar food intolerances to me but on a lesser scale (i've never been able to each chicken or beef without getting sick) and she is uber social...there's this annual water skiing trip she goes on with a bunch of ladies and everyone there knows she doesn't eat red meat, but the rest of the group still insists on serving beef at every meal and then gets angry with her for 1) not eating their culinary prowess and 2) not being willing to clean up pots/pans filled with drippings. *shudder* Like me, she's totally willing to clean up all the non-bloody stuff, but just smelling congealed drippings up close makes me gag.

And i'll admit it, i don't get bacon. I remember bacon and passing it up even tho pork was one of the few meats i could eat. It was all salty and had a unpleasant mouth feel. But clearly lots of people really enjoy it. *shrug* more for the rest of you, i don't even want bacos.