There have been years that I loaded up on sides so much that there was no room on my plate for the Thanksgiving turkey. You can give me corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce and call it a meal. But variety is good, too. I've had green bean casserole, rice, mac and cheese ... none of which they would have had at the first Thanksgiving. According to historians, what they would have had is squash, probably cooked just about exactly like this. … [Read more...]

Roasted pumpkin seeds are definitely a seasonal treat. I don't think I've ever seen them in a store -- though I haven't looked for them -- and no one goes out and buys a pumpkin just to make the seeds. I'm pretty sure the first roasted pumpkin seeds were made by a cheapskate like me who, after carving the jack-o'-lanterns for Halloween, looked at all the stuff scraped out of the inside and said to himself, "Man, it seems like such a waste to throw all of that out. I wonder what I can make … [Read more...]