try this pumpkin bread recipe from Baking Bites! you won't regret it.

so tonight, I decided to try a pumpkin bread recipe from Baking Bites, and yes! I am so glad I did. I don't think I've ever tried one of Nicole Weston's clearly brilliant recipes before, but I definitely will be checking out many more of them in the near future. when I first spied her recipe for one-bowl pumpkin bread with toasted pepitas, I knew I had to try it. it just sounded so scrumptious, yet was simple enough to mix up all in one bowl.

I did make a few changes, as is my wont, and while they worked out well, I have no doubt the recipe as written will come out perfectly as well. my changes: I baked a double batch, since I didn't want to store half a can of pumpkin puree. the cans I bought were 15 oz cans, so instead of a full 8 oz cup of pumpkin per loaf, I used 7.5 oz each and it was no problem at all. because I prefer its nutritional profile, I used melted butter rather than vegetable oil. to keep the one-bowl integrity of the recipe, I simply started it off my melting the butter in the bowl in the microwave. other minor changes: I used my own homemade pumpkin pie spice (using this super-easy and delicious recipe from The Kitchn. lastly, I didn't have coarse sugar on hand to sprinkle on top of the loaves before baking, so when they were about halfway done, I spooned a somewhat-uneven, rather sparse layer of white sugar over the loaves to form a crunchy, sweet topping that partially glazed for that touch of extra sweetness.

the results? incredible. make the recipe exactly as written, or customize it to your ingredients/preferences -- there are several variations suggesting in the recipe, or you can wing it (as long as you're comfortable with making successful substitutions in baking recipes). you're sure to be quite pleased with this pumpkin bread. it is now "my" pumpkin bread -- the recipe I'll be making for years to come.

when you try it, please leave me a note and let me know how yours came out! for now, I will focus on mustering up the willpower to wait until tomorrow morning for another piece. wish me luck!

perfect fall butternut squash bisque

a rich, delicious squash bisque, redolent with the flavors of Fall. this would be wonderful served at the beginning of a Thanksgiving dinner, or anytime during the Fall/Winter seasons.

• 2 butternut squash, ~ 2 pounds each?, cut in half from stem to blossom end, seeds removed
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 1 small yellow onion, diced finely
• 3-5 stalks celery (depending on size -- ideally, 5 of the paler, more tender inner stalks), diced finely
• 1/4 teaspoon ground, dried thyme, or 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1-1/2 teaspoons fresh sage leaves, minced (optional)
• pinch of kosher salt
• a few grinds of black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 quart good chicken stock
• 1-2 cups heavy cream
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

to garnish:

• 1 cup slivered almonds, squash seeds or pumpkin seeds toasted with a dab of oil (olive oil or ghee are ideal), salt, pepper and paprika until golden brown, set aside to cool
• (optional) a little bowl of fresh thyme leaves and/or finely slivered fresh sage leaves

preheat oven to 350. line baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly butter the paper and place squash on it, cut side down. roast in oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until done. remove from oven to cooling racks, flip cut side up and let cool while you prepare the onions.

while the squash is cooling, melt the butter over medium-high heat and saute the onion with a pinch of salt. add the celery after about 5 minutes. reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until onion is translucent and slightly golden brown on the edges. add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

with a good-sized spoon, scoop the butternut squash flesh out and place in a bowl, discarding the skins. add the squash flesh to the simmering soup mixture on the stove and allow to cook together for 5-10 minutes, to marry the flavors. turn off the burner, remove the bay leaves and discard; they've done their job. either use an immersion (stick) blender, or remove soup in batches to a blender or food processor to puree until it's velvety smooth (it's much easier with the immersion blender; you will have to be very careful with a regular blender or food processor when pureeing hot soup, as it tends to expand the air in the blender and blow the lid off, making a big, potentially painful mess. you can get decent immersion blenders for $30 - $40 now; I recommend them highly if you can fit it in your budget). if you've used a regular blender or food processor, return all the pureed soup to the pot (if you've used the recommended immersion blender, it's already in there). add a cup of the cream and bring the soup to a simmer, stirring regularly. taste and assess. add more chicken stock or some water if it's too thick; add more cream if it needs more richness. adjust all seasonings; salt and pepper to taste. at this point, it should taste like much more than the sum of its parts; it should taste like a combination of the essence of Fall and Thanksgiving. serve with suggested garnishes and enjoy.

Thanksgiving dressing (the good stuff): UPDATED for extra deliciousness

like many of the best holiday dishes, this is an amalgam of recipes from family, friends, things I learned in my former life as a chef and a few twists of my own. and like all the best recipes, it changes just a little every year. dressing is extremely malleable and customizable, so don't be afraid to change it up, add/subtract ingredients, make it your own. that said, I want to give you a recipe rather than just the general idea, so here's what I made this time.

start by baking three different breads (my recipes are linked below):

1. buttermilk cornbread, made with brown butter (see the brown butter batter bread recipe notes for directions to make it) in which I sauteed about 1/4 of an onion, plus a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh sage, 4-5 good slugs of Tabasco and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2. brown butter batter bread
3. biscuits (one day I'll publish my own recipe, but today I made them with Pioneer Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, and they were wonderful. just promise me you won't use canned biscuit dough, if you can avoid it -- the baking mix is just as easy and bakes pretty great biscuits). I made a batch from 3 cups of baking mix and 1 cup of milk.

after you bake each kind of bread, cool it, crumble coarsely and toast in baking pans in an oven heated to 400 degrees F for anywhere from 15-25 minutes -- you want to dry it out a bit (to avoid soggy dressing) and get the crumbles golden brown. I do all of this -- baking and toasting -- the day before. dressing tastes better when the bread is a day old.

by the way, baking all that bread will give you enough stuffing for an enormous crowd, but it doesn't make sense to bake a half loaf of bread, so once I got to this point, I took out about 3 quarts of the bread crumbs and froze them for future use. you can totally skip baking the biscuits if you don't want to deal with too many extra crumbs (though I find those crumbs useful for topping casseroles, making croutons, etc). one note re: making extra veloute (white sauce/gravy): you'll have the base for your turkey gravy all ready -- all you'll have to do is add turkey drippings after you roast the bird; very easy & very delicious. I highly recommend this time-saving method.

• 3-4 quarts of the aforementioned crumbled, toasted breads -- about half of the total if you bake full batches of all the breads
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons schmaltz, a.k.a. rendered chicken fat (if you don't have this on hand, substitute an equal amount of butter)
• 1 large or 2 small yellow onions, chopped finely (shallots would be lovely here, too)
• 4-6 stalks celery, chopped finely
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped finely (or 1 teaspoon dried, rubbed sage)
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped finely (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon dried poultry seasoning, to taste
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• salt to taste
• 2-3 medium carrots, peeled and diced finely
• 1 bunch green onions, cleaned and sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1 small bay leaf
• pinch of nutmeg
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

*this is the best dressing I've ever tasted, at least so far!

combine the breads in a large bowl, stirring together lightly (keep it a bit fluffy). use 3 tablespoons each of the butter and schmaltz (or 6 tablespoons of butter, if you're not using schmaltz) to saute the onions with a pinch of salt and about 1/3 each of the sage and thyme until tender, translucent and golden brown, seasoning as you cook with a bit of freshly ground black pepper and some poultry seasoning. when done, set aside 2 tablespoons of the sauteed onions in a small bowl, and scrape out all the rest of the pan into the bowl of breads. in the same pan, do the same with the celery, sauteeing w/the same amount of butter and schmaltz (or just butter), a pinch of salt, and 1/3 each of the sage and thyme -- everything you did with the onions, including adding 2 tablespoons of the sauteed celery to the bowl with the reserved onions, then adding the rest to the big dressing bowl. add 3 tablespoons more butter/schmaltz and a pinch of salt, and cook the carrots and green onion together with the remaining sage and thyme just as you did the onions and celery, seasoning as you go, setting aside 2 tablespoons of the cooked carrots/green onions with their yellow onion and celery friends, pouring the remaining carrot mixture into the dressing bowl. now, add 3 tablespoons of butter to the pan, place over medium heat, add the reserved sauteed yellow onion, celery, carrots and green onion, and saute for just a couple of minutes. then add the flour and mix into the fat -- it should combine to become a roux that's approximately the texture of peanut butter. add more butter or schmaltz if it's too dry. lower heat to medium low and cook the veggies and roux, stirring/scraping the bottom of the pan constantly, for about 5-6 minutes, allowing the roux to darken a bit (adjust heat accordingly if it starts browning too quickly or doesn't brown/bubble at all). next, whisk in 3 cups of the chicken stock and all of the cream (or half-and-half), and add the bay leaf and a pinch of nutmeg. raise heat to medium and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened -- it should coat the back of a spoon nicely; it will be a bit thicker than a regular white sauce. season to taste with salt, pepper and another small pinch of poultry seasoning, and then ladle about 1.5 - 2 cups into the dressing mixture, and stir to combine. you want to add enough to moisten it all, but not soak it. some of the larger chunks of bread will still be a bit dry in the center, but it will hold together fairly well. taste and make your final seasoning adjustments. set aside the remaining sauce for now*. whisk the eggs in a bowl with the baking powder, and fold it into the dressing mixture. spoon it into a 9x13 buttered baking dish, being sure to not pack it down. cover with buttered foil or parchment (butter-side-down) (you can prepare it a day ahead at this point -- just refrigerate, then take out from the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to bake it, so it can come to room temperature). bake the dressing covered for 30 minutes, then remove foil or parchment and continue baking another 15-20 minutes, until top is nicely browned and crisp.

*re: the extra sauce you set aside and that remaining cup of chicken stock: strain the sauce through a chinois or a fine metal mesh strainer and throw away the solids. add the cup of chicken stock and bring back to a simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened -- it should be right thickness for gravy. set aside; that's your gravy base (when you finish roasting your turkey, remove excess fat from the turkey drippings, add them to this gravy base, adjust seasoning and voila! your gravy will be done and very delicious!).

potential additions to the stuffing if you'd like (it's fine to do one or two of them, but I wouldn't suggest doing them all:

• add a moderate amount of fresh, finely chopped rosemary
• add 1-2 peeled, diced apples, sauteed in butter with the onion, celery, etc.
• add a container (I think they're usually 8-10 ounces) white button, cremini or baby bella mushrooms, cleaned, quartered and sauteed in butter/schmaltz like the other veggies
• add 1/2-3/4 cup dried fruit, plumped in just a bit of hot water or chicken stock -- cranberries or cherries would be especially good

feedback on this recipe particularly welcomed!

Lynell's maple-glazed sweet potatoes

I've put this recipe together in response to a request from my friend Lynell, who wants to make a Thanksgiving sweet potato/yam dish with maple syrup, butter and pecans -- no brown sugar... and knowing Lynell, no artificially-flavored marshmallows, faux low-fat ingredients -- she likes *real* food, as do I!

this should make about 6 cups total. I highly recommend using true sweet potatoes rather than yams -- sweet potatoes usually have smoother skins. while I love the texture and flavor of white sweet potatoes (usually found in Asian markets and some larger grocery stores that cater to a Hispanic market), they don't contain as much vitamin A as their richer, sweeter orange-fleshed counterparts, and they just don't have that classic flavor you're looking for at Thanksgiving. so look for some nice, smooth-skinned sweet potatoes with deep orange flesh (the peel is really no indication of the inner color, so it's worth it to ask the produce staff for their suggestions).

• 1/2-1 cup pecan halves
• 2-1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into one- to two-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons bourbon or rum (try Eagle Rare Bourbon or Myers Rum), OR 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (closely related to black pepper, but sweeter in flavor)
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated (or pre-ground) nutmeg
• optional: a pinch or two of ground cinnamon, if desired
• kosher salt to taste 

preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes, until fragrant (err on the side of under-done, if needed -- you don't want them burnt! and they will cook further in the dish). pour the pecans out onto a cutting board to cool, then chop finely. butter the same baking sheet and arrange the potatoes in one layer. in a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, butter, bourbon OR rum OR lemon juice, spices and a big pinch of salt, and heat over low heat until butter is melted. whisk together, taste and add more salt if desired -- it should taste a bit salty, as it needs to season the sweet potatoes, too. pour the syrup mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss to coat evenly. cover with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. remove foil and continue to bake, stirring occasionally, until tender and beginning to brown. add the chopped pecans and bake 15 minutes longer.

if desired, you can prepare the dish a day ahead -- just place in an oven-safe serving dish & refrigerate. reheat the next day at 350 degrees, for 20-30 minutes, until hot all the way through.