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From our resident Chef Silvia – her own special stuffing……

“Regardless of who hosts Thanksgiving in my family, I’m always asked to make the stuffing. It’s become a family classic – it’s so flavorful, easy and different. I made this with sweet Italian sausage but you can use hot or a combination. I also spiced it up with a few pinches of crushed red pepper and a diced jalapeno pepper but you can leave that out if you have little ones. This recipe is enough to stuff a small turkey but you can easily double it. ”

Recipe
1 lb. Italian Sausage
14 oz package of corn bread stuffing (or bread stuffing if you prefer)
1 fresh fennel bulb (sliced thinly)
1 large sweet onion (medium dice)
¼ cup of olive oil
1 large fresh garlic clove (medium dice)
2 cups chicken broth
Pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
1 diced jalapeno pepper (medium dice)
Finish with a about ¼ cup of fresh chopped Italian parsley

In a large sauté pan over medium heat add about ¼ cup of olive oil (or enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Heat until hot but not smoking and add the onion and the fennel (and the jalapeno pepper).

Cook for about 5 minutes or just until the vegetables are soft and golden.

Add the garlic (and the crushed pepper) and cook for about 15 seconds followed by the sausage.

Cook for about 10 minutes until the meat browns. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl if your pan isn’t large enough to accommodate the stuffing.

Add the stuffing followed by the broth (a little at a time) and stir until all of the mixture is moistened. Finnish with the parsley and that’s it. Stuff your turkey.

Enjoy!

Our resident chef, Silvia, has a important words of wisdom for your life and when dealing with recipes in the kitchen……

In order to change anything in your life, change the recipe you’re using. The recipe always involves what you think, believe and do. Examine the ingredients that go into these three areas and continue using the ones that produce the results you want. Replace the ones that no longer work with new ingredients that do. The results will speak for themselves. Keep tweaking the recipe until you’re happy with what you’ve got.

Recipes are a hard thing to write. After having written hundreds of them, it does get easier but not less challenging. That’s because people expect them to be exact and I know there’s no such thing. How can there be when the very nature of a recipe is to merely be a guide? True, baking recipes come closer to being an exact formula, but cooking has another story.

When I give a cooking class, I never hand out recipes until after the class. That’s because I want the student’s attention on what is taking place around them, not on a piece of paper. Though having to create something without step-by-step instructions is enough to make some people quite uncomfortable, I know it’s the only way to learn. They learn by doing, by noticing how something tastes, smells, feels and looks. They learn that a “mistake” often leads to new discoveries and if not, if it’s truly inedible and can’t be fixed…you simply start over.

The reason a recipe cannot be exact is that a recipe is affected not only by the quality and differences of the ingredients used, but by what is expressed from within the cook. I know that to teach someone how to cook is to give them the tools to create a life…along with something good to eat. Cooking is a sacred act. Stirring a sauce with happiness will bring more flavor to it than anything you can add from the spice rack.

The famous chef Thomas Keller said, “A recipe has no soul. You as the cook must bring soul to the recipe.”

So let a recipe guide you to new culinary adventures. Celebrate your mistakes. Share your triumphs. Play with the variety of fresh ingredients available this harvest season…and send me your recipes
.
Enjoy this season of harvest,

Chef Silvia

Every autumn, as the weather begins to get nippy and the air is crisp, I’m delighted because now I can begin to make soup. And if there’s any recipe that is open to variations, it’s soup. To inspire you, take a look at what I did as a variation of split pea soup.

Split Pea and Tomato Soup with Sausage
1 lb of split peas (rinsed and any small stones removed)
¼ cup of olive oil
1 lb. of your favorite sausage (cut into bite sized pieces)
Half a small onion (or shallot) medium diced
1 fresh garlic clove (fine diced)
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Half of a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
Tablespoon or two of chicken base (or bouillon)
8 cups water
Season to taste
Finish with chopped fresh parsley

In a medium/large saucepan, over medium/high heat add ¼ cup of olive oil or just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the sausage and brown on all sides. Add onion and cook until softened. Add the pepper flakes and the garlic. Cook for a few seconds, quickly followed by the tomatoes (this will prevent the garlic from burning). Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes and then add the water. Bring to a boil and add the chicken base. Stir. Lower the heat to a gentle boil and cook for an hour or so or until the peas arrive at your desired level of doneness. Add more chicken base or water if needed and season to taste. Serve in individual bowls and finish with parsley.

Recent question from our “Ask Chef Silvia” feature:

Name: tom
Email: XXXXXXXXXX
Message: My mayo won’t emulsify. Any thoughts? I’m using a blender.
State: FL
Submitted On: 2011-09-06 15:00:13

Hi Tom,
Yes. Usually when something won’t emulsify it’s because you are adding the oil too quickly. Try adding the oil in drips, especially in the beginning. You can quicken the drip into a steady stream once the mayo begins to thicken.

Thanks for asking,

Chef Silvia

One of our monthly emails a few years ago was all about the tomato (click here to read) – while it was very informative, our resident Chef (Silvia) has a way of expressing her feelings about foods that is quite unique. Here our her thoughts on our beloved tomato…..and a few recipes!

“I think there’s nothing more delicious than a tomato picked at the height of its flavor, and perfectly prepared into one simple, exquisite dish. For me, no ingredient is better equipped for this culinary challenge than a tomato, plucked from its vine just when its juices threaten to burst through the skin forming a crack, as if in testament to its efforts.

Now is the time to celebrate the tomato in all its varieties. Every year at this time I’m so thrilled a tomato actually tastes like a tomato that I go a little crazy, but I just can’t help myself. It’s tomato season in the Northeast and for the next several weeks as they begin to ripen on local vines, I intend to eat as many as I can because – unless I move to a warmer climate – I won’t have this particular pleasure again until next year, so I get a little greedy.

I start my feast by preparing a variety of simple dishes that require little or no cooking. I want to eat them raw, cut in thick slices, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. And when I want something different from this simple preparation, I can add other ingredients that complement – without masking – its starring role; thinly sliced red onions, finely minced garlic, slivered basil, chopped parsley or oregano, bits of kalamata olives, filets of roasted bell peppers or anchovies, sliced raw jalapeños or fried hot peppers, and of course fresh mozzarella.

Besides its obvious culinary delights, the tomato is a divine elixir, a gift from the gods, rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant which neutralizes free radicals before they cause damage, thus warding off everything from wrinkles to heart attacks. Who needs to bother with skin care and heart pills when we could just eat tomatoes?

My love affair with this tasty and medicinal fruit has emotional and philosophical benefits for me as well, making it necessary to have at least one vine – even if it’s in single pot on the porch – to care for. Every touch releases the aroma that instantly conjures up the memory of my childhood garden, where I walked between rows and rows of tall vines tied to heavy wood stakes making me feel like I was on a farm instead of wandering in a suburban backyard. And I get a clear picture of my father on his knees, bending over, tenderly caring for them; tying loose branches heavy with ripening fruit, removing yellow leaves, nurturing their growth, and so I can get nostalgic…even a bit melancholy.

Or possibly I’m smitten because whenever I look at a snarly tomato – the ones the market labels “ugly” and charges extra for – I’m reminded that it’s the imperfect tomatoes that taste the best. It helps me accept my own imperfections. Or maybe I’m just being Italian, with a cultural habit of thinking too much.

Whatever the reason for my fascination with tomatoes, right now I plan to indulge in a feast devoted to them. Hope you do too.
Chef Silvia

Simple Tomato Salads
The summer salad we served most often from my childhood garden was randomly diced tomatoes (core and imperfections removed – bite sized pieces) mixed with thinly sliced red onions and basil, seasoned and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. We ate it along with a hunk of rustic bread to lap up the juices. It’s still my favorite. However, after eating tomatoes this way a few times, I decided to add a few things. I had a container of red and yellow bell peppers I roasted the other day so I pulled out a few filets of yellow peppers along with a few kalamata olives that I tore in small bits as well as a thinly sliced raw jalapeno. I mixed all this together, let them mingle a bit while I poured myself a glass of shiraz and sliced a hunk of fresh bread, which is a treat in itself but mandatory as an accompaniment to a tomato salad.

Warm Penne Salad
This flavorful dish was a customer favorite at my former Connecticut restaurant, Biscotti. The reason it tasted so good was because it married two classic dishes, pasta with butter and cheese and a brushetta topping, melding the heat of one with the coolness of the other. For this dish, opposites do attract. You can customize it to your liking but this is how I make it.

For the Topping
3 – 4 “ugly tomatoes” (depending on size)

½ cup seedless kalamata olives – cut in half

1 cup diced fresh mozzarella (medium dice)

4 – 6 large fresh basil leaves – slivered

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (about ¼ cup or to taste)

Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Pasta
1 lb penne (use small shapes like a mini penne or other small cut so the pasta doesn’t overwhelm the “sauce”)

¼ cup olive oil + 1 stick butter

1 clove fresh garlic – finely chopped

Freshly grated pecorino or parmesan cheese (to taste)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

In the meantime, in a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the oil and garlic. Sauté for a few moments until the garlic begins to turn golden. Add the cold butter in pats (this will prevent the garlic from burning and ruining the sauce). Once the butter has melted remove from the heat, and mix with the penne. You can add the pasta to the pan if it’s large enough (this is best) or pour the sauce over the pasta in a separate bowl. Add in freshly grated cheese according to taste, finish with fresh chopped parsley if you like, toss and spoon onto individual plates. Top with the tomato mixture and

P

The scents of summer are all around…in full bloom, ready to greet me: the smell of freshly cut grass or sliced watermelon; smoke from the barbeque or nearby fireworks; Coppertone and salt air; strawberries and peaches; tomato plants and roses. These are the smells of my childhood and they’re still with me. All summer long familiar whiffs are everywhere; in the garden, the beach, the local fair, or on city streets, and for a moment I am a child again. After years of noticing the beneficial effects of indulging my youthful memories, it has become a part of my daily routine…if I remember. And nothing else can trigger my memory as quickly as a comforting smell…yummm.

I carry that small capsule of bliss inside me, its content spilling out when I least expect it. In the kitchen I become an alchemist mixing a sprinkle or two in with the mayonnaise for the potato salad. Or sometimes a dusting gets into the Vidalia onions I’m sautéing for an omelet. Somehow the marinara sauce for tonight’s dinner tastes that much sweeter if I can take in and appreciate how the sun felt on my face that afternoon. And how can I not feel joy when the kitchen fills with the aroma of blueberries and apples from the cobbler baking in the oven and my friends are standing around ready to top it with ice cream?

I’m in heaven and I want to feed it to everyone at the table. I know the food I prepare doesn’t have to be fancy to be memorable. Some of the best meals I’ve served have been the simplest. I think it has something to do with the purity of the dish. It’s savored but doesn’t get in the way of the conversation. The food is fine with knowing it plays a supporting role to the diners. I think – and this is funny coming from a chef – that an unforgetable meal is not primarily about the food, but rather the company.

The memory of good food stays with me but the scent of a shared summer meal lingers longer. Who remembers what they ate at an exquisitely prepared banquet if everyone was fighting at the table? But who wouldn’t be nourished by a simple slice of warm, freshly baked bread if it was prepared and offered with love…just when you needed it?

For me the scents of summer are most potent when I snip the stalks of basil growing in my garden and slice it in ribbons, topping the pasta at the last minute before serving. Or when I take a bite of a ripe tomato plucked from the plant and the fragrance of its leaves lingers on my hands. I can practically smell the sun. So I take the feeling with me and spread it around.

It doesn’t matter that this summer – the first time in years – I don’t have a vegetable garden and I have to buy most of my produce from the supermarket…I can still enjoy the shopping and dream of a time when I will have a garden again. In the meantime I can boost the nutrients in the lettuce simply by having fun making the salad. My joy gets tossed along with the greens then makes its way to the risotto I’m still stirring on the stove until it’s ready to blend with the fragrant summer pesto I made from the basil, parsley and arugula growing in pots on my deck. Aha….the smells of summer…

Spaghetti Marinara with Arugula Pesto and Goat Cheese
This recipe is a reworking of one of my favorite sauces, tomato pesto. Here however I don’t mix the pesto with the tomato sauce but rather top it with dollops of it. Then when you twirl the pasta with your fork it gathers a small burst of fragrant herbs mixed with oil, parmesan and nuts. Add to that the dollops of goat cheese, melting over the warm pasta and you have a truly memorable and amazing dish.

1 lb spaghetti or linguine
2 cups marinara sauce (recipe below)
1 cup pesto (recipe below)
¼ cup goat cheese

Cook linguine according to package directions, making sure it is al dente (cooked but still firm). Drain pasta and toss with half the sauce. Divide pasta onto individual plates. Top with additional sauce, and dollops of the pesto. Finnish with sprinkled goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Marinara Sauce
1 can crushed tomatoes (with no added puree – look for brands that use only vine ripened tomatoes) ?
2 tablespoons olive oil (or enough to just cover the bottom of the pan
1 clove fresh garlic–finely chopped?
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes?
1/4 chicken broth? (this is optional, however it adds flavor and liquid to a sauce that may be too thick.
1 sprig of fresh basil (stem attached)?
Salt and pepper to taste??

In a medium saucepan over medium heat add oil and heat until hot but not smoking. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook for about 30 seconds or until golden. Follow quickly with the tomatoes. Add the basil, lower the heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes until the sauce is cooked (no raw tomato taste) and sweet.

Arugula Pesto
You can make a pesto with almost any herb, not just basil. In fact I feel using basil alone makes it too intense so I usually use basil and parsley for a basic pesto. Using arugula gives this pesto the richly aromatic peppery flavor that is distinctive.

2 cups baby arugula
1 cup basil (stems removed)
1 cup flat leaf Italian parsley (stems removed)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)
2 medium cloves garlic
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the basil, parsley, pine nuts, and garlic in the work bowl of a food processor and process until it becomes a paste. Add the oil slowly and process until incorporated. Pour the sauce into a bowl, stir in the cheese, and season.

Thanks Chef Silvia, we love your “notes from the chef” and of course your wonderful recipes!!

Cindy Lai Fitness

Fitness Guru Cindy Lai is our guest blogger. Her advice is right on.

“Almost everyone tells me that they eat healthy or eat right, but do they really know what consists of a “healthy” meal? A boiled egg, a piece of fruit or a slice of bread? How is that supposed to satisfy your appetite for at least 3 hours? This is nearly impossible unless you have trained your body to go into starvation mode. Instead, your body will constantly go after muscle for fuel, basically eating away at itself. How does this affect your fitness goals? You are guaranteeing a decreased metabolism and what you put into your body next gets stored as fat instead of it becoming a fat burning mechanism.

This is an all too common mistake where many people skimp on good carbs, good fats or lean protein. If your physique is still the same after months or years of unsuccessful dieting, stop dieting and start eating right! If it is important for you to stay on top of your health and fitness goals, you need to look at the big picture. You also need to make time to eat a proper meal. Below are some easy suggestions for a better balanced breakfast.

Lowfat greek yogurt with almonds and Optimum Slim High Fiber Cereal (Nature’s Path)

(I like the Chobani brand and normally opt for 2% lowfat. I do love the pineapple flavored but do not have it all the time. Other good brands are Fage and Oikos)

1 egg + 2-3 egg whites with spinach and Kashi Go Lean Hot Cereal

Pacific Breeze Almond milk with Optimum Power Cereal (Nature’s Path) + blueberries

Tofu Scramble or Soy patties with spinach or broccoli on 2 slices of Whole wheat bread

2 Slices of Ezekiel Sprouted Cinammon Raisin Bread + Almond Butter

3 egg whites + all natural Al Fresco Apple maple chicken sausage + grated goat gouda cheese in whole wheat wrap. (sausage found only at West Side Market on 14th and 7th avenue)

DeWafflebakers Cinammon and Sweet Potato Pancakes, 2 Slices toasted with melted non processed almond butter (with 4 gms of protein + 4 gms of fiber, this is one of my favorite snacks and tastes like dessert! )

Lisanatti Almond milk Mozzarella – the healthy cheese alternative which goes great with avocado and tomato whole wheat wrap .

Pure Organic bars – vegan friendly and sweetened with fruits and nuts. They come in a variety of flavors such as cherry cashew, blueberry, mixed nuts, chocolate brownie and is a great snack. This is a sweet bar so try one before you buy the box.

unsalted mixed nuts with banana or apple as a snack

Lowfat cottage cheese with pineapple or berries as a snack

The majority of these foods can be found at Whole Foods, gourmet or your neighborhood deli. These are just suggestions of healthy meals to help start your day. Many of these meals may not keep you full for 3 hours throughout your day but are quick ideas for a good breakfast instead of no breakfast. Other ideas are of easy snack suggestions. We all have individual needs so you need to pay attention to what your body is asking of you. You may have higher nutritional needs on the day that you exercise and not so much on the days that you don’t.

The one pitfall you must avoid at all times is to skip breakfast completely. Although you may be used to it or think you can handle your day, you will almost definitely end up bingeing later and sabotaging your efforts. Eat consistently every 3-4 hours while snacks may last 1-2 hours. Fill up on fruits and veggies but don’t neglect your complex carbs (oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potato, whole grains, beans, etc.) along with your lean protein. If you are constantly hungry after your meals, you are lacking some kind of a balance.

In addition, everyone has different allergies and food restrictions as well. Find what works for you. There is no single solution for all. Do some experimenting and re-evaluate how your body responds. Tweak your nutrition according to your daily needs.

Nutrition is often the most challenging and sometimes neglected part of a healthy fitness regimen. As long as you stay healthy in mind and body, you will discover what works best for you. Eat well and eat right.”

Thanks, Cindy! Great advise!

Here is the most recent “Notes from the Chef” from Food411′s resident Chef Silvia.

“Recently I made a big batch of meatloaf out of ground beef and sausage. It was flavored with bacon, peppers and onions. I had never worked with this particular brand of sausage before so I wasn’t quite sure how much seasoning to add. This is always somewhat difficult to gauge when working with large quantities so I took my best guess, taking into account that sausage is salty and so is the bacon. I conservatively threw in two small mounds of course sea salt, measured in the cupped palm of my hand. I tend to under salt everything, knowing that I can always add more. Sure enough the meatloaf needed at bit more salt, but this was hardly noticeable once I added the pan drippings gravy because that was too salty. Together, it struck the perfect balance.

When it comes to cooking, adding just enough of anything makes all the difference in everything – just enough seasoning, spices and the right contrast and balance of ingredients to make it both flavorful and interesting. Just enough is pure mastery. It’s the determining factor in the success or failure of any dish. A good cook will instinctively know when enough is just enough – of anything – and if they make a mistake, they make the necessary adjustments. If the dish can’t be saved, they start over.

As a professional chef I have to face this particular challenge – achieving balance – in every dish I create. As a mature, practical and contemplative woman, I wonder about the correlation between achieving balance in cooking, whatever the ingredients – and balance in life, whatever the circumstances.

How does one know when enough is enough?

Certainly Charlie Sheen didn’t know. I don’t know either all the time. Who does? Being balanced – e emotionally, mentally, physically – is always a work in progress. It takes conscious effort: alertness to what presents itself each day; the presence and instinct to follow the flow of its guidance; and the willingness to make the necessary changes, even if it means starting over.

We all know what it feels like when we’re out of balance: Working too much or too little; eating too much or not enough; too much of the wrong food and not enough good stuff; spending too much time doing and not enough dillydallying; too much time with others and not enough being alone; too many hours stressed out sitting around a conference table and not enough relaxing around a kitchen table; feeling too much confusion and not enough clarity. I could go on. But we all know that being out of balance doesn’t feel good and being in balance does. So how do we get it right?

We make adjustments. Just like in cooking. Cooks know that a recipe is simply a guide and that the true flavor, the unique balance that makes a dish memorable is our unique interpretation of it. Is this not true for life as well? I think the basic
life recipe is a simple one, but not necessarily easy.

1. Know yourself, as best you can by going within for the answers. Here you’ll find an ancient recipe that is purely you.
2. Let your actions be prompted by this inner resource and any changes you make guided by your feelings.
3. Repeat the above. ”

Here is the recipe for Silvia’s latest meatloaf:
‘For years in my restaurant I would make a meatloaf flavored with eggplant. Most of the time, I would grill the eggplant, chop it up, and add it to a mix of ground turkey and sausage meat. Recently, I began roasting the eggplant (sliced side down on a sheet pan) in a 400 degree oven, then scoop out the softened pulp and add it to whatever mix of ground meat I was using. The eggplant – whether roasted or grilled – would add both moisture and flavor to an otherwise boring meatloaf. This remains one of my classic recipes. However for this meatloaf recipe, I decided to try something new.

I decided to flavor this meatloaf with salsa (an idea I got from the tavern were I recently worked). I chopped a large onion, a beautiful, sweet yellow bell pepper. a couple of jalapenos and fresh garlic into a medium dice, sautéed them briefly along with a spoonful of tomato paste and a pinch of cumin, and added them to the meatloaf mix consisting of roughly a pound of ground beef and a pound of hot Italian sausage (removed from its casing). The mixture was moist so I added a bit of breadcrumbs, about a teaspoon of sea salt and a bit of ground pepper. I formed a loaf and baked it in a water bath in a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until it reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Then I let it sit while I whipped up some gravy from the pan drippings, which resulted in an interesting orange colored sauce from the yellow pepper, the red tomato paste and the reddish hot sausage meat.

The result was a moist, delicious meatloaf that my dinner guests couldn’t get enough of and that far exceeded my wary expectations.

1 lb sausage meat (hot or sweet Italian sausage)
1 lb ground beef
1 bell pepper – medium dice
1 sweet yellow onion – medium dice
2 jalapeno peppers – medium dice
1 large garlic clove – medium dice
1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
4 slices of bacon – chopped and cooked rare
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon salt and ground pepper
¼ – ½ cup bread crumbs

In a sauté pan over medium/high heat add a bit of olive oil and the bacon and cook for a few moments then add the onions, peppers, garlic and sauté for about a minute until they begin to soften. Add the paste and stir to incorporate with the rest of the ingredients. Add a bit of water if necessary to help mix. Cook for about another minute and remove from the heat. Season with salt pepper and the cumin. Cool slightly and add to the meat mixture which should be in a large mixing bowl and seasoned with a teaspoon of salt and pepper. Add some chopped cilantro or parsley if desired and form into a loaf.

Cook in a 400 degree oven in a water bath by placing the pan with the meat inside a larger pan with an inch or two of water. This will prevent the sides of the loaf from burning. Cook for about an hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees.
For the Gravy
In a saucepan over medium heat, add about ½ cup of the pan dripping and ½ cup of flour. Stir with a wire whisk for a minute or two to cook off the raw flour taste. Slowly add more liquid; alternating between the drippings and some chicken and/or beef broth. When it reaches your desired thickness and flavor, lower the heat to low and let it reduce a bit. Add more both if too thick.

For several years now we have been selecting our Holiday Gift Picks and composing a list with pictures and links to make your holiday season a bit easier. Our lists have become such a popular feature with our reader , this year we expanded them and did two lists. One was released in November for the early birds. Selecting the winners is a difficult endeavor but an enjoyable one! All year long we sample items at Food Shows, events and through our travels. In addition, hundreds of items of submitted to us for consideration. Our selection for our Food Picks are always 100% editorial – we accept NO payment for selections – that applies to all of Food411. We are the only Food website where the resources are 100% editorial ( we have a few sponsors on the sites of the site that are clearly marked – but most often these sponsors has previously been selected editorially for inclusion in the Food411 directory!) Below are this years two Holiday GIft Pick lists….enjoy!!

Gift Picks 2010 November lIst
Gift Picks 2010 December List

Food411′s resident Chef Silvia shares a holiday story…..

” As many of you may know, I’ve been a longtime proponent of the “gifts” of the kitchen. I know that when cooking can be appreciated beyond the everyday need to get meals on the table fast, it has much to teach us.

And so…we gathered at one end of the very long table and made pasta – enough to fill the whole table with long strands of fresh fettuccini. Using a newly purchased crank handle pasta machine (but one whose design hasn’t changed in decades) attached to the end of the table we began the process of feeding thick slices of dough (that had been resting under a glass bowl to stay moist) through the roller (twice – at different settings) until we reached the desired thickness (or thinness).

It was a meticulous but easy process – meditative even – one that required busy hands to perform a repetitive task but also one that served as the backdrop for conversation to flow unrestricted. In the comfort of the kitchen it’s easy to be yourself. Engaged in the task at hand, distracted from any outside worries beyond the kitchen table on a sunny afternoon, we basked in the simple but priceless pleasure of it all. That weekend four sisters were reunited; one came from Boston, another from upstate New York and another from China. As we covered the table with fettuccini, we reconnected in a way that felt more significant, more loving, distinctly present,fun and filled with a palpable sense of gratitude.

Hours later, with the preparation of a killer marinara sauce, three types of meatballs, sausages and a colorful, warm mozzarella, arugula and tomato salad completed and waiting on the table, the men returned and we cracked open a bottle of Four Sisters wine. Yep, there really is a wine (though not a very good one) by that name. And so we ate, drank and made merry, creating memories that would last a lifetime.

When cooking is something that has to get done for practical reasons, it can easily become a chore. Yet even when the chore is one that will take hours – such as making pasta for a crowd – if it’s shared by many hands, it becomes a pleasure. So this holiday season, whether you’re making pasta or pastry, let your friends, family or neighbors join you in the kitchen and you’ll find the time spent there to be among your most treasured memories. The edible gifts – they’re the bonus.

If someone asked me, “What’s your idea of Heaven on Earth?” I’d have answer, “To be gathered around the dining table (preferable a rustic one in front of a blazing fire) with people I love, or want to get to know, sharing a delicious meal, good wine, meaningful conversation and lots of laughs.” And I used to think it was money, or career success – wonders how I’ve grown. In this sense I am a rich woman, living in Heaven. I share this because this scenario is attainable for everyone and its gifts last a lifetime.”

Re-issue of a past post by reader request!

To make the planning of the meal easy, here are a few numbers that will come in handy.

How big a bird to buy:
1.5 lbs/per person turkey (uncooked). You will have leftovers with this amount.

How long to cook:
Until the internal temperature is 165 degrees for a perfect bird. Range is 165-180. Measure this in the thigh with an instant read thermometer
Let rest for 25-30 minutes before carving. Bird will stay hot for 1 hour so don’t panic – let the juices set!

What temperature to set oven to for all the side dishes:
350-375

Amount of coffee to use per cup:
2 tablespoons per cup when making a pot with a auto-drip machine.

How much stuffing:
1.25 cup per person (this should also result in leftovers)

We found an actual turkey meal calculator online for you to use:

http://www.csgnetwork.com/turkeydinnercalc.html

And remember the important part of the holiday is being with people you care about and having gratitude in your life. Try not to get stressed out over the perfect meal…and ask for help! Any guest that offers to bring a dish, say yes!! If you only have to make the main dishes, it will be much easier. Ask others to bring appetizer and desserts, and even the sides!