I've come up with one more Thanksgiving dinner that you can probably afford, even if you can't do the $40 fixed-price menus or the hotel buffets that I mentioned in my Top 10 Tuesday.

My daughter and I stopped by the Crossroads Restaurant in the Radisson Cross Keys when she was visiting one weekend recently and had a bite to eat. (The not-so-great art is a camera phone photo by me.)

I was curious about it because I had gotten a press release about its new farm-to-table menu. ...

Continue reading "One more reasonably priced Thanksgiving dinner" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

I'm finding out that fewer restaurants are open on Thanksgiving than I thought. If you want to eat out, you have my Top 10s to consider, or the traditional lavish buffet many hotels in the area are offering. But I freely admit these are expensive options.

NotableM, I hear you.

I also realized, reading the comments under my earlier post, that not everyone wants turkey on The Day. ...

Continue reading "Untraditional, inexpensive restaurants for Thanksgiving" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 5:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

Now you decide you don't want to cook after all, and you're looking for a restaurant open Thanksgiving day. I did my best for you with this list of Top 10 Restaurants for Thanksgiving Dinner, but it wasn't easy.

First of all, check out my list from two years ago. I didn't want to repeat myself this time, so I'm really giving you 20 choices. I can't guarantee at this point, of course, that there will be any openings; but I didn't include any places that were booked as of this writing. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
Categories: Thanksgiving, Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I promised to tell you about restaurants that are going to be open for Thanksgiving for the first time this year, and I thought I would hear about more of them than I have.

But here's one you probably haven't thought of: Grano, the Hampden pasta bar that moved to 3547 Chestnut Ave. and is now much more of a restaurant.

Bored with the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner? Grano will be open on Nov. 26 for an Italian Thanksgiving. ...

Continue reading "An Italian Thanksgiving?" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Italian, Thanksgiving
        

This is our first Thanksgiving since my mother-in-law died, so we decided to do something a little different this year. The question was what.

Then my daughter announced she was off meat and poultry, which made cooking a turkey dinner for the three of us even more unappealing.

On an impulse, I made a reservation at a local restaurant. (I'll tell you more about it after our meal.)

We also decided it would be a good thing to take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater Friday morning. That would mean driving to Pennsylvania after dinner and staying in a motel; the tour starts at 8:30 a.m. and it's a four-hour drive. ...

Continue reading "The Thanksgiving solution" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (42)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

Yesterday I called Kali's Court to find out if Tapas Adela, the fourth restaurant in the Kali's Restaurant Group, would be opening on schedule on Oct. 16.

Business partner Karen Patten couldn't tell me for sure because there were still city inspections to be done, but she did mention that for the first time ever Kali's Court would be open on Thanksgiving Day. Reservations are being taken now. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

My mother always said that the hardest part of cooking was bringing a meal to a head.

I used to pride myself on doing so much in advance and being so organized that I could sit and have a glass of wine with my guests, then rise, spend ten minutes in the kitchen and then put a fabulous meal on the table no more than an hour after everyone arrived so no one would end up drinking too much before dinner.

I can see today isn't going to work out that way exactly. ...

Continue reading "Things I'm thankful for...and not" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

There are plenty of Christmas family traditions, but I don't know of many Thanksgiving ones that don't take place around the actual meal.

My favorite tradition is one I heard from a local tennis pro. He has a huge family, and the night before Thanksgiving they all gather together, young and old, to make pies.

I asked him what kind and he said every  kind -- apple, pecan, key lime, cherry and, of course, pumpkin. They end up with around 30 pies. ...

Continue reading "Pie night" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

Obviously anything could be an alternative to a traditional roast turkey for Thanksgiving, from a ribeye steak to a deep fried turkey. But I wanted to pick foods you know would work (because of their association with native Americans, for instance) or that I've actually served or had served to me.

By the way, I'm cooking this year and I'm having a traditional roast turkey dinner. I was just talking to my brother, who's coming from the West Coast, and he says he's bringing some interesting recipes he got from Sunset magazine. He's talking about adding Swiss chard to the stuffing.

Sorry. No way.

Here's my list: ...

Continue reading "Top 10 Alternatives to a Traditional Thanksgiving Roast Turkey" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (63)
        

Today I have to make a final decision on what next Tuesday's Top 10 is going to be. The only thing set in stone is that it has to have a Thanksgiving theme.

I was going to do Top 10 Places for Thanksgiving Dinner; but now that seems so, well, yesterday. It's my fallback plan, though.

And in spite of what hmpstd said, I'm kind of intrigued by MD Canon's Top 10 Alternatives to Turkey. He has, after all, given me three excellent ones. And if I make it Top 10 Alternatives to a Traditional Roast Turkey Dinner, I might have something doable.  ...

Continue reading "The Thanksgiving list" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (44)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

Continue reading "The virtual Thanksgiving dinner" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

National Restaurant Association research shows that one in 10 Americans ate in a restaurant last Thanksgiving. And more than half of us will be using some kind of ready-to-eat takeout item this year in our at-home feast. That's more than I would have guessed, on both accounts.

So for that one in 10, I'm still plugging away, letting you know places that will be open and serving next Thursday. Tabrizi's, I've just found out, will be offering a four-course Thanksgiving dinner with a choice of white or red wine for $50, not including tax or tip.

And meanwhile, can anyone help out Wendy, who's looking for a place to buy a fresh turkey in Easton?

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

J. H. suggested this morning that people post their own Thanksgiving disasters, which would certainly be more entertaining than my previous entry on how to fix them.

I know I've had my own disasters -- I've cooked the holiday meal too many times not to -- but none of them come to mind at the moment. Of course, I'm happy to tell you about my family's disasters.

My younger brother, for instance, called me from LA one Thanksgiving morning when he was cooking his first dinner and said, "My guests will be here in a couple of hours. How do you defrost a turkey?"

And there was the time...  

Continue reading "Thanksgiving disasters, part deux" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

I was struck by the fact that under my Top Ten Places for Thanksgiving Dinner, everybody really wanted to talk about cooking at home. I'm with you on that one, so when a press release came in from Sunset magazine on how to deal with Thanksgiving disasters, I thought I would pass some of it along. (Experienced cooks will probably know this stuff.)

Remember when your gravy lumps up, I'm always here for you.

(Photo courtesy of Sunset Web site) 

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Thanksgiving
        

If someone hasn't invited you for Thanksgiving dinner by now, it probably isn't going to happen. At least have a back up plan and make a reservation sooner rather than later at a restaurant.

Here are ten possibilities if you aren't interested in the all-you-can-eat buffets offered at many area hotels.

I tried to come up with a range of styles and prices and geographical diversity. After all, on Thanksgiving Day, it's no big deal to drive down to the Eastern Shore for dinner.

I checked back yesterday, but some places still haven't nailed down all the details. In other words, not everything here is set in stone. But this should give you a pretty good idea of what they're serving.

If you're ordering salmon for Thanksgiving dinner, I don't want to know about it, so I'm only giving the particulars of the turkey portion of the offerings. If no children-under-12's price is mentioned, it just means it hadn't been decided yet.

Continue reading "Top Ten Places for Thanksgiving Dinner" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 4:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Thanksgiving, Top Ten Tuesdays
        

I just got an e-mail from Mimis Cafe, a press release telling me my local Mimis will be selling over 1,000 Thanksgiving dinners this year.

I didn't even know I had a local Mimis, so I went to the Web site and checked out the closest one. It turns out to be on Dulles Town Circle in Sterling, Va., not really convenient for me, I don't know about you. (And anyway, it's "coming soon," so I'm not sure it counts.)

But that at least galvanized me to start thinking about gathering together a master list ...

Continue reading "Gobble gobble" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Thanksgiving