Thinking about Thanksgiving already!

I wanted to share a few links with you if you are hosting the event yourself or just need to bring a side dish/dessert.

The first set of recipes comes from:

Eating well has an accompanying website EATINGWELL.COM

Their list of MANY side dishes is HERE. Some of my favorites are lemon/dill green beans, pear proscuitto and hazelnut stuffing and maple-roasted sweet potatoes!

And my buddy Bobby Flay posted an awesome 2 minute video with his pomegranate black pepper glaze. The glaze is comprised of pomegranate molasses, dijon mustard, horseradish and salt and pepper.

Click HERE to watch the video.

So, who’s hosting dinner this year and for how many people?

*******Also, I’ve tried a few new things this week:*******

I mentioned before that the grocery store I go to has a ton of different kinds of fruits and veggies.

Has anyone had a quince?

I never have before and I wish I would have looked it up before I cut into it:

The quince is a fruit Native to Latin America, The middle East, Asia and is related to the apple or pear. I knew that fact, so I cut it up like an apple and me and my family tasted it. It was super grainy, tough, not too sweet, we all spit it out!

Fast forward to me actually reading how to eat a quince and you are supposed to cook it first! Whoops! And you are supposed to peel the skin as well. The most common method is cooking it in a simple syrup which softens the flesh and makes it sweeter.

There are many ways of preparing quince but the most basic method is poaching, or heating quince in a water and sugar mixture, from eHow.com

Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

Things You’ll Need:
6 large Quince fruits
Knife
Spoon
Large saucepan 3 cups Water 1/2 cup Granulated sugar

1. Rinse quince under warm water and rub gently to remove any outer fuzz. Pat dry and use knife or peeler to remove the outer skin.

2. Cut quince lengthwise in half to expose the core and seeds. Use a spoon to scoop out core and seeds, then chop the quince into wedges or thin slices

3. Heat 3 cups of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large saucepan on stove over high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to medium.

4. Place quince pieces gently into water and sugar mixture. Heat until quince turns pink, which can take up to an hour.

5. Serve quince warm or at room temperature. Store leftover quince in a container with the cooking liquid for up to one week in the refrigerator.

Well, I learned my lesson to do a little research BEFORE I cut in to something and taste it! Ha!

Another new vegetable I tried this week?

I’ve had regular cauliflower and purple cauliflower, so I thought why not try orange? I added to my stir fry I had for dinner tonight.

My kids asked me how come it was orange and I didn’t know why, so I looked that up too!

First discovered in 1970, the orange cauliflower is able to naturally hold more beta carotene than white cauliflower. Because of this it has 25% more Vitamin A than white cauliflower. Who knew?

I thought it was delicious!