Easy Meatballs

A recipe for meatballs that are scrumptious with a great Parmesan Italian taste. Eat them on their own, in a marina sauce or a sub sandwich. Done in 30 minutes. This is not the little hard tasteless meatballs but a big soft tasty one.

I wanted a meatball good enough to eat on it's own and not need to be hidden inside of a sauce. It needed to use common ingredients that I always have on hand. And lastly, I wanted to bake them in the oven. Why??? I'm LAZY.

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup for Two

An ultra simple slow cooker recipe for chicken noodle soup. Sized just right for a small crock pot. Bring on the cold season, I'm ready now. Also the start of a new recipe series... "Crock Pot For Two"

Thanksgivings Help

Thanksgiving is THE food holiday and it hard to just do a routine recipe post. I want to do more so here is some help for the beginner along with suggested recipes. Have a Happy Holiday.

First some turkey help

There are several easy ways to get help with the bird.

First Butterball is again offering their Turkey Talk-Line^® that has been around for 29 years but some of you young ones out there many not have heard of them. They offer LIVE help just a phone call away. Phone number is 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372).  Nov. 1 through Dec. 28, weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST; Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST; Thanksgiving Day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST; Nov. 24 to Dec. 25, weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Their web link is http://www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/turkey-experts/overview.

Second The USDA has a excellent web page at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FACTSheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp . In addition there is the Meat and Poultry hotline at  that is at (888) 674-6854 from 10a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. It is closed weekends and holidays, except Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving hours are 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

Remember that the safe internal temperature for all poultry is 165. This MUST be check with a thermometer.

Other miscellaneous but interesting hotlines

• Reynolds Turkey Tips Line(800) 745-4000 Open through December 31, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I guess if you need help with your foil... HA HA... I'm sure they are helpful but it's hard to resist.
• For pumpkin pie help Libby Consumer Hot Line: 1-800-854-0374
• Crisco Pie Hotline (877) 367-7438 toll-free. 

Don't forget my post on food safety  Holiday Food Safety

Suggested Recipes:

Turkey posts

Cider Brined, Herb Buttered Martha Roasted Turkey - The Full Monte

How to Brine a Turkey

Butter Turkey Tenderloin - Pan Seared Oven Roasted with Gravy

Grilled Brown Sugar Rubbed Turkey Breast

Favorite Sides

Clark Family Sweet Potato Casserole

Fresh Broccoli Salad

Sausage-Bread Turkey Stuffing

Updated

November 17 2012

DrDan

How to Brine a Turkey

A flavorful brine for your holiday turkey that will add a lot of moisture and taste to the bird.

Thanksgiving means turkey in our family and not a deep fried one. We are traditional so we are talking an oven roasted bird here. For many years we bought the "American classic" frozen bird that all the stores sell. You know... the "self basting" ones. Thaw it, butter or oil it up and stick it in the oven. That really does work quite well for "challenged" cooks out there. I give it a 4/5 stars in taste but a little dry at times and a 2/10 for skills needed. Add some gravy and sides and you have a very nice holiday feast. (See my "How to Make Gravy" post if needed).

BUT...you want to kick it up a few notches or you wouldn't be reading this. So let's MAN UP and get to it.

Cheddar Cheese Soup with Chicken

Yummy.... A thick cheese soup with chicken for a change of pace. Add some bacon and you have a warm tasty soup for the cold weather to come.

Start with crispy fried bacon, some onion, garlic, a few spices and some broth. Melt some cheese in and add some shredded chicken.

Really Good Banana Nut Muffins

One heck of a tasty muffin. Good enough to hide a couple of bananas just to use for muffins later. Plus it's an easy (3/10) bake.

I had the bananas and decided to go for muffins this time. A great decision. I read about 10 recipes but the best ones seemed to have something in common. They controlled the liquid components. By that I mean all the non-dry things like the bananas, eggs etc are added together and only enough milk added to make 2 cups total. I works great.