Thanksgiving is almost here!

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Oh my, what a lovely holiday.  This is one day that is all about the food.  No gifts to buy, just the company of family and friends.  In my family, there are expectations for this day.  They expect the same bird recipe with stuffing or dressing and mushroom gravy and the meal has to end with chocolate pecan pie and classic pecan pie.  The sides are important but not as critical as the turkey, so I can get a little creative. This concept was tested one year when we spent T-Day at the Outer Banks.  The beach was awesome, but the turkey was just OK.  We ordered a turkey and my immediate family let me know that is not what they look forward to.  I guess this is where tradition steps in and takes hold. I am good with that.  This way the main dish has been tested and approved, so be it. 

Thanksgiving food is for Thanksgiving day and it is worth the wait.  We fix a large meal and eat till we are ready to pop, have leftovers for several days afterward and and then we are done until next year.  We have whole roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pecan pie once a year.  So we are in agreement that Thanksgiving is for being thankful and copious amounts of our favorite delicious food.  Oh yeah, and family and friends, they are the icing on the cake!

Chunky Apple Coconut Cake

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Apple season has begun.  I love fresh, crisp apples.  At my farmer's market, the same orchard farmer who has the most delicious, juicy peaches every summer starts apple season with fabulous ginger gold apples in late summer.  This year he had lots of second apples because of hurricane Irene.  Did you know that the east coast had an earthquake (unheard of) and a hurricane in one week.  The area was already saturated with water and flooding was guaranteed.  There was more concern about trees falling over because of ground saturation than high winds and I am sure both happened, but luckily not in my backyard.  During both of these events I was in Houston where there was no rain, no wind, the ground was stable and the fires has not started yet.  It was a good time to be out of town but I was a little sad I missed the earthquake because it was such and unusual event for my area.  The hurricane I can do without.  I like electricity and hot water and I have had enough rain.

Chunky Honeycrisp Applesauce

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 I got a bucket of hurricane Irene apple seconds.  They were all Honeycrisps. I felt like I hit a home run!

Needless to say I pounced on these jewels.  They had dings and a couple of bumps but no bruises.  Even if they had bruises I still would have bought them to make applesauce.  Homemade applesauce is one of my favorite fall treats.  It is great for breakfast, a side dish for dinner, snacks and a fabulous ingredient for applesauce cake.  I really haven't found the perfect applesauce cake, maybe you guys know of one?!

Pomegranate Molasses

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 I love taking short breaks because you can't do everything, all the time.  This has always been my way no matter how much I love something.  Time to refresh.  Sometimes other stuff just needs to get done.  Dust bunnies aren't as cute as they sound.

Cooking and photographing the food can be a challenge sometimes because aspects of the process does not work out - such as . . .

• the food doesn't look right or I screw something up like forget a main ingredient (who does that!), 
• dark gloomy clouds pop up out of nowhere in the middle of a photo shoot and change the lighting to dismal grey and dungeon dark,   (note pic above)
• cats that are completely energized by the cooler weather are shooting and flying across the room playing under and over the props without a care for what I might be trying to achieve, 
• or the pressure is on because there is a hungry mouth repeating "are you finished yet? can I have some? please I have to leave soon!  I'm hungry." 

Zucchini Olive Oil Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze

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Here is an Italian cake that I ran across in my internet travels.  I was completely intrigued by using olive oil in a cake.  Olive oil is not usually used in for baking in American cakes and I was hesitant even though it is a staple in my kitchen and use it daily.  It is commonly used in Italian cakes and given the abundance of zucchini this summer and my quest to use it in as many new ways as I can come up with, I could not resist sharing this recipe with all who still have zucchini in their kitchen.  I know,  I know - enough of zucchini, but this cake was just too good to pass up!

Okra, Two Delicious Ways

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Okra is a vegetable that falls into one of three categories of love it, hate it or what the heck is it?  People who don't like it mention its sliminess and people who love it usually grew up with it.  Those who don't know what it is probably did not grow up in the south.  I fall into the category of "I grew up with it" and love it. Okra is a vegetable that originated in Africa and grows in more temperate climates such as the southern United States.  For me it is hard to choose a favorite vegetable dish, but if I had to it would be my Granny's fried okra.  I grew up going to my grandmothers house for Sunday dinners and I always had creamed corn, fried okra, corn bread, cantelope (during the summer) and black eyed peas.  I never wavered on this, ever.  My grandfather had a garden and a large freezer the size of most people's back porch.  It was always full at the end of summer and lasted throughout the winter with plenty to share with family and friends.