Bake a Turkey-Shaped Cake
By Cathy Callahan

How about cake instead of pie this Thanksgiving? I don't mind pie but am really more of a cake person. This turkey-shaped cake is a fun way to introduce a cake to the dessert table and is also fun for kids to make for Thanksgiving. And if the "pie people" turn their noses up at it? At least it can also double as decoration for the table.

With the big holiday just around the corner I'm sure many of you are starting to pour over your favorite cookbooks in search of recipes. I really don't own many cookbooks and am an advocate for just having a few really good ones on hand. There's been a lot of talk about classic cookbooks lately. Of course we all love Julia Child's The Way to Cook. The Joy of Cooking has been a staple in kitchens for many generations. On many people's lists of "must haves" are The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, How to Cook Everything, Beard on Food and the list goes on.

But to me an overlooked classic is Baker's Coconut Cut-Up Cakes (1956 edition). Why not have a little fun in the kitchen? It was updated in 1959 and retitled Baker's Coconut Animal Cut-Up Cakes. It was published by Baker's to promote their "Angel Flake Coconut" product. At any given time there are usually a few listed on eBay and there is oftentimes a bidding war to get the older ones. You can sample some pages of the book in charm and poise's Flickr set.

Cut-up cakes are all about the reconfiguration of the standard layer or sheet cake. Following the illustrations, the cake is cut into shapes and arranged to resemble things like boats, bunnies, witches, etc. and then iced, sprinkled with coconut, and decorated with candy; the boat eveb gets Lifesavers for the portholes. And they all have cute names.
I have made the "Ella Elephant," "Fanny the Fish," and "Dear Santa."

I just made the "Gobble-Gobble Gobbler" as a dry run for this Thanksgiving. I tried to follow the recipe as best I could but I have to be honest that a little more explanation would have been helpful. I did have a couple of mishaps and had to approach this project like a small scale construction project. So here I've adapted the original directions in hopes that it will make it a little easier for you. Make sure you wear an apron because it's a very messy, but fun, undertaking.

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I'm already starting to drool over all the amazing food that we'll be having. These homemade crescent rolls from Calli of Make it Do look like they would be a mouth-watering addition to any holiday table. The pictures are making me so hungry!

Vegetarians need gourmet Thanksgivings too! I personally am thankful for Martha Stewart and this sensational meat-free menu plan. I will never forget the Thanksgiving when my mother made broccoli salad for my vegetarian boyfriend at the time, complete with plenty of chopped bacon. I chalk it up to true lack of knowledge about non-meat eaters. In her mind, broccoli wasn't a meat, and the bacon added flavor! This menu is a beautiful meal that needs nothing to shine except fresh vegetables made with love!

CRAFT and MAKE editor and publisher Dale Dougherty gave a talk at Ignite Sebastopol II called "Blessed are the Cheesemakers."

I'm a big fan of homemade food gifts, which in my mind include alcoholic items, condiments, spices, etc. In fact, my mom recently told me that one of her favorite gifts in years past was a jar of Bronzed Chicken Spices that I mixed together in a big batch and doled out to family members along with the recipe. Mom said it took the hard part out of making a yummy dinner, and it was a thoughtful and helpful gift. Bonus!

That conversation greatly influenced my selections when I sat down to choose the items in this year's Foodie Gift Guide. It can take just pennies to make a gift that's likely to end up as someone's favorites list this year, so why pick products that cost a fortune, no matter how cool they are? Sure, we'd all like to have a fancy mixer or espresso machine, but in today's economy, a nice whisk or a pound of good coffee are just as welcome.

So here's a baker's dozen of food and kitchen items that you can either make as gifts this holiday season, or pick up without emptying your larder, er, pocketbook. (Puns definitely intended!) I'd love to hear about other gifts you plan on making or buying for the foodie in your life. Please tell us about them in the Comments! Merry merry, happy happy!

Homemade Coffee Liqueur
A few years ago we made two different versions of coffee liqueur, dutifully marking them brew #1 and brew #2. Some recipes call for instant coffee and some call for a pot of brewed java. The bad news was that we forgot which recipe went with which number. The good news was that both batches were tasty, and our friends and family really appreciated the gift, especially when certain name brands can be quite pricey. This also needs to sit for a month, so factor in the time this needs to sit on the shelf aging to perfection.

Christy at Instructables shares with us her recipe for delicious homemade eggnog. I can't wait to try it out!

Thanksgiving Feast: Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Pecan Topping
By Katie Goodman

I have had so many failures with pie crust — too sticky, too dry, full of cracks — that for a while I just resigned myself to buying either frozen crusts or those ones you roll out and shape yourself. But that's really not my style. I love homemade, not store-bought. When I found this recipe from Simply Recipes, it seemed so easy and straightforward that I thought it was worth another go. With such great results on my first try, I felt the confidence I needed to never look back at those store-bought crusts again.

If you're trying to save time on Thanksgiving, you can make the recipe up to Step 5 and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to make the pie. Just let it sit out on the counter for about 10 minutes before you roll it out.

I'm on an island in Hawaii. And I can't stop eating macadamia nuts. Let's see, I've found macadamia nut icecream, macadamia nut chocolates, and pancakes with macadamia nuts. Now I've moved on to the pure stuff- raw, whole macadamias, of which I took some glamour shots just now for this post. I am loving the perfectly subtle butter flavor and a nut that I would consider crunchysmooth. The recipe for Macadamia and Ginger Stuffing that I just discovered on Epicurious seems amazing. It's got great ratings and despite the exotic flavors, the ingredients are easy to find. The recipe also notes that you can season the bird with some citrus juices and sesame oil to really bring together the theme between the bird and the stuffing. I won't be home for Thanksgiving, but I most definitely plan on making this at Christmas, to take my taste buds back to tropical paradise.

The other day I came across Maya Marom's cooking blog, Bezakalim, and her photos are gorgeous. They capture those small, satisfying moments that, when added up, make cooking such a soothing activity: The vibrant purple stain left on a worn wooden chopping block after cutting a red onion, ripples of sweetened condensed milk being poured over rich vanilla ice cream, the dry ingredients in a bowl before they're mixed, creating a patchwork landscape of peaks and valleys. The blog is written in Hebrew, which I can't read, so in order to find out more about it, I wrote to Maya. She wrote back:

"Bazek" means "dough" in Hebrew, and "alim" means "violent." This is an intentional misspelling of a bazekalim which means "puff pastry." A kind of a word-play to show off my no-fuss recipe policy.

The blog is directed at people who can't cook, or don't like to cook. I take step-by-step pictures of everything, and test each recipe a lot of times to make sure it is completely foolproof. I also designed and built the blog from scratch (I am a web-designer by day).

I am from Israel, and have been running the blog for three years now. Last year, I was contacted by the editor of Yediot Ahronot (Israel's leading daily newspaper) and was offered to write a weekly food column, which is now published every Wednesday in the lifestyle section.

Although I feel the pictures pretty much speak for themselves, if you would like a little help decoding the Hebrew recipes, you may use the Google Translate function. it is far from perfect, and the page has left-to-right issues, but better than total gibberish :)

Dot at Dabbled shares how to make these awesome edible Flying Spaghetti Monsters. I'm particularly fond of the peas for eyes.

Thanksgiving Feast: Side Dishes
By Katie Goodman

Some might argue that the Thanksgiving sides are really the stars of the show. There are so many good recipes to choose from and every family has that special dish that better be on the table — or else! For me, it's hard to decide. I like so many side dishes for different reasons, but I've picked a few of my favorites to share here.

Here's a fun way to add a special touch to your coffee or cocoa or even cupcakes and cakes. Jessica of How About Orange shows how to create your own stencil for dusting the top of your winter beverages and treats. I may have to try this on Brookelyn's Grown-Up Hot Chocolate.

Persimmons just shout "autumn" to me. Just the sight of those stark branches against the sky dotted with bright fruit sends me straight into cozy mode. Aran over at Cannelle et Vanille has not one but two amazing-sounding recipes for persimmon fans, as well as some fun recollections of the role persimmons played in her childhood. (I have similar memories of raw hachiya persimmons literally sucking the life out of my mouth; it took me a while before I was brave enough to fall in love with the sweetness of a raw fuyu persimmon in a winter salad.) I'm always a sucker for olive oil cake, and while I have never heard of a verrine before, it uses mascarpone, so I'm sold!

It's been one of those crazy weekends, and tonight I plan on unwinding with this deliciousness. It's a Bumblebee, and I have Cocktailnerd to thank.

Randy Sarafan grew up near apple orchards, like me, and shares with us his method for making delicious apple cider donuts.

Instructables user Jayefuu writes:

This is a recipe for a fantastic green thai curry paste. The original recipe I've long since lost, I make up a large batch once every 6 months or so and freeze it in blocks. Once made I can pull a block out the freezer any time I like and fry it with chicken, coriander, carrots, beans and coconut milk to make a wonderfully creamy curry.

Sarah James at Instructables is a tireless force when it comes to holiday eats (and food photography, holy delicious!). Behold her candy apple tutorial!

There's a spot I retreat to in the hills of New Hampshire where three heavily laden apple trees are completely overlooked by the locals in the fall. I'm not certain of the apple variety, but, other than the occasional black spot and worm hole, the fruit is incredibly crunchy, tart, and flavorful. The trees are flanked by a few smaller crab apple trees and, um, a graveyard. Some people could be creeped out thinking of their apples being fertilized by the dead. I, on the other hand, see it as a splendid way to participate in the inevitable cycle of life.

I managed to pull down about 40 pounds of apples a few weeks back and, upon returning to my humble city apartment, cooked up 15 pints of apple butter. Because, really, when is the last time you had some local, wild-foraged apple butter?

Now that Halloween is over, I feel like the holiday season is ready to begin. I love all the cooking and baking that happens this time of year, but most of all I love how the family gatherings always end up in the kitchen. I'm going to help you get ready for the first big one — Thanksgiving — by providing you with recipes and tips throughout the whole month of November.

I'm lucky that as a young bride, my mother-in-law gave me some excellent tips when it was time for me to host my first Thanksgiving. I especially appreciated her tips on how to roast a turkey. She introduced me to brining, something I had never before heard of, but I knew that the turkey I had eaten at her home was the best I'd ever had, so I followed her advice. Here is my twist on the brine recipe she first gave me as well some great tips for roasting a flavorful turkey. Anyone who's ever eaten my turkey says it's the best they've ever had. And it's all thanks to my mother-in-law. I'm lucky to have such a sweet one!

The leftover turkey carcass from this recipe makes the best homemade turkey broth, but you'll have to stay tuned throughout the month for that recipe, along with ideas for your side dishes and our family's favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

I have a story to share. The other day, I bought some pumpkin gnocchi, and last night I decided to make it with sage fried in brown butter to cheer up my sick husband. I checked my trusty copy of How to Cook Everything for the cooking time (they're done one minute after they rise to the surface), and put the water on to boil. Now, as the book said, the gnocchi rose to the surface, bubbling merrily away. It was 7:46 pm. I'll just give it an extra minute, I said to myself, to make sure they're really done. At 7:48, I reached for the pot to drain it into my colander, and all that was left was pumpkin water. (We had angel hair pasta with sage and brown butter sauce and it was delicious, thank you very much.)

So, this is all to say that despite my disastrous relationship with gnocchi, this sweet potato gnocchi recipe over at Sassy Radish looks good enough to tempt me to not just get back on the horse and cook gnocchi again, but to make it from scratch! But don't worry, I'll be watching that clock like a hawk.

Happy Halloween everybody! If you're having a party and looking to gross out your guests, try this bloody brain shooter cocktail recipe. It uses a little lime juice to curdle some Irish cream that you apply to the shot with a straw to make brain-like strands. Add a touch of grenadine "blood" for a final touch. [Thanks, Fil!]

How-To: Eat a Pomegranate - Natures Juice Box
By Wendy Tremayne

It is pomegranate season. Starting in September and continuing through February pomegranates all over the northern hemisphere are ripening. Native to Persia, popular in the Middle East and India, the pom is now cultivated all over the world. It was not until 2002, however, when a variety of U.S. studies pointed towards the fruit's health benefits, that pomegranate juice made it to U.S. grocery shelves. Perhaps the most curious thing about the fruit's long history, evidenced in literature since the written word began, is the fact that few people know how to eat one.

There are more than 700 varieties of pomegranates. Each fruit contains 600 or more juice-encapsulating seeds that range in taste from sweet to sour (higher tannins) and in color from pale yellow to red and dark purple. The pomegranate's nutritional value includes a good deal of vitamin C, B, and potassium, as well as antioxidant properties. Studies suggest that the pom offers benefits in preventing and/or treating health conditions such as prostate cancer, diabetes, lymphoma, the common cold, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease.

Baked eggs makes a tasty brunch that's just as easy to make for six guests as it is to make for yourself. The Kitchn has some great ideas for making this preparation method your own.

I'm not sure who decided that Halloween cupcakes, cookies, and regular-sized cakes were a good idea for Halloween, but I'm not the one to buck tradition, especially when it involves frosting. And creative decorating.

So over the years I've made quite a few graveyard cakes, and in recent years I've branched out to spider cakes, ghost cakes, jack-o-lantern cakes, and dirt cakes. I do, however, refuse to make a litter box cake, no matter how many times I get sent the photos, links, and recipe. Apparently, imitation cat poop is where I draw the line.

Ive figured out that donating the majority of the cakes to the local Halloween Carnival helps reduce sugar consumption. Well, until my kid wins a cake in the cakewalk and brings it back home. But at least I tried!

Here are some hints for making fabulous Halloween cakes, if you dare!

• For glowing eyes on the Ghost Cake, use halves of egg shells, rinsed off and dried. Then place a sugar cube in each half of the shell, poor a very small amount of lemon extract on the sugar cubes, and light that sucker. Don't leave this unattended!
• For the ghosts on the Graveyard Cake, I've used cut-and-slice cookie dough, cut out sugar cookies, and lollipops wrapped in white cloth. Whatever you've got around will suffice.
• For legs on the Spider Cake, find some Pockys, which are delicious cookies from Japan. I've found them at Cost Plus and specialty grocery stores. I also thought Pirouette wafers might work, or maybe even Twix bars.
• For all the cakes, don't be afraid to substitute Skittles for M&Ms for Reeses Pieces for Gummy Bears. Most anything will work when seen in context -- you're bound to hear "Oh, those are the spider's eyes," or "Oh, little bears are lining the walkway, how spooky!" (As opposed to, "Why did you use Skittles instead of M&Ms? That doesn't work at all!")

I'm not quite ready for winter, but I do love that soup season is on its way here. There are few experiences better than warming up to a bowl of hot soup after a long, cold day. And the flavor combinations that a bowl of soup can bring are unlimited: sweet, savory, hot, cold, spicy, mild, and everything in between. This recipe for Spiced Butternut Squash Apple Soup is a little of both sweet and savory. It's low in fat, full of veggies, but still filling. I recommend serving it with a fresh loaf of warm, crusty bread. If you have time, this recipe is fantastic, but bakery purchased bread works just as well.

To save time, you may purchase pre-peeled and chopped squash, available in many supermarkets. Just toss the cubes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast as directed for the whole squash in the recipe below, though it will take less time.

Halloween is a great excuse to get a little greusome in the kitchen, and this meatloaf hand is a perfect example of that. Megan of not martha shows how she created the meatloaf masterpiece, complete with onion slice fingernails and wrist bones.

Instructables user NoFiller writes:

Pectin causes jams and jellies to gel. When using a pectin poor fruit, pectin must be added or the result will be nothing more than a fruit syrup. I refuse to use store bought pectin because I think it takes the craft out of jam and jelly making. Usually I just add apple skins and cores to whatever I'm making, but I thought I'd give making my own pectin a try.