Here's an article from the NY Times by one of my favorite chefs, Mark Bittman, about, of all things, the microwave! I have had a bit of a renaissance with our microwave myself this past year, using it for all manner of vegetables. I've found the results surprisingly good - often better than stove top preparations. This article confirms my findings and gives me a ton of ideas. It seems that this appliance does, indeed, do more than pop popcorn and re-heat my tea!

For those of you who don't know, I don't have a hugely sweet tooth. Yes, I like dessert, but it's not my favorite part of the meal. My dietary downfall, instead, tends to be salt. Doritos, anyone? That said, I have one serious sweet tooth issue: maple syrup. Yes, I am one of those people that likes to have some pancakes with my syrup. I pour it on oatmeal. I love a breakfast of hot, creamy polenta dripping with maple-y goodness. Luckily, I don't do any of this very often, so it's not really affecting my waistline. That said, I was unsurprisingly attracted to this article in the New York Times about the maple syrup harvest. Here's a meal description that defies imagination:

"The hourlong parade usually includes split-pea soup, pancakes, bacon and ham, pork rinds, omelets, eggs poached in syrup, baked beans, bread and pan drippings, pickled carrots and beets, maple-syrup pie and taffy — all washed down with an optional Molson."

Vacation plans in Quebec? I think so.

Here's a piece that I've been sitting on since M sent me this article while we were away. It's a New York times piece on rethinking meat consumption. My delay has only made the topic more timely as many people are probably "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler" post beef recall. The recall has certainly made me happy that I know a LOT about where all our meat comes from. I'm also suddenly a lot less worried about how much this meat is costing me :)

If you've been keeping track of our meals, you know from Thursday's that we will be dining with a vegetarian friend this Thanksgiving. A lot of people I mention this to look stricken and say something along the lines of, "What will she eat?" To be honest, other than the turkey and the gravy, she will eat everything we make. Thanksgiving at our house isn't a very meaty affair (though M did consider draping the turkey in bacon this year!) and there will be lots of side dish options that she will enjoy. That said, no matter how much you love the trimmings, sides don't make a meal. Thus, we will be having a lovely cream of parsnip soup (already made and ready to defrost!) as the centerpiece for her dinner and the start to ours. Last week the NY Times had a great take on the dual purpose dish for Thanksgiving. Hope everyone is looking forward to a tasty Thanksgiving - we just did our shopping today, and everyone in our house is pretty excited.