Thanksgiving

I love the Food Network, you all know that. I love Thanksgiving. However the combination of the two is a little too much. Every show now is focusing on Thanksgiving dinner. Here's a little advice for anyone cooking Thanksgiving dinner - if you are not a cook or have never cooked before, Thanksgiving dinner is NOT the time to start. That said, pretty much every family has their traditional family dishes. You learn how to make them over the years, that is what makes them traditional. I am all for trying new things, but Thanksgiving is not a meal to mess around with. Occasionally a change is good, like when my brother took over turkey duty and started deep frying it. This was a great change. But all these recipes for new twists on the meal is over kill and in my opinion not a good idea. Maybe change one or two things, but for the most part, leave it as is. This of course assumes your traditional meal is good. If it isn't, then go crazy and change things.

Many of the cooking shows are giving new ideas for seasoning the turkey. I say there is no need. People like the good old fashioned roasted turkey. Keep the southwest seasoning away from it.

Cranberry sauce, either open the can or make it, but when recipes start calling for things like mustard, RUN the other way.

Try one or two new side dishes, but just let the rest be.