Last Minute Thanksgivings

I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for you schmucks who haven't given one second's thought to what you're doing for MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY -- since personally my 2008 Thanksgiving has been in planning and development since last May. I've ordered (and received) my absurdly expensive Heritage turkey, I've got the cornucopia of squashes, root vegetables, and potatoes and green beans sourced from the finest markets, the fresh sage from Green Cay farms, the salad greens from Swank Farms, the homemade creme fraiche and the pear/ginger/curried cranberry sauce made last weekend, the freshly baked foccacia for my foccacia/fennel/bacon/apple stuffing -- I mean, gimme a break. You still haven't even started??????

Help is apparently at hand for you grasshoppers; Food and Wine sent out a handful of last minute Thanksgiving recipes which don't actually look too bad -- turkey breast with mustard sage crumbs, garlic mashed potatoes, sausage apple stuffing, honey-glazed roasted root vegetables, brussels sprouts with cranberries, a fennel and arugula salad, and spicy pumpkin pie. The whole dinner would take one person about three hours to prepare. So get to work! Find the recipes by clicking here and entering each term into the search engine. I'd copy out the recipes for you, but I'm too busy shoving big hunks butter under the skin of my Bourbon Red. And I've already opened my first bottle of champagne. See you Friday!

-- Gail Shepherd