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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, my wife and I will make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, something we have not done for quite awhile. The menu will include a roast 10-3/4 pound turkey, pumpkin soup, gravy, cornbread stuffing (outside the bird), cranberry sauce (whole berry version for me, gellatined version for my wife), broccoli & rice casserole, and yeast rolls. Last year, at Christmas, I gave my wife a gift she had long sought; a double oven. Two ovens will come in handy for today's meal.

A woman who works for us mentioned the way she roasts turkey and she swears it makes the entire bird really moist, so we're going to give it a shot (though not exactly the way she does it). She advises peeling an orange, a grapefruit, and a lemon, cutting them up into chunks, and stuffing the bird's cavity with them. She then cooks the bird at 250F, one hour per pound. We'll probably kick up the heat and reduce the cooking time, but we will do the citrus.

Speaking of food, I have a hankering for highly spiced vegetarian stir-fry of my own creation and for seafood. Not today, of course. But soon, perhaps this weekend, I will create my own version of stir-fry: broccoli, cauliflower, water chestnuts, onions, carrots, cabbage, zuccini, radishes, cilantro, snow peas, and assorted other stuff that may come to mind. I cook all but the last five ingredients in a mixture of fish oil, hoison sauce, and vegetable oil (a tablespoon or two each) on medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the veggies just begin to soften, then I add the remaining ingredients, plus various peppers (red Thai peppers are good, but crushed red pepper flakes will do the trick, too). When the entire mixture is of the proper degree of tenderness (it's a personal thing, I think), dish it up. Sometimes I eat it with steamed rice, but it's fine on its own. If a bit more zip is required, drizzle on some Srirachi sauce (the orange sauce in a bottle with a rooster on it).

As for seafood...lots of possibilities. Shrimp ceviche is wonderful and easy...peel and devein shrimp and cover them with lime juice, diced jalapeños, diced onion, cilantro, diced tomatoes, and refrigerate overnight. If you can get your hands on fine Alaskan halibut, it's even better than shrimp. Ahi tuna, encrusted with cracked pepper and quickly seared but left very rare is wonderful. Poblano pepper stuffed with a mixture of shrimp, flounder, and feta cheese and baked quickly so the pepper is still a bit crunchy but the seafood is cooked and the cheese melted is also good. I could go on for years about seafood...or any food, I suppose. That's the reason I have to get into a regular exercise regimen.