A Couple Recipes and a Hint

 Fall in the upper garden.

 A sleepy Winnie relaxing on the back porch in the frosty weather.  I tried to capture her breathe but it didn't show up on the pic.  She looked like she was smoking a cigar.

 I made these gingerbread cookies for Thanksgiving.  They are The Blog Tech's favorites.  I dip them in melted white chocolate and roll them in Fall sprinkles.

 Here is the recipe:  http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2011/12/gingerbread-kringles.html

 I also made these candied ginger shortbreads.  They taste like Thanksgiving.

Here it the recipe: 

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. finely chopped candied ginger (also called crystallized ginger)

Preparation

With an electric mixer on low speed, combine butter and sugar for about 30 seconds. Beat in egg yolk, then flour, cornstarch, and salt, until the mixture barely holds together. Do not overbeat. Gently fold in the candied ginger.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap that are about 12'' long. Divide dough in half. Place each half on the center of separate pieces of plastic wrap.   Using the plastic wrap, gently shape each piece of dough into a 6'' long log, about 2'' in diameter. Sprinkle sanding sugar along the wrap and rolls the log in it. Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 275°.

With a sharp knife, slice cookies 1/4'' thick and place on baking sheet, spacing 1'' apart. Bake cookies until just firm but still quite tender and not at all brown, about 30 minutes. Cool for a minute on the baking sheet before removing to a rack to finish cooling. 

 Here is a tip for your turkey prep.  If you make your bird in advance or are slicing it to sit on your buffet, this step will keep it moist and add wonderful flavor. I roast a turkey breast in advance and then I make a robust stock using the bones.  I add bay leaves and fresh herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme) and black peppercorns. The W's were very happy to take care of the meat for me.

Throw in some carrots and an onion cut in half.  Cook this at a simmer for hours and then strain it.  Add some salt to taste.  Freeze this and bring it back to a simmer on Thanksgiving.  Pour it over your sliced turkey.  This is the solution to never having a dry tasteless turkey again.

Today I am baking the bread for my stuffing.  I wrap it in foil and refrigerate it and it is perfectly stale by stuffing making time.