Color With Patch on Thanksgiving

Looking for something for your little ones to do after dinner? Print out our coloring pages.

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Today, I am Thankful for My Mom's Stuffing

An easy recipe for moist, delicious stuffing – a Meier family tradition

As I sit here and write this, the most wonderful aroma is filling the house. It's the smell of sage and poultry seasoning, melding together and making my mouth water for one of the many things I am thankful for this year, my mom's stuffing. This is an easy recipe for the world's best stuffing. Granted, I am probably biased in that opinion but you can make it and judge for yourself. Like with the soup, this recipe is not written down anywhere and several people have been dying to get it from my mother for years – people like my aunt Ginger who can't wait for this column to be posted. My mom, Colleen, wakes up every year at 7 a.m. to make this delicious stuffing and prepare the turkey. She gets out all the ingredients, sets them on the …

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Countdown to Thanksgiving, Day 11: It's Tradition

Quirky, heartwarming traditions and thoughtful additions create a treasured holiday.

To catch up on Megan Swoyer's first 10 steps of the “turkey day” planning process, read the full series.  Thanksgiving is turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s pulling on warm sweaters and indulging on warm pies. It’s Jell-O, football, wine toasts, good china and whipped cream. But it’s also rutabagas and Neil Diamond music. Yep. On Nov. 24 the Chisholms of Huntington Woods tuck their forks into a not-exactly-popular-but-totally-traditional rutabaga dish, while the Cherry family of Macomb Township taps their toes to a special Neil Diamond tune.    It’s those quirky traditions and absolute must-dos that make Thanksgiving our own. My own “it’s-not-Thanksgiving-until-we-do-this” tradition involves a couple of wax figurines. Every year in my…

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Countdown to Thanksgiving, Day 10: Work Ahead

These handy tips from the turkey trenches will help you with the last few crucial days of preparation.

Chef Jim Bologna of The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham could be considered a kitchen boy scout: He’s always prepared, especially when hosting a feast at home with family and friends. Here are some of his tips: Keep appetizers frozen until the big day: Bologna also is big on having cheese and crackers with some cured meats on hand — that’s “always a win and  they will hold for quite some time, and go great with wine.” Plan, plan, plan: “Write your menu so that most of your items can be done ahead,” he said. “Most if not all of the sides can be done a day or two beforehand.” Plan the oven space: This is important so that everything that needs to be reheated will fit, along with the main entreé — the bird!   “Casseroles, veggies like carrots …

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Countdown to Thanksgiving, Day 6: Get Your Game On!

We've covered the wine, the gravy and the turkey. Now let's get to the after-dinner entertainment.

Patch writer Megan Swoyer is counting down the days until Thanksgiving. Day 6 follows The List, Delegation, Choosing a wine, Gravy and The Turkey. While I was in a local hardware store the other day, checking out aluminum baking pans for the Jennie-O turkey experiment last weekend (I opted for the pan without handles – less expensive!), I wandered into the candle aisle  and lo and behold, I spotted my first Thanksgiving Day game prize — Yankee Candle votives, at $2 each. A hardware store is chockfull of affordable surprises at every turn. Ranging in scents from the new “Cherries on Snow” to “Pumpkin Pie” to “Sparkling Cinnamon,” these votives are as festive as you can get. Who can’t use a few new candles to jumpstart the holiday season? I’…

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Cooking for Special Diets: Roll Into These Bakeries for Thanksgiving Treats

Take it easy while planning holiday menus – there are plenty of places to get fresh-baked bread and rolls.

Editor's note: Alissa Malerman's Saturday column showcased some holiday recipes. Part 2 of her column focuses on where to get gluten-free rolls and bread for the Thanksgiving table. Planning out your Thanksgiving menu? With a little more than a week to go, chances are most people who are cooking holiday meals already have the ball rolling. If special dieters will be at the table, the thought of baking homemade rolls or bread to break with dinner may be a little daunting. Here are a few places that have your back:

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Countdown to Thanksgiving, Day 2: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

It's Day 2 in Megan's "12 Days of Thanksgiving." On the path of organization, she is focusing on potluck pleasures and family chores.

I never feel bad about delegating, and that's how we do Thanksgiving in my house. This goes for cleaning, too. Today, I’ll ask my sons to wash the dining room windows (I know they’ve been dying to do this) and my husband will help me do a thorough job of dusting my cabinet of tchotchkes, which everyone seems to look at when they come to our home. My husband also is hanging new blinds today that will help cut back on reflection and glare on the television when everyone’s tuned into the Lions at 12:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Day 1, we made a list (Did you make a list? If not, there's time to catch up.) Today, refer to your list and jot down more specifics on what you’d like everyone to do and bring.  Carolyn Hefner, owner of The China …

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Cooking for Special Diets: Thanksgiving Edition

No need to stress: These recipes – for stuffing, veggies, cranberry sauce and dessert – are tasty and safe for everyone at the table.

Editor's note: Check back Monday on Patch to see where to get a few rolls to go with an allergen-free Thanksgiving feast. As Thanksgiving, the biggest "food" holiday of the year, approaches, it's easy for special dieters, or those cooking for one, to feel anxious. But there's no need to stress. I learned a great lesson last year fitting to the holiday. It happened after I decided I would prepare a large chunk of the feast myself. I served up a lot of veggies and stuffed the bird with gluten-free stuffing. In the end, I found it was not the feast of burden I made it out to be. In fact, I found myself thankful for the help of others and the lessons learned over the years preparing food for special diets. Other family members filled in the …

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Guy Fawkes

10:20 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011

My point, incase you missed it, is that (it has been suggested) that the failure to produce the enzyme which breaks down lactose - is a result of not getting the bacteria from cow's milk that triggers the human body to start making the enzyme. If it weren't for cow's milk a lot of kids in poverty stricken and low income areas would be sickly from calcium and vitamin D deficiencies. Not because …   more ›

Cooking For Special Diets: Where to Get Your Bird

Find free-range, organic and local poultry for everyday meals or your Thanksgiving celebration.

Editor's note: Alissa Malerman's Saturday column showcased some easy chicken recipes. Part 2 of her column focuses on where to get organic, hormone-free and free-range birds to make those dishes and for your Thanksgiving table. With a factory farm bird, there's no knowing what can be pumped into it. Dyes, preservatives, salt, MSG and a bevy of “enhancers” can be found in the chicken and turkey meat at the grocery store. As a poultry eater, I seek out ways to make better choices both for my family's health and for the humane treatment of animals. I look for poultry that does not have antibiotics, fillers, steroids or hormones. I also look for poultry that comes from family farms where the birds roam free and are vegetarian fed. Here are …

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Alissa Malerman

10:23 am on Monday, November 7, 2011

B- I called Whole Foods in Troy and Jesse at the meat department said Whole Foods will have a bone-in standing rib roast around the holidays. It is not "certified organic" but is raised grass-fed and naturally, it just doesn't qualify for the label. Thanks for the comment and good idea for a holiday column. I will keep looking into it!   more ›