Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

I'm going to do a little Sunday recap for all those folks out there who'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I've been writing content for the food section of TLC.com, a Discovery Channel website. They have lots of interesting cooking related information.

This is stuff you might not easily find elsewhere, like how to cook a meal for ten in an hour, why kids love ketchup, and who invented the cupcake. There are lots of useful, fun and interesting pieces on Thanksgiving fare that you might want to review before you start stuffing your holiday bird. I've listed a few of my favorites below. Visit and take a look around. If you enjoy cooking, herbs and facts about food, you won't be wasting your time. Have a great Sunday:

How to Cook the Perfect Turkey

How to Grill a Whole Turkey

Turkey Carving 101

Perfect Homemade Eggnog

How to Host a Holiday Potluck

How is Candy Corn Made?

5 Autumn Apples

Apple Cider 101

Wholesome Christmas Treats

Which Holiday Food is the Worst for My Body?

How to Host a Holiday Open House

Winter Grilling 101

Homemade Herbed Cheese

If you want to offer your family or guests a soft cheese that's full of flavor and low in calories, try making cheese from yogurt. Once you've drained off the excess moisture, no one will know that you're serving yogurt cheese, and with a few added herbs, it will taste great. Served with a tray crudités (fresh raw vegetables), it'll be a big hit.

Herbed Yogurt Cheese Recipe

2 cups plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp minced chives
1 tsp cilantro
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp olive oil (or to taste)
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper

Place yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve and suspend over a mixing bowl. Allow the yogurt to drain for two hours or more in the fridge. Squeeze out any excess moisture. Combine yogurt and other ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. Overnight would be even better.

How to Make An Herbed Ice Bowl

Keep your dip or crudités cold with an herbed ice bowl. Just snip a variety of fresh herbs, like parsley, sage, chives and thyme, and something colorful, like grated carrot into a shallow dish and add water to cover by an inch or two.

Herbed Ice Bowl Instructions

Suspend a smaller but heavier bowl on top and freeze. Coat the outside of the top bowl with cooking spray to make it easier to remove later. The top bowl will displace water and create a concave surface.

Once your herbed water has frozen, unmold it and you'll have an ice-dish made of colorful herbs. I like to use stainless steel nesting bowls and skip one size in the set. I add a brick to the top bowl for weight. (This is my all-purpose indoor brick. It's actually amazing how often it comes in handy for odd jobs.) Ring molds look great decorated this way too, with dip in a dish in the center and crackers on a platter nearby.

Herbed Ice Bowl Tips and Tricks

If you mix crushed ice with the water, the arrangement will freeze faster and you'll be able to keep all the herbs from migrating to the bottom of the bowl.

I've used herbed ice bowls to hold fruit, fresh vegetables, salad and dip (inside a clear glass dish).

Once you've sourced your bowls, this project can be completed and popped into the freezer in fifteen minutes, and the results look spectacular. There's no waste, either. Once the herbs have thawed, you can use them in soup stock.

Special Notes: If you don't have fresh herbs around, use green vegetables, like kale, cabbage, carrot tops and spinach.

For your first time, do a dry run by making an ice bowl with water only to see if you like the look and thickness of the nesting bowl arrangement you've selected. The walls of the bowl at its thinnest point should be at least an inch and a half thick.

Keep your herb bowl on a platter with a rim to catch melting water, and watch it occasionally throughout the evening to make sure it doesn't overflow.