thanksgiving

Conway Stewart Pilgrim Pen

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Conway Stewart has created a pen honoring the Plymouth Pilgrims who migrated to America on the Mayflower. The Conway Stewart Pilgrim Limited Edition pen uses airbrush and hand painting to evoke scenes from the history of the First Pilgrim settlers. The pen shows the coastlines of both Plymouth, where the settlers first set sail, and the Massachusetts Bay, with an ocean scene of the Mayflower at sail on the cap and scenes of the colony painted on the barrel. The pen has an 18K gold nib in a choice of eight grades and sells for $2,450.

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Tags: fountain pen, pen, pilgrims, thanksgiving

Best Wines for the Holidays

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

While some want to limit their choices to one type of wine, and others don't pay too much attention to the pairings beyond whether they like the wine or not, picking the wine to accompany a holiday meal can make or break the dinner for others. Red and whites both go with roast turkeys and either is a fine choice for Thanksgiving. Reds work better with hearty beef dishes. Forbes has come up with a few suggestions for the best wines to serve at a holiday dinner, which include: Beaune, Clos de Mouches, Premier Cru, Domaines Joseph Drouhin 2003 ($80); Guidalberto 2003 ($50); Rodney Strong Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 ($41); Hugel Gewurztraminer Jubilee 2003 ($41); Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir ($20); and Champagne Alfred Gratien Brut Millesime 1997 ($99).

One of their other excellent suggestions is to serve the good wine first, before all the "holiday cheer" has gone to people's heads, and keep the selection simpler for larger groups.

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Tags: best wines, christmas, dinner, holiday, holiday wines, thanksgiving, wine, wines

Greek Pepper Mill

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

If you're a pepper fan, you probably always had a little thing for those giant pepper mills that some restaurants equip their waitstaff with. This 10-inch Greek Pepper Mill may not quite have the size of those models, but it makes up for it in style. Made in Greece, the pepper mill is made of brass and is modeled after traditional brass coffee mills that were once hugely popular in that area of the Mediterranean. The mill's grinding mechanism cracks the peppercorns before crushing them, which exposes more surface area for a more consistent grind and releases more flavor. The grind is adjustable and the handle/lid are removable. Price: $80.

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Tags: dinner, mill, pepper, pepper mill, spice, spices, thanksgiving

Autumn Harvest Cake

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

If you're not planning on making the dessert for a holiday party or for Thanksgiving dinner, it's better to go all-out and get a top of the line cake than to buy a less-than-average supermarket pie and try to pass it off as your own. This Autumn Harvest Cake qualifies as over-the-top. Inside the white chocolate Limoges-style box, which has been topped with elegant grapes, leaves, a kumquat and two chocolate truffle pears, there is a Bourbon vanilla cheesecake with a macadamia nut crust. The cake is elegant and the combination of flavors is wonderfully decadent. The oval cake weighs 5.3 pounds and you'll probably get more than the recommended 8-10 servings from It, especially since people are usually fairly full following the main course of a holiday dinner. Price:$150.

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Tags: autumn harvest cake, bourbon vanilla cheesecake, cake, cakes, cheesecake, dessert, fall, holiday, thanksgiving

Chromed Turkey Lifters

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

For some reason, specialty Thanksgiving platters and serveware tend to be rather cheesy, with little pictures of pilgrims or cornucopias adorning them in the worst examples and an overly rustic look on the slightly more stylish side of things. Thankfully, there are at least a few good-looking serving implements out there, like these Chromed Turkey Lifters, which are simple, functional and attractive. They are made out of chrome-plated zinc and measure 4"x9.5". They will give you the support needed to lift even heavy turkey from the roasting plan to a serving platter, then can also be used to serve the individual slices to guests. Price: $18.

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Tags: chrome, dinner, dinnerware, fork, serveware, serving, thanksgiving, turkey

Luxury Turkeys for Thanksgiving

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The New York Times taste tested several different kinds of turkeys, from the standard supermarket Butterball to more exotic heritage bred birds to find out which ones were worthy of your table. The concluded that good cooking can make almost any turkey acceptable, but the clear winners of the test were the Bourbon Red and an American Bronze heritage birds, the organic bird and the domesticated wild turkey. If you want to serve a clear winner on Thanksgiving here is where to get them:

Heritage Farms - They have organic heritage turkeys and you can get a 20-lb bird for about $200. They're almost sold out, though, so you might want to order now.
Dartagnan - You'll find organic turkeys here and can get a 18-20-lb one for $130. They also carry smaller heritage birds (10-12-lb) for about $116.
Griggstown - They carry free-range tradition turkeys at $113 for 18-20-lb birds, as well as Red Bourbon heritage turkeys (12-15-lbs for $150)

Tags: heritage, heritage turkeys, holiday, meat, poultry, thanksgiving, turkey, turkeys