Thanksgiving 2009

Without a doubt, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it has been since I was a little girl. Nothing makes me happier than a houseful of people on Thanksgiving even though, now that I am the cook, it's completely exhausting. This year, Brian and I hosted both our families again and the meal was a hit.

Who Can Resist a Fresh-Baked Apple Pie

The first time I baked an apple pie for Brian was on our first Thanksgiving together. He'd expressed some doubt about whether the home-made version would be so much better than a pie from the bakery. That holiday also marked the first time we were introducing our mothers to each other so there was some pressure to demonstrate my pie-making, not to mention other culinary skills. But one taste of my pie and he was a convert and now tells everyone that nothing beats my home-made version.

Amarelle

2028 North Country Rd, Wading River, NY 11792, 631-886-2242, www.amarelle.net

Autumn is wonderful at Amarelle. it was a cold, drizzling November evening when we arrived but a prompt seating near the glowing fireplace quickly took the chill off. The restaurant is beautiful with a clean, modern look. Extra high ceilings though, can amplify noise and don't make for as intimate an ambiance.

Au Poivre Goes Light

Our favorite bistro dish is steak au poivre so, with rain predicted for Saturday night, we decided to skip a wet outing and make it ourselves. We planned all week and made sure we had all the ingredients. Good fillets from our favorite butcher...got 'em. French fried potatoes... well... let's skip the fried part and roast new potatoes in the oven with olive oil, salt and a little rosemary. We just picked up a great looking bunch of asparagus so we'll throw that on the grill with the fillets. Now for the peppercorn sauce...OK...let's look up a recipe...oil, butter, heavy cream...how much butter and cream??? Hmm. No wonder we like this stuff so much.