Another first - Thanksgiving cooking!

Well, seeing how my venture into cooking begun just about a year ago it's no surprise that I never helped cook the Thanksgiving meal. Part of that was because I usually arrive at my parents house on Thanksgiving day and the other part being that I was not at all interested in helping. But alas, a year later I have all these recipes under my belt and dozens more waiting to be made. Plus this year I arrived the day before the holiday, ready to help!

I discussed what to make with my mom ahead of time and chose options from my long list of bookmarked recipes. In the end we decided I would be responsible for the stuffing and sweet potato dish. Two perfect vegetarian friendly dishes!

The full recipe posts coming next, but the end result looked like so:

Without even trying there was no lack of food! All the staples were covered and it was exciting to have been a part of this!

Now on to the recipes...

Sisters in the Kitchen

A couple posts ago I shared my recipes for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which I celebrated with some friends in Chicago. Yom Kippur is the next major Jewish holiday that happened last week. It is both very much an eating holiday and not at all an eating holiday. The 25 hour fast makes it a not eating holiday; however, the break-fast that comes after that fast is a new chef's dream! It is an extreme opportunity to create an elaborate spread of food, usually along the lines of breakfast/brunch fare.

This year I was very fortunate to spend the holiday in New York with my sister, Franny, and bro-in-law, Mike. It was the first time in several years that we were together for the holiday and that being the case we decided to go full-on domestic! For the first time probably ever, my sister and I grocery shopped and cooked side by side in preparation for a super break fast at her new digs in Brooklyn.

The cooking fest started like this...

and ended like this...

In the next few posts you'll find all vegetarian recipes for Strawberry Strata, Noodle Kugel, Stuffed Mushrooms, Edamame Corn Summer Salad, and Banana Chocolate Chip Cake that were made between Franny and me. Mmmmenjoy!