THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods
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November 24, 2009 at 7:45 am
· Filed under Kitchenware-Tabletop, Thanksgiving & Fall
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| If you have just one oven but lots of side dishes to cook for Thanksgiving, this clever, multi-tiered oven rack may work for you. You can cook multiple dishes at once—the yams, Brussels sprouts and stuffing, for example.
The rack, which is 15″ x 11″ x 8¼”, holds up to three levels of heavy casserole dishes and then folds flat for storage. This rack is from Sur La Table (online at SurLaTable.com); but you may be able to find one locally as well. Easy assembly required. |
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Why didn’t we think of this one? Photo
courtesy SurLaTable.com. |
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November 23, 2009 at 9:55 am
· Filed under Recipes, Thanksgiving & Fall
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Knorr + your pan drippings = easy, good gravy. Chart courtesy Consumer Reports. |
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With everything you’re doing on Thanksgiving, do you have to turn those drippings into gravy, too?
Consumer Reports did a taste test with commercial gravies to consider the options. The tasters tried 10 products—four dry mixes (add water, stir, and heat) and six canned or jarred gravies (just heat). They also tried them with and without the turkey pan drippings (minus the fat), which some products suggest—and which produced the best results.
Results
- Knorr is very good; in fact, guests might think it’s homemade. It has a big roasted-turkey taste, a fresh impression and slightly sweet, caramelized flavors nicely blended with herbs.
- McCormick actually tastes freshly prepared, though it’s a bit starchy—and meat or potatoes could mask those.
- Flaws increase as gravies fall lower on the list. Products rated “Fair” have even more drawbacks. The Franco-American is gelatinous; Simply Organic is also bitter; Serv-A-Gravy has little flavor, period.
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| As we always find when reviewing specialty products with THE NIBBLE, the same proved true with Consumer Reports’ test of supermarket brands: Neither packaging nor price was related to quality. The best and worst gravies were dry mixes, and that low-rated Franco-American was relatively pricey.
Nutrition
Per serving, most of the gravies have 20 to 25 calories, very little fat, and 260 to 360 milligrams of sodium. (The exception, Serv-A-Gravy, has 15 calories and 210 mg of sodium.) Many include a little fat, stock, or broth from chicken or turkey, plus a dairy product. Those without meat flavor, fat or dairy—Simply Organic and Serv-A-Gravy—were lowest-rated.
Bottom Line
Try Knorr with pan drippings (minus fat).
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November 23, 2009 at 8:58 am
· Filed under Entertaining, Thanksgiving & Fall
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Most Thanksgiving dinner tables become too filled with food to hold large floral arrangements. If you receive large arrangements, place them on the coffee table or other central place where everyone can enjoy them. But if you’d like some decor on your table, opt for one of the following quick-and-easy ideas:
- Cranberry-colored candles—either in candlesticks or pillars on the table.
- Small cylindrical glass vases (think large tumblers—and you can use tumblers) filled with fresh cranberries and water, with one colorful Gerber daisy standing in each. Choose a contrasting seasonal color like orange.After the festivities are over, disperse the floral tumblers to add seasonal decor to small areas of the home—bathrooms and bedrooms, for example.
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Insert into a tumbler filled with cranberries. |
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