A stack of winter squash makes a
Thanksgiving centerpiece that keeps for
weeks—and then can be eaten! Photo
courtesy HGTV. Here are more of their
centerpiece ideas.

Some people like a Thanksgiving centerpiece of flowers in seasonal colors, perhaps with some autumn leaves. We’ve been known to create cornucopias full of fruit and an elaborate bread basket decorated with cranberries, lady apples and garlands like [in the words of our father] a “Thanksgiving Christmas tree.”

One year, we held a pumpkin decorating contest, where guests brought their gourds from home, already designed. The winning pumpkin had the place of honor at the dining table, with others decorating the foyer and other areas of the home. The winner was a gorgeous pair of pumpkins seen on HGTV.com: a large pumpkin sprayed in copper metallic paint with pretty black hard candy decorations glued down the folds, and plain smaller pumpkins in silver metallic paint.

More ideas (see photos) here:

• A short glass vase layered with different whole nuts, with florists’ moss between the layers, topped with feathers.
• A vase of apples, attached to sticks to resemble a bouquet of roses.
• A glass vase or clear salad bowl filled with pomegranates, lady apples, clementines, fresh green leaves and metallic-sprayed pine cones.
• A stack of three heirloom winter squash—like flatter pumpkins but in different colors (remove the stems from the bottom two.

• A narrow, rectangular tray of candles in different heights and widths.
• A narrow, rectangulartray of colorful miniature gourds.
• A narrow, rectangular tray of lady apples.

But if there will be a lot of kids in attendance, the people’s choice award would go to a large chocolate turkey.

CHOCOLATE TURKEY CENTERPIECE

The handsome gobbler in the photo is a three-pound milk chocolate turkey from Moonstruck Chocolates. Nine inches tall (you can place it on a base for more height), its intricate details are personally hand-decorated by Moonstruck chocolatier Julian Rose.

It also makes a heck of an impressive hostess gift.

After dinner, you can appoint someone to “carve” the turkey (break it into pieces with a clean hammer). If everyone is too stuffed to eat it, you pack pieces into plastic sandwich bags to take home.

Three pounds of chocolate tom turkey. Photo courtesy Moonstruck Chocolate.

The turkey $100, which includes shipping, at MoonstruckChocolate.com.

Baskin-Robbins is celebrating Veterans Day all month long, honoring military veterans new November Flavor of the Month, called First Class Camouflage.

First Class Camouflage, emulating camouflage in its colors and design, is a combination of chocolate, salty caramel and cake-flavored ice cream.

On Veterans Day itself, November 11th, there’s an in-store donation program to support the USO (United Service Organizations*. Baskin-Robbins will donate 10 cents† from ice cream scoops sold at all U.S. locations to the USO. Baskin-Robbins’ support is part of the USO’s “Every Moment Counts” campaign, which calls on Americans to honor and create special moments for troops and their families, who make daily sacrifices as they serve.

So what better excuse to enjoy an ice cream: the ability to honor veterans, U.S troops and military families. Your choices:

• In a standard cone or cup.
• In a special Camouflage Waffle Cone or Waffle Bowl, which are decorated green, brown and tan.
• In a First Class Camouflage Layered Sundae, which includes Oreo cookie pieces, hot fudge, caramel praline topping and whipped cream.

If you want to give thanks for our troops, serve a scoop atop a slice of apple pie at Thanksgiving.

For more information about the USO’s “Every Moment Counts” campaign, of which First Class Camouflage is a part, visit USOmoments.org, and consider a donation of $11 on 9/11.
 
ABOUT CAMOUFLAGE DESIGNS

Since the mid 18th century, camouflage patterns have been used by military forces to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. Colors and materials have been applied to including vehicles, ships, aircraft, gun positions and uniforms.

“Camouflage” is a French slang word that came into common English usage during World War I, when the concept of visual deception became an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, the advent of long-range artillery and observation from the air expanded the field of fire, so camouflage was widely employed to decrease the danger of being targeted and to enable surprise.
 
*The USO provides critical support to forward-deployed troops, military families, wounded warriors, troops in transition and families of the fallen. The USO is a private, non-profit organization, not a government agency.

†The donation is inclusive of all regular (4-ounce) and kids (2.5-ounce) scoops of ice cream sold as cups and cones on Tuesday, November 11th, 2014. It is based on regular-priced cup and cone scoop sales only, including kid size. It does not include scoops that are used in other desserts (sundaes, beverages, cakes, take home, novelties, etc.).
  

People get the government they deserve, said Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821), a French count, lawyer, diplomat, writer and philosopher. (The quote is often misattributed to better-known commentators such as Abraham Lincoln and Alexis de Tocqueville.)

De Maistre’s actual statement was “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite”—every nation gets [has] the government it deserves.” It was published in 1811 in a book of his letters. The statement is variously translated as “Every country has the government it deserves” and “In a democracy people get the leaders they deserve.”

It’s Election Day. Exercise your right to vote. Even when the choices don’t appeal to you, one candidate has got to be more appealing than another. Leave the choice to others, and you get the government you deserve, if not necessarily the one you want.

Even if you’re ambivalent about the candidates, there may be issues that will affect you for a long time. So do a bit of reading up and head to the polls.

Then, you deserve a treat. Is there anything better than fresh-baked bread?

You can bake bread with a message, and use it as a signature dish for any special occasion: BOO for Halloween, FEAST for Thanksgiving, NOEL for Christmas, LOVE for anniversaries and Valentine’s Day, CONGRATS for promotions or great report cards, and so forth.

Present the bread on a platter with a side of sweet and/or savory spreads, cheeses, pâté, other favorites, or simply butter and jam.
  

Bread salad is often thought of as a summer dish, marrying lush tomatoes in season with day-old bread, vinaigrette and other seasonings.

But you can turn it into a fall favorite by substituting the tomatoes, now out of season, with butternut squash (or other winter squash), as blogger Karen, from the blog FamilyStyle Food, did in this recipe for GoBoldWithButter.com.

RECIPE: BUTTERNUT SQUASH BREAD SALAD

Ingredients For 6 Side Servings

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F.

2. TOSS the squash with the onion, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add ¼ cup water. Roast until squash is tender and golden in color, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. POUR the vinegar over the roasted squash and gently toss. Sprinkle the kale leaves over the hot squash and toss again to slightly wilt.

4. PLACE the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with butter. Bake for 10 minutes or until the bread is crisp and toasted.

5. SCRAPE the squash mixture into a large serving bowl. Add the bread and radicchio and toss. Serve with curls of Parmesan.

Find more delicious recipes at GoBoldWithButter.com.

 
HOW MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF SQUASH HAVE YOU TRIED?

Check out our delicious Squash Glossary.

Bread salad, like French toast and croutons, is one of those recipes invented by necessity: Poor people needed to get another meal from leftover bread that had gone stale.

Panzanella is a Tuscan-style bread salad made with a loaf of day-old (or older) Italian bread, cubed into large croutons and soaked in vinaigrette to soften it. Chopped salad vegetables are added. The translation we have found for “panzanella” is “bread in a swamp,” the swamp being the water or vinaigrette in which it was soaked.

While today’s recipes are rich in ingredients, the original preparers foraged to pull together vegetables from the garden—cucumber, onion and tomato—and possibly purslane, a salad green that grows wild. Early recipes were heavy on the onions, the cheapest ingredient to pair with the bread. When there wasn’t enough oil to spare, the bread was moistened in water.

Today, this peasant dish is a popular first course in Italy. It doesn’t appear often on menus of U.S.-based Italian restaurants. That’s too bad, because it’s a dish worth having often.

As long as you have vinaigrette-soaked bread, you can create the salad with almost anything from the pantry or fridge. It’s a great way to use up any leftovers—including beans, cheese, fish, meat and rice—and aging produce.
 
MORE BREAD SALAD RECIPES

• Bread Salad With Fruit Recipe
• Greek Bread Salad Recipe
• Grilled Chicken Bread Salad Recipe
• Layered Mexican Corn Bread Salad Recipe
• Mixed Vegetables Bread Salad Recipe

Oh, do we love marrons glacés, candied chestnuts. They have been a favorite confection from our first childhood bite, atop a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a fancy silver dish in the tea room of a long-departed department store.

Then, relatives visiting France would return with boxes of them, an annual treat. Sometime later, we discovered them in local specialty stores and we began to buy our own—until they became so pricey that we learned to make them. With today’s tip, you can, too.

Following the fall harvest in France and Italy, local confectioners as well as large companies prepare marrons glacés, a popular holiday gift. They can be individually wrapped in gold foil or sold in a jar covered with sugar syrup.

If you read the novel La dame aux Camélias (The Lady of The Camellias) by Alexandre Dumas fils, you’ll discover that marrons glacés are the only type of confection eaten by the heroine, courtesan Marguerite Gautier. Her clients were expected to keep her in good supply.

But you don’t need admirers. Create your own supply with this recipe:

Although it takes 1-2 days to complete the recipe, actual cooking time is less than 30 minutes. For the rest of the time, the candied chestnuts soak in their sugar syrup.

Ingredients For 2 Pounds

1. PLACE the chestnuts in a large pot with just enough water to cover the tops. Bring the water to a boil and cook the for 15 minutes; drain and discard the water. Remove the chestnuts one at a time with a slotted spoon.

2. RUB the thin, bitter membrane off the cooked chestnuts, using a clean towel or your fingers). The chestnuts will be soft, so be careful not to damage them.

3. BRING the water, sugar, and vanilla/vanilla bean to a boil in a medium pot, stirring constantly until it boils. Continue to cook the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The syrup will thicken.

4. ADD the prepared chestnuts to the boiling sugar syrup and stir until the syrup returns to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring frequently (and gently!), for 10 minutes.

5. POUR the candied chestnuts and syrup into a large, wide-mouth container; cover when cooled. Let the chestnuts soak in the syrup for 12 to 18 hours.

6. REMOVE the vanilla bean; the chestnuts are ready to use. You can spoon them into dessert dishes and top with whipped cream; or in shot glasses with some of the syrup.

HOW TO ENJOY CANDIED CHESTNUTS

Marrons glacés are an ingredient in many desserts and are also eaten on their own. Most fans agree that the best way to enjoy a candied chestnut is plain, with a cup of tea, as you might enjoy a bonbon or a macaron. But that’s just the beginning of a menu of delights:

• As an ice cream topper, with the syrup. In fact, if the pieces break in the preparation, this is an ideal use for them.
• In a “faux” Mont Blanc, atop a mound of whipped cream with some plain cookies or shortbread on the side. (Actual Mont Blanc uses sweetened chestnut purée instead of candied chestnuts.)
• In ice cream. Mix chopped pieces and the syrup into a pint of softened vanilla ice cream and return it to the freezer to harden. (In France, you can buy it in pints, ready to eat.) Chestnut ice cream is delicious, but you don’t need marrons glacés to make it. Regular cooked chestnuts plus sugar do nicely, either chopped and mixed in or blended in as purée.
• As sophisticated cupcake toppers, sliced or cut in half to make the delicacies go farther.
• With fresh goat cheese or Brie. Serve candied chestnuts and your favorite mild bread or crackers (we like it best with toasted raisin semolina bread).
• In holiday cakes and cookies. Add chopped candied chestnuts to cake batter or cookie dough. Try a batch with crystallized ginger or chocolate chips. Consider muffins, loaf cakes, bundts and other opportunities. Our grandmother used to add them to her coffee cake recipe.
• The chestnut-infused sugar syrup can be used on ice cream, pancakes, toast, etc., with or without the chestnuts.

 
THE HISTORY OF CANDIED CHESTNUTS

The seasonal confection originated in southern France and northern Italy, where chestnut trees are plentiful. Prior to the Crusades (1095-1291 C.E.) there was no sugar in Europe. Sugar cane is native to Southeast Asia, from which it made its way to the Middle East, where it was discovered by the European crusaders. So the process of candying fruits in sugar syrup—and all of the other wonderful things we do with sugar—had to wait for the return of the crusaders to Europe.

The first candied chestnut confections seem to appear at the beginning of the 15th century in the Piedmont region of Italy, among other places. The earliest written recipe is from the court of Louis XIV at the end of 17th century.

In 1882 in the Ardèche département of south-central France, the first factory was built with the technology to produce marrons glacés industrially. However, many of the nearly twenty steps necessary from harvest to finished product are still performed manually, which is one reason why the treats are so pricey. [Source]