I woke up this morning a little before 5 a.m. (thanks, Baby Adam!) with a lump in my throat.  I don’t mean a metaphorical lump, but an actual sore throat lump.  With my first dry and painful swallow of the day I thought to myself, “it’s okay, today is supposed to hurt.” Today marks twenty years since my mother passed away.  She died on Thanksgiving weekend, after an eleven year battle with MS.  I have almost no clear memories of her before her illness, just a few isolated scenes, like one of her using a hammer and nail...

It is T minus 24 hours before Thanksgiving, and my family has officially descended. I just spent the morning with my mother at Whole Foods, where I discovered that a taste for triple creme really does run in the family — the amount of cheese we just bought is absurd. My favorite part: when she walked up to the clerk behind the cheese counter and asked the clerk, point blank,  ”What’s the most fattening thing you’ve got?” (This, for the record, is an excellent question to ask at a cheese counter.) I really...

Halloween might be the worst holiday for diabetic kids, but as an adult, I consider it a preview for more difficult days to come. Sure, I’ll sneak in a few Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups on October 31st (because they’re delicious and wonderful and no one should have to go through life without them), but I’m normally pretty good about cutting myself off. But Thanksgiving is a different story. I think it’s less about what we eat — though I do love stuffing — and more about the ritual of the holiday...

By: Martha Rose Shulman While many families don’t bother with a first course at Thanksgiving,  I like to serve a salad, and this is the one I traditionally serve. Ingredients: For the salad: 1 pound (about 6) Belgian endives 1 tart apple 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4 cup broken walnut pieces 1 1/2 ounces Gruyère cheese, cut in thin slivers (about 1/3 heaped cup), or crumbled feta 2 tablespoons chopped flatleaf parsley, or a mix of parsley, tarragon, and/or chives For the dressing: 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or...

A big hurray to Catherine Price, whose wonderful essay on being a type 1 diabetic appeared in yesterday’s New York Times Well Blog.  It’s a beautifully written piece, and Catherine describes life as a type 1 just right.  If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend doing so.   And speaking of reading…a few days ago I received the book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, in the mail from its publisher, William Morrow/Harper Collins.  If you don’t know Pioneer Woman, her name is Ree Drummond and she writes the hugely popular...

By: Melissa Lieser Thanksgiving, for me, conjures memories of my family getting together, laughing, eating, catching up with one another’s lives, watching the Macy’s Day Parade on television and my grandmother (followed in later years by my mom) stressing over the meal. The turkey recipe here is simple and traditional, yet elegant.  It goes with most any side dishes and is straightforward to prepare, so while it won’t guarantee that the cook doesn’t share my grandmother’s stresses of cooking for the holidays, it will ease...

By: Martha Rose Shulman Use this earthy/nutty pilaf as a stuffing, or serve it as a side dish. And don’t just reserve it for Thanksgiving. Ingredients: 1 1/2 quarts water, chicken stock, turkey stock, or vegetable stock 1 1/2 cups wild rice Salt to taste 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 4 shallots, chopped 4 garlic cloves, minced 3/4 pound mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup toasted almonds, coarsely chopped 1/3 cup dry sherry 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf...