I love Thanksgiving, the all-American holiday that reminds us to give thanks for our blessings and celebrate amidst a bounty of food. Kitchens smell of turkey roasting, pies baking and good things simmering. It’s a simply delicious holiday, celebrated for all the best reasons.

I have my standards. We order a free-range turkey from Whole Foods because we find these turkeys more meaty and more flavorful. And I always make cornbread stuffing from The New York Times International Cookbook, which requires grinding the giblets in a meat grinder, baking cornbread and endlessly chopping onion, celery and green pepper, as well as mincing a lot of garlic, parsley and basil.

BUT I also make pumpkin pie from the recipe on the Libby’s pumpkin can, a Crisco pie crust and the cranberry sauce recipe on the Ocean Spray bag. Sure I’ve toyed with making pumpkin creme brulee or pumpkin cheesecake, using a different crust and making fresh cranberry salsa. But these recipes are tried-and-true and simple, giving me time to explore new recipes for the second dessert I bake and all the side dishes. [more…]

Tucked beneath the Koolau Mountains on the leeward side of Oahu is Nalo Farms, salad bowl to Hawaii’s top chefs. There I met Dean Okimoto, owner and president. As we walked past neatly tended rows of produce, he explained that the greens he grows are different from their Mainland cousins. “Our environment is hotter — 74 to 90 degrees — and we have volcanic soil.” The conditions produce a different leaf structure and flavor.

Tiny leaves of arugula are more tender in the Islands and the additional sunlight makes the flavor more pungent. Because the leaves are thinner and lighter in weight than the Mainland variety, you get more volume. “One ounce of salad looks more like two ounces,” Okimoto said. [more…]