A Friendly Thanksgiving

What does a Tart do when her best friend since preschool makes her first trip to Los Angeles? Take her to Universal Studios? Hollywood Blvd? Venice Beach? Hardly. She throws an apron on her, pulls a 15 pound turkey from the fridge and says, "Welcome to Cali!! Let's peel some carrots!" Sorry Eve!

This Barefoot Contessa's version is the bomb. If roasting a turkey is intimidating for you, this is your recipe. It's simple and really good. We added root veggies around the turkey which made an insane side dish. Trust me, if we can do it, you can do it.

Perfect Roast Turkey

with root veggies

adapted by the Tarts

(printable recipe)

1 fresh organic turkey (10 to 12 pounds)

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1 large bunch fresh thyme

1 whole lemon

1 spanish onion, quartered

1 head of garlic, halved crosswise

10 carrots, peeled and cut into 2- inch chunks

8 parsnips, peeled and cut into french fry slices

10 red potatoes, halved

3 heads of fennel, fronds removed,

cut into wedges through the core

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Cut veggies into medium size pieces. Toss with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Set aside.

Take giblets out of the turkey and wash turkey inside and out. If it grosses you out, force your best friend to do it...

Pat outside until dry. Place turkey in large roasting pan. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, onion, lemon and garlic.

Brush the outside of turkey with butter (or olive oil). Salt and pepper liberally. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey.

Roast the turkey for an hour and 15 min. Then add the veggies around the turkey and continue roasting for another hour and 15 min

or until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. Transfer the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil. S

tir the vegetables in the pan and continue to cook in the juice while turkey rests for 20 minutes.

Then plate, slice and serve! This turkey smelled so good, we couldn't wait to get going. We didn't even stop and take a final shot to show my fellow Tart! Sorry Danielle!

* We used leftover turkey and the veggies for a turkey pot pie the next day. YUM!

For other Thanksgiving faves, check out these links...

Pumpkin Pie Pandemonium

Holiday Faves from Fantastic Friends

Dried-Cherry and Italian Sausage Stuffing

Janice's Pumpkin Bread

Savory Corn Cobbler

Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges

Warm Apricot-Cranberry Sauce

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!

You Make Me Wanna Soup

We Tarts love a good soup and this one from Cristina's Restaurant in Sun Valley makes us wanna sang with some Salt-N-Pepa...

Hey yeah I wanna soup baby...

Soup soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop

Soup ba-doop ba-doop ba-doop

Here I go here I go here I go again

Girls what's my weakness? (Soup!)

Butternut Squash Soup with Pears, Apples & Leeks

adapted from Cristina's Cookbook

(printable recipe)

serves 5

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup sliced leeks

1 cubed apple (save core for stock)

1 cubed pear (save core for stock)

1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh sage (reserve stalks for stock)

1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme (reserve stalks for stock)

1/8 cup of marsala wine

6 cups pear stock (recipe below)

3 cups roasted butternut squash (recipe below)

sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat olive oil and butter. Add leeks, apples and pears. Sauté over medium heat until leeks are translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in sage and thyme, cook 2 more minutes. Add wine, simmer for a few minutes, then add stock and squash. Simmer for an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. (We used a good amount of salt as it needed it.) If you prefer a thicker soup cook 20 more minutes.

We puréed our soup and garnished it with pears sautéed in vegan butter and sage. The end result was delicious!

Roasted Butternut Squash

2 medium size butternut squash

1/2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 Tbsp fresh sage

1/2 Tbsp chopped garlic

sea salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 450˚

Cut squash in half lengthwise, seed, and place on baking sheet, skin side down. Sprinkle with all ingredients and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 1 1/2 hrs or until soft. Cool, then scoop out squash from skin.

Apple-Pear Stock

1 gallon water

1 apple core

1 pear core

2 small leeks, green part only

2 celery stalks

2 cloves garlic

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs each of thyme and sage

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp maple syrup

*The recipe called for 1/2 tsp celery seed, but we opted out and added a tsp of sea salt.

In a stockpot, bring ingredients to a rolling boil, then simmer for 30 min. Strain and reserve stock.

Oh, you make me wanna soup

Hey yeah, I wanna soup, baby