Food, Food, and More Food

What are you cooking this Thanksgiving? I am excited to be spending the weekend with my brother Sausage (the little Kielbasa), who will be visiting me from Camp Pendelton. Interestingly, that is his real nickname, given to him by real Marines. Tomorrow we'll be heading over to Shrek's house to eat with his family. I'm delighted to be contributing a soup and desserts to the meal.

I am currently on the hunt for the perfect vegetable minestrone recipe. I used to have a hard copy of a no-fail recipe from my dad, but can't find it, so it's time to start fresh. The three sites I hit up regularly for recipes are FoodNetwork.com, AllRecipes.com, and Epicurious.com. Everyone knows minestrone is a perfectly acceptable addition to any meal.

Secretly, I want to make a tortilla soup for the holiday but I'm not sure how that will sit with Shrek's family. Whoever heard of having tortilla soup on Thanksgiving?! I've been dreaming of making it ever since eating the best bowl ever a few weeks ago at Urth Caffe. 'Twas divine. But I dread the thought of the family going back home to Minnesota and snickering, "Can you believe she made tortilla soup?! So spicy! Those Californians!" But tell me this doesn't make your mouth water:
Also on the menu will be a couple of pies from the venerable House of Pies on Vermont, and a vanilla cheesecake made by yours truly. Recipe courtesy of Vixen.

Now I'm staring at that photo of tortilla soup and wanting it more than ever. Should I make it? I'm torn. If only I could have a sign guiding me about the right thing to do....

Check back Monday to find out what happened on
THE YOUNG AND THE RECIPELESS!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today's Coffee Beverage: Peet's Iced NF Pepppermint Mocha, but only because I plan on switching to green tea next week. Really.