Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone, and I have to say that the recent coverage of an impending shortage of Kellogg’s Eggo waffles due to manufacturing plant closures is enough to make me want to run out and buy a box. But instead I’m going to do what I usually do with waffles: make my own and freeze them. All you need to have is a waffle iron in order to make waffles and the batter is really no more difficult to whip up than the batter for pancakes. Most, if not all, waffle recipes can be frozen easily and will reheat in not much more time than it takes to toast that Eggo.

While you can use any style of waffle iron when making frozen waffles, it helps to have a waffle iron that makes flatter waffles, since Belgian-style waffles will not always fit easily into a standard toaster. Allow your waffles to cool completely on a wire rack after cooking, then layer them between sheets of wax paper and stick them into a large Ziploc freezer bag. Once the waffles are frozen, they can be removed one at a time and put into the toaster (or a toaster oven) to crisp up. Since Eggo waffles are very light, remember that homemade waffles may take a little extra time in the toaster to be ready. If you’re doing Belgian waffles and can’t fit them in a toaster, you can also reheat them in a preheated oven at 350F for about 10 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the waffle.

Old Mother Mallard’s Delicious Golden Brown Waffles, a recipe I made based on a Donald Duck cartoon, freeze very well, and so do my Belgian Waffles when cooked in a flatter waffle iron. Buttermilk waffles are always a good choice, as well.

Stuffing is one of the many foods that just never looks as good as it tastes. Actually, I should say that it starts to look very good but only after you know how it tastes. When I was a kid I always shied away from the stuffing. It looked “wet” or “icky” or there was “stuff” in it. Now, the exact same stuffing recipe makes my mouth water when I see a batch, because I know how good the flavorful bread and veggie mixture really is.

This particular stuffing is a Roasted Garlic Stuffing, and one of my Thanksgiving side dishes for this year. It looks plain, as stuffings go, but has a lot of flavor. I used an entire head of roasted garlic in the stuffing, so it tastes a bit like garlic bread mixed in with the sage and vegetable mixture I used as a base. It goes great with both turkey and gravy. It has a crispy top and moist interior, as this is baked in the oven in a casserole dish before serving. I used a mixture of whole grain and plain white bread for the stuffing pictured and would recommend using white bread or another mild-tasting bread for this stuffing because a strong, multi-grain bread might overwhelm the flavor of the garlic a bit.

The only problem with baked stuffings is that you usually have to wait until the turkey is done before putting them in the oven. One of the best things about this recipe is that it allows you to multi-task by roasting the garlic while the turkey cooks, so you can have everything ready to go in when the bird comes out.

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When the holidays come around, many people start to do more entertaining than usual. When problems arise in the kitchen, it is easy to pick up the phone and call your mom, mother in law, grandmother, father, or any other member of your family who can cook to give you some last minute advice. But it’s good to have a backup plan in place if family can’t help you out - or if you’re simply too embarrassed to ask! One solution is to browse through your favorite food blog for holiday tips. A better solution if you don’t have a specific question in mind is to call a holiday hotline to take to a live person. There are two big ones that should be pretty helpful: the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line and the Crisco Pie Hotline.

The turkey hotline is staffed with turkey-cooking experts who can help you on everything from brining time to roasting temperature. The number is 1-800-BUTTERBALL. They staff more than 50 experts who have made more turkeys than most of us will ever see. You can also find tips on their website, or check out the version of their website for mobile devices and you can text the word “TURKEY” to 36888 for tips and reminders.

The Crisco Pie hotline is designed to help you out with pie crust and pie making. The number is 1-877-FOR-PIE-TIPS (1-877-367-7438). Unlike the turkey hotline, which is only available in November and December, it is actually available year-round, but as Thanksgiving approaches and pie season kicks into higher gear, they extend the hours: Nov 16 - Nov 25: Monday - Friday (8 - 8 EST) and Dec 14 - Dec 23: Monday - Friday (8 - 8 EST). During the year, they are open Monday - Friday (9 - 7 EST).

There is no doubt that the cans of refrigerated crescent roll dough that you can buy in the market are tasty, but it’s always nice to be able to take the option of a homemade version. Happily, I can say that it is not difficult to bake up a batch of homemade crescent rolls from scratch, even on a busy weeknight. They’re not quite as quick as the premade biscuits, but they are certainly very quick for a yeast bread dinner roll recipe.

The packaged crescent rolls are quite like little croissants, light in texture and buttery. This version, a variation of a Red Star Yeast recipe, has the same look, but has a slightly different feel to the dough. They’re soft and buttery, but have a texture that is more like a fluffy dinner roll than a flaky croissant. They’re easy to split and spread with butter or jam, and are great for soaking up things like cranberry sauce and turkey gravy during Thanksgiving dinner. They will also keep well for a day or two, so you can make them a day in advance and store them in an airtight container, reheating them before serving, the next day.

Shaping the rolls is much easier than you might think. All you need to do is roll out the dough into a big circle so that it resembles an untopped pizza. Then, using a pizza cutter, divide up the dough into 12 pizza slices. Starting with the “crust” edge, roll each slice of pizza towards the center to form the rolls, then curve them slightly when you lay them on the baking sheet. I brush the rolls with melted butter for a little extra buttery flavor, but you could also brush them with a lightly beaten egg for a little shine.

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• Nami Nami used a bunch of not-quite-right bananas to bake a batch of tasty Banana Muffins with Pecans. Her post is a great reminder that, while it is always good to use great-tasting fruits in baked goods and desserts, baking is a great way to improve the flavor and texture of less than perfect fruits by enhancing them with other ingredients. The recipe itself is a lovely looking recipe for some basic banana muffins that could easily become everyday breakfast favorites.
• Oatmeal, coconut, sweetened condensed milk and lemon all come together in Eat My Cake Now’s easy to make version of Lemon Squares. The lemon squares have a creamy, sweet-tart center thanks to the sweetened condensed milk and lemon, and a flavorful crust that is both crisp and chewy. It’s easy to make because the bottom crust and the top crust are made from the same mixture, so you can put this dessert together in only a few minutes before popping it into the oven.
• In spite of the name, the Pistachio Coffee Ring baked by One Pefect Bite doesn’t include any coffee. It’s actually a sweet yeast bread, made rich with the addition of butter and milk, that is quite like a coffee cake. It has a spiral of pistachio nuts in the center that add crunch and color. It looks quite impressive and is not too difficult to make - and definitely worth experimenting with yeast for pistachio fans out there.
• Coconut Coffee Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting from 6 Bittersweets, by contrast, do include coffee. Coffee and coconut add relatively subtle flavors to the cupcake base and really serve the purpose of highlighting the Peanut Butter Swiss Buttercream that tops these off, making the frosting seem even richer by comparison. The frosting is a good stand-alone recipe, too, and would make a nice topping for chocolate, vanilla or banana cupcakes.
• One of the most indulgent Thanksgiving side dishes you can have is candied yams, or candied sweet potatoes. Rich with butter and sugar, and topped with marshmallows, it’s a dish decadent enough to be dessert. Bake And Destroy has some Vegan Sweet Potato Cupcakes that seem to turn this classic into dessert! The sweet potato cupcakes use canned sweet potato puree and lots of warm spices. They are topped with candied walnuts and marshmallows, which are bruleed before serving. You can find vegan marshmallows at some natural food stores, but you can also rely on regular marshmallows if you’re not vegan and want to give the recipe a try.

There are more ways to cook turkeys for Thanksgiving dinner then there are turkeys being eaten on the last Thursday in November. Everyone - and their mother - has a strategy and the vast majority of them involve the turkey being in the oven for at least a few hours. I don’t think that there is only one perfect way to cook a turkey and so I am very open to trying new methods when I am ready to roast a big bird. I try to aim for a crisp (or at least not soggy) skin, relatively moist breasts and moist, tender dark meat. My usual method of high heat to start followed by a slow roast at a lower temperature works pretty well, but this year I decided to try an ultra-high heat cooking method to see how the turkey would turn out.

The high heat method, which I’ve mostly heard about as a good option for roasting chicken, not turkeys, calls for cooking a turkey at a high heat the entire cooking time. In theory, this seals in the juices while producing a crispy skin - and gets the turkey done in as little as 90 minutes! I skimmed through some of my past notes on the subject and decided to go with an old New York Times article as a guideline. I popped my turkey into the oven at 500F and sat back to watch it cook.

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