First of all, you`ll need to prepare your turkey. If it comes with a bag of giblets inside, make sure you take those out. You may want to rinse your turkey under running water just to clean it up a bit and then put it into the roasting pan. Now, your pan should be fairly large, you don`t want the turkey getting all deformed in there! The disposible aluminum pans are great, though I just line my roasting pan with tinfoil to make cleanupeasier.

Preheat your oven to 425º and then put that turkey in there. Most people use a meat thermometer stuck into the leg without touching the bone. The temperature inside the turkey needs to hit 160º. I personally don`t have a thermometer, but haven`t had any problems. Here is an approximate guide to cooking an unstuffed turkey.

8 lbs. = 1 hour

12-14 lbs. = 1.5 hours

16-20 lbs. = 2.25 hours

Stuffed turkeys will take even longer, but I prefer to cook the stuffing separately, myself.

On to the Garlic-Herb Turkey . . .

Garlic-Herb Rub

4 sticks margarine

1 head garlic, peeled and minced

2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped fine

2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, minced

2 tsp. dried sage

Blend all ingredients together with an electric mixer until the butter is uniform in color and texture.

Now comes the hard part. Not really. Starting at the opening in the turkey, slide your fingers carefully under the skin, breaking the connective tissues. You may need to use a butter knife to help with this part. Avoid tearing holes in the skin, though if there is a little one, it`s not a big deal.

Loosen all the skin, right around the turkey, including the legs. Now, take a big gob of the garlic-herb butter and push it under the skin with your fingers. Rub it right into the flesh. Do this with all the butter, trying to get it fairly evenly distributed under the skin on both sides of the turkey. Again, precision isn`t vital.

The final step is to give your turkey a massage. Just gently rub it on the outside of the skin, smoothing out the lumps of butter until the turkey is fairly evenly covered.

Now, put your bird in the roasting pan, breast side up. You may want to tie the legs together with string at this point, to keep them from flopping down. Put the turkey in the oven and let it roast. Check toward the end of the time to see if the skin is burning. If it is, you can lay some tinfoil over top to prevent this.

I recommend making the turkey ahead of time and letting it sit for up to an hour before dinner. This lets the butter soak in a bit and gives you time to use the oven for side dishes, which we`ll be covering over the next week and a half. You`ll have a tender, tasty turkey with crispy, buttered skin and a lovely garlic flavor.

To start with, if you are planning to make the Garlic-Herb Turkey that is featured in this Perfect Thanksgiving Series, then you want a plain, frozen turkey. It`s a good idea to buy it now, before supplies start to run low  . . . it`s no fun hunting through half a dozen stores the day before Thanksgiving, trying to find a turkey, any turkey!

To help you out a bit, we`ve put together a FAQ for buying your turkey.

How much turkey do I need?

You should allow for 1 lb per person . . . more if you want leftovers. So if you are feeding a family of 4, you could easily go with a 5 lb turkey.

Which brand should I buy?

For the best flavor, you`ll want to stick with birds that have been allowed to grow naturally. Heritage is a good choice for flavor, but any turkey that has “organic” or “pastured” should be good, as well. Avoid Butterball turkeys, while popular, they also tend to go mushy thanks to being injected with flavoring.

How do I know if a turkey is good?

You do need to be careful when selecting a turkey to ensure that it`s a good one. Look for packages that aren`t leaking and that have the latest sell by date, since these will be freshest. If the turkey smells odd, don`t buy it. If you are buying early and going for frozen, you probably won`t have any problems at all.

Frozen or fresh?

We recommend frozen, since you can buy it now and keep it until Thanksgiving, but if you don`t have the space in your freezer to store a whole turkey, you can certainly go for fresh and keep it in the fridge for up to three days.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Perfect Thanksgiving series . . . How to Cook Your Turkey.

This Perfect Thanksgiving series will show you everything you need to know, from choosing the right one, to thawing it and then turning that sucker into the most delicious bird you`ve ever tasted in your life. A little later in the month, we`ll take a peek at side dishes, as well, so if you stick around you`ll be able to whip up an entire Thanksgiving dinner . . . even if you`ve never tried anything more complicated than making Jello before.

On to the good stuff! Don`t let the thought of making your very own, homecooked Thanksgiving meal stress you out . . . it`s really quite easy if you follow the steps in this series.

Rambutan, related to the lychee, can be found in most areas in a Chinese produce store. They look rather odd, like little hairy animals, but the fruit inside is truly heavenly. North America is one of the few areas of the world that doesn`t produce this delightful fruit, though it is usually grown within 15º of the equator for the best results.

The outer, “hairy” skin can be peeled off and is rather stiff. Underneath, you`ll find a jelly-like, white fruit with a thick brown pit in the middle. It`s sweet and delicate tasting and the rambutan can be used for many types of cooking.

Rambutan is a fragile fruit that doesn`t last long in the market, since it must be tree-ripened. You will want firm fruit with good color, avoid any with spots or browning.

This fruit can be eaten as is, simply peeled and the meat sucked off the pit. It`s even better chilled! But that`s not the end of it. Rambutan can be used in jellies and desserts, too.

Savory Rambutan with Garlic

3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons crushed coriander roots (or use powdered)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
oil
1/2 pound minced pork
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped peanuts
4 teaspoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons sugar
1 chili pepper, seeds removed and minced
2 cans rambutans, drained or about 3 cups fresh

In a frying pan, saute garlic and coriander with the oil until the garlic is lightly browned. Add all remaining ingredients except rambutans. Cook until everything is browned and the liquid is all but gone. Add in the rambutans and cook for 2 min. This goes well with rice.

Baked Ham with Rambutan

1 ham, cook according to directions

about 3 dozen rambutans, peeled, pitted and sliced in half

When the ham is nearly done baking, use toothpicks to pin the rambutan halves to it, covering the meat completely. Roasted rambutans are tasty and the juice seeps into the meat, adding a tropical flavor that is far more subtle than pineapple.

Rambutan Pudding

1 package ladyfingers

2 cups rambutans, peeled, pitted and finely chopped

3 cups whipped cream

Lay the ladyfingers in a pie dish, covering the bottom completely and sticking up the sides. Fold rambutan chunks into the whipped cream and fill the pie dish. Refridgerate until ready.

Hint: For extra flavor, soak the rambutan in brandy or white wine overnight before adding to the whipped cream.

Super Simple Strawberry Shortcake

Topping:

Whipped cream or chantilly

2 cups sliced strawberries

2 tablespoons sugar

Place strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Toss until all the berries are coated, set aside.

Cake:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1 1/3 cups water

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix dry ingredients well. Use your fingers to crumble the margarine into the flour until you have little pea sized bits. Add the water all at once and stir quickly until the mixture is just moistened. Spread in an 8×8″ pan and bake for 25-30 min. or until cooked through.

To serve, cut into squares, top with strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream. Super simple and absolutely heavenly!

1. Yoghurt cups

2. Veggies - one of my favorite way to pack veggies is to chop up a bunch the night before and put them in a little tupperware container with a drizzle of salad dressing. Then you shake it all up so that they are all coated and by the morning its mixed with the juices for a scrumptious and delicious treat.

3. an apple

4. granola bars

5. grapes - these stuck in a little ziplock bag are perfect for taking with you places.

6. leftover pizza…ok, I know its not the healthiest, but thats what I had for a snack today so I’m putting it in here.

7. banana

8. muffin

9. mixed nuts

10. A V8 juice…very tasty and very healthy!

Happy snacking!!!

Photo by Leonid Mamchenkov

Salt used to be a precious commodity. It`s an essential mineral and before the technology made the extraction of salt easy, it was extremely valuable. That`s why we say, “Worth his salt” . . . it was really worth a lot and some workers were even paid with salt. So if you were worth your salt, you were a very good employee.

While there has been a lot of hype about salt free diet, the truth is that salt is usually pretty good for you. In moderation. It brings out the flavors in the food and makes even bland items like pasta pop with taste.

Using salt is something that most people don`t know how to do properly. The best dishes will have salt incorporated right into them. That means, rather than sprinkling the salt on afterwards, you season the dish at the beginning. When you go to cook chicken breasts, for example, sprinkle it with salt before cooking. For pasta, the water should be salted. This technique allows for the salt flavor to penetrate the food and make it truly taste great.

How should you add salt? Sprinkling it from fairly high up is the best method of getting even distribution and preventing clumps of salty areas.

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 t. vanilla

4 cups flour (the recipe calls for white but I used 2 cups white and 2 cups whole wheat)

1 cup milk

4 t. baking powder

4 cups berries (I got one of those frozen bags of berry mix…strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry)

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in the eggs, vanilla and milk. add flour and baking powder and mix everything together into a smooth batter. Add the berries and gently fold in. If the berries are still frozen, you don’t have to worry about being too gentle but if they are thawed or fresh, you want to be really careful. Put a spoonful of batter into each cup of a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until the tops brown. These muffins are to die for!!! Enjoy!