Ray

If you press the water out of your tofu (wrap in papertowels or towels and put something heavy on it for 30+ minutes), or just buy the 'superfirm' tofu which has very little water already, then you can marinate it and it will soak up more marinade. I suggest baking after a few hours of fridge-marinating. :)

Donna (Food on the Table)

Good points, Ray! I've also let tofu (and yogurt, for that matter) drain overnight in coffee filters to get the extra moisture out if it't not the extra-firm kind, and you're right--that sure helps it soak up extra flavor.. Thanks!

Chef Leslie (Food on the Table)

@Ray and Donna, I usually place my tofu in a large colander over a bowl, place a plate on top of the tofu then stack some soup cans on the plate. I let it drain for about 1 hour.

Chef Heather (Food on the Table)

Hi Samantha! There are a couple of ways to do this. First if you type vegetarian in the search box you will see pages and pages of recipes to browse. For your convenience here is the link to the search results for this: (http://www.foodonthetable.com/search?q=Vegetarian) You can also go to the special diets section and click vegetarian (http://www.foodonthetable.com/topics/vegetarian) and you will find additional recipes along with a whole slew of discussion topics (started by users) regarding vegetarian eating. Hope this helps! And please feel free to leave any questions on recipes if you need help making them into a vegetarian option and we would be more than happy to help!

Shelly

avocado (texture), mayo, fish

Rita

Jell-O

Kamie

I've never eaten pork or shellfish. Now excluding dairy and wheat due to my infant's food sensitivities.

Donna (Food on the Table)

I'm curious to hear our chefs' advice on this! I still remember my grandmother insisting that turkey needed twenty minutes a pound, and since we always had a huge turkey for at least a dozen people, she usually put her turkey in on low the night before. (It wasn't good, though her side dishes always made up for it, luckily.)

Anyway, I do more along the lines of 11-12 minutes a pound. I've always done some sort of 'skin treatment'--either oil/honey/herbs or an herbed butter--and for the initial crisping I always put the turkey in at 450 degrees for at least the first twenty minutes--maybe a little more, until I see that beautiful brown starting to developing. Then I back off to 325 or so and go from there. I do baste regularly, and I tent or cover the wings if anything's browning too much. I've never had a dry turkey... :-)

Chef Heather (Food on the Table)

Here are a few turkey cooking tips: Cooking: The most popular cooking method for cooking whole turkeys is roasting. Start by removing the giblets. Rinse the turkey inside and out and pat dry. After drying, tie the turkey legs together using kitchen twine (called truss); this helps hold the turkey’s shape while cooking. Next brush the turkey with oil or melted butter and season with poultry seasoning. Bake at 350 degrees until the turkey’s internal temperature, taken at the thigh, reaches 165 degrees. Today, it is advised to cook the stuffing separate from the turkey, to ensure both the turkey and stuffing are cooked properly.
Carving: After cooking, cover the turkey with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. A sharp, thin knife or electric knife is an essential tool to turkey carving. Cut into the joints and not bones, to easily break down and remove the thighs, legs and wings without much effort and the risk of breaking your knife.

Chef Heather (Food on the Table)

And here is a general turkey cooking time chart, but always make sure your turkey reaches the 165 temperature.

APPROXIMATE COOKING TIMES

UNSTUFFED

4 to 6 lb breast.....1 1/2 to 2 1/4 hrs
6 to 8 lb breast...2 1/4 to 3 1/4 hrs
8 to 12 lbs................2 3/4 to 3 hrs
12 to 14 lbs..............3 to 3 3/4 hrs
14 to 18 lbs........3 3/4 to 4 1/4 hrs
18 to 20 lbs........4 1/4 to 4 1/2 hrs
20 to 24 lbs..............4 1/2 to 5 hrs

STUFFED

8 to 12 lbs...............3 to 3 1/2 hrs
12 to 14 lbs..............3 1/2 to 4 hrs
14 to 18 lbs..............4 to 4 1/4 hrs
18 to 20 lbs........4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hrs
20 to 24 lbs........4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hrs

Donna (Food on the Table)

I'll go first! It's not Thanksgiving unless I make my mom's (and grandma's) traditional stuffing. It starts with bacon rendered, celery and onion sweated in the bacon, then some ground beef and a little ground pork, minced garlic... finally some chopped walnut, turkey stock and plain stuffing bread (those little dried cubes). And of course, salt, pepper and some sage... My mom always did hers in separate loaf pans--nothing ever went into the turkey. We just slice it and serve with gravy and cranberry sauce... ;-)

Kendra

We usually have a pretty traditional one, but we make it with cornbread, cranberries, poultry seasoning and fresh sauteed wild mushrooms (usually a few different kinds combined). It's a loose dressing, but I'd never put it inside the turkey--too scared to put anything in there.

Donna (Food on the Table)

Agreed, Kendra. Theoretically, I know you can do it safely if you don't pack the stuffing in and check for doneness very carefully, but I just like to stuff some fresh herbs and fruit in the turkey because I feel like the juices do nice things in there for the gravy. :-)

Paul

For beef hamburgers (which I usually cook really thin and really quickly), I tend to prefer a combo of chuck and sirloin (although truth be told, I usually just grab whatever ground beef my local market has with at least 12% fat). My recommendation, since you've tagged your question with so many different options, is to just try a bunch of different meats a couple of times each, keep notes, and then standardize on whatever your whole family likes the most.

Donna (Food on the Table)

Good points, Paul. I also like to go for the thin burger...it's just more appealing to me on some level.

Karla

Just beef here, and I still use at least an 85/15 mix even though some of my friends give me grief about it.