Practice.

Okay, I'm a little crazy.

My favorite food holiday is and always will be thanksgiving.  I love fall food, love cooking for people, love making said people sleepy and happy and impressed.  Thanksgiving was the first big meal I learned how to cook myself.  As a young, adventurous novice cook, at the ripe age of 12, I asked my mom if I could cook the meal.  She said, why not?  That year, I got my hand up that bird, my arm worked out mashing potatoes and learned what exactly was in green bean casserole.

Since then, I've used the day to try out new seasonal recipes and have also pinned down some family staples.  My older sister has to have my stuffed mushrooms.  My little sister needs the mashed, garlicky potatoes.  My mom loves my take on baked fennel gratin.  Me?  I live for stuffing.  What exactly is better than an entire tray of baked salty bread?  I've come a long way since the perfect stale cubes in the bag, though.

A new tradition, since I've been married, is attending the event at my in-laws house.  My husbands mother takes care of the bird and I'm always asked to bring a side... which means I bring three sides, two appetizers and a dessert because I'm a control freak.  Now that I have a much bigger and varied audience, I'm taking into account dietary restrictions, tastes and preferences.  Not to mention competition... don't even think about bringing a challenging duplicate dish, rude!  Because of all these factors (and the big, whole control freak thing i mentioned) I like to do practice runs of dish ideas before the big day to decide.  Here's one I've settled on.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Walnuts and Vanilla

based on this recipe

1 lb butternut squash, peeled and cubed (everything should be roughly same shape)

3 parsnips, peeled and cubed

3 large carrots, peeled and cubed

2 turnips, peeled and cubed

4 sprigs fresh thyme, ripped up

1 tablespoon olive oil

generous palm of salt + fresh pepper

1 cup walnuts

3 tbsp butter or vegan butter

1 vanilla bean, slit and scraped

1/2 tablespoon honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat all veggies and thyme in the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Lay out in even layer on baking sheets (will need 2).

2. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning and stirring halfway through.  Remove from oven and put into large serving dish.

3.  Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat, add in walnuts and vanilla (whole bean and scraped contents) and toast for 7-8 minutes.  Add in honey, toss glaze with vegetables to coat.