Canadian readers, you're so lucky. October is such a civilized month to celebrate Thanksgiving and over a long weekend, no less. (The official date for Canadian Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October but many celebrate on the Saturday or Sunday.) Many of you are likely turkey-deep in planning, even cooking, this year's Thanksgiving menu. Imagine, luxuriating in the tradition of Thanksgiving, at the height of autumn, a full six weeks before the Christmas busy-ness begins. But American readers? There are so so many reasons why we should celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving too. So far, I count 13. Read on! Thanksgiving Food Traditions, Menus, Recipes and More.

Comfort food at its best, a hearty, old-fashioned soup cooked right on the stove with meaty chunks of ground beef and a cornucopia of bright-colored vegetables, all laced with just the right amount of noodles. I've been making this soup for, what, thirty years? It's no wonder, it's that good! So if you've got 20 minutes plus an hour to simmer, prepare for happy eaters around your table! Homemade Soup, Made from Scratch. Belly-Warming During Cold Weather. A Favorite One-Pot, Budget-Friendly Meal. Kid Friendly. Weight Watchers Friendly. High Protein. Great for Meal Prep & Feeding a Crowd. Rave Reviews.

So get out the butter and put away the sugar, we're going to make apple butter, real apple butter, the "slow food" approach to homemade apple butter. In this recipe, the apple butter is naturally sweetened with apple cider, dotted with a little butter for richness and spends a long (loooong!) time in the oven or in a slow cooker. So yes, this apple cider is "sugar free" – or better put, has "no added sugar" and "no sugar substitutes" like Splenda and the like. It's just gorgeous, very apple-y, what apple butter is "supposed to taste like" – I hope you love it! My two burning questions about apple butter. First, why doesn’t apple butter call for – um, well, you know – butter? My recipe does, just a touch, which gives this lovely butterscotch-colored apple sauce, an unctuous mouth feel. After several hours in the oven at low temperature, it’s so smooth, so creamy, it’s on the verge of something akin to custard, al...

My mom's famous Banana Cake, so light and tender and bursting with banana goodness. It's an old-fashioned recipe with natural banana sweetness, easy to make and flexible, too. Make it from scratch in one bowl with every-day common ingredients. Stir in walnuts (or not). Then bake it all in a square pan for a simple snacking cake ~or~ a round cake pan for a special-occasion cake ~or~ a quarter-sheet pan for rustic bars. Frost it with a light drizzle of Caramel Icing (or not). Best of all, bakers, you've just got to try this new technique for "ripening" bananas without waiting days and days for them for the skins to form spots and turn brown! Homemade Old-Fashioned Banana Cake "Plain" But Perfectly Packed with Banana Flavor. Just a Hint of Nutmeg. Gorgeous Caramel Icing, No Cream Cheese! Family-Tested for More Than Sixty Years! Just As Delicious Walnuts or No Walnuts, Frosting or No Frosting. Flexible Baking Options. Stays Fresh & Moist for Days. B...

How to make a homemade version of the famous mustard from Finland that comes in toothpaste-like tubes labeled "Turun Sinappia". Finns can't live without this mustard and neither can I! But you needn't be Finnish to fall in love with this simple mustard made from scratch with just a few pantry ingredients and a quick stir on the stove . It's a personal favorite from the year I lived in Finland as an exchange student and a staple in my kitchen. Finnish Mustard Copycat. Whole Food, Fresh & Fast. Year-Round Kitchen Staple. Budget Friendly. Great for Meal Prep & Food Gifts. Easy DIY. Naturally Gluten Free.

A Moroccan-style lamb stew, cooked in a savory “jam" (which really isn't a jam at all) made with onions and fresh summer tomatoes, seasoned with cinnamon, saffron and honey. One hand, it’s enough to count the times lamb has reached my plate, let alone my stove. But I’m learning! When you buy a whole lamb (or a whole hog or a whole steer or a whole elk, say), you fly through the chops, steaks and tenderloins. And then you’re left with a freezerful of the so-called ‘lesser cuts’ that need a little TLC to cook. (TLC? That would mean Time, Largess and Curiosity.) Confession: I so do not “get" cuts of meat, my eyes glaze over at those butcher diagrams showing the loins and hams and the sirloins and butts (which are actually shoulders, by the way, confusing me even more). Buying a whole animal for the freezer, it’s this former-vegetarian's, still-meat-squeamish cook’s attempt to learn my way through the less-expensive just-as-tasty pieces of meat. This is ...