3 Ring Binder

As we finalize our Thanksgiving menu, I realized that we are doing a lot of borrowing from the traditions, taste tests, and tried-and-true recipes of others.   Here are just a few of the recipes of the food flavors we’ve fancied for our fall feast this year: 1.        Alton Brown’s brine 2.        Marilyn Monroe’s dressing 3.        Mark Bittman’s beets 4.        Trey Givens’ ice cream I have to give a special nod to Mark Bittman’s brussel sprouts with bacon and figs .   Stephen made them the other day and they were fantastic ! I’m just not sure they’ll fit in with all the other wonderful dishes we’ll already have on the table. Brief videos for all of Bittman’s suggested Thanksgiving fare can be found here . Hope your recipe for celebrating Thanksgiving is as warm, wonderful, or wild as you wish.

For those of you who don’t watch a lot of TV, or don’t yet know the joy of the Food Network , I am pleased to introduce you to Alton Brown . Mr. Brown, or Alton (Al – ton) as he is known in our house, is part chef, part TV host, chemist, MC, electrical, and mechanical engineer, and comedian. His show on the Food Network, Good Eats should be considered as “educational TV”. Not only does Alton teach you how to braise beef and retrofit your variable speed drill with mixing paddles, but he’ll also tell you why the molecules in emulsions do what they do and give you a brief history of cans . There is nothing this guy won’t tackle – and he does it with great style! Here, for your edification and preparatory pleasure, is Alton's Beef Map. In addition to Good Eats, the ubiquitous Mr. Brown hosts Iron Chef America , his own show, Feasting on Asphalt which combines his joy of motorcycle riding with food of the American highways and byways (I love roadtrips, but I wasn’t really fond of this...