Ten years ago, I was in New Orleans for a banking conference. Already a foodie, I seized the chance to meet Paul Prudhomme (the 'Emeril' of New Orleans pre-Food Network) and then score a table at his (then) no-reservations K-Paul, the Cajun restaurant that brought blackened redfish to fame and even post-Katrina, remains a N'awlins institution. I came home with an autographed cookbook inscribed 'Good Cooking, Good Eating, Good Loving' and stocked up on 'Chef Paul's' Magic Seasoning Blends . That was then. This is now. Spice blends are low on the priority list, I blend my own or go without. So when I spied the cookbook's lonely-only recipe for no-purchase-required ingredients, I paid attention. And hunted up real red-skinned yams, not their brown-skinned tuber-cousins the sweet potatoes. And peeled and chopped. And bathed for cooking in nothing more than water and sugar spiked with vanilla (!) and lemon juice (!!). And tasted. And savored. And praised

So even if one could eat nothing but vegetables at Thanksgiving (and I promise, there are many more vegetable recipes for Thanksgiving in the works, watch for them all this month), most of us are plenty attached to turkey and dressing and all the trimmings too. My food column Kitchen Parade is also celebrating Thanksgiving this month, starting off with two favorite cranberry recipes from a 2002 column. Cranberry Chutney (pictured) is so good that my friend Cindy requests it specifically and its cousin Cranberry Ginger Relish is frosty sweet with fresh ginger! Here's the column . So check out all the Thanksgiving recipes at Kitchen Parade, including thinking ahead for Thanksgiving leftovers . SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features ' fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful e

Creamy cheesy mac' n' cheese but given a twist by the addition of rich roasted butternut squash. Gorgeous color, love the crispy topping, a peppery mix of panko and pepitas (pumpkin seeds). WAY BACK IN 2008 Today we kick off the 2008 collection of Thanksgiving vegetable recipes (update: please see the latest collection, Favorite Recipes for Thanksgiving's Favorite Vegetables ) with a recipe for macaroni and cheese that'll have your family asking, "Who made the mac 'n' cheese?" Oh boy oh boy, this is a mac 'n' cheese that's completely familiar and yet also a surprise, thanks to the secret ingredient, roasted butternut squash. If you're like me, and then a dozen Slow Food St. Louis taste testers, and then my dad, you'll wonder, 'Why didn't we combine these before?' The combination is deeper, richer, earthier and yet still completely mac 'n' cheese – it just works! Here's why.

This page has moved. I hope you love the new page, it's right here: Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes . Or just click the link if it's easier. Either way will get you right where you want to be. © Copyright Kitchen Parade 2007 & 2019

Boo! Happy Halloween, everyone! So here in America, we have our Road Food and our too ubiquitous drive-through food . But except in major urban centers (and in my own experience, only in New York), we have virtually no Street Food, you know, impermanent push carts and open-air stalls, quick windows and roadside stands where people line up because, well, there's just no not joining a crowd that knows from experience that at the front of the line is cheap, hearty and delicious food worth the line and the wait. So when the publisher of Street Food by Tom Kime sent a review copy, I found myself moving straight to the front of imaginary lines in places like India and Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, southern Europe, even the Middle East and north Africa. Ah! the adventure of it, the surprises found! The book is beautifully constructed, part travelogue (with plenty of stops for sustenance) by country but organized into must-cook-now categories like 'be

Okay, confession time. When fresh beets come home with me, more times than not, the greens go to waste. (I know!) All my good intentions get soft around the edges and then turn to a stinky gooey mess -- just like the greens themselves, rotting in the produce bin. So this recipe that combines both the greens and the beets in a single soup ? Yes, it got my attention. The added bonus? The stems are used too! And I'm so glad -- the soup is entirely delicious. The greens are there but honestly, what you're paying attention to is those beet batons. And since it cooks only just until the vegetables are tender to the tooth, it's nothing at all like my recipe for traditional borscht , even last summer's cold and creamy borscht . FERGUSON FARMERS MARKET For St. Louisans: The beets came from the Ferguson Farmers Market in North County, which the Riverfront Times recently named as the 'best farmers market in St. Louis'. I've only been once but really liked it. The '

While A Veggie Venture is developing a certain reputation for slow food (with more to come!), more often than not, quick is the order of the day. Or night. Plus, as much as I love slow bread , the timing is tricky. With all the ease of muffins, today's new recipe in Kitchen Parade is all about quick. Weeknight-Easy Rolls are made with yeast (for flavor) and baking powder (for instant leavening) and are on the table in 40 minutes flat, I mean, 40 minutes quick. On your mark, get set, go ... get the recipe ! ONLY 26 MORE PLANNING DAYS TIL THANKSGIVING My kitchen is decidedly busy! You see, I'm gearing up for Thanksgiving -- yes, it's time to start planning our Thanksgiving menus and when it comes to vegetable recipes for Thanksgiving, I hope A Veggie Venture will be your favorite source. Beginning November 1, watch for new vegetable recipes perfect for Thanksgiving tables, traditional recipes made fresh, ones that can be made in advance, and feed a crowd, an