For the Sterno buffet kit giveaway, I asked readers to tell me about their favorite holiday dishes. All the winners named something different! And reading all the responses made me a bit hungry. Stuffing (with turkey baked inside) is my favorite holiday dish.

Here are the 10 Sterno full-size buffet kit winners and their yummy food responses:

Bashtree: chicken and broccoli casserole from grandmother
Lauralee Hensley: “Definitely Yams!”
Shelbie Johnston: cornbread stuffing
Deborah R: stuffing with gravy
Kimberly R: pumpkin pie
Heather: hashbrown casserole with cornflake topping
Angie: roasted turkey
Susan A: lasagna
Erma: “my hubby’s grandma’s homemade noodles”
Misty: Christmas spiced cookies

I want to send out a special thanks to …read more

Four Easy Tips for a Better Bird, an excerpt from The Science of Good Food by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss, coming out in October of 2008:
The challenge of cooking turkey is keeping it moist and cooking it evenly. Turkey is lower in moisture than other birds, containing only about 58% water.
1. Soaking the bird in brine increases its moisture content by up to 10%. A self-basting turkey is essentially a lightly brined turkey injected with liquid fat, water, and seasonings to flavor and moisten the meat. Brining helps whole birds cook more evenly because it allows …read more

Few cities take culinary traditions more seriously than New Orleans, where long-time Creole dining customs and iconic dishes contribute so much to the distinctive local cuisine. During the mid-1800’s, New Orleans’ Creole families celebrated the “Reveillon” (French for “awakening”) twice during the holidays. The first Reveillon came after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, when families returned from St. Louis Cathedral to break a daylong fast with an elaborate meal. New Year’s Eve brought another Reveillon, usually shared among several families. This more festive meal featured eggnog, fancy pastries, meringues, sugar sculptures, and crystallized fruits.
Today’s Reveillon is celebrated nightly …read more

Cooking Light, the largest food magazine in the United States, has just published a comprehensive and enjoyable cookbook, aptly called “Cooking Light Complete Cookbook.” This 632-page, spiral-bound book has something for every taste and level of cooking expertise. There are hundreds of recipes from the United States and abroad as well as instructional tips on cooking techniques and food buying guides. Of course, being “Cooking Light,” there’s also nutritional information and tips for healthy (yet delicious) cooking.
Holiday lovers (and isn’t that why you visit “All Holiday Cafe”) will find complete menu suggestions for major holidays as well as Mother’s …read more

A deep-fried turkey is one of the most popular new trends for holiday cooking. This series of videos (they are all linked), by caterer Mike Hedrick, discusses safety, setting up your equipment, the types of turkey fryers available, how to prepare the turkey for deep-frying, and how to cook the bird. Take a look: