Last Chance Foods

It’s Tuesday already, which means Thanksgiving is looming just a few days away. Hopefully, the grocery shopping is done at this point and plans of attack are being formulated. Deb Perelman of the blog Smitten Kitchen says now is the time to get cracking on Thursday’s meal — and she suggests starting backward with desserts first.

This year, as families and groups of friends gather for Thanksgiving, many vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free eaters will be among those who pull their chairs up to the table.

So many dietary needs has raised questions from hosts and guests on how to prepare tasty vegetarian-friendly, vegan and gluten-free dishes for a mixed crowd, and whether to bring vegetarian main courses to non-vegetarian Thanksgiving meals.

This year, about 99 percent of families sitting down to turkey at the Thanksgiving dinner table will be enjoying one breed: the Broad Breasted White. That’s the bird pictured in idyllic Norman Rockwell paintings associated with a specific brand of suburban America.

At this time of year, many root vegetables come with a bonus: edible, leafy tops. Greens on turnips, beets and even carrots are particularly nutritious and belong on the stovetop, not the compost heap. While the roots will keep for months, the greens themselves will only be available shortly after they’ve been harvested.

The unprecedented amount of rain brought on by Tropical Storm Irene has made for a difficult growing season for many crops harvested in the Tri-State area. But in the Finger Lake region, this was a booming year for grapes, which had a harvest up 7 percent from last year.

Call them creepy, poisonous, delicious, or beautiful — what is certain about mushrooms is that they are essential to a functioning planet. Fungi comprise approximately 25 percent of the world’s biomass, yet they exist in a strange category that is neither plant nor animal, explains Eugenia Bone, the author of the new book, Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms.

The weather is cooling off. As memories of peaches and tomatoes fade away, root vegetables are the featured items at area farmers' markets and in many pantries.

Eels should be the token food for Thanksgiving, argues author and artist James Prosek. Turkey may be the food most associated with the holiday now, but eels were a crucial component of the pilgrims' survival during their first brutal year in the New World.

Not all fish are created equal in the eyes of fisherman, says Hank Shaw, the author of the book Hunt, Gather, Cook. Flounder and cod may be delicious to eat, but they’re lifeless and boring when caught. Now, bluefish — that’s a different story.

Fall is arriving, and that means the end of the fresh corn season. For some, this quintessentially American food is happily identified with picnics and backyard barbecues. But for others, corn sparks debates on complex issues such as genetic engineering and ethanol. In many ways, this native North American grain is a symbol of the complicated relationship the U.S. has with food production.