I heart carbs!

First things first, here's the link to the caramelized onion roast turkey I mentioned yesterday.

Today's entry is a salute to the bottom of the food pyramid - carbohydrates! Here's a cavalade of my most beloved starchy side dishes, including sweet potatoes, stuffing, and rolls. My roasted sweet potato recipe comes from Bon Appetit, and if you look at this recipe on Epicurious, pay no attention to the reviewer who says to cut down on the butter. She be insane. The butter melts with honey and lemon juice to form a delectable, plate-lick-inducing glaze. All right, cut it down to 4T if you must.

I cook my stuffing outside the bird, using the bread chunks and recipe provided by the Grand Central Bakery. The recipe comes on the back of the bag, but is also available on their website, God bless 'em. A few more steps than your basic Stove Top, but infinitely better, especially with toasted pecans (and I do like Stove Top...). You could probably substitute any toasted bread chunks from crusty, artisan-type loaves.

My favorite roll recipe is actually a "Top Secret" recipe that duplicates the wheat bread served at Outback Steakhouse. (I leave out the food coloring called for in the recipe). This slightly-sweet bread can either be shaped into 8 oblong rolls or 32 round dinner rolls. The recipe calls for cocoa powder and instant coffee, which makes the finished product very complex and tasty. Caveat - there's something a little off with this recipe - I always end up adding lots more flour than called for, but it always turns out great!

I'm skipping the mashed potatoes this year because we only have four dinner attendees, and I can never get those taters to stay hot anyhow. If anyone has a killer mashed potato recipe or a foolproof method of keeping them hot, please share!