Wine-Pairing Advice From Astor Wines & Spirits and a DVD Recommendation for After the Meal Is Over

By West Village Bill

Yesterday, my squeeze Tony P. and I took a walk to the East Village to check out Astor Wines & Spirits. I loved the Match Game–style window display that offered recommendations on which kind of wine to pair with various elements of your Thanksgiving meal.

I realize it's hard to see everything because of the weird angle and the window glare, so I'll note that the pairing suggestions are: cabernet franc with herb (stuffing), pinot noir with roast (turkey), zinfandel with spice (cranberry sauce), chardonnay with butter (butternut squash), sherry with pie (it probably should have said sweet instead), and riesling with char (Brussels sprouts).

I was impressed with the breadth of the bottles inside. There were many wines I'd never heard of.

As you'd expect with any large store, there were some items that seemed like bargains and others that seemed overpriced. Tony and I have been drinking a lot of Oregon pinot noir lately, and we saw one from Benton-Lane Winery that we'd drank before that cost a couple dollars more than at stores in our neighborhood. But we spotted an enjoyable pinot gris from Montinore Estate for the cheapest price we'd ever seen it: $12.99.

Stuffed or Dressed

Happy Thankgiving.

Anyone watching the new show, "Raising Hope", with the most wonderful Martha Plimpton, will have some insight into my growing up life.  It wasn't fancy.  And most of my "traditions" are centered around going to my grandparents where there was always a hodge-podge of pot-lucked midwestern, lower middle-class fare: green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, and my beloved mother's mammoth mound of cheese-ball.

But it wasn't until I met my husband and his mishpokhe that I came into some typical turkey and side-dish traditions.  The huz's mum is one of those fabled Jewish mothers who can whip out a meal with only some water, bread, salt, and good motherly guilt.  I've seriously never seen anyone cook as easily or better than Charlotte.

So on this Thanksgiving day, I'm offering up my all-time favorite T-day food: Charlotte's stuffing/dressing recipe.  So simple and good that I dare you not to just eat it out of the pan when it comes out of the oven.  True confession: I make this comfort food throughout the year and eat it out of the pan, over the stove, especially when I'm blue and just totally want to go there with myself.
Recipe after the jump: