Hosting a holiday gathering for family or friends? Need some new ideas? Attend our Holiday Cooking Class on December 2^nd from 5:30-7:30 pm. The class will emphasize appetizers, finger foods and other easy to prepare and eat foods. The importance of holiday food safety will be stressed. There will be demonstrations of numerous recipes with samples to taste, a booklet of demonstrated foods, plus many other recipes and food safety handouts to take home.

The cost of the program is $10.00. It will be held at the University of Illinois Extension Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Register online at: www.extension.uiuc.edu/sangamonmenard or for more information: call (217) 782-4617.

Right now the pumpkins and winter squash are ripe and ready for eating. According to Shirley Camp, University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator, pumpkins and winter squash are a rich source of Vitamin A as well as fiber.

Other nutrients you get from pumpkin include potassium, folic acid, copper, iron and riboflavin. One cup of cooked, solidly packed pumpkin/squash has only about 80 calories.

While it is much easier to use canned pumpkin, you may have a bit of trouble finding canned pumpkin in your local stores, according to Camp. If pumpkin pie is a must for your Thanksgiving or other holiday meals, you might need to resort to buying the whole squash and making your own pumpkin puree.

There are several varieties of winter squash available including butternut, Hubbard, turban, buttercup, acorn, banana, mammoth, sweet dumpling and the pumpkin. Choose pumpkin or squash that has a bright colored skin, is firm and heavy for the size and has no damaged areas. Smaller pumpkins/squash may produce better products.

To use the pumpkin/squash, all you need to do is cut it in half and scoop out the seeds. Place it cut-side down in a baking dish, and bake in a moderate (350 degree F) oven until the pulp is soft. Let it cool slightly, and then scoop the flesh out of the shell. You can puree it in a blender or food processor to make a smoother product, and then it is ready for pies, pumpkin bread, cookies or other product made with pumpkin puree.

If you are looking for ways to preserve pumpkin, the prepared puree can be frozen. If canning pumpkin is your method of choice, you must can the pumpkin in chunks.

To can your own pumpkin, wash the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Cut into 1-inch slices, and peel. Then cut the flesh into 1-inch cubes. Add the cubes to a saucepot of boiling water, and boil for 2 minutes—do not mash or puree.

Pack the hot cubes into hot jars leaving 1-inch of headspace. Fill the jar to within 1-inch of the top with boiling hot cooking liquid. Remove air bubbles, wipe the jar rims, adjust the lids and process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure—55 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts.

When you are ready to use the pumpkin, drain off most of the liquid, mash or puree, and use as you would commercially canned pumpkin.

The benefits of eating soy are clear: decrease your chance of cardiovascular disease, lower the fat and cholesterol in your diet, increase your intake of protein and reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. But what about flavor? And how do you cook with soy to make the foods your family likes and will eat?

Tofu in the American Kitchen, a publication of the Illinois Center for Soy Foods, is a cookbook that can help you discover how tofu can transform everyday dishes like lasagna, meatballs and cheesecake into healthy, delicious meals that deliver a powerhouse of nutrition and flavor. This 42 page spiral bound book features full color photos for over 20 recipes. There is nutritional information for every recipe, including calorie, fat, carbohydrate and protein counts. The book includes helpful information on buying, storing and using tofu in your own favorite recipes. The cost is $18.00 and the book can be purchased at the Sangamon County U of I Extension Office on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. For more information call: 217-782-4617.

Even though you have a few weeks before you cook your Thanksgiving meal, you can begin planning what you will serve and even buy some of the supplies, according to University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator, Shirley Camp.

Start off by planning your guest list and menu. Knowing what you will be serving can help with your food budget because you can take advantage of any specials that are available over the next few weeks. You can also spread your spending over time and not end up with a huge grocery bill that breaks your budget!

Since turkey may be the main dish for your holiday gathering, there are some decisions you need to make about what type of bird to buy. Do you want a fresh or frozen turkey? If you buy frozen, do you have freezer space to store it?

If fresh turkey is your choice, Camp recommends purchasing it only one or two days ahead of time. For food safety, fresh turkeys should not be pre-stuffed.

How much turkey should you buy? If you are buying a whole bird, purchase one pound per person. For a boneless breast of turkey you will need 1/2 pound per person, and for a breast with bone you will need 3/4 pound of turkey per person. If you buy a pre-stuffed frozen turkey, buy 1 1/4 pounds per person, and keep it frozen until you are ready to cook it (in other words do NOT thaw it before cooking.)

For a turkey that is frozen, use a safe thawing method. Since you will be serving several people, you want to prevent foodborne illness from being an added "condiment" at your holiday meal, Camp says. Preventing foodborne illness is of particular importance for the young, the elderly, those with immune-compromised systems and pregnant women.

If you plan to thaw a turkey in the refrigerator, place the frozen bird in the original wrapping in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F or below. Allow about 24 hours per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. So if you have a small bird of 4 to 12 pounds, it will take 1 to 3 days to thaw; a 16 to 20 pound bird will take 4 to 5 days to thaw. After thawing the bird can be kept refrigerated for 1 to 2 days.

If you forget to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator or do not have enough refrigerator space, you can submerge the turkey in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Allow about 30 minutes per pound to defrost a turkey in cold water. A 4 to 12 pound turkey will take 2 to 6 hours using this method; a 16 to 20 pound will take 8 to 10 hours.

If you have a small turkey, you could thaw the turkey in your microwave oven. Check your microwave instruction book to see whether thawing a turkey in the microwave is recommended and how large a bird can be thawed in your microwave oven. Turkey thawed in the microwave should be cooked immediately after the thawing process.

If you need further information about holiday food safety and cooking, contact your local University of Illinois Extension office or go to the website www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets.