When you think of Thanksgiving, you think of stretch pants and food comas, right? In this wonderful video, however, Bill Cunningham finds the high-style influence of pumpkins in our Greenmarkets this week. (Check out our friend Kevin Smith of Sycamore Farms at :22! We know he’s a star, along with his amazing hubbard squash.) So when you’re going out to pick up your brussels sprouts this week, add an orange scarf to your ensemble. You never know who’s noticing. ~Karen Seiger,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And now we are fully launched into the holiday season, with over 50 holiday markets going on throughout the month. This weekend is the NY Creates Holiday Art and Craft Show with the BWAC Brooklyn Waterfront Arts Coalitio. I went to their first weekend event and met up with my friend Catherine Joseph of C. Joseph Clothiers. Catherine makes irresistible menswear using luscious tweed, wool and cashmere fabrics. I always say that men f

James and I are hosting Thanksgiving! There is no place like New York City on my favorite holiday. I do the parade.  James does the cooking. It’s not like we’re equipped to have 9 people for a feast in our place. We have a kitchen the size of a shoe box with an oven the size of an Easy Bake. James has performed tasty miracles in it. He assures me he can roast a turkey breast for 7 adults and two kids in it tomorrow. He also assures me that it’s all about the sides and that no

Indian corn is a lovely symbol of fall in North America and our Native American heritage. But can you do with it in these modern times? From what I’ve read, the best thing to do with it is hang it on your front door for the holidays. It is colorful, natural and beautiful, and your guests will feel welcome as they walk up to your door. I usually get a bunch like these ones from Caradonna Farms at the Union Square Greenmarket and hang it from a wreath hook through Thanksgiving.

It’s finally safe to talk about pumpkins! Any earlier  than October 1 is just not pumpkin season. But we’re in full fall swing, and I have a 10 pound, bright orange beauty sitting on my table. I’m not sure what to do with her. I could carve her into a jack-o-lantern, or I could just let her adorn my living space until Thanksgiving. I think she ought to last that long, right? My dad used to carve up our Halloween pumpkins, bake the seeds and cook down the flesh for Thanksgivin

This morning, we were walking in the grey drizzle and saw this line for people waiting to pick up their pre-ordered turkeys from DiPaola Turkey Farm at the Union Square Greenmarket.  We walked by two other Greenmarkets on our way to work too, all brimming with red apples, purple turnips, green broccoli, and my beloved brussels sprout trees. I snapped this picture with my iPhone.  It’s not a beautiful scene, nobody is smiling, and yet they’re all out first thing in the morning

My best advice to you: Get your Thanksgiving carving knives sharpened this weekend!  I always plan to do it early, and yet there I am, every year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, racing with my butter-knife dull blades to see Margery Cohen of Samurai Sharpening Service at Chelsea Market. Margery sets up shop every Wednesday and Saturday at a table outside Bowery Kitchen Supply in the Chelsea Market.  Her technique is impeccable.  She sharpens the knives of some of the fine

One of the greatest things about eating with the seasons is the colors of the fruits and vegetables at the markets.  I was wandering through the Union Square Greenmarket last week and was gobsmacked by all the purple vegetables I saw.  PURPLE! We’ve read about the eating by color because deeply colored foods, like kale, spinach, pumpkin, and blueberries are rich in nutrients and possibly event contribute to preventing and fighting cancer.  Purple vegetables have to be right u

Today is such a gorgeous day!  So I went wandering at lunchtime and ended up at the Union Square Greenmarket.  My timing was perfect because the food demo was happening right when I got there.  Chef Robin Puskas showed us how to make Maple Glazed Brussels Sprouts using fresh ingredients from the farmers at the market.  Not everybody likes brussels sprouts – we all know the sour faces around the Thanksgiving table.  I like them, but they’re not on my Top 10 list of favorite ve

I visited the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn this past weekend, and I fell in love with this beautiful holiday wreath from Lebak Farm.  The dried flowers in bright pink, rust, cream, and bright yellow, along with the feathery grass, all combine to give this wreath a fluffy, cheery, harvest feel.  My awesome sister-in-law, Marcy Green of Dragonfly Floral and Event, tells me that the flowers include statice, strawflower (gomphrena), sesame bloom, millet, dune grass, a