• Emphasize low calorie and low fat foods.
• Plan ahead for meals and snacks.
• Schedule meal and snack times.
• Resist tasting and eating between scheduled times.
• Store foods appropriately after every meal to avoid spoilage and snacking, too!
• Plan physical activities for the whole family to enjoy everyday!
• Choose a handful of California raisins and peanuts for quick energy pickups!

Thanksgiving

Celebrating the Season with California Raisins

Somewhere between Halloween and the New Year, steeped in tradition and memories to be cherished for a lifetime, Thanksgiving is the time to celebrate and enjoy the season, gather family and friends, and feast of foods reserved just for this holiday.

Along with winter squash, new crop carrots, bright red cranberries, and shiny apples, the new harvest California raisins are now on the produce shelves. They are a natural for this holiday. Try something new with Rolled Pork Loin with California Raisins and Herbs! Stuffing a lean, succulent pork loin with flavorful raisins and sun-dried tomatoes is the formula for an unforgettable holiday meal!

Half the fun of cooking a big meal is choosing the condiments, sauces, side dishes, and desserts -- mixing and matching colors, flavors, and textures to make a dinner that's uniquely yours. Start with the dressing, but kick it up a notch with California raisins in one of these great recipes:

• Pilaf Extraordinaire
• Raisin and Bulgur Wheat Stuffing
• Savory Stuffing
• Winter Harvest Stuffing
  

Do you rerun side dishes at every get-together? These are familiar, yet like nothing you've had before when you add California raisins.

• Maui Onions Stuffed with Curried Raisin Couscous
• Moroccan Vegetable Ragout
• Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins

To emphasize the savory goodness of any meat -- pork, turkey, beef or lamb. Try one of these!

• Raisin Cranberry Relish
• Raisin Currant Sauce

Start the meal off right with a tantalizing melange of familiar flavors in these salads:

• Pear, Raisin and Gorgonzola Salad
• Updated Iceberg Salad
• Autumn Vegetable Salad

Whether it is served right after dinner or saved for later, here are a couple of desserts with a new twist on tradition:

• Pumpkin Pie Surprise
• Raisin Fudge Pecan Pie

Coast-to-Coast Recipe Contest Winners

Pull out all the stops and select one of these prize-winning recipes from the Coast-to-Coast Raisin Recipe Contest for your own claim to fame.

Select Joan Churchill's First Prize recipe for a superb appetizer, Raisin, Red Onions and Wine-Seared Scallops.

The perfect soup would be her Second Prize recipe, Minted Yogurt Soup with Raisins, Walnuts and Chives.

For your main course, choose Anna Ginsberg's Grand Prize recipe, Ancho Cherry Raisin-Glazed Pork Medallions with Almonds.

Looking for a light and healthy dessert? Try Dennis Deel's Jenny Thompson Healthy Recipe Award winner, Spiced Honey-Raisin Couscous with Yogurt-Rum Sauce.

Chef of the Month - Robert Gadsby

Our Celebrity Chef spotlight this month shines on Robert Gadsby, Executive Chef of Noe Restaurants, Los Angeles/Houston, and Concept Chef to Omni Hotels. Chef Gadsby has always been inspired by the combination of flavors, textures and ingredients that create one-of-a-kind cuisine.

To provide his guests with an extra-special dining experience, he insists on California raisins. Give your Thanksgiving guests that kind of dining experience too, with his recipes for California Raisin Tomato and Onion Seed Chutney, the perfect dip, or his unique Potato and Almond Milk Soup with California Raisins and Pumpkin Seeds.