Flipping through cookbooks tonight, trying to find something really unique to add to our Thanksgiving menu, I came across this recipe for cilantro ravioli with pumpkin filling. When I was in college, I thought it was quite the idea to make this to impress my boyfriend instead of, you know, lame boring traditional dishes. This was at the height of my strict vegetarianism and I was going to rock the socks off this holiday. Gosh, I was cool.

He, my mom and I spent hours making the dough, feeding it through the pasta maker repeatedly, pressing it around the filling, boiling it…all to get like 5 raviolis. Oh and on the menu the next day? Organic, gluten free pumpkin waffles. Seasonal? You bet. Tasty? We threw one against a tree in the backyard and I think it shattered.

Thus, this blast from the past of bad choices (the menu and the boyfriend) concludes my search for the unique factor in my Thanksgiving meal- let’s stick to the dishes (and people) that we love.

Unless someone has a recipe for a tofu replica of a pumpkin…in which case, I am totally in.