Martha's Vineyard has always been a fishing community, and  so it is logical that delicacies fresh from island waters play a big part in traditional Island  menus. For Thanksgiving, a New England style stuffing is a wonderful way to celebrate both the holiday and Martha's Vineyard.

The Island offers selection of wild-harvested oysters along side locally farm-raised, Tomahawks and Sweet Necks.  Treat yourself to a pre-holiday tasting  to pin-point your favorite! 

Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are cooking.

^{Martha's Vineyard Oyster Stuffing}

Melt the butter over low heat in a large, heavy, deep pan like a Dutch oven. When the butter is melted, add the onion and celery, sauté until almost tender and translucent. Add the salt, fresh herbs and pepper. Add the oysters  and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until the oysters begin to curl. Add the bread and dried cranberries. Remove from the heat.  (You can easily vary this recipe by using  delicate nuggets of Island bay scallops to replace the oysters.  Simply saute the scallops quickly in butter, let cool and add to the bread cube mixture. -ed.)

Toss until everything is well blended, slowly add enough heavy cream so that the dressing is barely moist. Allow to cool and then refrigerate before stuffing into turkey. Or you can bake in a buttered shallow casserole, at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

TURKEY TIPS

To promote even cooking and keep your turkey moist, start it breast side down and baste frequently.
Turn the bird breast side up for the last hour.

Explore the possibility of organically raised turkeys available from Cronig's Market in Vineyard Haven, Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown,The Farm Institute.  the Tisbury Farm Market and other Island locations.

This recipe was contributed by Dinah Corley,a Cordon Bleu chef living on Martha's Vineyard.