The pumpkins are out in the produce departments. Someone has wreathed the Island Life department clock in black fur with a skeleton instead of a bow. And I've gotten the first Thanksgiving-related question.

The season every food editor dreads: the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas holidays with their inevitable stories about cookies and turkeys and fruitcakes and stuffing. And having just written a cookbook about the holidays (to be published someday, now in editing process), I'm a little holiday'd out.

But when a reader named Edith wrote to ask if I'd repeat the instructions for brining a turkey, I couldn't say no. She also wanted the roasting instructions for a technique I picked up years and years ago from a friend who got it, I think, from a recipe by the late, great food writer Pierre Franey.

So, to brine a turkey: Start two days ahead with a defrosted turkey. You need a large receptacle or an empty refrigerator. You can use a stock pot, clean bucket, cooler or a garbage can lined with a plastic bag. You need 1/2 cup each kosher (or Hawaiian) salt and 1/2 cup sugar for every gallon of water. Stir together salt, sugar and water; immerse defrosted turkey overnight. Pour in some ice or add some frozen ice packs to keep turkey cold, or place in refrigerator. The day before serving, rinse turkey, pat dry and place in refrigerator for a few hours; air-drying the turkey causes the skin to contract for crisp texture. Roast as usual.

My nonstuffing stuffing recipe: one onion cut in eighths, one lemon cut in quarters, a handful of parsley leaves, one apple cut in quarters. Rub the turkey in and out with butter. Liberally salt and pepper turkey. Put the onion, lemon, parsley and apple inside. Roast as normal. Discard veggies and fruit before serving. You can add other herbs, as desired.

On to other matters: Clayton Kaneda, who lives elsewhere now but is a Hawaii boy originally, wrote to ask about Northern Chinese-style "soup dumplings." He says whenever he's home he searches for these and can't find them. This is probably because most of the restaurants here are of the Southern Chinese tradition.

A soup dumpling is a large pasta purse in which the soup is contained: When you break into it, the soup escapes. This is done by means of various techniques. One is to freeze the soup in squares and place it in the dumpling before refrigerating it. Another is to refrigerate a very gelatinous broth inside the dumpling. Bottom line: Break it open, soup comes out, along with ingredients. A Chinese name for this is siu lum bao.

Two places you can get it (but you have to order in advance) is Mei Sum Dim Sum Restaurant and Legend Seafood Chinese Restaurant. I can't wait to try this. Deep thanks to my friend Marylene Chun and her family for helping me find the answer to this question.