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Woe is me, I've tried to make them last as long as possible, but this is the last pear from a Christmas gift of Harry & David Royal Riviera pears. Juicy, sweet, delicious. The pinnacle of pearness. It nearly melts in my mouth, but it hasn't gone mealy yet. I wish I could have these all the time, but I suppose the ephemeral nature of this wonderful fruit makes it all the more precious.

My advice isn’t specifically about cooking but if I were having surgery, I would be setting up accounts with the grocery delivery and errand running services in my area and trying them out with simple orders. I’ve learned that being already sick or in recovery is not the time to set that stuff up. No amount of advance planning can prepare for all eventualities so it’s wise to have some delivery options in your back pocket. Particularly pharmacy pickup or delivery options. For yourself, make sure you’re set up with easily digestible options that might not be otherwise appealing but can get you through. I keep some of these on hand at all times. I donate and rotate them out periodically. Soft fruits: bananas, applesauce, avocado, pumpkin, canned fruit (packed in water not heavy syrup), and melons Steamed or boiled vegetables: carrots, green beans, potatoes, and squash Low-fiber starches: white bread, white rice, saltine crackers, cream of wheat, instant oatmeal, and noodles Unseasoned skinless baked chicken or turkey, scrambled eggs, yogurt and kefir Drinks: bone broth, apple juice, coconut water, Pedialyte, weak tea If you have friends or neighbors who want to help out with something like a meal train for you or your family, give some thought to how you’d like that to work from your end. People like to help and the more you can guide them, the better. Setting up a clear drop off spot, including a cooler can be a big help.

Leftovers from yesterday's family holiday meal: spinach soup (palak shorva) mixed with stir-fried cabbage with fennel, my brother's scalloped potatoes, and some crumbled feta. Too late, Mrs. C pointed out that we also had leftover ham, which would have been nice. Mrs. C will only eat palak (or saag) dishes with the lights very low, claiming it looks too much like messes she had to clean up in patient rooms at the hospital . . .

Ricotta fritters with pistachios, mortadella, Pecorino Romano. Aioli with truffle salt for dipping.

@TdeV yes.

@rotuts, does Fz mean "frozen" ?

Some versions of potatoes freeze quite well Hash Browns . FF . however , I cant address if these have been treated in anyway to improve the result. If I see Fz hash browns that dont seem to Manipulated , Ill try them Fz in the Air Fryer .

Made my favourite combo: Mapo Tofu with eggplant - so good with a big bow of rice: Picked up a Greek seasoned spatchcock chicken for $10. 45 min at 400F. Supper made! A new Weight Watchers recipe: Sheet Pan Tzimmes Chicken. Lovely fragrance throughout the house!

Tried some inclusions this time. I cut the dough into three, and added chives and roasted garlic and marinated mixed olives in two of them. Left the other plain. The olive one is good, but I’m thinking the oil may have affected it. Seems a little gummy. Could have need a longer bulk ferment, or they got a little deflated from added the inclusions. More experimento I guess.

Today’s lunch was the Cauliflower with Olives and Tomato from Six Seasons of Pasta. I had a mix of white, green, yellow and purple cauliflower which this recipe doesn’t particularly show off to its best but it was still a fine lunch. I added a few handfuls of baby kale that aren’t part of the recipe

Face it: if you're the cook in the family and you're having surgery, or if you're the cook in the family and you'l be overseeing someone else's recovery, you'd better have the food prepared in advance. It had better be easy to reheat, serve and eat. It needs to be appetizing. It needs to be easy. Of course it has to meet dietary guidelines for recovery, and that's a wild card for purposes of this discussion. We don't seem to have a dedicated topic for this purpose, although we have a couple of topics that are relevant: Batch Cooking: One large batch, many small meals. Share your ideas! ...and this old one, which takes into account feeding the entire family but got to be rather specific about the surgery in question: Food ideas for friends after major surgery? What are some of your ideas for meal prep and serving when there simply won't be time or energy for cooking? Got any favorite recipes? If you've been through this, what worked and what wouldn't you recommend? Packaging ideas are also welcome.

I have never frozen potatoes so i'm of no help. I'm sorry.

Beside all the cheeses served yesterday I also bought a lovely raw milk Vacherin Mont d’Or while stopping over in Besançon. As per tradition I removed part of the upper rind, added dry white wine, grated garlic and some rosemary (thyme would have been ok as well), “closed” it again and popped it into the hot oven for about 35 min … Glorious - instant cheese fondue, served with some cold cuts, roasted bread slices, pickles and (not traditional, but good) chutney. No complaints 🥳

I would like to add my name to the 2026 workshop. Thank you! Celia D.

Sorry for the pixelated pic! Shiitake pasta. EZ PZ used Udon pre-cooked noodles. Fresh basil and shaved parm to top.

I respectfully think that statement is too broad. It may be that the variety matters (waxy, starchy or in between) or how much they've already been cooked. My DH and I used to freeze dinners from the leftovers of a meat-and-potatoes dish (ham, pork roast, beef chuck roast for instance, with potatoes) and had no trouble with the reheated dish. It may also be that they need to be thoroughly cooked first. I'm working my way through a 5-gallon bucket of Russet potatoes given me last fall. They've been in the garage, frozen. I bring some in, cut and cook, and haven't had bad luck with them that way -- but those that I bring in and thaw before cooking have gone off in a hurry.

Potatoes don't freeze well.

I hope you like it! Putting salad dressing on hot, cooked veg wasn’t something I ever thought about but it works really well, either as the centerpiece of a salad or on their own. Most of the dressing recipes make a generous amount so I’ve been making half recipes for my first pass, until I know how much I can use up.

I have never frozen quiche, but of course there are several brands of frozen quiches out there. The ones I've tried are pretty good, so I don't see any reason that this recipe wouldn't work frozen. The frozen quiches I've seen all call for baking directly from frozen, so that's what I would try.

@ElsieD @Rickbern I have put nearly 5 pounds of Yukon Gold into the Paradice 9 1/2" dicer to put into my batch meals to be frozen. Now I want to steam the potato cubes not-quite-done in the Anova Precision Oven. Elsie, I know you might have got rid of yours, but I think you have another steaming device? What temp? For how long? (I think settings need to include 100% steam) TIA

@JAZ, while we wait for @TdeV' answer I'll ask about another of your recipes. I'm looking at the Pimento Cheese Quiche from your Super-Easy Instant Pot Cookbook. I have oodles of eggs and this quiche looks like it might lend itself to road trip food soon. Can you think of a reason not to make it and freeze it?

Here's some updated research ... I'm slowly planning a kitchen and looking at all the options. Ventilation is the hardest problem I'm facing, because every domestic range hood is designed primarily for esthetics. Even the ones that aim for a "commercial" esthetic copy the visuals while ignoring the engineering of functional commercial hoods. If you have a big enough range to justify a 48" wide hood (I don't) then by far the best option is a commercial hood by Accurex, CaptiveAire, Hoodmart, Advanced Hood Systems, or someone similar. If you don't want the commercial look, and you have $$$ for the project, you can just buy the mechanism and have a carpenter build a custom enclosure for it. It can be wood, doesn't matter—as long as the dimensions are right. Some of these hoods are available with a built-in makeup air system that will make system design easier. I don't believe you'll have to find a restaurant hood installer to design and build the system. Any good HVAC contractor who understands the engineering and can read the specs should be able to do this. Next best option, and the most reasonable for more of us, is a barbeque hood installed indoors. These are pretty much the only products that the domestic hood makers design to actually do the job. This is the route I'd like to go. Options include Proline, Tade-Wind, Victory. Maybe also Prestige (I can't tell if this company is still in business ... they don't answer, so I've crossed them off my shortlist). These outdoor hoods all raise the intake baffles above the bottom rim of the hood. They're also deeper from front to back (30" to 36", rather than the usual 22"-24"). This all creates more capture volume—the empty space that's the secret to making a hood work; it's the difference between capturing some of the smoke and grease coming off your pans vs. all of it. It also lets the hood be installed higher above the range: 42" instead of the usual 36" limit (which for me means not having to stoop to avoid banging my head). Commercial hoods are designed like big upside down shoe-boxes; they have huge capture area. This is why they can be way up above the cook's heads, be nearly silent, use much less powerful blowers for a given size, and be nearly 100% effective. Nothing escapes into the kitchen. Regular domestic hoods are designed more like ceiling vents; they let a bunch of the smoke and grease into the room, and clear it out eventually. The BBQ hoods are kind of in the middle. They're almost as effective as a commercial hood, but because of the reduced capture volume, require big powerful loud blowers. Be sure to research and budget for makeup air. If you're installing 1200+CFM blowers it's not optional. Unfortunately this is another rabbit hole; I haven't done the work on it yet. So far I can say: it looks boring! TL;DR: For my purposes, a BBQ hood looks like the best option. Until I do this project I'll rely on opening the windows and listening to my girlfriend's coughing fits and accusations that I'm giving us both cancer.

Grilled Moe one of those small top sirloin cap steaks for breakfast and instead of eggs he had twice fried fries, and sautéed mushrooms.

@Gerry B - have a look through the threads that @curls posted above. Details will be added to this thread as they are determined.