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My neighbor gave me an immersion blender several months ago -- she is purging and turned out to have two of them -- and I only just now pulled it out to finally use. Man are these things useful! I don't know why I haven't BEEN had one!!!

Hello all. I got out of the business 8 years ago so my skills are nearly non-existent. I'm starting to make chocolates again for my own consumption. My question regards the proportion of liquor in formulas. I'm not worried about legal issues, more so how much how much cream should be removed when adding liquor, and any other issues that can be caused by adding liquor. Thanks for the help, John.

Rusack 2017 Ballard Canyon Reserve Syrah I thought this might be over the hill but it still has a delicious balance of fruit and earthiness. Rusack has been one of my favorite wineries for years and it’s the last wine club I belonged to. I even liked their Chards which weren’t overly oaky. They closed up the club and their lovely Santa Ynez Valley tasting room last year and went to an allocation system. I missed the ordering deadline for their first allocation last month but understand the prices were quite high. Not sure what they’re up to but I’ve still got a few bottles of Syrah, Pinot Noir and Cab to enjoy.

Sounds fantastic. Hope you have a wonderful time. Can’t imagine ordering the turkey

The pork shoulder roasts total a little over 18 pounds, so I won’t be buying a third one. I’m grateful to be given them. Frozen solid, so I’m not sure when I’ll be cooking them, but not today! Along with the pulled pork mac n cheese, coleslaw and roasted sweet potatoes are still being considered as sides. Neither is complicated and that is helpful to me.

@TdeV Adapted from a Christophe Felder recipe... Translations for our North American listeners: pâte brisée = pie dough or non-sweetened shortcrust; caster sugar = superfine or regular granulated; cornflour = cornstarch; clingfilm = plastic wrap; oven temperatures are 450°F and 500°F; size-wise, this is for a pie just a touch smaller than 9-inch x 2-inch.

It is wonderful! And they bring so much food to you, it is ridiculous! We had leftovers galore last year. And despite it being such a busy day there, the service is wonderful as always at Lidia's. Lidia sometimes comes to this location for events--I'd love to be able to attend one and meet her.

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This sounds great. As I was looking at the recipe I flashed back to a favorite dish at my favorite Italian resturant (Il Capricio, Waltham MA). They have a porcini souffle that is awesome. I found at least on recipe for it on the web. I love mushrooms. I got a huge package of wild chantrelles at Whole Food yesterday and can't wait to start cooking them. Tonight is filet mignon, with purple mashed potatoes, sauteed chantrelle, and some as yet decided vegetable (squash, green beans, or Brussels sprouts.

Ooooooh! That looks so good. Could you please post a recipe, @Pete Fred ?

That's a wonderful-sounding spread! I'm glad the menu gives so much detail. Gives me some ideas for things I could try making at home. I have to admit, though, it would be very gratifying to sit down with friends and family, enjoy that excellent meal, and let someone else take care of the cleanup. 🙂

The most important part. It looks really good (from a native Louisianan)!

i wouldn't use my regular Rodriguez-inspired recipe for your purposes...way too many ingredients. But, oh so tasty. And so useful to add to other dishes to spice them up a bit.

@FauxPas and @Darienne - Both of those recipes are intriguing, and I will keep both the Adobo in mind for future reference, as well as the Puerco Pibil, but I’m going to have to go with a southern style pulled pork this time around. Thank you! I agree that pulled pork can be a revelation and it is a great bang for your buck. Hmm. I’d thought I’d do pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, and roasted sweet potatoes, but now you have me debating…. Decisions, decisions! 🤔

Flan parisien... I go creamy; others prefer firmer. There are no wrong answers when it comes to flan.

Pulled pork is so versatile. I'd never have thought of it, but back when I was recovering from hip surgery and eating mostly frozen meals, I got one (maybe Marie Callendar's) that was macaroni & cheese with pulled pork--pulled pork (with a light BBQ sauce) was on the bottom and baked with the Mac & cheese on top. It was really tasty and I've made my own version at home a couple of times since.

We are indeed going out this year--to Lidia's again because it was so spectacular last year. The only reservation we could get was at 11 am, which is fine with about half of us. The others are never happy having to get out of bed to be anywhere before noon. Not sure this is going to post right, but will try. Lidia's Thanksgiving Menu

Gumbo. Probably with a number of hideously inauthentic qualities. But I did try. And the family loved it

I do this, too, though not as a garland: I just string them on thread and hang them by one of the many exposed heat pipes (from one of the brackets) in my flat. It's really humid here, and I don't turn on the heat much, but within a few days, they're dry.

There have been a couple of occasions I've put some fresh chillies into the fridge and forgotten about them, only to find the weeks later lurking behind something else. They were perfectly dried! Despite that, probably not the best method.

Veal-Cabbage Gulasch with Sage and “Spatzenknoedel” (Flour Dumplings) from an essen & trinken recipe - the veal gulasch is a mix of cubed veal breast, green cabbage, bacon, shallots, garlic, sage, flour, marsala wine, caraway seeds and bay leaves cooked in veal stock. Finished with some lemon zest and juice and a little bit of honey. The spatzenknoedel are dumplings made in franconia by mixing flour, eggs and milk and cooking some balls of the dough in water until they float. The gulasch is topped with some crispy fried sage leaves and a drizzle of the sage butter.

Today, I made the Green Lentil Ragu from Six Seasons of Pasta and used it to make the Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Green Lentil Ragu. I used Rancho Gordo lentils, half green, half black for the ragu as I didn’t have enough green ones. I made a half batch as the full recipe says it’s enough for 14 servings of pasta and I’m a party of one over here! By the time my lentils cooled, they’d absorbed most of the liquid and weren’t saucy like the photo in the book. Easy enough to add some water or broth but next time I might add more tomatoes to the ragu. The pasta dish was delicious and very satisfying. I’d never thought of combining lentils and pasta but I will certainly keep it mind for the future. There’s a drizzle of balsamic vinegar at the end that really highlights the flavors of the roasted cherry tomatoes against the earthy lentils. I look forward to using the ragu in other ways but will likely repeat this one, too.

@Smithy & @Maison Rustique, if you find some nice little Hakurai turnips, you should definitely give this one a try. I was initially more excited by the recipe for Pasta with Turnips, Preserved Lemon Ricotta and Hazelnuts that I posted about a week or so ago. That one was very good but this one exceeded my expectations. Maybe my expectations weren’t very high because it seemed like a standard anchovy/garlic pasta but it was so easy and the way the flavors melded together won me over!

That salad sounds great. One of my daughters is allergic to penecillin so any blue cheeses are out for her. So now I put out a couple of bowls; one with blue cheese and one with chunked up brie so - to each their own!

Also Canadian but pretty close to the border on the west coast. I think I first had pulled pork about 10 years ago - so in my "ahem" 50's. What a revelation - so many ways to use it and in this day and age around here -- pork is the best bang for your buck meat-wise.