Nyleve Baar

Thanksgiving is completely and psychotically cast in stone at our house. NOTHING CAN CHANGE EVER. Since we're in Canada, Thanksgiving is a long weekend so we always have a houseful of guests from Saturday to Monday and even the other meals - Saturday lunch right through to Monday lunch before everyone leaves - must remain completely intact and unaltered. Snacks can change (as if we need any snacks) but the meals are untouchable. It's sort of weird when new people join the table and don't understand our craziness. But it's our craziness and we stand by it. The red cabbage is going on 40 years now.

It just adds a bit of sweetness and glazing to the dish. You could definitely leave it out if you don't have it. I always add it but that's just me.

Two things that go on our Thanksgiving table, no matter what. Cloud of Squash and Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage. The red cabbage recipe I use is below. Cloud of Squash is just a massive bowl of whipped baked butternut squash, with enough butter and salt to kill a vulnerable person. Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage and Apples 2 tbsp. veg or olive oil 2 medium onions, chopped 1 small head red cabbage, quartered and thinly sliced 2 apples, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup red wine (any kind - even leftover yucky stuff is ok) 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp. sugar (or more, to taste) 2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup apple jelly (or any tart jelly - crabapple, grape...whatever) In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, and cook, stirring for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the cabbage and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cabbage is thoroughly wilted and softened. Now add the apples, wine, vinegar, sugar, and salt, lower the heat to low, and simmer, covered, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, stirring once in a while. Stir in the apple jelly, replace the cover on the pot, and continue to simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Makes about 8 servings.

I have always started my annual pumpkin pies with a whole pumpkin. It just seems like the right thing to do - especially if I'm only going to make 2 pumpkin pies a year. I also use honey for the sweetener, which is really delicious (and comes from my own personal bees). And I use just the bare minimum spice - cinnamon, ginger, maybe a little nutmeg but NO CLOVES. This is happening this weekend as it's Canadian Thanksgiving. Then it's all over until next year - no more pumpkin anything.

No idea if it would kill ants, but somehow I doubt it. They have multiple entries to their tunnels, I think. So it would be trickier to close them off.

So here's how to kill a whole nest of the idiots without poisoning the neighbourhood. Soak a rag in gasoline or kerosene and place it beside the hole where the yellow jackets live. Take a large glass or plastic bowl or container and place it over the hole (and the rag). Wait a week or 2. That's it. The colony will be dead. I can't remember what the logic is to the glass bowl - something about the yellowjackets seeing the light and coming out and being killed by the fumes, I think. But the fumes also penetrate down the hole to exterminate the whole gang of them. I've done this so many times that I now have a dedicated bowl that I use for just this purpose. Probably best to do this in the evening when everyone has gone into the nest because the yellow jackets that are still out will get really MAD when they can't get back into their hole.

You're right, of course. I guess I'm being species-ist. We do have our native pollinators but honey bees, as we know them, are European. BUT THEY'RE NOT JERKS.

From what I understand they don't make honey. Bees store up the honey in order to survive the winter as a colony, albeit reduced in size. Wasps and yellow jackets don't overwinter. The only one that survives the winter is the queen - I assume she hibernates or something. Yellow jackets are an invasive species in North America. I don't even think they're pollinators.They're just jerks.

Oh I can imagine! My husband got attacked by my bees when he disregarded my warnings against mowing the grass near the hive. The grass got flung up against the side and the bees came roaring out! He has never done that again.

I keep bees myself and there is a LOT of misunderstanding about these creatures. First of all, most people can't distinguish between bees and everything else that flies around - like wasps and yellowjackets. It's almost always a wasp or a yellowjacket that is the culprit when someone gets stung, yet everyone says they were stung by a bee! My honeybees are reasonably docile and can't be bothered to sting unless provoked. Yellowjackets and ground hornets will sting for no damn reason at all - you're just walking past and boom! Last year I got badly attacked by ground hornets just because I walked past their hole. On the other hand, I might get no more than one or two stings a year from my own bees, and I'm right in their hive messing with their stuff. They have work to do and unless you get them upset, they mind their own business. Urban bees are not a menace to anyone. They forage in gardens and park spaces and are important for the ecosystem. You'd be surprised at how much there is for a bee to do even in a city environment - look around and you'll see all kinds of flowering stuff everywhere. I don't know what the local by-laws are, but many municipalities do permit beehives on private property as long as they're situated a certain distance from the property line. If anyone gets stung, I imagine it would be a difficult thing to prove where, exactly, that creature came from - a domestic hive or a wild colony. And as I said, most of the time it would have been something other than a bee anyway.

What is available in the US may not be here in Canada. But weirdly enough, I think the dollar store has some thicker napkins in the party section. Some of them are fairly heavily printed, but some may be what you're looking for. We switched to cloth a few years ago and I have come to hate paper napkins - especially those thin, crinkly ones - for anything but a picnic. Had to fight my husband about this - he refused to use the cloth napkins because he said it felt wasteful to make more laundry. We argued. I won.

This morning - 50 cents at a garage sale. Small Peugeot salt and pepper. Needs a bit of TLC but otherwise perfect!

Thank you so much for this amazing account. You are so much more knowledgeable about Vietnamese food that I was before our trip - I do wish I'd known more about what to look for. We ate so well on our trip but your experiences are awesome. Of all the places where I've travelled, I think Vietnam was in my top 2. The food, the people, the beauty and the history. I was born in the US and was at the right age for protesting the Vietnam war when it was on, so the names of the cities and regions were familiar from news reports and friends who had to go there to fight. I loved that we could go there and see a the country in peacetime. So many echoes of that difficult history wherever you look.

No, you wouldn't.

The weather was generally lovely. In the north (Hanoi) it was almost chilly, but in the Mekong delta it was very hot. There was a little rain here and there - but it didn't hold us back much. We started in Saigon, travelled all the way up to Hanoi, then flew to Siem Riep in Cambodia and got back to Saigon mostly by various types of boat. The food was so great everywhere and so insanely cheap it was almost embarassing. Even the nicest "touristy" places that we sometimes ended up in were so inexpensive that we would be shocked at our bill at the end of the meal. I remember thinking if we ever broke $10 per person for a meal we were going totally crazy! And that usually included beer or wine. Which...now that I mention it...did you ever get a chance to try the Dalat wine? They do pride themselves on it and we found it nearly undrinkable.

Such a great report - thank you very much. We spent a month in Vietnam a couple of years ago and visited many of the spots you did. Also ate at some of the same places. Looking at your pictures now I remember what a fantastic trip that was and how wonderful the food was. We were there in January/February, so probably quite a bit cooler but otherwise just as lush and gorgeous.

The Findlay cast iron pan was no doubt made by the same Findlay company that made cast iron wood stoves. We used to have one of the original Findlay Oval cook stoves in my kitchen. We were forced to remove it because our (stupid) insurance company wouldn't cover it. But the good news is that Findlay sold all their molds to Elmira Stove Works who have been making reproduction stoves that meet fire code. I was able to replace the old stove with a newer Elmira one that looks virtually identical. I somehow doubt they sold the molds for the cast iron cookware, though, so you have a collectors item.

No photo but 4 nice Emile Henry salad plates - blue - for $8. Those are exactly my everyday dishes!

Just immediately start another batch while you're still being ashamed.

Yay! Another maple vinegar convert. It's delicious on a very simple green salad or something with bitter greens and strawberries in season. Or, yes, in a pretty little glass for sipping.

Today. It was on the top shelf of our local Value Village and, at first, I thought it was just an ugly pot like something I might have gotten as a wedding present. But when I picked it up I realized it's a vintage Le Creuset in a pattern that is so retro that it's almost cool. Looked it up and discovered that it's a 1980's design called Petits Fruits and Le Creuset has actually re-issued it recently (it may even be currently available!). I got it for $21 (including my Tuesday Seniors discount!). Very pleased.

Hello Rebel Rose - glad you are able to use my sort-of-recipe. Since there are a group of us who work together to make this meal once a week, how about if you call us "The Church Ladies". We're not all ladies and we don't all go to church but we're The Church Ladies anyway. Let's call the soup kitchen The Lighthouse. I'm not trying to be cagey - I just think I'd rather not be too specific. Hope this is ok with you. If I have time, I may be able to put together a few more recipes that we use regularly. Good work you're doing!

At the soup kitchen where I volunteer, we often make a sort of quiche with whatever veggies and cheese might be available. For one large, shallow catering pan, saute or steam a whole mess of vegetables - onions, broccoli, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, anything - and spread them in the bottom of the pan. If you happen to have some ham or bacon or sausage, chop it up and sprinkle over the veggies (we usually don't have any - it's good without). Sprinkle with a goodly amount of shredded cheese (this is like gold in our soup kitchen, so not always available unless someone donates). Next, beat together a dozen eggs, 3 cups of Bisquick (or other biscuit mix) and 6 cups of milk. Add some salt and pepper and pour over the veggies and cheese in the baking pan. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes to an hour. This amount can be cut into about 24 serving size squares. Today we made 6 pans and it all went.

Costco blade tenderizes its cut steaks but leaves the whole vacuum packed primal cuts alone. I've started buying whole ribeye and cutting it into steaks myself to avoid this. They do label the tenderized packages but the writing is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it.

My son, in a moment of inspiration, used a milk frother to make a small amount of hollandaise for his eggs benedict. It worked incredibly well. Seems to me he just put everything in at the same time and let it froth. I was pretty impressed.