SuzySushi

In no particular order: Bahlsen chocolate-covered gingerbread hearts. (I've forgotten their German name.) Stollen -- some of the commercial versions are okay, but I like mine best! Fruitcake - just bought 2 from Costco. We've already started in on hte first -- the second is put away for Christmas dinner. Eggnog. Eggnog ice cream.

I have to say that, to this civilian, this is an absolutely fascinating thread! Thank you so much for participating on eGullet!

It sound like what you encountered was a mis-translation on the menu of the omikase experience -- which is the chef's choice of sushi! I never heard of a Japanese restaurant running out of rice, however.

Well, as I elaborated in another thread, our Thanksgiving plans went askew this year when at the last minute, several of the guests couldn't make it -- including one who had promised to bring the vegetable side dishes. Her husband couldn't remember what they were supposed to bring, so he and my husband put their heads together by phone (without consulting me, of course). And that's how we ended up with three pies, one flan, and no vegetables at a Thanksgiving dinner for five people, three of whom have diabetes! (Okay, on T-Day I pulled some chopped spinach out of the freezer and managed to concoct a veggie dish with some Parmesan cheese.... but still!)

Dark chocolate will keep for several years, as long as it's securely wrapped and stored in a cool place. Milk chocolate has a shorter shelf life due to the milk content.

Thank you, thank you! I haven't seen the weekend edition in my neck of the woods...

Fork. Or with the back of a slotted spatula or slotted spoon.

Those are wonderful gifts, Kathy! YES, my husband, (step)son, and sister all understand and show their support of my love of good food and cooking. (Many of my friends, too.) Almost every gift I get from them is food and cooking-related... exotic ingredients, cookbooks, equipment... I need merely voice an "isn't this nice/interesting" and it's mine! As my husband says, we're well-matched: I love to cook and he loves to eat!

I have 3 more that I forgot to mention.

Chris, the flat Chinese chives are also used in Japanese cuisine, where they're known as nira. One of the most popular recipes is a kind of congee called Nira Zosui. Rinse 4 cups cold, cooked short-grain rice in a colander to remove stickiness. Bring 3 cups dashi to a boil in a saucepan, along with about 1 teaspoon soy sauce (or to taste). Add rice and heat. Add 2 beaten eggs and 1 bunch Chinese chives, cut in 1" lengths, stirring vigorously to scramble the eggs. Remove from heat and serve hot. Serves 3-4.

Lucy, I am overwhelmed! What grace, what style. The photos are gorgeous. You must do a book! (And when you recuperate from thanksgiving, further down the line, could you please, please post your recipe for the terrine?

Are the common garden snails edible?? The landscaping at my condo complex has been overrun with them the past few weeks -- they seem to come out and multiply after each rain. You mean I should be collecting them in a bucket and fasting them??

That sound like my kind of post-Thanksgiving day! Our Thanksgiving plans went to pieces the night before... Since we don't have extended family here, we were planning to celebrate Thanksgiving like we usually do, as a potluck dinner with two other families in similar situations. This year, however, one family couldn't make it, so it was just going to be ourselves and one other family. Earlier in the week, our son (my stepson) called and said he wasn't going to make it -- he was staying in town and would dine with friends. Then, Wednesday night, the husband of the other family emailed my husband to say his teenage daughter had made other plans, and his wife was stuck working -- so it was just going to be him and his younger daughter. He also couldn't remember what his family had agreed to bring to dinner (the side dishes!), so he and my husband decided he should bring pies and a flan!!! (This was without consulting me, of course.) That meant we'd be having turkey, stuffing & gravy prepared by me, canned cranberry sauce, 3 pies (storebought apple and custard, and homemade pumpkin pie with Splenda -- the latter baked by me), a flan, and NO vegetable side dishes!!!!! For 5 people. 3 of whom have diabetes. A really well-balanced diet. It was too late to go grocery shopping--if the markets were even open--so on T-day I managed to throw together a veggie dish using chopped frozen spinach and some Parmesan cheese. The turkey came out exceptionally well (I'd seasoned it with herbes de Provence), but as I was scraping up the browned its from the pan to make the gravy.... I noticed..... BLACK BITS!!!!!!! The nonstick coating was flaking off the roasting pan!!!!! So out went the homemade gravy--and the pan!!! Luckily, I had in the house a couple of envelopes of gravy mix that I normally use when my daughter wants last-minute mashed potatoes. The dinner went well, all things considered. Our friend has gone home. His daughter was sleeping over. My daughter also took it upon herself to invite 2 other friends for a sleepover. So we had 4 9-10 y.o. girls in the house last night. They finally fell asleep after 3:30 a.m. (me, too). The dog woke me up at 6:30 wanting to go out. So... breakfast this morning was apple pie. The girls, who DON'T LIKE PIE - had Cheerios. Lunch for them was canned ravioli, by popular vote. My husband and I ate apple pie, and our daughter polished off the last piece of pumpkin pie. My husband and the girls spent the afternoon at our complex's swimming pool (this is Hawaii, remember) while I got a few hours of peace and quiet. Two of the girls went home. My husband's dinner tonight was... pie. The girls and I ate frozen taquitos. We still have almost an entire custard pie left. I hate custard pie.

Among other vegetables, oxalic acid is present in spinach and -- in large quantities -- taro and taro leaves (which is why spinach-like taro leaves need to be cooked for a l-o-o-o-n-g time before being edible). Some people also get urinary tract irritations from eating foods high in oxalic acid.

Some of the leftovers get made into care packages for guests. The meat we keep is divided into white & dark, and frozen in separate Ziplock bags for future use (large slices make it into sandwiches, smaller pieces into curries or noodle soups). I'm saving the wings and some carcass pieces (also frozen) to make soup over the weekend or later next week -- either a classic mushroom & barley, or black bean.

So I presume. Another reknowned blood-thinner is Chinese tree-ear (aka wood-ear) fungus. I don't recall it making the American "no" list, though!

Garlic is a blood-thinner. I wonder if that has something to do with it. (Before my husband went in for bypass surgery, he had to stop eating garlic, ginger, and anything with a lot of vitamin C.)

Ooooh, ooooh! Oyster hotpot is one of my husband's favorite Chinese restaurant dishes. I'll have to make this one!

That won't work either. The recipe is crap. Hi Mario, don't give couscous a bad rep with bad recipes. With all due respect... Want to try couscous? Read my Algerian cuisine blog. EDIT: It's like making Italian pasta dishes with instant cup ramen. WTF??!?!?!?! ← Yeesh! You're right... I hadn't clicked the link for the recipe. What a peculiar way of cooking couscous!

Happy Thanksgiving! Glad there's a home to go home to.

Interesting article! When I was pregnant, I avoided: ->alcoholic beverages ->anything containing raw or lightly cooked eggs (salmonella is a problem in Hawaii) ->raw fish and shellfish (no raw sushi or sashimi -- this was the first food I wanted on coming home from the hospital!!!) ->soft-ripened cheeses such as brie and camembert and things I usually avoid anyway: ->caffeinated beverages ->raw or very rare meats I know plenty of women who ate and drank whatever they wanted while pregnant, but why risk a miscarriage?

Try buying couscous from the bulk bins at a health/natural foods store, which should have a higher turnover.

Suzy, over in the chewy chocolate cookie thread, jgarner53 posted a "crinkle" cookie similar to yours, except that her recipe calls for canola oil instead of shortening, and it's not a "double" chocolate experience -- just the 4 oz of unsweetened. ← GMTA! Nothing like packing in more calories, though.

Rule of thumb is to allow 1 pound of turkey (with bones) per person, so yes, this sounds a bit small. Maybe you can also roast some chicken drumsticks for the kids?

I probably won't do my annual Christmas cookie assembly line this year since my 9-year-old was diagnosed with diabetes, my best friend will be in Japan, and I have a heavy Dec. 15th work deadline. (In previous years, I'd bake 4 to 6 cookie types over the course of one weekend for a total of 20+ dozen cookies.) But I can't not do this one: Double Chocolate Crinkles. The dough needs to be chilled until firm enough to handle—at least 2 hours. I usually make it one day and bake it the next. The better quality the chocolate, the better the cookies. Double Chocolate Crinkles Yield: 6-8 dozen 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup shortening 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips confectioners' sugar Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Melt shortening and chocolate together. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then vanilla. Mix in flour mixture until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Chill dough 2 hours or longer. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F. Scoop or break off bits of dough and roll into 1" balls, dropping them into a dish of confectioners' sugar as you work. Roll in confectioners' sugar to coat completely. Arrange 1" apart on nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. The cookies will be soft, but will firm up somewhat upon cooling. Variation: Bittersweet Orange Chocolate Crinkles—Substitute orange extract for vanilla. Use bittersweet chocolate chips. Variation: Mint Chocolate Crinkles—Substitute mint extract for vanilla. Use mint chocolate chips. Variation: Cherry-Chocolate Crinkles—Press a candied cherry half in the center of each cookie before baking.