cakewalk

And I don't care what anybody says, but I don't ever want to read a 115-page recipe!

That's such a beautiful loaf, @MelissaH. What types of flour does it contain? Can you share the recipe?

That's very pretty @mm84321, and looks like it would make a wonderful first course or side dish on Thanksgiving. Can you elaborate?

My guess is that The Missoulian has far fewer resources at its disposal than the NY Times, so I'm much more willing to cut it some slack. (But I do understand your frustration!)

Good Lord. Bread is a side dish? Sauteed kale is among the "most popular"? They just get worse and worse. I think they pull recipes out of a hat! Last week the NY Times had a pullout section about Thanksgiving cooking. (I get the actual paper on the weekends.) I was hoping for something that would really catch my eye. Well, I'm only me, I'm sure many other people saw things they will make and love. But I just don't understand why their food section is so uninspired. (And uninspiring.)

Zaletti. (Italian cornmeal cookies.) I've been trying different recipes for this cookie for a long time now. Some I've liked, others not so much. I keep looking for just one more recipe to try. I think this is it, although I still want to play around with it a little. This recipe was different than the others in that it used egg yolks only rather than whole eggs and it used baker's ammonia for leavening. The dough is rather dry and crumbly (by design), and I think I'd add just a bit more butter next time I make these. Also they're supposed to be made with currants but I didn't have any so I subbed raisins; currants would work much better. But the baker's ammonia really gives these the crunch that I like.

Those look great. (Although twice baked is a new one for me.) I think basboosa deserves its own thread. I cannot even begin to count how many different (and I mean really different) recipes I have seen for basboosa. I haven't made it in years, and I've made recipes I didn't like at all and some that I loved. (But foolishly I never kept track.) They go from having no eggs to 6 or 7 eggs in a recipe, with milk, without milk, maybe with yogurt, maybe without, completely different flavorings, etc. It's amazing. How did you make yours?

This thread is about Thanksgiving side dishes. Maybe the mods can separate out the turkey posts into a new thread called, perhaps, "Why Your Turkey Sucks"?

I have never worked with chestnuts at all. In fact, I don't think I've ever eaten them. (Just one of those gaps in my upbringing, I suppose.) So I am eagerly awaiting your reports. (Although I do remember being in Budapest many years ago and having chestnuts fall on my head from the trees lining the street to my hotel!!)

This is totally new to me so I can't answer, but I found this on YouTube, which I found fascinating. Four, water, and salt seems to be it. This shows traditional as well as automated methods of making the dough. (Yufka) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RizAU-Tcca4

String hoppers? Had to Google that one! (I know nothing.) And I hope to become just a little bit wiser as I read your blog. Thank you! I love that Elephant Crossing sign!

Wow. This will sound stupid, but - does it grow like that? Or is it formed/put together? It looks beautiful and delicious. (But I can't even begin to guess what it is.)

I'll send the recipe to you. Copyright issues.

Today was a dreary rainy day, so I had to bake something. (No, I do not notice any disconnect in that sentence.) This is a favorite that I haven't made in quite some time: Carole Walter's Dried Cherry Almond Pound Cake. It is so good. It freezes beautifully. (Although this one will be eaten!).

Can I make a distinction between types of quick breads? I usually classify them into two categories: need to use my KitchenAid/don't need to use it. (I'd love to cover both types.) I usually think of a quick bread as one that can be mixed by hand; there's no need to cream the butter and sugar, no whipping of the eggs (either whole or separated), etc. Very little prep work is involved in those quick breads, yet they are tried and true and produce a very satisfying result. Then there is the second type of quick bread, a bit more involved but still quick when compared with any kind of yeast cake. The first type will produce a more dense loaf, the second type a lighter cake, usually not in loaf form. Whipping butter, sugar, and eggs helps with the leavening, but they still need baking powder or soda. Do you want to make this distinction? Or are they all fair game?

Please enlighten a poor city girl. What does it mean when the persimmons "have spoons"? And what is that a picture of?

I also think the long braising is what gives the dish most of its sweetness. The apples do as well, but not so much. There's very little sugar. I see many dishes like this that call for 1/2 cup or more of sugar. I used 2 Tbs because I knew I wasn't adding the jelly, but next time I think I'll go back to the original 1 Tbs. I've made similar recipes, but I usually just wing it. For TG I want a "known quantity" on the table. Who knows, I may be using this for the next 40 years!! (God willing)

Interesting, thanks. It lost the vibrant purple fairly quickly. I wonder if the jelly helps with the visual. (It does look better in "real life.") But very little acid means more sweet and less tart - I like the tartness. And while this had a nice tartness to it, it was definitely not overwhelming. I think this is where the jelly comes in.

Okay, I know this stuff doesn't photograph so well, but I really like this dish. I can see that the apple jelly would turn it into something else, and I want to give that a try. I used an extra tablespoon of sugar because I knew I wouldn't be adding the jelly, but it's still a bit more tart than sweet, which I prefer. I might leave out that extra sugar next time. I think this will find a place on my TG table, thank you @Nyleve Baar!

Well, I had everything but the apple jelly so @Nyleve Baar's recipe is happily simmering away on the stove. Will get back to yas. Thank you!

@Nyleve Baar, very nice recipe, but what does the apple jelly at the end do in that dish?

I bookmarked that recipe because I think it looks great (thanks @Shelby), but I won't use it for TG because it has dairy in it, and since I keep kosher and we're having a bird, it's a no go. (No meat and dairy together.) There's no monolithic standard to keeping kosher (although not mixing meat and dairy is pretty much a standard; do I contradict myself? Very well then ...), and some Jews don't do it at all. So I don't see any reason not to bring it. If there are people in your building who keep kosher, they probably won't eat the turkey (unless it's a kosher turkey), and so might like having the tart. If there are people who are very religious, they probably won't eat much of anything, so no worries there! I think it would make a great appetizer.

I love red cabbage. How do you make yours?

I'm hosting TG dinner for the first time ever. Never made a turkey before! This should be fun.

They are beautiful!