BeeZee

Nice write up, but I agree the proof reading appears to be non-existent, that really annoys me. And my Sister and her Sicilian husband just moved out of NYC to NJ...darn.

excellent, I do enjoy your exotic travels as I am stuck here for a while...

The hybrid hunter...guy I work with who grew up in the city, now lives in the suburbs, and he's a bow hunter. He knows a lady who has a large property/farm and she has him come around to thin out the deer every now and then. Plus she has asian pear trees so last year he brought bags of them in to the office, yum. He only hunts until he has his freezer filled, since he eats what he kills, also.

This is a chocolatier located in the US (New Jersey, to be exact), I know they were recommended to me before because they do a wide variety of novelty shapes, perhaps they can tell you what type of chocolate they use? The link below will take you to the page with various chocolate "tools". http://www.enjouchocolat.com/novelty-chocolates?cat=31&p=3

I always found it kind of strange how after a Jewish funeral, we'd return to the bereaved's home and there would be a "spread" waiting (deli platters, very often). Always a side table with booze (very little is drunk, as certain stereotypes do hold true). Someone makes a plate of food for the primary mourner (widow/widower, etc.). I guess it is about finding comfort in some way. And during the period of mourning people continue to bring food so you don't need to cook. I wonder if that is a throwback to hunter-gatherer days when the family might not have someone to go harvest the food? Everyone is going to mourn in different ways, it's going to wind it's course differently depending on how it wants to work it's way out. Perhaps the simple comfort/junk food is just what your broken psyche needs at this point in time.

Making good use of leftovers and clearing out small bits from pantry and freezer...brown rice pliaf (used up the last 1/2 cup of rice and 1/2 cup stock from the freezer), some bits of roasted squash, picked out a couple of cranberries from the leftover compote. Served with salad leftover from Thanksgiving...and fish was the lone fresh purchase.

My husband and I have good friends who keep kosher. When they dine out, they either eat fish or vegetarian. They live in Philadelphia, so there are many options available...but they have also managed to travel Internationally without too much trouble (advance research and planning needed). However, if you are very Orthodox and won't eat out unless you can see evidence of Rabbinical supervision...you are going to be much more limited in your options.

Managed to keep the tradition of roasted chestnuts for appetizer going, Mom and Dad bought them and cooked them most of the way at home, then brought them over so I could just finish them in the oven with the other items. Disposable alum pans are great because they are so light, you can put them on top of another pan without worry. Since I just made a bone-in turkey breast (8.25 lbs for 8 people, one didn't eat any of it) didn't wind up with a ridiculous amt of leftovers. Hubby and I had feast repeat on Friday, have enough in the freezer for another meal.

My brother in law is Sicilian, he's lived in the US for a couple of years, still green card, but should be able to apply for citizenship soon. He referred to my stuffing as "mushroom bread" and refuses to eat turkey, he doesn't like it. I think he ate 4-5 twice baked potato halves for dinner. Doubt he'd prepare an "American" Thanksgiving meal, assimilation be damned, he's gonna cook what he likes to eat.

Had some squash taking up fridge space which will shortly be needed for turkey day, so I cut up and roasted several squash: delicata, red kuri, mini golden acorn. We had half of the red kuri and acorn squash with dinner (grill pan cooked tuna steak, quinoa). The rest went into deep freeze. My husband opined that he was very aware he ate something healthy for dinner. Hey, we are saving up for the stuffing and such on Thurs!

I've hit paydirt at lunch time - usually around the holidays - with what looks like catering over-runs on the hot bar, sort of like crab-stuffed mushrooms type of stuff, IIRC. I'm a regular consumer of soup at lunch time, but sometimes will get hot bar.

Rotuts, Wegmans (generally in the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast states) does have a similar offering, MRE (with some re-heating or cooking). Their produce is generally pretty good quality and I know my father made use of these meals (meat/veg/starch) when Mom was away, since there was a store 1/2 mile from his office to pass on the way home. They have "EZ Meals" and various things packaged to cook at home. The trays are unfortunate, as it looks like std issue airline settings. https://www.wegmans.com/products/packaged-meals-entrees-and-sides/entrees.html?do=prod-search;i%3D1;q1%3DEntrees;q2%3DEntree;sp_c%3D18;sp_n%3D1;x1%3Dcategory;x2%3Dsubcategory;callback%3Dangular.callbacks

quiche comes to mind, can you make mini ones, wrap individually and freeze? this is a hard one for me, I HATE eggs, it is literally the one food I can't stand to even smell (obv., when they are cooked) so quiche is kryptonite to me...but uses lots of eggs!

Had a mid-morning meeting in Philadelphia, so planned some grub stops for early lunch (Mama's falafel - small sandwich) and then a treat for the train (Federal Donuts - strawberry cheesecake flavor). It's fun when I have to go in to Center City, I can map out all the places to stop along the way for my treats.

At least I know I'm not the only one cringing when I see raw meat juiced fingers handling the kitchen accessories! I turn on the kitchen faucet with my forearm for that very reason. Lots of hot water and soap during food prep, and I've been known to call DH into the kitchen to push up my sleeves if they slipped down too much.

meyer lemon sorbet, mmm...

it is indexed on Eat Your Books. Very tempting.

I make a sweet noodle kugel that includes cream cheese, sour cream, and drained canned crushed pineapple...I don't think I use the full amt of sugar called for in the recipe...I like it because it is reminiscent of cheesecake. And the corners with the browned noodles are the best.

Mom, for whatever reason, never wanted to repeat recipes. She thought it was boring - even if we really wanted a repeat of something. The one constant we have is roasted chestnuts for snacks before dinner. Last year it was reasonably warm outside and Dad did them on the gas grill, which was pretty awesome.

lima beans...hated as a kid, still hate. Happy that succotash has been updated to use edamame instead.

I grabbed one out of a bag at Whole Foods last week because I was curious, they do taste like cotton candy. The grape I had was pretty soft, don't know if that is typical. They def appeal to kids, but I won't be purchasing them, not a flavor profile I am looking for. I'll eat candy when I want that.

I won't eat sushi on Monday, but other than that, it doesn't matter to me. I don't fear food being stored under refrigeration for 2 days. I know that the "best stuff" gets brought out for the weekend. It's pretty rare that I'm eating at a "fine dining" kind of place earlier in the week anyhow.

The unfortunately-colored quinoa (as prev mentioned in Dinner topic) repurposed with some grilled tofu, veg, and peanut dressing

Not croutons, they are called oyster crackers. Very dry, hard, plain cracker that is best eaten with a dollop of horseradish, or sent floating in a bowl of chowder!

Swordfish cooked indoors on grill pan, looked very pro with nice grill marks. Unfortunately my quinoa didn't fare as well, I added some green tea powder and chopped up blueberries (other things also, but these were the culprits)...wound up with an unappetizing gray color. Will need to add some chopped up colorful veggies and salvage the leftovers into a salad.