BeeZee

@liuzhou, as I like a nice dark crust on bread, your little loaf looks very appealing to me.

I get the TJ's non-sorbate prunes, they are much firmer and no slime.

I am usually in WF once a week, so if there is a product or category you'd like me to check, ask away. I buy instant soup cups by Dr. McDougall's which are healthy (vegan or vegetarian, reduced sodium) and they are usually a bit cheaper than the supermarket, but you are talking about something that sells for less than $2 so its probably a 10 cent difference. In the produce aisle, the organic fruits and veg are often cheaper, especially the ones sourced locally. Fage yogurt usually cheaper unless supermarket is running a sale.

remnants of clean out the freezer challenge + leftovers...some mushroom/lentil soup, added some cooked swiss chard, tore up leftover cooked turkey and heated the whole lot up. Pretty tasty except for the last drop I got when tilting the container into my mouth, must have had some leftover grit from the swiss chard as well.

Took out a package of cooked swiss chard (late summer vintage) so tomorrow will be swiss chard+shrimp. Also a container of mushroom/lentil soup...that's the bonus round for Sunday and Monday lunch probably. Ironically the action was forced by DH requesting that I make ice cubes and needed room for the tray to sit flat.

Ironically it is ingrained in my brain "hot wok, cold oil, food won't stick" from my time watching Jeff Smith's cooking show on PBS as a young adult.

I'm counting down the days (OK, it's more like 2 weeks) until hubby's son and his wife come for the weekend, can get the 8lb turkey breast out the freezer finally. And the mushroom stuffing that goes with it.

Our local mainstream supermarket has them and I never get tired of pointing out the pack of "chicken paws" to my husband and cracking up.

I bought a bag of these at Target today. They gave the white chocolate coating a tangy flavor to simulate cream cheese frosting. Chocolate cookie inside. Not bad.

I agreed...until they recently visited a local cafe/sandwich place the is quite mediocre, when we heard he had filmed there, the general comment was "there? why?". Watched that episode and even Guy couldn't muster much enthusiasm.

I have purchased ingredients for two different meals because of forgetting which one I had decided to make by the time I got to the market...in part because of that dread of the return visit...

I recently enjoyed a wrap of peanut butter, banana, granola for crunch, and a little honey.

@Anna N debauchery would be spreading those emptied tater shells with butter, then eating. Not that I would know anything about that...

I filed online at 7am yesterday and got a confirmation number, no problem.

more clean out the freezer Sunday free for all...entree was roasted cod fillet with hoisin glaze. Sides included twice baked potato (Thanksgiving), spaghetti squash (pre-Thanksgiving) freshened up with some sauteed onion/garlic, stuffed red bell peppers (stuffing was rice/veg base and leftover from Jan.).

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!