David Ross

I found three more light fruitcakes stored in the back shelf of the pantry. I've come to quite like them, but still favor a dark fruitcake.

Unfortunately this gingerbread house has fallen. I wasn't able to do anything for the holidays last year because I was recovering from breaking my upper right arm. So much to my horror, when I unpacked the Christmas boxes this year I found this wonderful creation had been damaged. I had put it on a cardboard base and stuffed it in a large hard plastic storage bin, but it wasn't really wide enough to fit the base so it sort of bent and that collapsed under the weight of the house. And somehow I hadn't properly sealed the bin as somehow moisture or humidity got in and softened all the candy, gingerbread and frosting. So it couldn't be repaired or saved. But I'm already working on building a replacement and a few more this year. I'll post photos when I have the first one done.

I found this little gem in my eGullet recipe archives. From December 2007, Dungeness Crab Bisque with fresh Crab on a Rye Crouton. The start of the crab fishery in the Pacific Northwest is a signal of our annual tradition of serving fresh crab throughout the holiday season.

Our discussion reminded me that our eG Cook-Off #59 has a lot of ideas and recipes for making some cured or smoked fish for the Holidays. I'm thinking of making a version of this Salmon Gravlax dish I did for that Cook-Off. In this case I served it with dark rye croutons and a vinaigrette as an appetizer/salad, but the salmon alone would be delicious.

I have to admit I get very pleased with myself when I make something that turns out to be very good. (Which isn't always the cast). One of my favorites sites/shows in recent years is "Dining with the Chef" from NHK in Japan. So their recipe for "Beef Stew" looked really intriguing to me, but I was a little cautious about using the Instant Pot. Well I didn't need to worry since it turned out wonderful--tender beef and of course, very quick compared to a traditional slow cook. The sauce is a combination of carrot, celery, onion, tomatoes, tomato paste then some miso, garlic and sake. They call for some olive oil but I added sesame oil and I added ginger which they don't include in the recipe. I cut the sake in half and added some soy sauce which they also omit and I boosted the miso paste. It was delicious with subtle Japanese flavors but next time I'd add a bit of dried red chile flakes for a little heat. On a whim I added the thinly sliced preserved ginger and served the stew with steamed rice and some Chinese pickled vegetables I had in the pantry.

I'm going to do that for Christmas dinner. I usually roast potatoes under the rib roast to soak up the meat fat but I've been thinking of something along these lines for this year. Thank you so much for the inspiration.

I updated the pumpkin tart that I posted in the opener. Really all I did was add some white sprinkles to make it look more festive. The folks at dinner had never tried a candied cranberry let alone paired with the richness and pudding-like texture of pumpkin pie so it was another big hit.

This year I made a Huckleberry-Cranberry sauce. I buy enough fresh, local huckleberries in season to have throughout the year. It's a simple recipe, just cranberries cooked down in sugar and a bit of water, then about a cup of huckleberries added, (to one bag fresh cranberries). Just a dash of nutmeg and that's it. There were 16 at Thanksgiving dinner and I took about 3 cups of the sauce and there wasn't a teaspoon left.

I came across a recipe this morning for using leftover Thanksgiving turkey in a curry. Sounds delicious, but not sure how I would do it. I'm thinking just slices of turkey with a basic curry-cream sauce. Any ideas?

I've told this story before, but I think it's appropriate to tell again since it relates to Holiday cooking. We were discussing hams and it reminded some of us of Kentucky Ham. Specifically country ham from Broadbent Hams. For many years our family took an annual trip to the Kentucky State Fair horse show. One of our required trips at the fair was to always go see the country ham competition display and the winners showcase. Huge country hams that are auctioned for charity each year with winning bids consistently going for 10's of thousands of dollars. Well we never went to the annual country ham auction breakfast, but it sparked Father to gain a huge interest in country ham. We could always go down the road to a Piggly Wiggly and but all sorts of country ham products, (which, sadly, we can't find here in the Pacific Northwest). Well one year, against my Mother's wishes, Father ordered a full size country ham delivered to our home in Salem, Oregon. Of course, a huge ham like that was far too much for four of us. We had no clue how to cook the thing, so we used the recommended soak and soak and bake in a brown grocery store shopping bag. Well it was either the ham, or us, or both but I still remember Mother's rants, the smell that lingered in the house and how Father, probably sheepishly being dishonest, proclaimed it as "the best ham I ever ate." So today I'd buy country ham for the holidays, but I think rather than a whole ham I'd stud it into the dressing, put it into some sort of hashbrown casserole or macaroni and cheese dish, or use kayb's suggestions below and make a ham spread to serve on crackers. Any ham cookery planned in your house this season?

That's wonderful.

For many years we went to the Kentucky State Fair to the horse show. Part of the trip was a must to go see the Grand Champion Hams in the winners display case. We never went to the auction breakfast, but watched it on TV in our hotel rooms. And the Broadbent is very good. You'd never see it here in the Northwest, but I loved going to the local grocery store in Louisville by the fair grounds where you could buy all sorts of country ham products, including Broadbents.

Yes the frozen always seems to work ok for me. It doesn't have the flavor punch of fresh but works ok. They also sell small plastic cartons of frozen grated lemongrass which work well and take the job of cutting fresh lemongrass out. Those work well in Thai soups but you could also put some in a fruitcake.

In Spokane I can get them at Bay Market and then at Asian World market. It's tricky at these places as sometimes they are fresh other times frozen. There is a Middle Eastern market that sometimes has them.

I can get kaffir lime leaves and mandarin orange leaves at a local Asian market.

I agree about citrus leaves for a flavor accent. And while I love dates in my sticky toffee pudding, not so much in my fruitcake!

That's a fantastic idea and made me think of something. One criticism I have of my white fruitcakes from last year is that they are very crumbly. I suppose because I didn't add enough liquid or egg, although they were doused throughout the year with brandy and bourdon. But I'm thinking why not crumble it up, bake it a bit and serve it with ice cream? A sort of ice cream fruitcake sundae as it were.

Last season I had just gotten out of the hospital at the time I normally make new fruitcakes. So I ordered some ingredients to be delivered but didn't realize until after I had mixed everything that I had used a "light" fruitcake recipe. I was pretty disappointed because we grew up having dark fruitcakes like my Grandmother and Great Aunt made. About a month ago I took one out and to my delight, it was delicious. I still prefer the dark style but I don't mind at all eating a light fruitcake now. By the way, I usually use both brown sugar and molasses in a dark fruitcake. Anyone else put something different when making a dark fruitcake?

I think that's probably the same as Wondra. Wondra is very fine and is a mix of wheat flour and malted barley flour.

I use a French technique to thicken gravy if needed. Just let some butter come to room temperature and then mash it with some flour. I use equal parts. Then just whisk it in. You don't have a flour taste but a rich flavor that I think does a better job flavor wise to thicken gravy. Another technique I use is to stir in some Wondra flour. I always rave about Wondra, a product that's been sold for decades and still great for thickening.

I usually just buy the standard candied fruits from the grocery store. Then I use bottled maraschino cherries for decorating the top of the fruitcake. Sometimes I'll make my own candied orange peel to add to the fruit cake. This is the brand we see most in our local stores:

I would say no more than an hour. If you fill them too soon the moisture in the salmon mousse will make the gougere mushy. By the way one trick I use is if the gougere is too soft, I just pop them in the oven to crisp them and then let them cook and fill.

I douse it with liquor about every 3 months. It's kept in a sealed Tupperware bin and stowed in a pantry closet where it's dark. I haven't tested the temperature, but it's toward the back porch so cool in the winter and I doubt it gets maybe above 50 in the summer. The liquor probably helps.

That is a beauty!

From a old recipe Mother kept but I changed it up a bit: 1 lb. Italian sausage, I used hot 6 cups chopped Kale 2 cans cannellini beans, (recipe called for Great Northern but I like the smaller beans) 1 can 28oz. crushed tomatoes, I used Italian style 1 cup chopped carrots (recipe called for 4 cups) 1 chopped onion 3 garlic cloves minced, I think I used 6 Dried oregano, marjoram, basil and sage leaves salt and pepper 5 cups chicken stock parmesan cheese garnish I browned the sausage then put it in the slow cooker with the other ingredients. The recipe said 8-10 hours. Geesh. I let it go on low heat about 4 hours. Better today after it sat in the fridge overnight.