FauxPas

It's easier to make suggestions if we know some of these limitations in advance. I thought of a couple of veggie casserole dishes but wasn't sure you would want something that tends to be quite rich and they often have some cheese, so just as well I didn't post them. I've pinned it and plan to try it as an appie. It sounds very tasty!

Good recovery! I like the positivism.

Shelby, I adore your baskets! They do indeed look better than most commercial ones! I like heidi's apple suggestion (and Deryn's follow up with the ciders) - the current year's basket made me think of apples, also. You could make some streusel topping and provide a recipe for an apple crisp or similar - maybe something like this Serious Eats article (if you leave the butter out, it should last a good while). Dried apple rings (maybe with cinnamon and/or sugar), similar to this, maybe. And I think your zucchini bread would be a lovely addition!

There are products like this 'expanding' spice rack, which gets good reviews on Amazon. I've never tried it. Spice Rack for Cabinet I bought one like this and mounted it on the outside edge of a cabinet (it could replace the mirror things, perhaps?) Wall-mounted spice rack

Can you attach anything to the walls anywhere? (Do you own or rent?) I think it's a lovely little kitchen, but I can see storage might be a bit limited. Can you use the bookshelves for spice/pantry storage with some containers? You could do a wall-mounted spice rack under the bar-height counter section (to the R of the sink).

Do you have a standard door near your kitchen? I'm not sure this would work on your cabinets (based on your description) but I used it on a pantry door in one house and it greatly increased the amount of storage I had. You can add extra spice racks to the standard configuration. Container Store Door Storage The Container Store also has some in-cabinet storage solutions. It might be worth a browse if you haven't looked at their stuff before. Maybe a picture of your cabinets would make suggestions easier? Edited to say that the Elfa unit can also be wall-mounted, apparently.

yes, people would love to read this story along with the cookbook. Or reading the story could lead them to the cookbook. Certainly it should lead some new visitors to your restaurant. We are going to be in Tucson sometime in November and will be there for a few months or so. It's only a 3 hour drive to Silver City, NM! We know at least a few Tucson couples who would be very interested in the food you serve. I'll try and organize a group visit maybe.

Funny how several of us cooked pork cutlets last night! I did also, after brining them overnight. They were just OK though, I wish I had used some Panko crumbs like Kim Shook or Anna N with the Tonkatsu. Didn't take a pic after cooking. Baked squash and green beans were the best part of the meal, though!

How do you prepare your meat for the sesina (am I wrong spelling it cecina?) tacos? I looked at Rick Bayless' instructions for preparing the pork and it looked kind of tricky. Or am I talking about the same thing?

Kind of like this one? http://www.purewow.com/entry_detail/recipe/8821/Forget-florets--roast-the-whole-damn-cauliflower.htm The only thing i didn't like was that the inside was a bit too hard even when the outside was ready. So I agree with you, I think cutting it up a bit is better.

How did you cook them, Anna? I will go search that thread, but here is Williams-Sonoma's suggestion for cooking them in the Cuisi - steam-broil (instead of steam-bake) at 450F for about 20 mins on the upper rack position. (Though I would be keeping a pretty careful eye on them or else use a lower rack position) jo, I rarely roast cut carrots for more than about 20 mins.

We had a NY Strip Loin in the freezer that needed to be eaten, so pan-fried it, sautéed some mushrooms and tried making Shelby's Breaded Tomatoes. Shelby, the breaded tomatoes were lovely - like a really tasty tomato pudding. I think I followed your instructions but I did add a tiny bit of celery (trying to use things up) and I finished it by baking it in the Cuisinart oven because I was busy with both steak and mushrooms on the cooktop. That gave me some toasty bits on top. It's one of those simple recipes with only a few ingredients but the final result is much more than the sum of the parts. Made a very nice side dish. Thank you! Edited to add that it was a decent-sized steak and I love the end bits so my husband gives me those and he had the centre piece. Also, these were not the best tomatoes but they were pretty good. I can imagine how much better the dish would be with better tomatoes!

Trying to use things up and clean out fridge so we shared a salad of celery, pear, blue cheese and pomegranate. I put a few walnuts on mine, also. And we had a bit of leftover golden beet soup.

Looks like your camera focused on the Negroni, which seems entirely like the right thing to do!

Oh, that does look delicious and warming and just lovely for cooler days!

yes, thank you so much for posting that. Even if I never actually make the recipe (though it's on my list), I still have the vicarious pleasure of the photos and description. Thank you again.

So you don't bake yours?

basquecook, that looks like an amazing spread! Thank you for sharing! Shelby, I had never heard of breaded tomatoes (I know, must have been living under a snowbank or something!) so I had to look them up. Sounds tasty, do you have any secret ingredients or go with the basics of tomatoes, bread, sugar, butter? Your Grammy's salad looks very tasty, also. Yes, feeling like Winter Wonderland here. We had a spicy chili for two nights before the pasta.

we had a good snowfall a couple of days ago but it melted fairly quickly. Today, however, was this: Just for rotuts (and Shelby), here is our kitty, fascinated by the snow and the whiskey jacks (instead of the wild turks): And because this is a temporary rental and we had expected to be out of here by now, we aren't doing much shopping so this weekend we are doing clean-up. I had some roasted tomatoes in the freezer and a red pepper that really needed to be used so that became the basis for a pasta sauce.

Ha, me too. Was curious about the tart, and I found a NY Times variation by Melissa Clark where she makes it as a savory tarte Tatin rather individual tarts. I am wondering how similar the process/ingredients are compared to the one you made, gfweb?

Though I've found a few bars that will accommodate a surprising amount of tastings. Mind you, we still ended up leaving quite a bit of cash in their till. I remember the Bandon Dunes Scotch Bar as being especially generous.

Yes, we love pictures!!!! Good point, scuba!

Golden Beet Soup (wth onion, lemon, ginger, stock). Topped with a bit of gremolata and sour cream.

yes, welcome! Looking forward to your posts, but not sure we need pics of the sous-vide underwear.

That's almost what we did for Canadian Thanksgiving a couple of weeks ago. A boneless skin-on tied turkey breast roast on top of stuffing. It was cooked in the Cuisinart Convection Steam oven and the steam-roast setting seemed to keep it quite moist, while still browning the skin. Edited to add: To properly tie this in to the thread, I don't remember the cost but breast-only can be expensive. This one wasn't too big, so not too many $$$. It gave us a couple of meals + sandwiches. (It's the sandwiches I like the best, I think!)