Shelby

Thank you both for boosting my confidence! I spent a long time lining up those dang lady fingers so this better taste ok lol. Dark rum does sound good!

What did you sub for what? Enquiring minds want to know. The recipe called to dip the ladyfingers in equal parts of maple syrup and bourbon mixed together. I thought I had bourbon...nope. The closest thing I had was brandy.

Well, today I've done my deviled eggs, pumpkin tiramisu and cranberry apple compote (Ina Garten's recipe). I'm nervous about the tiramisu. I thought I had an ingredient, and I didn't. I live too far out to run to a store, so I compromised. I hope it works.

My grandma always used stove top. She mixed it then made it into little patties and baked it. Me and my cousins never knew it wasn't her homemade recipe until we were well into adulthood. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my Stovetop love

Tell us about your deviled eggs. (I'm so addicted I take them about 3 times a month to work for breakfast). I think that's a perfect Holiday bite. I'm a deviled egg purist. I've played around with all sorts of combinations, but I always go back to Hellman's mayo, French's mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Half have a pimento stuffed olive slice and the other half have an anchovy stuffed olive slice. Oh, and when I have it on hand--which is rare--salmon or trout roe is another favorite on top.

I'm still deciding on the whole menu....I don't have to stress since it's just us So far: David's oyster stew Deviled eggs Roasted Cornish game hens rubbed with sage butter (I'm not a turkey fan and we'll get that plus ham at the in-laws on Saturday) Brussels sprouts or maybe some Swiss chard or maybe a green bean and mushroom pie??? I'm undecided. I detest green bean casserole. Mashed taters Stuffing of some kind--I honestly like Stove Top--don't tell anyone. Chicken and noodles--the thick kind you can spoon over mashed taters Rolls --homemade Pumpkin tiramisu

It's actually a combination of an old recipe from Clementine Paddleford and my own recipe for fried oysters. You basically start with fresh oysters and make a stew with the oysters, oyster liquid, butter, worcestershire, paprika, celery salt, milk and hald and half. It's a fairly soupy stew. Then I garnish it with a fried oyster. My basic mix is to dredge the oysters in a mix of flour, cornstarch and potato starch, then deep-fry in canola oil at 350 for about 3 minutes. Immediately before service you put a fried oyster in the bowl and spoon the stew in and around. You've got to taste and eat before the fried oyster gets soggy, but this is one delicious way to enjoy oyster in different textures. Awesome. Turkey Day is just hubby and I and this is going on the menu. The oysters won't be like yours, but....it'll still be good!

Oh, and to me, that's what made me laugh even harder! I'm a heathen from Kansas, though

I'm wiping the tears off my face with my sleeves. I haven't laughed this hard in ages!

It's that time of year again! What do you want to find under your tree? I want to know all of the gadgets, gizmos, cookbooks, foods etc. that you want. A Vitamix dances around in my head like sugarplums Actually, I've seen a couple of cheaper versions that would probably do me just fine. And, the Modernist cookbook set. However, seeing as how my dryer decided to shoot craps--it costs $100 less to fix it than it would to buy a new one. AND, my Inspiron 9300 laptop died--motherboard is out--I doubt I'll be getting either of my wishes.

David, tell me more about the oyster stew with fried oysters--are all of the oysters fried or do you leave some undone?

Ditto!

Oh, Hugh, will you EVER tweeze those unibrows??? I was way more interested in this first episode than I was the last years. Gina Keatley --I'm SO glad she didn't make it. I'll leave it at that.

I am SO jealous. I can't even make round ones. How did you do the shapes?

Add some cream and make tomato soup, pizza, lasagna soup.

Noooooo, it can't be over already!!!

If I wasn't happily married, I'd BEG to be your girlfriend--as long as you cook for your girlfriends This looks amazing, especially the jam.

Ok, mine are in the oven. I used Piegori's recipe and it smells soooo good. The only thing I did different is I thickened up the tomato sauce (I used some of my canned tomatoes from the garden) with some flour and butter. I've never done that before, but I wanted a thicker sauce. It tastes great. After they are done I'll probably use a bit of sour cream in it also. I made some homemade croutons the other day, so I'm making the egg noodles just as she instructed I've been so lax in taking pictures, but I'll try to remember.

You're already going home tomorrow???? I've loved reading this.

Every update is amazing. I love the boobie birds--the baby is so fuzzy and cute! And the Salsa de Mariscos--I wish I could stick my face in the computer and have a few bites.

I'm ready for cabbage rolls, again.

I wanna hang out with you guys! Sounds fun! I need to introduce that game to my family....except the loser would probably buy wine lol.

Mmmmmmm.....YUM octopus. I love it. Seriously, I'm drooling. While on your (way too long of a) drive were you marking off things you saw on that paper?

I got a jar of them from Zingerman's mail order a couple of years ago. I hated them. The flavor was good, but the skin, ohhhhh the skin was really THICK. Maybe I'm weird lol.

Lovely fruit. I'm jealous. I notice the Roskitos have American football depicted!