blue_dolphin

I'll look for that one. When you first mentioned it, I thought it was something they no longer carry. I have one of those wine aerators that someone gave me as a gift so I'll try it with these wines. My TJ's was selling the 2018 vintage of this Rancho Sisquoc River Red for $9.99. They're a local winery that I visit from time to time so I was curious to try it. As you might expect, the 2018 was very young and aggressive, even after going through the aerator. I may pick up another bottle to two to set aside for a year or so.

I bought a bottle of the Stick Figure to try. Not sure what grapes are used here but I generally like the blends of Rhone varietals often made in the Paso area where this is from. It's also $8.99 here and is listed in the TJ's Thanksgiving flyer.

Today: Egg, bacon and cheese on toasted whole wheat focaccia I wasn't wild about this batch of focaccia but it toasts up nicely for a sandwich so I'll slice it up accordingly and stash the rest in the freezer. Cheese is that deliciously rich and creamy Chimay Autumn cheese from TJ's (I hope they have some left as mine is almost gone!) and the bacon is Broadbent's hickory smoked. Previously: Pear, bacon and cheese toasty on Sonora wheat baguette. Bacon and cheese are as above. Slices of that perfectly ripe bosc pear from the farmers market are under the cheese with more on the side.

If you use Eat Your Books for your cookbooks or online recipes, you can choose to add the ingredients to a shopping list. It looks like this, with the recipes names at the top and the ingredients sorted into categories below. You can print it or view it on your phone at the store. I don't believe there is any way to add other, non recipe items to the list so if you also need trash bags and a gallon of milk, you'd need another list. It's also not smart enough to know what's already in your pantry, but I'm often not that smart either!

That's actually the one that got me started today when a friend from NJ posted it on Facebook while complaining that no one in Atlanta had ever heard of Mischief Night. Of course, I had to look up the other one map to find one with my Cabbage Night on it! I am endlessly entertained by those maps and the questionnaires that identify where you are from based on your responses!

Good idea! I'm going to make a bit of simple syrup with both the Thai and holy basil. At least enough to make a few popsicles from each. I've done peach with basil and it was very good. Or I could go in a lime-ginger-basil direction. Thanks! That helps me narrow down my search. I'm putting some stems into water so hopefully they'll keep for a few days.

Any favorite recipes that you think really showcase either of those?

I only had about 10 kids last night. I turned off my porch light at 8:30. The doorbell rang once after that but I didn't answer. I'm a couple of days late on this one (the story of my life 🙃) but what do you call the night before Halloween? It was Cabbage Night where I grew up in northern NY but I've never heard anyone out here refer to it by any name.

I did spot a recipe for a Thai basil mai-tai. It only calls for 10 leaves for 2 cocktails. I could make a lot of them....

I'm looking for suggestions for saving or using up this bounty of purple basil, holy basil and Thai basil. A friend asked me yesterday if I needed some basil and I said, "Sure, I can make some pesto to freeze." I was expecting a few clippings of sweet basil. Here's what she brought - big bunches of purple, holy and Thai basil: I figure I can go ahead and make purple pesto with the purple basil but what should I do with the Thai and holy basils? I've only used Thai basil a few times and have never used holy basil and would love ideas for using them. Can I purée them in oil and freeze in a zip-lock as I've done with sweet basil? If so should I blanch the leaves first?

Now THAT sounds scary!!! 👻

I remember as a kid being invited in out of the cold and offered cider and homemade treats after we introduced ourselves to our hosts and told them about our costumes and who we were dressed as. Sweet. I don't get too many kids here. I buy the treat-sized bags of chips, Fritos, Doritos, pretzels. The kids seem to like picking out their choice of snack.

I'll just add to @kayb's thoughtful inventory and say that I am much less generous. Except for the nuts, where we agree, I usually dole out ~ half of the amounts specified in her post. I believe Kay also brings something in every category (appetizer, bread, salad, side, main and dessert) to pot lucks ❤️ Edited to add that I may bring more than one dish but often just one! Kay mentions half pint or pint jars. I tend to go with the little 4 oz or half pints. For cookies, I'd only do a full dozen of the smaller pressed cookies, otherwise a half dozen is more like it. Cookies would usually be the bulk of my baskets with several types included. I use little foil 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" loaf pans for fruit cake and quick bread or pound cakes. I might include one fruitcake and 2 quick breads in a basket. Maybe just one in a small basket. Not sure how I measure the nut brittles, usually a big, generous handful? All that said, my baskets have usually gone to smaller families. Often a couple, maybe a few kids. Small treats, not sustenance.

I followed your suggestion and dipped half of each lime pie pop into the crumbs. No graham crackers in the house so I used the TJ's version of speculoos cookies. The crunch is really good with these tart, creamy pops. I also channeled one of my favorite summer desserts - fresh peaches sliced into Moscato and made these Peach & Moscato pops. I didn't roast the peaches as I usually do and I peeled them so the red skin didn't make them too dark and just used a little honey to sweeten them. They may not be quite as magical as the real thing on a summer evening but still refreshing on hot October days!

Beans! I love to cook beans low and slow in the oven as I think that method lets them become their very best selves. I'll do some in the Instant Pot in the summer to use for bean dips but I'm looking forward to cooler days ahead when I can start working through my stash of Rancho Gordo beans.

Thanks! I thought the 24 chest freezers was a tip off!

I use the Instant Pot a little more often. I find my Anova easier to use.

Woman with freezer full of overripe bananas dies never having made banana bread

I am so, so sorry! A number of years ago, I participated in a research study that required eating a very low fat diet. No cheese was allowed. It was a major struggle in the beginning but by the end of it, I had some good ideas for substitutes. Plus, they provided all the food and paid me $1000 so there was that 🙃 You have all my best wishes in finding tasty foods that entertain your cheese taste buds and I hope that at some point there may be an opportunity to reintroduce an occasional morsel of cheese.

@CatIsHungry, I used to make gift baskets of homemade goodies every year. I usually had a couple of sizes of baskets depending on family size. Go with sizes that you can pack full so they don't look skimpy. I recommend using shallower baskets so almost everything can be visible. I used to buy them over the course of the year when I saw a good price and pull them out of my stash at the holidays. I think you've got plenty of things on your list but I agree with @kayb that a loaf of quick bread or pound cake makes a nice centerpiece. And they do fill up space if that is your concern. I saw that you don't have time for bread but you can even doctor up a cake mix into a nice lemon poppy seed pound cake and bake off 6 small loaves from one box. Something to keep in mind if you need last-minute space-fillers. If you don't have cello bags or wraps for everything, you can use snack or sandwich size zip top bags and just put the zip side down, out of sight in the basket. With the number of things you've got on your list, you don't need to give everyone a ton of everything, just a few. Think of those commercial gift baskets - the sizes of stuff they put in there are positively minuscule. I'm sure anything you put together will be much more generous than that stuff!

I remember when purchasing cheeses, including Red Hawk, at the Cowgirl Creamery shop at the Ferry Building, I was asked when I planned on serving them and they selected specimens that would be ready. I had a couple of parties in mind and they kindly separated the cheeses that I needed to set aside for the event that was a week later.

I made butternut squash triangoli today using a filling from Evan Funke's recent book American Sfoglino. The dough includes some stone-ground spelt flour, hence the darker color. I was expecting to tweak the filling to temper the sweetness of the squash but when I tasted it, I was pleasantly surprised with the intensity of the squash flavor so I used it as is. I don't know that anyone's looked at this thread in years, and I already posted over in the Winter Squash cook-off thread but I though I'd share it here, too. I can't find an online source for the recipe in the book, but paraphrased, it is: Butternut Squash Filling, he specifies the yield as about 1 QT One 3-lb butternut squash, peeled and cubed Kosher salt 1 stick unsalted butter 2 fresh sage leaves Cook the squash in salted water until tender, drain and purée until smooth Melt the butter in a skillet until bubbly, add the sage leaves and cook a min or so until they are fragrant Add the squash and salt to taste. Stir constantly for ~ 15 min, until thickened. He specifies to avoid sticking and caramelization on the bottom of the pan. Cool completely and remove sage leaves before using. I roasted the squash (which I neglected to weigh) instead of boiling and used a much more modest amount of butter (which I neglected to measure). My cook time was a bit less than the specified 15 min. It was quite thick and had reduced to about half the original volume of purée when I took it off the heat. I would describe it as rich, intense and sweet, in that order. Nothing was needed to temper the sweetness. Because they taste quite rich, next time I think I'll serve them on a bed of sautéed greens. Funke recommends briefly blanching filled pasta (just until they float) before refrigerating or freezing to avoid moist fillings from making the dough tacky. I did this but haven't cooked any of them to see how they fare. The ones I cooked directly after making had a nice, rich texture and flavor.

Here's my take on Evan Funke's Triangoli di Zucca con Burro e Salvia (triangoli with squash, butter & sage) from his recent book, American Sfoglino The filling was a surprise to me. I expected to add something extra (ham, goat cheese, gorgonzola?) to boost the flavor and temper the sweetness of the squash but when I tasted it, I loved the intense squash flavors and skipped any other additions. The recipe says to boil the squash until tender, purée it, then cook it with butter and a couple of sage leaves, stirring constantly until it thickens. I roasted butternut squash and used rather less butter than he specifies, cooking it down until it reduced to ~ half the original volume. Edited to add that I posted the recipe for the butternut squash filling over here. The book uses an egg pasta dough, I went with an egg, bread flour and stone ground wheat dough using whole grain, stone ground spelt from Marc Vetri's Mastering Pasta. I thought this slightly more chewy pasta would be a good contrast to the smooth squash filling. 2.5" pasta squares with the squash filling: Triangoli: Plated with the sage and brown butter sauce and my additions of toasted hazelnuts and gorgonzola dolce

I think we got Raquel beans in the spring shipment last year (2018) Any chance you could have had them that long? Edited to add that this doesn't confirm that you aren't delusional, @Shelby, but does suggest your sense of time may be a bit off 🤣

It does absolutely look light and airy. Crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. Really delightful. I'm sorry if that's not the case but I still think you may be too harsh on yourself and I appreciate your sharing the whole process!