Marlene

The other difference between the two countries celebrations, is that in the States, Thanksgiving is a major holiday and signifies the beginning of holiday shopping as well. While it is a holiday here, we don't make a big a deal out of it as Americans do.

If I can find it Kerry, you can have mine. I rarely use an immersion blender, but I switched to a Kitchen Aid for those few tasks that I do use it for. I think it's me though and I've just never figured out how to use one properly.

I enjoyed this as well. Steven, are 3 year olds required to fast as well? I can't imagine how well that would go over and they wouldn't really understand at that age either!

I love the 5.5 round. It's quite versatile. I use the braiser for braised pork chops, short ribs, braised veg and potatoes. I also use the braiser to make beef stroganoff in.

I'm not a pro either, but I'd say three job choices in this economy is a good thing, or even a lucky thing. So as others say, evaluate your priorities in life and where you want to be in 5 or ten years from now, then pick the job that will help you get there.

Susan, when do you close your cabin? We normally close ours at Canadian Thanksgiving (this past weekend), but, since it's winterized, we've decided to keep it open at least up until New Years this year.

And sometimes you just end up with what they have. Today hubby went to the Whole Foods in Brighton, MA, as promised, in search of a 4-5lb piece of brisket from the flat-cut end, per the recipe. But they only had a 3lb piece and a 2lb piece, so that's what he came home with. So I will just cook them up together as if they were one harmonious single piece. Another benefit to the CI technique is that they have you wrap the brisket with the minimal liquid and other ingredients in a tight foil jacket, so that the juices have minimal space to circulate around in. Given that, I don't think I'll even have to tie the separate meat pieces together -- even if I could think of a way to do it that wouldn't be supremely weird. Stay tuned for details and pictorial on Saturday. - L. ← You just can't buy brisket in the grocery stores here. Even our little Whole Foods doesn't carry it. I figure I might be able to special order it from my butcher though, which is why I was wondering. Maybe I'll get a whole one and cut it up for different uses. Some smoked, some braised etc.

When ordering a brisket from a butcher, what would one ask for? Just "a brisket"?

there has been a lemon juice concentrate shortage for a little while now. lemon juice shortage

Thanks! It did in fact. I'll make this one again.!

Oh god no, please don't! ← I'm assuming you're saying dont do it the day before. How should I cook it? ← You're right, that's what I'm saying. The suggestion of getting a read on how they like their meat done is a good one. That will guide much of what you do with this. If you can keep an eye open for a good deal on a Prime Rib at Costco, you'll have a really nice cut of meat. I'm a big fan of Costco Prime Ribs. Anyway, you want to roast this in a 325 oven. Lightly brushed with olive oil and dusted with salt and pepper. Timing will depend on how they like it done. I'm guessing no one will want rare, so that's out. Med rare, 25 minutes per lb. med well, 28 minutes per lb well done. 30-32 minutes per pound. you want to get a big one I think, or you're going to have a problem with oven space cooking more than one at a time. I forget if you have more than one oven there. You can throw potatoes around the roast and let them roast with the meat. The potatoes will take about 2 hours, so if your roast needs more than two hours and it likely will, throw the potatoes on when you've got two hours to go. Deglaze the pan, use a roux and some stock and make gravy. Email me if you need help the day of to help walk you through it.

Oh god no, please don't!

I agree on the Cab or Zin for red. For white, a chardonnay is usually pretty dry, or a sauvignon blanc. Tonight I tried an Asian recipe for short ribs. Asian glazed ribs.

You must not wash the dishes in your house. Why would I want to dirty another pot, when I can do everything in the roasting pan and just have one pan to clean? My roasting pans get plenty of use and I'm an advocate of buying a good one.

The longest I've left them frozen, uncooked, is two weeks. I couldn't say if you could go longer, but I haven't noticed an big difference in texture in that time. I also tend to saute them in butter after poaching them so maybe that makes a difference. Do you have time to do a test run with a small batch?

I do this all the time with pate a choux gnocchi. I pipe them in rows on a baking sheet on parchment paper, then freeze until very firm. Cut them into desired length and freeze right away.

I don't see why not. Sorry. The smoker ran at 250 the whole time.

sorry. I'll make it a point to figure out how to do gravy with this method next time. And the fat is very crispy, even if the top wasn't well done.

The picture is deceiving, but that top part is not well done and is still pretty pink. Couldn't do a gravy with this one, so I did a red wine and port reduction sauce.

Kerry, you're welcome anytime! Thanks to everyone for their help. It took 3.5 hours on the smoker, and we used apple for the wood. Gave it a quick sear on the grill after we took it off the smoker. We will do this again and again, especially here at the cottage where I only have one oven.

Ok that makes sense. As to searing. Not sear first? And can I sear it on the grill before or after? My oven will be taken up with yorkies.

Not exactly. There is a thread where Snowangel and I did go ahead and smoke a couple of prime ribs and we had pics and stuff, but I can't find it.

Somewhere around here is a topic on this, but I'll be damned if I can find it! We have a 9 lb bone in prime rib that we are thinking of smoking today. We figure the temp to be around 225-250. My question is timing. How long do you think? 4hours? 6 hours? For rare.

Dorie Greenspan has a recipe for a Spiced Cranberry Bundt cake that uses Chinese five spice powder, in this month's Bon Appetit. It sounds really good!

Always my knives. Otherwise, it depends on what I'm making. A grater and or zester. A good roasting pan. Stock. Always stock. None of my friends or family with one exception make stock. Fresh herbs. Oh wait, you said gadgets or tools. I made the gravy for a turkey dinner at a friend's cottage this summer. I took my own stock, demi glace and my roux whisk.