Darienne

Kerry as usual is correct...but then DH likes to wait until they are ginormous. The one up by the Drive Shed is huge. (My camera refused to work this afternoon. It's a dreadful camera.) I'll try to get a photo again tomorrow and see if I can convince Ed to pick it and then cut a slice off it for a photo. I should admit that I have long ceased to be much of a mushroom lover.

And there's a second one growing up at the Drive Shed as we speak. If you asked my DH what they taste like, he might go on at some length about how delicious they are. I think they taste like nothing much and if you fry them in butter, they taste like buttery nothing. But that's just my opinion.

Thanks Kerry. Just read a post from FB, from my B-i-L, who speaks also of the large seed. I'll test for the seed tomorrow. And then I'll watch for deepening of the colour. Google images do show both the bright red and the later darker colour. It's not the end of the summer yet...although it sure feels like it with this weather lately. The photo does not show the trees very clearly...they are not small. But this is the very first year that any berries have been on them, so they are teenage trees I guess. Choke cherry juice? I'll google it and see how much sweetener it needs.

And now for the Choke Cherries? Are they Choke Cherries? They look like the item described online and in our Peterson book. What on earth can one do with them besides jam or jelly...which we don't eat more than 4X a year? If that. Is there anyone nearby who can identify these trees for sure? Or who wants the berries? (Don't suggest local folks coming to the farm and picking them please. I'd love to allow that, but our insurance would not cover any ensuing law suits. And we don't have pathways for us to give them to anyone that I know of. At this point. I'll investigate.) It's a shame if they go to waste. The trees are so heavily laden...if they are choke cherries...which I don't know for certain. I'll pick a puff ball any day...but choke cherries I've never seen before.

In our house, it's just plain apple and sugar and I am more than welcome to add cinnamon to my own pieces as cut if desired. Mostly I don't bother and we eat apple pie with 5-year old cheddar. The cheddar provides all the 'spice' needed. But then we are Canadians.... I would tend to try cardamom.

They're back.... Puffballs which grow in random places on the farm. This one we have been watching for a week now and finally DH picked it today. Heaven only knows how big it would actually grow. It's not the biggest we have ever picked, but close. It will be sliced, fried in butter, some eaten and the rest frozen for later use. Forgot: 11 " (28cm) high with a circumference of 38" (96.5 cm)

This all sounds good and exciting too. I'm so glad that you have returned to eG and now a cookbook to follow too. All best.

We live in east central Ontario, Canada, and use Kadoya sesame oil. My big complaint is that we can't get the favored coconut milk, Mae Ploy.

Ed and I have been cooking together peacefully for over 54 years now. In fact, he taught me how to cook when we were first married and he still does almost all the short order stuff. For certain, he does bacon, potatoes, eggs and toast. I couldn't stand the tension. One of our best 'togethers' is Chinese food. He does the mises and I do the cooking. (He does a lot more work in this one than I do. )

I got the recipe and I'm a Canadian posting from Canada.

I have long wanted to make a trifle and even have a trifle-suitable bowl although it has no pedestal and is...(ooops)...plastic. Yours is gorgeous and I just might go for it for the upcoming Dog Weekend. How to win friends and influence people. I guess.

I completely agree with Anna re frozen peas and carrots.

You can make tortillas roll-ups, spread both sides with butter, cinnamon and sugar. Pin with a toothpick and bake for a few minutes. Use small tortillas.

I have a couple of recipes for little kids to make Tootsie Rolls without any cooking...as I recall. I could look them up.

We bought them decades ago in Ottawa, ON. They looked like hamburger buns more or less, but were egg bread so they were tasty on their own. Honestly, it was a V-E-R-Y long time ago...the baby is now 49. They were squishy ...if you squished them. You could use any bread stuff at all. It was the magic of the cheese puffing way, way up that did it.

First thing to come to my mind was Rice Crispie Squares. Then reading about the cheese sandwiches reminded me of my own children's favorite, cooked only when Grandmom came and she brought the stuff. Soft stuffy egg buns with American cheese slices. You simply lay the cheese slice on top of the bread and then under the broiler and the cheese puffs way...way...up and the kids loved that with a passion.

You two do the loveliest blog. Enjoy it every time. I made the Impossible Chocolate Pie and it was a great success with homemade Vanilla Ice Cream...but then our guest was a single gentleman and he loves anything made at home. Next I'm gonna make that Torte. Haven't decided what fruit to use. Thanks for both of these recipes.

Monty Cristo. Interesting. Unlike most folks I have encountered, I was raised on salted French toast and that's how I eat it, when I do. But I don't know about this fully loaded version.

Was just about to post the exact same text. Plus, when I am pressed for time in donating to local animal charities for their sales, I have made the lollipops using a microwave recipe.

Kerry Beal's Quick Bread Recipes, Cranberry-Walnut version, was received with such enthusiasm at the Gourd Retreat that I was stupefied. Well, I guess I'm gonna make that one again.

We are with dcarch.

Just did it with one ear of corn for fun...and by heck, it worked perfectly.

Shel_B, do you toast the pita pieces or not for your Fattoush? I've never made it at home, but do love it. I have sumac down on my grocery list as of a month ago to make something called Three Pepper Shakshuka Pita with Feta and Za'atar. from Smitten Kitchen and still haven't gotten to that out-of-the-way store which carries such things. Can't get Za'atar in our nearby city.

I'm the designated 'snack person' for the upcoming local gourd retreat. To that end I have begun making items, starting with Kerry Beal's Quick Bread Recipes, taken from The Kitchen. On the left is the Variation #1: Cranberry-Walnut; on the right is Variation #4: Blueberry Loaf. Both taste very good. DH says butter goes on both loaf, and for the Cranberry Loaf? Old Cheddar, of course. Thanks, Kerry.

Ha! I knew what you looked like, Kerry, but now we all know what Anna looks like too. Always nicer to know what the person looks like. For me, anyway. Thanks.