Darienne

Good one, Ilana. You are really going great guns now. There will be no stopping you, senorita. Ole!

Thanks Andie. A tad too late for this meal. I finally gave up on the mixer and mashed the lumpy bits through a fine sieve. That seemed to work...but you are correct about the flavor. Morale of story: do not let my DH pick avocados. I take it that the paper bag/apple/banana actually 'ripens' them.

OK. I'll bite. How does one soften avocados and why didn't I know last night? Making a Tex/Mex luncheon spread for us and our two stalwart workers. DH picked out the avocados for me. Oh well. I wonder what the consensus would be for trying some of the pork recipes with beef. Or even chicken. Although there are enough really good beef and chicken recipes to pick from. Our current favorite (part of today's enchilada filling) is Puerco Pibil. What would it be like with beef or chicken for those who cannot eat pork?

A little research leads me to believe they are gulab jamun - which supposedly is a dessert! There are a number of little fried ball desserts in the Indian/Pakistani cuisine. I was so curious about this that I looked up "Pakistani vinegar balls" (just to start) and actually found a recipe for Ragullah which called for vinegar, but that was only to separate the whey from the milk...not soaked in vinegar. So curious...

This kind of fun is a very good kind of fun. Andie, I like the idea of a pinch of chile pepper. Must try it soon.

What time is dinner?

It looks great! Hooray for you!!!!

As it begins to get clogged, you simply reverse the turning handles...all the pits and stones will be scooped to the top of the metal plate and you can fish them out.

Here is what one looks like.

The nice thing about some of the vegetables being cooked longer than necessary is that they caramelize around the edges. Caramelized Brussels Sprouts.

My way is really simple. Put all the vegetables: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions and Brussels Sprouts into a pan with only olive oil. Then when they are done, back into the bowl and add salt, pepper and thyme. That's it. Love 'em. Tried adding turnip, but I don't like the way the flavor seems to pull sideways on the mix. Sorry. I am not a very sophisticated cook.

A hand-cranked food mill? I use one to remove apple seeds or raspberry seeds using different discs. Would something like that work?

First involuntary gasp and shudder of the day. That's terrible. Hope all is mended now. Reminds me of the time my Father was trying to fix the stand mixer for my Mother and the beaters were in place and it was plugged in. For some unfathomable reason, my Mother turned it on while my Father's fingers were entwined in the beaters. Not a pretty picture. To this day, I wonder....... At least you did it to yourself...

Yep. But you may not really like it. Do a traditional Thanksgiving and make them happy. This will avoid all discussions of your dietary changes, all misunderstandings, all tension, all bad things. Just give it up for this one meal. Period. (At least that's what I would do. And go back to your diet the next meal.)

Had a guest this weekend and had a blow-out weekend for the diet. And what was best of all? Excellent bread with cold butter. Better than the wine, the homemade apple pie, the pulled pork, etc. Yep. The bread and butter. Yummm. Tomorrow...back to the salt mines.

Chocolate Molasses Chews. Made them. Forgot to take a photo until they were all packed up. Lovely and easy to make. Easy to dip. Topped each one with a single almond sliver and they looked very elegant. Wondering about putting some heat into them...

Two years ago at a gourd festival in Darke County Ohio. A pulled pork sandwich to die for. The beginning of a whole new life for us. I'd never had pulled pork before. Yes, you can live to an advanced age and never eat pulled pork. My Mother never cooked pork and neither did I.

Please do keep in mind that many doctors are currently subscribing to a desired cholesterol level which is not necessarily correct. They are now even Rxing statins for young children.

Thanks for the experiential information. Always a huge help.

Ah, too late to edit. Just reread my three different recipes again and found in the engineer's recipe a good tip I never heard before. Heat the pan (with silpat sheet) to 200 degrees to help spread the mixture thinly and evenly enough. Trust the engineer's mind. (I am an Engineer's daughter. )

Congratulations are definitely in order for such dedication and will power.

Have just downloaded three different recipes for chile flavored brittle and they add the chile/cayenne/paprika/whatever at three different times: beginning, middle and end. So either we are lucky and someone who has done it successfully answers this question...or we get to work and find out for ourselves.

Still reading and still loving every photo and every piece of information. The food looks divine. We don't eat much Indian food anymore for some unknown reason and I really miss it. Must start in again and learn some new recipes. Thanks Percyn.

You, as always, are a sweetie...along with several dozen other eG sweeties, of course. Salt & pepper and biting spice. Could be ground ancho chiles...a bit of a bite, but not too much...or ground chipotles...more bite...or a dozen others things. I think I'll try one with ground chiles. My newest obsession, in a long line of obsessions. So thrilled to be able to buy piloncillo locally!!! :wub:

Thanks all. I was not thinking about pieces of fruit, but more about lemon, lime or orange zest...should have said so. I'll just try it in small batches and see how it works. Might try ground espresso coffee. Or 'not ground but crushed' beans.