kayb

That is a thing of beauty.

Kill me now, because that looks like what I'd love to have for my last meal. Oh, and would you come cook it for me?

Here's one that I've used a number of times: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust 1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, chilled Directions In either a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment or using a hand held electric mixer, cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the milk mixing on low speed until well combined. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla and pour into the crust. Place the pie into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours up to overnight, until well chilled and set. Top the pie with the pie filling just before serving. I see no real reason why you couldn't add the zest and change the cherry topping for chocolate ganache. And add an egg, if it makes you happy; you'd want to bake it a bit, I guess, to help it set due to the additional lemon juice. Anyway, sounds like it should work. I'm intrigued by the idea of chocolate on top; I may have to try that!

Just fascinating -- both the Bedouin village and the chocolates! Keep going -- loving it!

Pardon my ignorance. TSA?

Ginger-glazed chuck roast over rice, with a caprese made with tomatos from the Mennonites' greenhouse -- how I do love a fresh tomato in the winter! I used basil oil instead of fresh basil, which I did not have, my plant having succumbed to frost. It has the most amazing fresh basil-y taste. Today I'm on the final stage of cassoulet, from Paula Wolfert's classic recipe. I sincerely hope it's as good as the work and expense would indicate; this is not a cheap, nor easy, dish to make! I'll report.

Calzone, with Marcella Hazen's Tomato Butter Sauce. The filling was ricotta, pecorino, herbs and Italian sausage. Marcella sauce over the top of the filling. The top crust, with a couple of thin spots And the finished product, after a brush with an egg wash and 30 minutes at 375.

I've got the makings for a huge honkin' batch of bacon jam, which I think I'll can for gift-giving and preservation purposes. Homemade crackers. Pralines, because I can't not do pralines. Some fudge, because I can't not do fudge. Lots of pumpkin bread (found a kickass recipe that I love). More to be determined, but probably to include breads of some sort.

Rory -- welcome! Meatballs formed around water chestnuts....who'd'a thunk it? Must try that. JMahl -- loving the chorizo. Prawn...we should get together and try barbecuing one day!

Andie, do you not put any fat in your cornbread? Mama never made cornbread (nor do I) without a couple of tablespoons of bacon drippings. In a pinch, and without bacon drippings (the horror!) I've used vegetable oil. But always a couple of tablespoons of a fat.

I cook pork shoulder often, either on the grill with indirect heat, or in the oven. My procedure, which has proven itself over time, is a dry rub 24 hours ahead of time, wrapped tightly in plastic and stuck in the fridge; roasted low-and-slow (I tend to start at 200, and bump it up, 25 degrees an hour, until it finishes about 350 to develop a nice crust; on my barrel grill I just heap coals as far to each end as I can and put the shoulder in the middle. I find about five or six hours gives it the right level of pull-apartness. I will often baste with a vinegar-based sauce, every hour or so. You can make up for the lack of "real" smoke by adding a healthy portion of smoked pimenton to your dry rub.

Norm -- Try boiling it in apple juice.

I haven't worked in food service since I was in high school, more years ago than I care to remember, and about the worst thing I recall is ashes dropping off the cook's perpetual cigarette, which never left his clenched jaws, into whatever was on the grill or stove. He never flinched. I just didn't eat. I was at a trade show at the Cobo Center in Detroit once, walking toward an entrance around the corner, and passed the loading dock to the concession/kitchen area. Out of the open loading dock door strolled a very fat four-legged creature that I first thought was a possum, because I've never seen a rat that big. I stopped dead still; I was between him and the street, with a park and the river on the other side of the street. Had he turned in my direction we would have seen if my swimming ability would've gotten me to Windsor, Ontario, because while there is not much in this world of which I'm afraid, a rat is the one thing that reduces me to abject terror. Probably a good thing I don't work in the back of the house anywhere!

I always "cook" a fully cooked ham; 20 minutes per pound, 300 degree oven, tented with aluminum foil, on a rack so the juices can drain. That after I've glazed it by smearing whole grain mustard all over it and patting on a coating of brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and cloves, and misting the whole thing with bourbon. I also vac-seal several slices to a package and freeze; they get fried for breakfast or dinner, added to potatos, go into Cuban sandwiches, or any number of other preparations. Odd-shaped bits get diced and frozen for later use in red beans and rice, cooking with white beans, etc. Some gets ground for ham salad (love me some ham salad, too!). The bone gets boiled for half a day for stock and then the stock reduced and frozen in small quantities for flavoring soups and stews and beans and such. The pig. I do love him. I'd have never made much of an Orthodox Jew, I'm afraid.

A small smoker. A refrigerator/cooler just for curing charcuterie. A set of really, really good knives.

Norm, thanks for the challah recipes. I've saved them, and next breadmaking weekend, I'll be trying them. I refuse to use any bread other than challah for French toast, so it will be nice to have some at home. PanaCana, gorgeous lasagna. Xilimmns, great looking polenta and oxtail. Prawn, your osso bucco makes me wish I still had a pressure cooker. Finished off the turkey last night with turkey enchiladas. Night before, it was turkey shepherd's pie. No photos of either one because I just wasn't in the photo mood. Decent meals, though. Feeling the jones for red beans and rice. I think that's tomorrow.

Norm, Do you have a challah recipe you'll share? I've never braved it; ready to try.

I have a pro that I bought, refurbished, via the Kitchenaid site for about $200, last year. I have no problems with it at all. I make bread once a week, and sometimes a loaf or two of quick bread in between. I do like the bowl lift feature; seems more sturdy to me than the head tilt. Just bought the meat grinding attachment, and haven't put it to use yet.

I watch the weather forecast like a hawk. When it's cool enough (a crap shoot, here in the Sunny South), I can do a lot more prep the night before, because my grill and my patio table become auxiliary refrigerators. I currently have my turkey breasts brining on the patio table, and two casserole dishes in the (cold) grill.

dcarch -- there are few foods of which I pride myself a connoisseur, but pulled pork is among them. While I'm strong on tradition -- I'm not sure it's possible to get "real" pulled pork anywhere but from a butt or whole shoulder grilled low and slow over charcoal or wood coals -- your interpretation is an absolute work of art and I'd love to try it. Though folks in Memphis would look askance at you! I'm fascinated by the slaw, particularly. Don't know if I could get past puff pastry as a bun, but I'd try.

Farm egg cooked in butter and truffle oil; slab bacon and smoked venison sausage; cheese grits and an onion roll with fig jam. That'll tide me over until brisket tonight.

NYT this morning had what looked like a great recipe for caramelized turnips. Happens I just bought turnips at the farmers' market yesterday, thinking of roasting them. They may have just made the Thanksgiving Day list.

If I'm being fastidious, which is approximately once every 3 1/2 years, I'll slit the shell and devein. I don't know what the pink tube is, but I leave it if it wants to stay, pull it if it wants to come with the vein (roughly 50-50 in my experience). I've not encountered it in shrimp I've bought off-the-boat in the summer on the Gulf, so I think it's seasonal. I've found it in fresh-frozen "off season" shrimp in the inland markets. I can't tell that it (or the vein, either, if not for the grit)makes any diff in the taste, so I don't worry too awfully much about it. A healthy dash of Louisiana crab/crawfish/shrimp boil covers any adverse taste it may have, and as there is no higher and better use of shrimp than a Cajun boil, I don't worry much about it.

I'm personally quite fond of Acme Oyster House. Cafe du Monde, of course, is a must for breakfast, despite the lines. For dinner, try Mr. B's Bistro, on Royal; smallish, compared to some of the places, but a lovely place to enjoy some Crescent City favorites. Have a drink in the lobby bar of the Roosevelt Hotel on Canal, and an appetizer and a glass of wine at Restaurant August. (FWIW, I didn't care for the rabbit sausage there -- too fennel-y -- but the figs and fresh mozzarella were magnificent.)

mm84321, gorgeous seafood. Intrigued by the idea of date viniagrette. Details? Tonight, since the weather is promising to turn iffy next week, was a burger. With bacon jam, smoked gouda, kosher dill slices, and honey chipotle butter, on a rosemary-garlic roll. It may well be the best burger I ever made in my life.