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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.

Friday night, so it's my "quick and dirty" night. Pasta e lenticche, with an add of sauteed diced salami. Not half bad.

Dear Lord. If I send you a check, will you send me some of that? Name your price! My mouth is watering just thinking about it and the uses to which I could put it! It's enough to make me buy a smoker. Still trying to get ahead on so many things right now. The batch of powder that I need to chop and mix for tomorrow night's tots is drying in the oven as I type. If we ever get in front of things enough to have extra "Magic" I would love to mail it our to you. I'll hold you to that. And if I'm ever in the Lansing area, be assured I'll be stopping by for a sandwich and some tots!

Dear Lord. If I send you a check, will you send me some of that? Name your price! My mouth is watering just thinking about it and the uses to which I could put it! It's enough to make me buy a smoker.

I'm picking up an order of ground goat meat from the co-op tomorrow afternoon. Would goat be acceptable in Bolognese? If not, what should I use the goat for? Ordered it on a whim -- the only goat I've ever eaten was barbecued whole goat. I have some grass-fed ground beef I could put with it, and some good country slab bacon OR country sausage, or both.

In the freakin' WALK-IN? Oh, Lawd. That'd take me out of the mood, fo' sho'.

Here's a recipe for my apple-bacon salad that requires no refrigeration after you get it to work...and the balsamic dressing turns the apples brown, anyway, so no discoloration issues! I'd wait and add the feta right before serving, I think. http://www.food52.com/recipes/8735_applebacon_salad_with_honey_balsamic_viniagrette

Looking forward to this! Also fascinated by palmistry -- how did you acquire an interest/skill in that?

I want ScottyBoy and dcarch to meet in the middle of the country to cook dinner together. I'll offer my house as the spot!

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. I. Want. Those. Figs. In a sandwich, with queso fresco. I would have said I could have died happy after that, but then there was this: "We were too early to sample the Fritada (chunks of pork belly cooked in their own fat with panela), which is done over wood fires in giant brass cauldrons." Pork belly in panela? Take me now, Lord. There are obviously more things in Ecuador's cuisine than were dreamt of in my philosophy, with apologies to Horatio. Yeah. I got to visit. This particular blog has made me lust for airline tickets more than any I've read here. Congrats, PanaCana. You need to be working for Ecuador's tourism bureau. Y'all are certainly way up on my list of Places To Visit and Eat My Way Through!

Here you go: the definitive compendium of deviled eggs from the Southern cooks who specialize in 'em: http://southernfoodways.org/documentary/oh/eggs/index.html

I was about to start looking for flights when I saw that gorgeous array from the sweets shop. But the prospect of a hot candied fig sandwich? I'm packing! PanCan, this is MARVELOUS! You make Ecuador come alive!