nomnivorous

So I've become somewhat obsessed with making marshmallows. This thread made me really happy to find, but I'm curious - has anyone figured out good uses for failed mallows? I tried some bourbon marshmallows but they messed with the gelatin so they never whipped up. I'd hate to toss the batch out, but does anyone have tips on reusing the failed marshmallows? And on that note, does anyone have a good alcoholic marshmmallow technique/recipe?

My family has always been dinner time Thanksgiving eaters. We would never get up early enough to pull off a lunchtime meal, and we're nightowls anyway, so you still have the rest of the night to relax after a 7pm meal.

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! One of the two people is a man who has never really cooked at all - his wife, my friend [who passed away in October] handled it all. So I don't expect him to actually cook for himself. I feel the need to send him food bc I'm worried he won't eat at all with the grief. The other friend has a cracked rib so doing much of anything is painful. So, anything I send needs to be pretty much ready to eat, except for something like cocoa mix. Trail mix/granola, spiced nuts, bark and brittle, crackers [forgot about those! I love homemade crackers], brownies or bar cookies [as gleamed from the linked thread], possibly frozen, overnighted casseroles... All such great ideas. If anyone else has great ideas or tips on shipping, feel free to add. I think I'll send my packages out the week after Thanksgiving.

Between two separate incidences, I have two good friends going through hard times. They live in North Carolina, I live in New York. I would really love to send them [separately] a quality care package of homemade foods. But I'm anxious as to what would survive in the shipping. I'm hoping to overnight everything, but I still worry about things holding together. I'd love to send both sweet, fun, dessert items - cookies, brownies, or bars of some sort, and savory items. Maybe a loaf or two of bread, some homemade chutneys, etc. But are there any other ideas that would ship well? Things that are sturdy and wholesome, you know. I'd love to hear what the minds of eGullet can recommend because my mind is coming up blank.

I have quite a massive amount of sweet potatoes from the winter CSA [and may be getting more this weekend]. So I think it's time to properly make sweet potato pie. I have never done so nor have I eaten it a whole lot. But no time like today. Anyone have any solid recipes? Classics or more interesting interpretations welcome.

Candy. Lifesavers Gummies and Twix minis. Among others. So my work [which is not at all food related, I work in apparel] keeps tons of candy around. We send candy in little baggies out in all boxes to buyers, etc. Today was candy refill day so all the good stuff was available. And I was stressed, so I indulged a bit much.

A coworker had black olive caramel on the cheese plate at San Francisco bar/restaurant The Alembic and raved about it. I would love to find a recipe and try the flavors out since I wasn't able to make it there on my SF vacation.

This cookbook might have to go to the top of my wishlist. I don't own a Dorie Greenspan cookbook yet, so I'm debating over this and "Baking: From My Home to Yours." But this one sounds so delicious.

Canned seafood is probably the one thing my pantry is lacking. I'm particular about tuna (in oil, please). And otherwise, I just never realized that the entire canned seafood world isn't scary. I tried canned crab (in a homemade crab salad) once and gagged. I definitely need to up my anchovy/sardine usage in cooking. Just as I know tuna in oil varies (I grew up with and love Callipo), I assume the rest do to. Do you all have any brands you could highly recommend? Any varieties of seafood in a can a beginner should try?

Er... The best I can tell you is that she has been sick all week. So probably just wanted to get it made (before it spoiled) and have a bit of sustenance. Even though I would have totally roasted it that night. She loves beer can chicken, but made... tin can chicken. Put water in the can with some bare salt and pepper on skin, if that. Then again, she loves white meat chicken and will eat it straight up. /tangent I actually really like that Rachel Ray idea [shocker].

Working on some ramekin-sized (3 of them) quince tarte tatins. I poached the quince yesterday and am craving some late night sweets. First time making a tatin, and first season playing with quince. Beginning to get obsessed with them!

Hah I love it, I've been craving chicken pot pie lately too. Must be the New York weather. I've seen a few recipes, on Smitten Kitchen and Simply Recipes, but nothing that I can depend upon. Buuut, the roommate just made a totally unseasoned roasted chicken (*headdesk*) so if I test anything out, I'll report back.