Margaret Pilgrim

I have never seen pickled ramps for sale so have no comparison. In fact, I've never seen a ramp in any form. I think they are close to 'ail des ours' which we get in France and which I love! Or maybe not. I'm culturally deprived.

Aebleskivers With blackberry jam

Grilled zucchini, Momofuku ranch Homemade strozzapreti (prawns, tomato, sorrel, basil)

I have to wonder if these cause as much excess acid as the real duo does.

Avocado with chili-mayo i Tri-tip with truffled goat cheese, scallioped potato, roasted cauliflower

Asparagus salad SALSICCIA CON PEPERONI e patate AL FORNO...as close as I ever get to following a recipe Great melange, and to die for juices. This will become a keeper. Also, stupid easy.

KB, absolutely stellar! Sorry about the lack of prime rib leftovers, but that's the way it goes... Well chosen and well done. You both deserve.

To be honest, she's an easy sell and I'm quite sure I've seen her come close to inhaling off the plate. But I have no quibble over how she has trained the kids. Better a little inside the line than over it. The latter comes naturally.

Anecdote alert: Granddaughter was visiting @ around age 4. She had just finished eating something she thought yummy and asked, "Ama, is it okay to lick the plate?" I told her that it was ok to lick her plate at Ama's house, and maybe at her own, but never at a friend's house or a restaurant. Thinking this cute of her, I told her mother, who was silent for several very long seconds before bellowing, "NOooooo, It is NEVER okay to lick your plate. EVER. ANYPLACE!" Lost my cred with that one.

We LOVE Food4Less! We stop at one in Lodi on the way to the country. Huge, immaculately clean store, super-wide aisles, excellent produce and shelf goods. Meats a cut below what I buy in the city. Very friendly accommodating staff. In the Lodi area, a fabulous selection of Latino product. Well run store. I wish we had one close to home.

There's a joke in our family about a very finicky eater who was shown a can of Underwood's Develed Ham The label was torn in such a way that one ingredient, hog's lips (which she probably would have objected to anyway) looked like "frog's lips". Needless to say she went ballistic.

Perfect! Many thanks.

Both, altho I can figure out the latter but not the former.

Thanks for this. Under the caption of "fools rush in", this is exactly what we did. As David suggested, husband took a preliminary taste and requested another splash of lemon juice and we were good to go.

Carrot salad in the "crudité" fashion (Meyer lemon juice, EVOO, Moldon salt) "Squigglies" with ham and peas, herbs and cream.

It might be aa worthwhile project to make a small booklet of your Thanksgiving recipes with photos and stories when appropriate. Maybe "xerox" and attach hand=written "receipts" from a long-gone relative. I did this some time ago for our son, including his favorite therefore memorable dishes. Over time, as something new has become important, I've just made up a new page and passed it along at Christmas. He (claims he) loves it. With color printers now and desktop publishing, plastic sleeves and a loose-leaf binder, easy, inexpensive to make up for several recipients, yet priceless, And so much better now than too late...

Several of my favorite Thanksgivings were at a relatives club during a hiatus in family patri- or matriarchy. Our gatherings were all about being together and maintaining cohesiveness, and/but/yet the buffet covered every possible holiday desire. I just cozied up to the giant arrangement of jumbo prawns and cocktail sauce and practically made a meal of it. Rounded out (plate and me) by stuffing and gravy. What a fine meal!

Amen, Sister.

liuzhou, can you tell us more about making these amazing hand-pulled noodles?

I can well understand this. My father's family lived in Maine until the mid1800s. They and their children held tight to the traditions they remembered. Turkey, bread stuffing, giblet gravy, creamed onions, pureed pumpkin, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie, Claret. This menu was intact throughout their lives. A generation removed, we've dumped the onions and pumpkin, added kid-acceptable veg. I swapped cornbread stuffing for bread stuffing, exed the giblets from the gravy. . I have no doubt that our son's family will create its own version that preserves the best and reflects their California tastes.

Fire roasted yellow pepper soup Artichoke, ham and Oaxacan cheese quiche.

You have to remember that my technique is antediluvian, no SV, no IP, and that I fly by the seat of my jeans, but I simply cross-hatch the skin, or sometimes remove the skin with as little fat as possible and then cross-hatch the fat, rub Kosher salt into the fat and into the cut. Nestle the slabs of belly in a baking dish, add a big splash of white wine, fresh thyme sprigs, and slow roast (275°) for 3 or more hours. Tender as love, and topped with crackling fat. I add a little water to the drippings and pour into a fat separating pitcher for 10 minutes for sublime sauce. Super easy.

This requires a level of participation I've been backing away from but, damn!, you present an incredibly tempting project. Beautifully done. Question, what is the keeping quality of these pizza rolls? Bake and eat, i am guessing.

Spectacular! Even rain wouldn't have dampened that feast!

Hear, hear! But may I have some mashed potatoes too?