Margaret Pilgrim

There's probably as many "larbs" as there are Laotian grandmothers. I wouldn't sweat the minutiae but rather how the general taste and texture appeal to you.

Here is more info. IMHO, it's a bit anal. I would just freeze the unused portion, well wrapped, and see what happens. It's not a major investment should it go sideways.

We live a half dozen blocks from a major fire station. Between fire and EMS, our days and nights are soundful. One grandchild in particular would become quite agitated during sleepovers. We finally turned these intrusions into positives by discussing how good it was that someone was getting help.

I swear that I have booked us into every motel that sits 25 yards from the mainline!

Under the caption of holiday levity, I share an old in-law family recipe: Cranberry/raspberry Jello/sour cream salad. This is one of those much loved mid-Century sugar bombs. one can cranberry sauce one small pkg raspberry Jello one half pint sour cream Combine all well and pour into mold. I particularly remember one Thanksgiving when a young relative discovered this on the buffet table and made it centerpost of her meal. Like nothing else, but half a dozen "seconds". Finally hit the wall and spent the remainder of the evening on the couch.n

Kim's description reminds me that there are what seem to be "in groups" within large families. Often geographically caused, i.e., easy to spend time together resulting in close "friendships", inside jokes, more shared experiences. Can only suggest that you go with smiles and steel spines. Perhaps go loaded with questions about their lives. Such people love to talk about themselves. Be sure to ask for recipes for anything they have brought or produced, even if you find it inedible.

Additional polenta idea: Make polenta per package instructions. Pour into loafpan and let cool. When cold, cut into 1/2" slices, fry on both sides. Shingle in a baking pan, drizzle with (jarred) marinara sauce, then additional drizzle with vegan white sauce. Bake until bubbly and edges browning.

Probably requiring a trip to the store, but stupid easy but delicious vegan lasagna = jarred artichoke puree/bruschetta + vegan cream sauce layered with oven-ready/no boil lasagna, more plain cream sauce on top + crumbs if you want.

@Smithy, can we assume you bought the Desco piece? (I would have although I have absolutely no need or space for i!"

Flying in the face of all safety advice, my parent used to cook a large unstuffed bird and drive it some 2 hours to a relative's home. Probably over a dozen times. No casualties.

We in NorCal are hampered by fishing regulations that limit harvest times for Dungeness crab, the ONLY crab worth the trouble/cost. 😛 Perhaps my favorite treatment id Lee Bailey's "Baked Crabmeat" which is essentially crabmeat bound with a very small amount of mayo, formed into cakes and baked on a sheet pan. I follow his instruction but also dust with panko and pan fry. When you use dungeness, you don't need/want a lot of gratuitous ingredients. 😏 eta, crab comes in a shell, not a can.

Forgive and allow me to repost Mary Risley's classic (albeit bawdy) video on How to Roast a Turkey.

+1 on stuffing outside the bird. Two casseroles, in fact, one for the table and leftovers and one for son to take home. Which calls for rivers of gravy for TD and two households' leftover stuffing. This year= ham plus stuffing, mac and cheese, roast yams and roast carrots. Chocolate cream pie for dessert. My parent would faint at how far from the tree we've fallen re TD menu!

I had such an epiphany maybe half dozen years ago when I stood tall and announced, after some 50 years of hosting, "I have cooked my LAST turkey!"

You send out invitations? Our group is only 6 this year...

I love chicken, pigeon, duck and most of their friends. But I truly find turkey, be it supermarket or heritage, a holiday obligation rather than something I look forward to. When hosting, a successful holiday is when I have packaged and sent home with others all of the leftovers. Special kudos when someone opts for the carcass. Now that we understand each other, Butterball has over time provided us with the most tolerable bird. Juicy (yes, I know), tender, flavorful. Whatever evil they do with those birds, it does taste good on the plate. Just sign me "Philistine".

Even before @rotuts' coup, my mother gave me $20 towards Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of the turkey she had in mind, I went to Lucky and bought one at .19/lb -> $6. bird. Did not confess my larceny, but remember everyone around the table complimenting the turkey, In later year I bought a very expensive heritage turkey that was just awful! Scrawny, stringy, tough. I mean, that bird had lead a hard life!

According to Forbes Mag, Lubbock wines are hidden treasures. Sounds like you found a couple

Let's not denigrate Lodi wine. A friend of ours is making super-outstanding wines, acknowledged by top restaurants and somms, Sandland label. eg:

For years I traveled with a small bottle of Cholula which was my cure-all for airline food.

Anna via Tri2Cook: "you're heading in a bad direction and I'm not gonna let you." An invaluable mantra for each of us and those who look to us for wisdom.

Under "mental prep", just read how to clone a honey baked ham. Last year, we paid just under $100 for a half a honey baked ham to take to the family Thanksgiving. This year, with just 6 of us, I'm cheaping it with a plain spiralied ham. But I thought, what, what if I could make our own honey baked ham? And it seems that I don't even have to reinvent the wheel! Others show us how! What a coup to have enjoy this at maybe a quarter of the price!

re "lard sandwich" in France: Very simple camp-type grill set up. Unseasoned (maybe salt) 3/16i" slices of pork belly.

So we can EAT it. We don't consider it only a Christmas bread, but a breakfast and tea bread. I remember a French hostess near t4e Italian border serving us panettone at breakfast during the summer.

Did you have to dispatch the bullfrogs yourself? My neighborhood markets sell them live but I've not killed one since my high school hospital lab job that required me to do so.