MaryIsobel

These are my go-to treats, as they can be catered to anyone's taste. This batch is for my daughter's boyfriend who loves anything Oreo. The base is cookie and cream cheese and I just add in whatever the recipient likes; M&M's, Skor Bits, nuts or in this case, chopped Oreo Thins.

Sounds like a great fall back, plus it looks delicious. I would be happy with even just the baked potato.

That looks really good. We were in Costa Rica at this time 3 years ago and I still dream of the mangos, papayas, pineapple and melons!

I like sauce on the side too. I do baked wings with the baking powder method - they turn out so crispy, it would be a shame to soak them in sauce. Plus my husband likes them hotter than I do so that way we both get what we want. Your poached egg looks great. After about 40 years, I can now make consistently good poached eggs, finally!

Thanks for the source Ann

If only I could send you some...

I love sherbet. When I was a kid, it was called sherbeRt. Raspberry or orange sherbet would always be my first choice. You can keep the lime. I have never liked anything lime "flavoured." That said, I always order my Hendricks and Tonic with "extra lime", but that's real lime that we're talking about.

I too am an unashamed Cheeze Whiz fan. I love all kinds of great cheese but Cheese Whiz holds a special place. Also, Cheese Whiz and peanut butter on toast is a great combo. (Waiting to have my e-gullet membership revoked...)

Here's the recipe from the cookbook I made for my daughters. "Grandma with the sore knee" was their name for my mom who had just had her second knee replacement when they began to talk. The title was used to differentiate between her and Grandma Roro - their grandma who lived in Ontarion.

Interesting - when I researched, several sources said that kidney beans are not the same as red beans. The brand that I can buy just over the border are the Camellia that you mentioned. They are noticeably smaller, darker and rounder than kidney beans. Having grown up in the pacific northwest, beans were never a huge part of our diet so I acquiesce to those of you with more bean knowledge. Canned pork 'n beans, kidney beans for chili and the dreaded lima beans as a side dish were the extent of my bean experience growing up.

Well, if you're going to bastardize, go big or go home. Along with above mentioned abominations, I also dumped a pound and a half of languishing spinach in at the end. It was suprisingly good. Lots of leftovers, not a bad thing. I am doing a half-hearted shop the pantry/shop the freezer this month and this meal met those parameters.

Dinner is in progress. We'll call it British Columbia Red Beans and Rice. British Columbia because I cannot find red beans here. I can buy them just a few miles away, in Lynden WA, but that involves a trip across the border and today is a snow day so making do. I used kidney beans, put to soak last night. Also had to use turkey keilbassa instead of andouille because that's what I had and even if I cared to venture out, andouille is not to be found within a 30 mile radius. Funny story on that; we have a great local butcher whom we love to patronize. They are great for custom cuts and I can get veal shanks there with a day or two's notice. They also smoke a lot of their own meat - their bacon is fabulous. A while ago I called them and asked if they had or would have andouille. The young woman who answered my call said "no, but we have chorizo and I think that's the same thing." Bless their hearts - they are great community supporters and hire a lot of local kids. Smoked ham hocks are increasingly difficult to find and again, snow day so using a few rashers of double smoked bacon from said butcher. Using some smoked paprika to up the smokey taste - I'll let you know...

30 minutes at 425. Second pic is a quick flip to show the underside. Cut a square off the corner to taste. Crispy, salty - perfect in my humble opinion, considering the little time involved.

Ready to go into the oven at 425 for 30 minutes. Was going to incorporate olives but concerned about how salty it might be so left them out.

I have had ricotta gnocchi in restaurants, but have only ever made the potato ones at home. Do you or your daughter have a recipe that you'd be willing to share?

Decided this morning with no forethought, that I want foccacia to go with our "soup from the freezer" dinner tonight. The basis of this is the King Arthur recipe for No Fuss Foccacia. I have bastardized it to death many times to align with how much time I have from start to table. I adjust the amount of yeast and the temperature environment where I let it rise, depending on how much time I have. I have also adopted Siman Nosrat's method of pouring a salt water brine over the dough prior to the second rise. 15 minutes into the second rise and it is getting lovely bubbles.

I've had it but only in restaurants - I've never seen it sold anywhere. It's called sea asparagus around here, but whatever you call it, I love it and wish it were more accessible.

Full disclosure - packaged gravy, stovetop stuffing (gotta bend to my husbands food quirks since he bends to mine.) As I was getting out the package of McCormick gravy mix - which is really not too bad, I saw that I had 4 packages of McCormick hollandaise, so what the heck? We'll diet tomorrow!

Oh yes please! Now I don't want my planned dinner - I want yours!

I'm just going to slice them and cover them in gravy. Dressing and lemon garlic broccoli to go with. I'm sure there will be no complaints since I explained to my husband that without skin, a "crispy" exterior will ruin them.

I think I will just slice and cover with gravy. Searing is not the answer in this case. My husband wanted a turkey dinner, so dressing, gravy over turkey and lemon butter broccoli will suffice.

Experiment in progress. Before I forbade my husband from buying any more "meat for the freezer because it was a good deal" he bought these "turkey breast fillets." They are skinless, boneless and have a tendon running through them (which I removed after the photo once I saw them, so I think they are turkey tenders.) I'm doing them sous vide at 145 for 4 hours. Coated them in the Trader Joes Everything But the Leftovers seasoning blend that my daughter gave me as a stocking stuffer. It is very sage forward so I think it will work. Making (packaged) gravy, so I don't think I will sear them as that would probably just dry out the outside. We shall see.

I googled a bunch about it, since when I make gumbo, it is an investment of time and money. Apparently the darker the roux, the more chance of it breaking. Not quoting any sources because I don't know how trustworthy they are but seems like it happens and doesn't bother a lot of people. On that note, I often make gumbo a day ahead (minus the shrimp.) It gets better sitting in the fridge overnight.

Last time I made gumbo, it was my best ever and I attribute that to having made the (oven) roux ahead of time and refrigerating it, since I was traveling about 4 hours before I could complete the gumbo at my sister's house. I didn't have an oil separation issue.

Co-op had 10 pounds of red onions for 5.00, so quick pickled onions were the order of the day. Big jar for the house and smaller jar for my nephew who apparently "puts it on everything except cereal." Still have 5 pounds left. Fish tacos tonight.