MaryIsobel

Thank you - I couldn't forsee any big problems but never having done it, I was just looking for validation. Crisping the skin separately is brilliant, I hadn't thought of that.

That's quite a taco spread!

Due to the devastation from flooding last fall in the Fraser Valley and a continuous battle with the Avian flu, that has seen thousands of chickens and turkeys culled, the biggest turkey I could find was just a little over 12 lbs. I usually do a 23-25 pound bird and roast it the day of. So, I bought two 12 pound turkeys. For a number of reasons, I don't want to cook two turkeys the day of. I have read about roasting a turkey the day before and warming it gently with splashes of broth the next day so I'm thinking I'll do one the day before and one the day of (so the house smells like turkey!) I don't personally know of anyone who has done this successfully or otherwise. Any voices of experience out there? I did search these forums but didn't have any luck.

That's what I do and have always done. And I put all parts of my Cuisinart 12-cup processor in the dishwasher. I also have the Breville all-in-one and I use it more frequently now that we are empty nesters. I do use the big boy for pastry - I make 5 single shells at a time. I also use it when I am making big batches of things like spaghetti sauce or chili or salsa. Saves my poor old wrists the chopping

Funny story about onions. My mother grew up on a big farm in northern Manitoba. Lots of hired hands. Of course my grandmother was in charge of feeding everyone. She made sure to fry up a couple of onions first thing before dinner prep, so everyone who came through the door said "something smells good in here." Bought her a little time.

I haven't seen that type in local supermarkets, I don't frequent the big Asian stores, H-Mart and T&T. Funny how a lot of recipes that call for green onions say to only use the green part - what a waste!

Sorry - I skimmed to quickly

What you are referring to as white onions are called yellow onions here. Our white onions have white papery skin as well as white flesh.

Here, onions routinely available are labelled yellow, white and red. "Sweet onions" though not vidalia or maui are available occaisionally but not reliably. I buy yellow onions in 3 lb bags for general cooking, red onions for pickling (or if they are cheaper than yellow.) Is a shallot considered an onion - those are always available, as are green onions (scallions.) Seldom a day goes by that I don't use an onion of some type. I grow chives in my deck herb gardent, they do well until frost and are one of the first things to poke their heads out in the spring. I miss them when I don't have them.

We can get a decent frozen chicken cordon bleu from our local Co-op. Like your dinner, one of those and some veg is a quick and welcome dinner some days.

I do lke mince tarts, but now, since my Dad has passed, I am the only one who cares for them. I guess they are an aquired taste.

@JoNorvelleWalkerI was too tired to be down and dirty after dinner. It's just a phrase that I use to alert the family not to expect anything spectcular. Kind of like my dear late mother's expression of a quick house clean - "a lick and a promise."

I sent this to my sister when she expressed interest in sheet pan meals, but was stymied by what to cook with what and for how long. The one I made last night was everything in at once for the same amount of time, and for that combination, the method worked well. Obvisously you couldn't cook thin fish and potatoes at the same temp for the same time, but it's easy enough to add different things at different times. Here's the chart which will give you an idea. http://jessicaiveyrdn.com/2019/08/sheet-pan-dinner-infographic/

Down and dirty tonight after a day of baking and wrapping. Sheet pan dinner with pork tenderloins coated in hoisin sauce and green beans and halved baby potatoes tossed with salt, pepper and olive oil. Did the trick.

Very true. My little bit of Spanish which I tried to use in Costa Rica was usually met with the person I was speaking to switching to whatever English they had! Ticos are a gracious bunch.

A batch of Alison Roman's Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread. These became a fast favourite when I first made them a few years ago.

I always freeze them, taking out just as many as I need at one time. Sometimes I give them 5 minutes in the toaster oven to freshen them up a bit.

This is what the aforementioned cheese crispies look like. Very simple recipe, yields about 4 dozen. They are really nice with cocktails, very short and crisp with great cheese flavour.

Indeed it is - it's also available on line, as are most of their recipes. https://www.bestofbridge.com/butter-tarts-4/

I have the original 5 cookbooks plus a couple of their newer ones. One of my daughters has already requested that I leave them to her. I appreciate that they are well tested, not too complex and call for fairly common ingredients. The Land of Nod monkey bread is a standard for our Christmas Breakfast. We love Imperial Cheese - I could it it with a spoon!

Certainly. This is one of those recipes where the sum of the ingredients is greater than the parts. It's my husband's one and only request for Christmas baking every year. https://www.bestofbridge.com/cocktail-crisps/

I'm going to make a few family favourites; Alison Roman's Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Bailley's Truffles, Cheese Crispies and shortbread with some type of inclusions. Goinig to get started today.

When my daughter asked for my chili recipe, I had to laugh and tell her that I have never made it the same way twice. I do always use stewing beef, as opposed to ground beef, and I usually use a mix of black beans, kidney beans and pinto beans. But if I don't have all three, I improvise. I used dried chilis, reconstitutted in broth, sometimes chipoltle chilis from a can. It's always a "wing it" thing.

The skin is the best part for me. I miss my daughters living at home because they just ate the inside of baked potatoes and I got all the skins!

Our regulars (all available in Canada) are Cholula, Tapatio, Franks, and Siracha.