MaryIsobel

Thank you Night Scotsman, wherever you are. I have been making his recipe for vanilla marshmallows every Christmas for about 10 years. I finish them in toasted coconut and they are my 94-year-old father's favourite Christmas treat. It's funny, I have made crocombuche and buche noel and eleaborate Christmas treats, but people are blown away that I can make marshmallows! It's really quite simple as long as you have a candy thermometer and a sinkful of hot soapy water makes short work of the clean up.

Lots of cream cheese here. Light, regular, brick tub...Bricks are about 2.50 Cdn., same price as usual.

That is our traditional Christmas breakfast. Along with monkey bread and fruit salad for the one who doesns't like salmon or cream cheese! Pretty sure there was a mix up at the hospital with that one...

i have not. Just an assumption on my part.

They are definitley crunchy. I baked them longer than sugessted because i want them to be crunchy.

Second batch of biscotti for the local ER where my daughter is a CCRN. Almond and dried cherries plumped in cherry brandy. I'll send them in with her on her next set with a note thanking them. These great nurses and doctors and clerks works crazy hours and tons of overtime these days, yet keep their senses of humour. Cookies seems like little thanks, but I can't send in kegs of wine and bottles of scotch!

In our family it is "the sun is over the yard arm somewhere." (Irish railroader family equivalent to "it's five o'clock somewhere" but earlier of course!)

These ones were from Sally's Baking Addicition. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/dark-chocolate-orange-biscotti/ There are so many recipes, some with no fat of any kind. These had a small amount of butter and oil and have a nice texture.

First batch of biscotti destined for the ER at the local hospital where my daughter works. Two dozen orange chocolate biscotti. Thinking I will do Ameretto Almond for the second batch.

My 25-year-old single daughter who is a CCRN at the local hospital's emerg, uses various meal kits, mainly Hello Fresh. She works 12 hour days and lots of overtime lately. This girls loves food and cooking and is not a fast food fan. She does some batch cooking on her days off, but also uses meal kits and she figures the saved time and lack of waste make it worthwhile for her. She chooses her meal orders judiciously, looking for recipes that will freeze or keep for a day or two. She often orders meals for 4 so that she can cook once and eat for 4 meals. Recently she has teamed up with a fellow single nurse working the same line as her, who also uses the meal kits, so they take turns providing each other with lunch (or dinner, depending on the shift.) Because she is a frequent flyer, she was able to get me 4 free meals for 2. I enjoyed the ease of prep and the recipes were quite good - I've saved a couple for future use. Also used some cuts of meat I don't normally buy (eg. scallops of turkey.) Because I have all the time in the world to prep and shop since I retired, I don't see myself making use of such a thing but for a single, working person who enjoys cooking and a variety of food, they are great.

We are the same - numerous containers of soups in the freezer and at least twice a week we have choose-your-own-soup-night. As the chief cook and bottle washer, these are good nights for me! I often make bread or bisquits to go along and it is one of our favourite meals.

I made Food and Wine's Chicken in a Pot with Lemon Orzo last night. My daughter came and we made wreaths and garlands from clippings on our property so wanted something I could prep ahead and shove in the oven. It was really good, although not terribly photogenic made in my dingy old dutch oven. Some suggested in the comments to broil the chicken but it was so fall apart tender at the end I couldn't imagine doing that. The breast skin was fine as it is browned/crisped before braising. We don't ususally eat the skin anyway so I was happy with the dish the way it was. True comfort food. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chicken-in-a-pot-with-lemon-orzo

I would love to come to yours for a baked potato - yours are always my gold standard.

I use beer for fish and chips batter, cheese sauce from the melty cheese caluclator and beer bread. I have gifted several young men in our family with a bottle of beer, a disposable loaf pan and the dry ingredients to make a loaf of beer bread. They have all been suitably impressed with themselves for "making bread."

That's a unique concept - kind of assembled tortilla soup! Reminds me of the episode of the Urban Peasant (James Barber - much loved Canadian cook, not chef) when he did Leftover Dinner Party Soup. He said he basically scraped all the leftover food, including salad, with the leftover wine into a big pot and let it simmer all night!

Your spread when inviting people for "sandwiches" is amazing! Also those chicken parm sandwiches are calling my name. My husband is not a fan of chicken, chicken breast in particular, but smothered with cheese and marinara and served on garlic toasted rolls will definitely sway him. Still want to try those ravioli but the premade ones that I find these days are all mini raviolis. I'll keep looking. I could make them, and I have, but I feel that the premade ones would hold up better in this instance as my homemade ones are fairly delicate.

Wow - just wow. I love schnitzel and yours looks perfect. Now regretting my roast chicken dinner. I'm sure it will be fine, but I really want schnitzel!

What a perfectly lovely, comforting meal. I've just taken a chicken out of the freezer so we can look forward to something similar tomorrow night.

I think that Cavendish frozen fries - all varities - are the best frozen fries one can buy in Canada. They put McCain's to shame!

Inrigued that you freeze avacado. Care to share how you do it?

Thanks Kim - I've never seen them in the stores here, but there are several recipes out there for doing them in the airfryer, so I just may try them that way. Hear you on helping kids move. One of ours moved September 1, the other October first and Dad has a pickup so... Thankfully they both have one year leases and secure jobs! I'm getting too old for this!

Making the biggest cake I have ever made. Bottom is 3 - 12" layers, top is 3 - 9" layers. Raspberry and lemon filling, vanilla buttercream, filled and crumb coated, now in the freezer ready to transport 4 hours away. I have a box ready and ice packs in the freezer and where we are headed, the temps are around freezing. Day of the party I will do the final frosting and stack and decorate, got an edible image of a compromising picture for the top! Party is for about 75 people, cake will likely serve twice that many! For some reason, I can't upload a picture.

I had pompano for the first time in New Orleans at GW Fins. As the waiter cleared our plates I commented on how delicious it had been and asked if it was a freshwater fish, (as I had never heard of it.) The waiter replied he would ask the chef which led to the chef coming to our table, very concerned because the waiter had said that I had questioned the freshness of the fish! Must have been my Canadian accent. I explained what my query had been and we all had a good laugh. The chef later sent out dessert on the house.

I love the look of the toasted ravioli. Coincidentally, when I was looking for instructions to make air fryer breaded mushrooms, I saw air fryer toasted ravioli. Is that how you did yours? I've only had them once, probably 25 years ago in a restuarant in the theatre district in Toronto. They are not terribly common where I live.

I haven't tried them in the air fryer, as ours is quite small. It's the only way I do wings now.