Toliver

Someone mentioned prime rib in another post. I have a friend who isn't big on turkey either. Her family always had Cornish Game Hens for their Thanksgiving dinner main.

I just checked the link...the sale is over. Odd how some books stay on sale forever and others last such a short time...

Who knew? "Don't accidentally overdose on black licorice this Halloween, the FDA warns" I rarely eat it, but for me, a little black licorice goes along way. I do have a family friend who enjoys eating it and will have to share this warning with him. Anyone else a fan of the candy?

I was going to mention the holder. You can see it in the TV commercials. I believe it's the same holder used for their Doritos-Taco shell product (the Doritos taco shells may taste good but they suck as a taco shell...too fragile...hence the need for a holder).

These two memoirs have both been on sale for a while but I kept forgetting to post them...until today. Anthony Bourdain's "The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones" Kindle Edition $1.99US Marco Pierre White's "The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness, and the Making of a Great Chef" Kindle Edition $1.99US I am a US prime member and the price you see may vary.

I thought about this after seeing it in the commercial. I wonder if it's possible that after frying (assuming it's fried) it's put into a taco shell-like mold to get it into that taco shell shape. Then it's probably flash frozen and shipped to all the Taco Bells.

Remember that "Organic" doesn't necessarily mean "Pesticide-free". There are some "natural" pesticides that are allowed under "Organic" guidelines. You can Google this subject for more info.

I read the same article last week. Of course they point out that as good as the baking soda soak was, it did nothing to any pesticides that have migrated into the apple through the peel. Still, it's better results than not doing the soak...

For Thanksgiving, in addition to turkey, my mom bakes a ham for those who don't enjoy the bird. The ham can be cooked ahead of time and reheating it for dinner is easy. I have two brothers who also bring small smoked turkeys (they smoke the birds themselves). We invite a lot of people who get to take leftovers with them and you'd be surprised how little turkey (or ham) is left behind at my mom's house. We also make a corn pudding/casserole. I like it, dammit, and I am now the one who makes it so we will be eating it at Thanksgiving forever. So there. My mom is 87 and can't handle the heavy turkey any longer so she oversees me prepping and roasting it. In the old days, she used to chop up some of the innards that came with the turkey and put it in the stuffing. Now that I am the "muscle" in the kitchen, I asked her to use sausage instead. She uses the innards to make her "giblet rice" so they don't go to waste. I am her sous chef, too, and will dice up the onion and celery used in the stuffing and her "giblet rice" (I also save the celery leaves for her that she puts into the rice...she says it makes a difference in the flavor). We use the Reynolds oven bags to roast the turkey in...what a time saver! It rarely takes more than 3 & 1/2 to 4 hours to cook a large turkey in them. It's almost as fast as deep frying a turkey.

Some new on-sale titles and some older ones this morning: Rachael Ray's "365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook)" Kindle Edition $1.99US Irish celebrity chef Rachel Allen's "Bake" Kindle Edition $1.99US If you go to her Amazon page, she has some other titles on sale, as well. "The Blue Willow Inn Cookbook" Kindle Edition $1.99US According to the book's cover, it's supposed to have been voted "best small-town restaurant in the South" by Southern Living Magazine. Still on sale: Mark Bittman's "Kitchen Matrix: More Than 700 Simple Recipes and Techniques to Mix and Match for Endless Possibilities" Kindle Edition $2.99US Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours" Kindle Edition $3.99US Edited to add the usual disclaimer that I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

Today's find: Diana Kennedy's "The Essential Cuisines of Mexico" Kindle Edition $1.99US I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

The appliance market is changing quickly: "Sears Splits With Whirlpool in Latest Blow to Struggling Chain" It will be odd to no longer see Maytag appliances at Sears. The article also mentions the selling of the Craftsman line of tools to Black & Decker. It was just announced that Lowe's would be selling Craftsman tools so perhaps Black & Decker finagled a deal with Lowe's.

I had a question about the newest recipe you posted on YouTube (click)... The video is great!...quick to the point and easy-to-follow instructions. Regarding the odd ingredient, Baker's Ammonia, from what I've Googled about it, the ammonia smell is said to dissipate after baking. What if you under-bake the cookies? Will they have the odor of ammonia? Or is that nothing to worry about? Thanks for posting the new video!

"Whole Foods Is Launching the Self-Serve Mac and Cheese Bar of Your Dreams" Do we have any eG'ers in that area who can take one for the team?

"Safeway, Trader Joe's among brands listed in massive vegetable recall" This recall is for the US and for Canada. Stores/Brands impacted: Walmart - Trader Joe's - Aldi - Safeway & Albertson's - H-E-B stores - Archer Farms (Target) - Cross Valley Farms - Sysco Here (click) is the link to the FDA web site regarding the recall and the specific products impacted.

Today's bargains: Chef Marcel Desaulniers' "Death by Chocolate Cakes: An Astonishing Array of Chocolate Enchantments" Kindle Edition $.99US (nice photos! Check out the "Look Inside" feature) Mark Bittman's "The Best Recipes in the World" Kindle Edition $2.99US I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

The real trick to eating at the Fair and not worrying about calories is to go with a small group of friends. When it's time to eat, everyone goes off and gets their favorite food and all meet back at one location to share their bounty. For example, one vendor at the San Diego County Fair had a Double Patty Hamburger with pastrami, cheese and bacon. It sounds like a heart attack on a bun. But when you're with a group of people, by the time you cut it all up into bite size pieces, you only get a small portion which is enough to taste and enjoy but without giving you a guilt complex of eating the entire thing yourself. There's a local diner that has a yearly booth at the Fair serving falafel burgers. which are very good. They also sell a skewer of delicious garlic-battered artichoke hearts. I can't imagine eating all of that myself but when we share it, it turns out to be just enough to satisfy my cravings..

"Taco Bell's Kit Kat Chocoladilla Is Coming to America" They don't have the "Chocodilla" in my local Taco Bells. Has anyone tried one?

A rare Halloween treat would be when someone would pass out bubble gum. My brothers and I always preferred the Bazooka brand 364 days of the year, but at Halloween we'd get some pieces of Double Bubble gum and be in 7th heaven. The flavor of it tasted a lot like the gum you'd get in a package of baseball cards (but not as stiff!).

Just saw this: Eric Ripert's "Le Bernardin Cookbook: Four-Star Simplicity" Kindle Edition $1.99US Note that one of the reviews said the book is fish/seafood-centric. I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

My brother would take his daughter (my niece) trick or treating and then would hide her candy when they got home. She grew up thinking the best part of the day was the experience going from door to door saying "Trick or Treat!" and showing off her costume, not realizing that it was the candy that really was the prize for the night. Surprisingly, she's not a candy-eater to this day.

I agree with the assessment of those horrid Circus Peanuts as the worst Halloween candy. It was always such a bummer to get those in my candy bag. I did receive popcorn balls once in a while when I was a kid. I liked them but they weren't really candy. But when the evil idiots started altering homemade sweets, any homemade item at Halloween was frowned upon. As an adult, I would enjoy nothing more than receiving a popcorn ball...a salty-sweet treat that preceded Kettle Corn by decades.

So far today: Mark Bittman's "Kitchen Matrix: More Than 700 Simple Recipes and Techniques to Mix and Match for Endless Possibilities" Kindle Edition $2.99US Samantha Seneviratne's "The New Sugar & Spice: A Recipe for Bolder Baking" Kindle Edition $1.99US I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary. edited to add another: Check the index for the list of recipes... Alice Waters' "My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own" Kindle Edition $4.99US

It's a relatively cheap way to add protein. My mom has always added it to her potato salad and then she'd lay slices of the boiled egg on top because it looks "purty" (don't forget to sprinkle paprika over all of it, too).

In the old days at Arby's, they used to sell potato cakes/triangles for their breakfast. They totally rocked. Alas, they stopped selling them. These days the Arby's around here don't even do breakfast. Coincidentally(?), you can't even find potato triangles in the freezer section of your grocery stores, either. Those Ore-Ida bastards are to blame! I will stop by Arby's once in a blue moon when I get a hankering for their Jamocha Shakes.