Maison Rustique

I've had my immersion blender for decades. Cuisinart or Braun I think, but I could be wrong and it has already been moved. Anyway, it has the attachable choppers--like mini food processors/blenders. I use those a lot!

Last year not a single one of us did! I'm already eyeing short rib or pork shank, but will decide when I get there.

How interesting!! I guess a somewhat distant relative of pesto, but I wouldn't have thought of it!

It is wonderful! And they bring so much food to you, it is ridiculous! We had leftovers galore last year. And despite it being such a busy day there, the service is wonderful as always at Lidia's. Lidia sometimes comes to this location for events--I'd love to be able to attend one and meet her.

Pulled pork is so versatile. I'd never have thought of it, but back when I was recovering from hip surgery and eating mostly frozen meals, I got one (maybe Marie Callendar's) that was macaroni & cheese with pulled pork--pulled pork (with a light BBQ sauce) was on the bottom and baked with the Mac & cheese on top. It was really tasty and I've made my own version at home a couple of times since.

We are indeed going out this year--to Lidia's again because it was so spectacular last year. The only reservation we could get was at 11 am, which is fine with about half of us. The others are never happy having to get out of bed to be anywhere before noon. Not sure this is going to post right, but will try. Lidia's Thanksgiving Menu

Are you sitting down? I almost cooked! I'm calling it Faux Cooking.

@Duvel, oh man! Now I might need to cobble together some sort of nachos for supper. That looks very tasty!

Still chipping away at cleaning out pantries and freezer. Vintage bucatini, puttanesca and Italian sausage.

This popped up in my FB feed. I have a lot of dried mushrooms in the pantry and a lot of eggs. I'm sure if I wait a bit, I'll have stale bread. Ha! Anyway, I thought it sounded like a good one to try for using up stuff. Mushroom Bread Pudding

I had to look for a recipe. Those Hungarian potatoes sound fantastic!

Ditto what @Smithy said! I love turnips and need to make this!!

Supper was a frittata and somehow ended up with no photo of the finished product. It was OK. I just wasn't in the mood for eggs, but have a lot to use up so...

I did not take a photo, but yesterday at Costco, I bought Sukhi's Butter Chicken Bowls. I tried one for supper last night. It was OK. I can't put my finger on what was missing, but it somehow left me wanting. Again, not horrible, just not great. Or maybe I wasn't in the mood. There are 2 more bowls in the package, so I'll see if I feel the same another time.

Pretty sure my Trader Joe's would never hold a case of wine for a customer. I called and asked them about something once a few years back and they said to hurry up and get there because there wasn't much left.

@Duvel, I'm gonna say try it. A local pizza place here used to have a dessert pizza that was delicious--had apples, cheese, caramel sauce and I can't recall what else. People would always look horrified until they tasted it and then there would be none left. I think what throws people off is that they think any pizza is going to have red sauce, garlic, etc. And it doesn't have to.

You are doing an amazing job of this and your list is already extensive! I've got to guess that no one would complain at your repeating any/all of those regularly! Due to health issues (mine and my husband's when he was still here) and other issues, I've had a lot of food gifted to me and meals delivered by my insurance provider while I was recovering from surgeries. Your food looks delicious and that's half the battle of doing this. Here is a short list of the things that made me not eat what I was given, if you're interested in knowing things like this: Food that might have been tasty, but was slopped into a container in such a way that it flat-out looked disgusting. Food that needed to be put into another container for heating/baking. When you are barely able to stand up, trying to do much in the kitchen is not feasible. Food that can't be frozen and cooked/used later. I often got so much at once and had little appetite so would end up tossing food because I couldn't use it before it went bad. Food that was either so bland that it didn't taste like anything OR food that was so highly spiced that one bite would have steam coming out my ears. There is a happy medium there--though a good solution might be to write a spiciness level on the lid of the container so the person knows what to expect. Or little packets of s/p to tape on top of the container for seasoning. That's all my caffeine-deprived brain can think of at the moment. Can't recall who said it above, but I, too, have an abundance of Rancho Gordo beans that I wish I could send you. I've already packed them for moving, so not happening right now. Thank you for what you are doing and for caring what you are giving to people!

Not sure. I thought of this when I saw the ginormous bags of pistachios, candies with them, etc. at Costco the other day.

I really wanted to like this but can't recommend it. Got at Costco 2 days ago. Best by date is tomorrow but I had to spend too much time picking out the black slimy lettuce. The dried apple is in such tiny pieces that you can't taste it. The dressing doesn't have enough Dijon. Way too sweet. Just a big disappointment.

And I haven't been there but from the videos and photos I've seen, it is a gorgeous place!

We have a new place near me. Aromatic Nepal is quite the step up for Liberty the home of restaurant chains/fast food. I hope they will make it because it is fantastic. I have a friend who is Nepali and had asked his advice on what to order for an authentic experience. He recommended starting with Momo and having the Special Thali platter, so I did. I failed to take a photo of the Momo. One of my friends ordered Chicken Biryani, which is shown below. It was huge! And my platter was just fantastic. I completely devoured the soup since I knew it wouldn't transport easily, but brought home a lot of other stuff, so will be eating Nepali for a couple of days. They have some fun Himalayan-themed cocktails/mocktails and a small but decent wine list. It is going to be a favorite place!

We need a "yuck" emoji.

@blue_dolphin is the preserved lemon paste something you make (like pureed preserved lemon) or is it something you purchase? And I need to investigate lemon agrumato oil because I'm not familiar with that either! Feeling ignorant this morning...

Grilled Brie and sugar-cured bacon (local provider) on fig and honey bread. Worked hard outside and needed easy.

Had my green beans/potatoes with a couple of rashers and toasty bread.