Part 3 concludes my posts on Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lovely meal with family, and while we fought with our oven (I think the thermostat has gone a little haywire), the results were really quite good. I did not take many pictures. My family enjoys this blog, but I had a feeling I didn’t… Continue reading
Date Archives November 2008
Thanksgiving Pt 2: Potato & Fennel Gratin
While much of our Thanksgiving dinner was pretty traditional to our family, Lisl and I decided to change up the usual scalloped potato dish and add fennel to the gratin. Stacey, of Stacey Snacks, mentioned that Ina Garten had a great recipe, and I found a version on the Food Network website. I made a… Continue reading
Thanksgiving Pt 1: Crostinis
Olive Tapenade At many dinner parties, I’ve found that guests hit a dangerous period before you are ready to serve, where they are hungry enough to down all the cheese and crackers you can throw at them and in doing so throw off their appetite. For Thanksgiving dinner this year, I decided to offer a… Continue reading
Thanksgiving planning
The clock is ticking. So far here’s what we’re thinking (subject to inspiration when I get to the market tomorrow morning): Amuse: 3 crostinis: mixed sauted mushrooms; goat cheese with figs and honey; homemade hummus with slices of roasted red pepper; all on slices of Lisl’s sourdough bread Starter: butternut squash soup with leeks and… Continue reading
Minestrone, and the joys of making soup with Parmesan rind
Today was the first time I’ve been really happy with my results with a from-scratch minestrone soup attempt, and I give all the credit to Stacey Snacks for suggesting the addition of a rind of parmesan cheese. Soooooooo much better. This was a day for soup. Our town had a festival sponsored by the local… Continue reading
Farroto with walnuts and beans
This has been a busy work week, so it is time to catch up. First off, I was glad to see the very positive reception to my note to the Foodbuzz community, calling for restraint with the “send to a friend” feature, which was leading to email overload. Second, I had a very enjoyable meetup… Continue reading
Hopkinson, Cookstr, and Recipe Links
It is time for another installment of musings and recipe links. Hopkinson and “mindless innovation”My brain hit pause-and-spin when I read in NYTimes’ piece on Simon Hopkinson: “he is driven nearly mad by carelessly peeled potatoes, badly washed lettuce and what he views as mindless innovation. ‘Why on earth would anyone put cumin in mint… Continue reading
Onion, Leek and Taleggio Tart
My cooking tends towards comfort food in general, and when I’m stuck inside on a rainy November day caught between a cold and recovery from surgery, I don’t need any additional excuses to crave comfort food. At least I was back on feet and able to tackle something in the kitchen. My latest challenge is… Continue reading
Beef Stew (our version)
I am chained to the bed today, fending off percocet-induced fuzziness after minor surgery yesterday (not to worry, I should be up again in no time). Lisl had to stay home from work to help me, and one lovely side benefit is the wonderful smell of baking bread wafting through the house. In between attempts… Continue reading
Taking on the pastry challenge, and thumbs up on a Gourmet Veg. recipe
I’ve decided that in my quest to make great comfort/peasant food, I must become good at pastry. Historically, I’ve always leaned on Lisl for that task, because really, what’s not to avoid? There is so much conflicting advice out there! Use butter, no, vegetable shortening! Food processor, no, scraper, no, hands! Rest and chill, no,… Continue reading