StephanieL

Wise Sons Deli was running Chanukah pop-ups this past week, and I bought a chocolate babka (for my friends' party), a sesame & poppyseed challah, and smoked trout salad. We had the trout salad on challah yesterday and on bagels today.

At 82.

Chakalaka is a South African bean and vegetable dish that's usually served as a braai side. N made it yesterday with RG Bayo Gordo beans as a side to roast chicken with lemon and herbs. Some bugs got into the cornmeal we usually use for pap (even though it was in Tupperware), so Bob's Red Mill Polenta had to substitute.

One of my second cousins has a semi-business making all types of challah (any "profits" go right to charity). I bet she and the boy would get along great.

N and I loved going to Zucco. So many good food memories there.

I saw her give a talk when she came to my college, 1989 or 1990 I think.

A B&B made with cognac, because we only have cheap brandy.

I first heard of her when I was a teenager and she did that cover of Don't Mess With My Toot-Toot.

There are a LOT of Viet-Cajun seafood houses over here.

And has those cute little pistachios!

This new book sounds really interesting: Toni Tipton-Martin’s New Book Chronicles the Black History of Cocktails - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

We saw Abdullah Ibrahim and his combo at SF Jazz a couple of weeks ago. He's 90 years old, and sadly plays like it--N said that many times, he lost focus and the other 2 players had to improvise until he came back in. I'm sorry I didn't get to see him in his heyday.

I'd been holding onto an ATK recipe for red wine risotto with beans for several months, until I felt the weather was chilly enough to make. It calls for pinto beans but I used RG Borlotti Magnificos; it also includes pancetta, Genoa salami, and cabbage (either Savoy or regular green). It's a nice rib-sticker. I'm going to have a Chimay Cinq Cents with the leftovers tonight.

Nope. I had to buy the softer cheeses back East, and Wegman's didn't have Cowgirl.

Remembered to bring the cheeses this year! The Cheese Parlor in Livermore provided the two hard cheeses (one kind of like a young Gouda and one like a very aged Cheddar), and Wegman's provided the crackers, Point Reyes Blue, and Delices de Bourgogne, as well as a spiced cranberry jam to go with the blue. (My cousins provided the other accompaniments.) Here's the menu for 13 adults and 1 child: To start: said cheese board, prosciutto and salami, vegetables and dip Both roasted and smoked turkey. The smoked one really came out well. For my 8-year-old nephew who doesn't like any of the Thanksgiving sides and will pretty much only eat turkey (he doesn't like most carbs), my b-i-l made a casserole of peppers stuffed with rice and ground turkey and covered with cheese Bread stuffing with sausage Mashed potatoes Middle Eastern-type salad with carrots, other vegetables, chickpeas, quinoa, dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds, and an orangey dressing Cranberry-orange relish Sweet potato casserole with streusel topping Malbec to drink (I don't know if the pinot noir or zinfandel got opened) Dessert: pumpkin pie, some kind of apple bake, Brooklyn blackout cake (my cousin's request from Dad after she heard that it won 2nd prize in the county fair), cookies, See's dark chocolate assortment

Nope. Been in hospice since February.

At 96. I didn't think she'd go before Jimmy.

Smitten Kitchen's chicken and black bean chili, served with cornmeal mush.

From the book Imbibe!, General Burnside's Favorite. I made the lower-strength variation; for the original, use 2 oz. brandy, 1 oz. rum, 3/4 oz. orgeat, and juice from half a lemon. 1 1/2 oz. brandy 3/4 oz. Jamaican rum 1/2 oz. orgeat 1/2 oz. lemon juice Rinse a mug or London dock glass with hot water. Add the ingredients in the mug or glass, fill with hot water, stir well, and top with grated nutmeg.

Angels and Insects, based on her short story "Morpho Eugenia", is one creepy movie.

Got some homemade Diwali sweets too!

Me neither.

Ooh, I have everything, including the absinthe. Think I'll make this tonight.

A Persian-inspired stew of lamb shoulder, eggplant, and RG Alubia Blancas, topped with pomegranate seeds and a tahini-yogurt sauce. Couscous with dried cranberries and parsley on the side.

Same setup as usual. Hopefully, I'll remember to bring the local cheeses to my cousin in PA and not leave them home in the refrigerator, thus necessitating a special trip to the Wegman's near my parents. Because my nephew will only eat the turkey and not any of the sides (including the stuffing), my sister and b-i-l are bring peppers stuffed with rice and turkey meat and covered with cheese--all the boy's favorites.