Ugh. I have a bee in my bonnet and a brain full of regrets. Here’s why.

I wrote a blog post about cranberries on Amazon’s Al Dente blog today. After I wrote the post, I started to recall a recipe I made from Gourmet years ago, probably appearing in an edition in the early 1990s.

It was a cranberry “pie” made in a pie dish and topped with a soft sconelike dough.  I can’t find the recipe online or in my files.  To add salt to my frustrated wound, I started to recall an estate sale that I went to in early September.  I snagged a few gorgeous linens and a very tattered and loved 1942 edition of The Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. The owner was obviously a really good cook, because she had lots of magazines carefully archived on shelves in her den.  The owner also had LOTS of Gourmet magazines. I bypassed them never thinking for a moment that Gourmet would be no longer. I now wish I had bought them. 

Indeed my little 1920s bungalow is bursting at the seams with three kids, pets, and books, so I don’t have room for a collection like that,  but I could really use that collection now that  Thanksgiving is rolling around…I’m sure the recipe was there somewhere…and I’m sure those mags are now in a landfill.

I’m not yet done with my search and am exploring other avenues.  I’ll keep you posted if and when I finally find it. How many days til Turkey Day???

I was reading Kate McDermott’s blog, The Art of the Pie, over the weekend.  Kate discusses her recent adventures testing and retesting a Vodka Pie Crust.

I had never heard of a Vodka Pie Crust, but I read with interest. At the end of her post, she asks folks about their favorite pie crusts…Funnily enough, I’ve been thinking (and dreaming) about pie crusts lately. Unfortunately,  I haven’t yet landed on a single favorite.

For years, I made the basic pastry recipe featured in Gourmet. That was okay, but it never exactly struck home for me. When I went to Ireland’s Ballymaloe Cookery School about five years ago, Darina Allen helped me broaden my repertoire.  Darina taught me that there are different pie crusts for different purposes–sweetened, unsweetened, flaky, sturdy. She taught me to think about how that pie crust will be used…will it be used for a pork pie or will it be used for a seasonal fruit pie? Different uses require different crusts I learned.

Over the years, like Kate, I’ve tinkered with pie crusts. I’ve made  Gourmet’s, Darina’s, Abby Mandel’s, Norene Gilletz’s, Ina Garten’s…I’ve even made press in the pan shortbread style pie crusts and vinegar pie crusts.

After all this experimenting, I can’t honestly say my vision is any clearer than before. I still don’t have slam dunk favorite.  I do, however, have one big fat file on pie crusts!!

I don’t get to Whole Foods very often, but I decided to stop by the one on Seattle’s Roosevelt Way today.

Mooching around the aisles, I stopped at an endcap and couldn’t believe my eyes–an aseptic box touting a Pour n Bake  Pumpkin Pie filling. Made by Arrowhead Mills and just introduced, this compact little box needs nothing more than an egg added to the contents. The contents are then poured into a pie shell and baked. Yikes!

I haven’t tried the product yet…I wasn’t quite ready to buy into it. I don’t find pumpkin pie difficult to make but maybe other folks do…I suppose this convenience product simplifies a holiday task and minimizes the number of products one has to purchase…Maybe I’ll try it and make a pie.  It would be an easy way to crank out a few pies for a crowd…

Or maybe I’ll just stick to my favorite Pumpkin Pie Bars which hail from the folks at Eagle Condensed Milk. They rely on an old fashioned can of pumpkin, a press in the pan crust, sweetened condensed milk, and a basic 9 by 13 pan!

I’ve heard from Corningware after posting about their  Blue Cornflower Pyroceram cookware this morning.

One of the Consumer Care Center Reps contacted me via email to tell me that Corningware still offers replacement covers for their vintage Corningware Stovetop products.  She mentioned that the products can be purchased by calling the Consumer Care Center at 1-800-999-3436 or by shopping online at Shop World Kitchen. 

If you aren’t sure what size lid you would need for your vintage cookware, the rep suggests having the cookware in hand so they can help you pinpoint the appropriate replacement. 

She also noted that the products can be found at their Corningware Corelle Revere Retail stores and that customers should consult the website’s online store locater for the store in their area.

I was poking around Washington’s Auburn Supermall recently and stopped by the Corningware Corelle Revere store. I immediately noticed a large display of one of Corningware’s classic casseroles—Blue Cornflower.

I hadn’t seen these basic blue and white casseroles in retail stores for years and asked the salesman about them. He told me they were recently reintroduced by Corningware. How exciting.

The blue cornflower emblem and cookware were originally introduced in 1957, and the line was expanded in the 1970s and 1980s. The line had been discontinued for at least the last ten years. The company  now offers a four piece set which features a 2-liter casserole, 4-liter casserole and two covers. They also offer the 1.5-liter and 5-liter casseroles in open stock.

When I was growing up, we always had these casseroles around. My mom must have felt they were the perfect vessel for leftovers. We’d stuff them with miscellaneous bits and bobs, cover them with Saran wrap, and shove them in the fridge. They’d miraculously reappear a few nights later. Around Thanksgiving, the collection worked over time for sure.

My mom’s casseroles have long since disappeared, but I’ve cobbled together my own secondhand collection by shopping at thrift stores and estate sales.   Made from highly durable Pyroceram and now imported from France, the casseroles are incredibly convenient and sturdy.  Pyroceram is the same material used for rocket noses, so the durability pitch isn’t a just bunch of marketing hype–I keep a selection of these casseroles in our 23-foot travel trailer and I can assure you that we’ve yet to crack  a single one while navigating the rocky highways and byways of Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Washington, and  Oregon.

Originally made in the United States, they can be used in the oven, under the broiler, in the microwave, and even on the stovetop! The stovetop aspect is particularly curious to me because I wasn’t aware that they could be used right on the burner until the salesman told me that a few weeks ago! My mom’s collection didn’t contain any saucepans so she never set hers directly on the burner.  Hers always went straight into the oven.

Curious to know a little more, I called Corningware’s Consumer hotline and started to talking to one of the reps. She was very enthusiastic and mentioned that the relaunch of one of this classic pattern has been extraordinarily popular!  I can see why.

In this era of stretched food budgets and the desire to minimize waste, these casseroles have a very important place in today’s contemporary kitchens! For more info or to order directly from Corningware, check out ShopWorldKitchens.com.

Oops…I just noticed that ShopWorldKitchens is posting these as Out of Stock. You can sign up for email notification when they become available again…Popular for sure.

As many of you know, I am a big fan of my Zojirushi Bread Machine. I purchased mine almost two years ago from King Arthur Flour and indeed it has been money well spent. 

I love this machine because I can load it up with the ingredients, set  the cycle and carry on with my day. On some days, I bake everything from start to finish. On other days, I just use the dough cycle to handle the messy task of mixing, kneading, and proofing a dough to perfection.

While poking through King Arthur’s Bakers’ Banter Blog this morning, I totally enjoyed PJ Hamel’s post on how to make ultra rich and buttery brioche in the Zojirushi. Funnily enough, I’ve been messing around with making brioche in the Cuisinart Elite Food Processor and my results have been mediocre.  For my first attempt, I made an old Abby Mandel recipe in the food processor’s 16 cup workbowl. I’ve never had any problems with Abby’s food processor recipes in the past, but  even my kids honked an emphatic YUCK on this one !

A few days later,  I made another round of dough in the food processor using a different recipe. My results were more on target and are shown in the adjacent photo.  Lately, however, I’ve taken a rest from testing simply because my waistline can’t handle all that butter on a regular basis.

I have other food processor brioche recipes at the top of my “to do test list”, but at this point, I think I’m ready to head back into the kitchen and start over, employing my Zojirushi bread maker rather than my Cuisinart. Stay tuned for my results. In the meantime, check out PJ Hamel’s post here. 

And, take note that King Arthur is currently offering free shipping on their Zojirushi bread machines. I can assure you that this saves some serious dough!!

I’m working on another article and was down at Kaspars Special Events & Catering in Queen Anne this morning.

Owners Kaspar and Nancy Donier were as gracious as ever and were delighted to demonstrate one of Kaspar’s flagship recipes just for me.

Kaspar Donier hails from Davos, Switzerland, and is revered locally for his wonderful European-inspired cooking.  About four years ago, after owning and running their traditional restaurant for 16 years, the Doniers decided to transition away from the formal restaurant business. 

This, of course, was a risky move, but Nancy explained  that the goal was to let them focus on the catering and special events side of things.   In order to do so, they started offering wine tasting dinners, special celebrations, hands on team building cooking classes, and lavish holiday buffets in their lovely spacious dining rooms.

When Nancy mentioned the holiday buffets, Thanksgiving immediately sprang to mind.  I asked Nancy how she thought the bookings would go this year,  considering the economy.  Indeed, I was highly impressed when Nancy told me they are already fully booked for Thanksgiving and that they expect about  600 diners that day.  Shocked, I asked Kaspar how many turkeys that would be and he told me about 23 turkeys. But, he also mentioned that turkey isn’t what’s completely gobbled up by his faithful longtime clientele. It’s the side dishes they adore!

So, if you’ve missed the Mayflower and have NOT made your reservation for Thanksgiving at Kaspars this year, flip your calendar to December and consider making a reservation for their Champagne Dinner, their Gingerbread Class, the Christmas Eve  or the New Year’s Eve dinners NOW!

When I worked at Gourmet Magazine, field research was an expected part of my job. I often spent my lunch hour hopping on subways in order to explore many of the culinary oddities at hand–Katz’s Deli, The Grand Central Oyster Bar, Union Square Greenmarket, and Bridge Kitchenware being just a few of my  favorite midday haunts back then.

On days when I had a little extra time, I’d head all the way downtown to the Lower Eastside in order to explore some of  New York’s legendary kosher food stores. I loved to peer into the   massive pickle barrels and would often purchase my kosher dills by the quart. Having been raised on Long Island, Kosher pickles were part of my upbringing and are a major taste memory for me.

When I moved here to Seattle nearly 15 years ago, I went into  pickle withdrawal.  When a craving for kosher dills hit, I’d have to simply make do.  A few years ago, I discovered Bubbies Kosher pickles at PCC, my local natural foods coop.

 Wow! What a great discovery. Made in California and shipped nationwide, these authentic pickles are made without preservatives. And, they are delicious. As I type this post, I have a jar of their Bread & Butter Chips at my side. Even at 9 am on a Monday morning, they taste great.   

The Bubbies website gives lots of info on their products. Bubbie is the Yiddish word for grandmother  and in this case she is the grandmother of the owner. With typical granny flair, Bubbie  gives a background lecture on  Bubbies History and, like any good Jewish grandmother, she offers this wise advice: “Eat my pickles. Wear clean underwear. Marry a doctor.”

Oy, with Bubbie and her pickles at my side, I am feeling right at home!

Every year in early November, I make a list and head to Seattle’s University District Farmers market in order to stock up on my Thanksgiving essentials–potatoes, leeks, apples, onions, rutabagas, carrots, cauliflower, and even a few quirky heirloom squash varieties.

By having these items on hand early in the month, I can stash them in my garage and spend the days prior to Thanksgiving cooking rather than shopping and schlepping amidst the harried crowds. These farmers market items store well, and the  approach makes my  task so much easier and more enjoyable!!

When I checked my Blackberry yesterday, I was happy to see a relevant email from Chris Curtis of the Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Market  Alliance. In an effort to get everyone to Eat Local for this All American holiday, the Alliance is announcing its first “Eat Local for Thanksgiving” Farmers Market Thanksgiving Contest.  The Grand Prize winner will receive a gourmet meal for six cooked in their home by award-winning chef Tamara Murphy of Brasa.

The contest is geared to amateur home cooks. The contestants are encouraged to focus on delicious and not necessarily totally elaborate dishes for their Thanksgiving dinner. Now that’s my kind of home cooking for sure. It’s always been my philosophy that the best ingredients yield the simplest and most sublime end products! And I’ve always believed that this approach is easiest on the cook!

For more information, read the contest details.  When you create your master award-winning Thanksgiving dinner, remember to consider items beyond those listed by me above…go for briny oysters, wild mushrooms, locally made pickles, hard cider, hazelnuts, smoked salmon…the list could go on and on!! Have fun and report back!

Wild Alaskan Red King Crab

The season is short, and the time was ripe.

I was at  Metropolitan Market yesterday and simply couldn’t resist purchasing one of their seafood specials–the Alaskan Red King Crab Legs. 

Shipped fully cooked and fresh, not frozen, these massive crab legs hail from Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

The short and tumultuous Bering Sea king crab season officially kicked off on October 15, and I decided to seize the day since the legs at hand had just ”touched down” in  Seattle.

After chatting with the store’s knowledgeable and friendly fishmonger, I happily  trotted home with two massive legs in tow.

For lunch today, I unwrapped the legs, removed the fully cooked meat, chopped it slightly,  and tossed it with a smidgeon of mayo and a dash of lemon. Fresh, clean, and delicious!