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Brining… who knew?

Okay... so I VERY last minute asked myself what the heck brining is. Fast forward and as I type, this Alton Brown brining recipe (using ground allspice instead of allspice berries) is cooling on my front porch (which is cold and concrete--so it can't be destroyed by a hot pot). I'll make the rest of it replacing the apple in the turkey with a pear.I am currently cooking my turkey/chicken Italian flavored sausage with white navy beans, swiss chard and garlic in EVOO while the rice pasta cooks. ... continue reading...

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Hot cocoa

It seems almost a right of passage for a child to have "Snowman Soup" (hot cocoa with little marshmallows floating in it).No different in my house.I warm up some vanilla flavored coconut milk (because I happen to have it, not because the vanilla flavored version is actually necessary).We are not anaphylactic allergic, so getting cocoa where the label says "May contain trace amounts" is currently acceptable for us. As a result, we are using Lake Champlain Chocolates "All-Natural Traditional Hot ... continue reading...

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Menu plan for the week of 11/21/2010

Sorry about last week! :( It was really rough. And without a menu plan, we definitely suffered. WAY fewer vegetables consumed, and although we didn't eat out any more than usual (our Saturday morning breakfast), I gained 2 lbs. So I'm back to being dedicated.HERE'S A PDF DOCUMENT FOR THIS WEEK'S MENU TO HANG ON YOUR FRIDGE! (I moved this to Scribd on W-11/24 because there were more options on how to download/view/alter it)Sunday, 11/21 (I'm posting at 3:13pm on Sunday and would like you ... continue reading...

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Hosting for Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving week and we will be hosting a formerly only-online friend and her 12yo son. They have no food allergies and also have no family in the area. I'm hoping it goes well! Since they asked what they could bring, I told them beverages. I'm realizing that this is an area that we totally fall short on. It's now been so long that we haven't had traditional/mainstream beverages in the house that I no longer know the best stuff, and frankly, I don't want to waste my money on something ... continue reading...