Once a year the local SCA group has an informal gathering that includes a pie competition. "Pie" is pretty loosely defined. For today's I set out to make a ginger cheese pie, extrapolated from the cheesecake recipes in Digby and Platina. Basically, I used Digby's proportions for cheese, butter, and eggs, but replaced his cinnamon and nutmeg with ( Read more... )

We recently had a pot-luck lunch at work. I was short of time, so had my slow-cooker do most of the work:

- 2 sweet yellow onions, diced
- 1 pound butternut squash, cubed (~ 0.5" cubes)
- 2 sweet potatoes (not yams), cubed
- 8oz bag frozen cauliflower
- 8oz bag frozen peas
- 15oz can chickpeas, drained
- 2 12oz jars Madras curry sauce (I used ( Read more... )

One of the dishes I made for my seder got compliments from everybody (and requests for how I did it), and it was incredibly easy. I wasn't expecting it to be one of the stars of the night. So, to share this discovery with others:

Vegetable-stuffed peppersDice a large sweet onion (next time I'll use more) and cube about a pound of butternut ( Read more... )

We had friends over for dinner last night. The fish turned out really well, so best to write down what I did ( Read more... )

I had some vegetarian guests at my Pesach seder, so I was looking for something to prepare for a veggie main dish that's kosher for Pesach (duh), can be made ahead (seder logistics), and is also attractive -- a festive dish for a festive meal, in other words. Isaac Moses on Mi Yodeya pointed me to a "veggieducken" recipe created by somebody who ( Read more... )

There was a Halloween pot-luck at work today. Late last week we had a spectacular fridge purge -- things years past their expiration dates and quite a few "science experiments" and containers of green fuzzy...something. These ideas seemed like they should go together, so in a then-locked entry (to maintain the surprise) I asked for suggestions. ( Read more... )

There is a Halloween pot-luck at work on Monday. Just yesterday we had a spectacular fridge purge -- things years past their expiration dates and quite a few "science experiments" and containers of green fuzzy...something. These ideas seem like they should go together. What can I make for Monday that would evoke the themes of the fridge purge ( Read more... )

Some coworkers declared tomorrow to be Wiener Wednesday, with an impromptu pot-luck revolving around hot dogs and things that go on them. Kashrut considerations would normally preclude that, but when someone declared the intention to bring veggie dogs (with suitable preparation), I decided to contribute some veggie chili to go with them. It went ( Read more... )

Baronial 12th night is traditionally a free pot-luck event. I generally try to bring a main dish (knowing that most main dishes brought will be meat). This year I adapted the spinach tart from Cariadoc's Miscellany (his recipe is about three-quarters of the way down the page). For two 9" crusts I used the following ( Read more... )

This afternoon's barony meeting included a pie contest. Three categories were declared in advance: seasonal fruit, seasonal vegetable, and anything from a period source. Whimsy was also allowed, such as the geometrically-challenged rectangular apple dish. Until a few days ago I had been planning to enter a certain documentable apple/pear pie, ( Read more... )