lotusmoss's Profile

How about this:
http://www.designsponge.com/2010/10/before-and-afater-basics-refreshing-wood.html

Yeah, I would love granite countertops. Our "high end" concrete countertops can't have a drop of liquid on them or the finish bubbles up, if you drop anything on them they break. And we used to have peeling plywood and laminate, along with a painted plywood "backsplash" that flaked paint into food on the stove when steam hit it...

Please do report back with what you prefer as I've always found that granite hides dirt, is exceedingly easy to clean, and can have water on it without any finish being ruined, or bubbling of wood/laminate. Plus, lots of the high end manmade materials, like Corian, are now more expensive than granite.

If it's not excellent champagne (hello Korbel), I use it as cooking wine. That's how I used up mine this year--lots of risotto making.

Fun list! But Gah! Please don't get Gosling's rum as your dark mixing rum! I think it has a really distinct flavor that many (including myself) hate. Try Cruzan Dark Rum instead, which is also cheap, and good.

Love it. We're a secular Christian and Jewish couple thinking about how we'll celebrate the holidays when we have children, and this is a wonderful inspiration.

One of my favs recently is canned chickpeas tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and good store bought harissa served on top of couscous, made the 5 minute way. Another fav is "healthy ramen" (i.e. http://www.amazon.com/Koyo-Tofu-Ramen-2-Ounce-Packages/dp/B000VKA680/ref=sr_1_1?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1324321902&sr=1-1) tossed with frozen peas and corn and topped with an egg.

I think that they're right--a pork tenderloin. As a long time vegetarian who cooks meat for others sometimes, tenderloin is by far the easiest to cook. And usually, the thin ones (perfect for 3) cook in 20-30 minutes--easy peasy and no cooking meat all day long, or basting, or dealing with the meat more than you have to.

I often use the Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic-Cranberry Sauce from Epicurious, and it's always a winner: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Tenderloin-with-Balsamic-Cranberry-Sauce-100314

I eat them in my yogurt in museli, but you can also make a tart with them with an apricot jam glaze. Or I really like fruit salad made with mango, kiwi, and citrus, sprinkled with grated ginger and toasted coconut.

@qhartman: "For the most part, don't try to "de-gluten" recipes that call for things with gluten in them." Amen to that. I'm baffled at attempts to try to mimic no-go food categories, like making faux bread stuffing (not the rice--that's a great idea) for gluten-free folks. It reminds me of people that want to feed vegetarians lots of overly processed fake meat. Yuck!

Roasted root veggies, garlic cheese grits casserole, wild rice, sweet potato casserole (just mashed sweet potatoes with a nuts, brown sugar, and butter on top), and green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic are some of my favorite veggie options for Thanksgiving that also might work for a gluten-free person, depending how sensitive they are.

I agree that a bundt cake sans icing travels really well, and I often take crisps (they can stay at room temp for a while and you serve them out of the same dish they were baked in, so that's easy).