Tony had the Benne Seed Chicken & Waffles (boneless fried chicken with honey mustard on white chedder & green onion waffles with jalapeno butter).
While I had the What Came First, The Chicken or the Egg? (which consists of a poached egg on a buttermilk buscuit with a pepper sausage and beef gravy).
Jo had eggs and hash browns. And the Savory Grits, which are made with applewood-smoked bacon and marscapone cheese. They'll put you in a food coma approximately 15minutes after ingesting.
This past weekend has been dedicated to one single-minded venture: baking. LOADS of baking. Mostly for parties but also for a few holiday gifts. Friday I managed to turn out several dozen of the Shortbread Bakery's Earl Grey Tea Chocolate Truffles. Note to would-be bakers: Do yourself a favor and invest in some non-latex gloves before rolling the truffles. You'll save a lot of time and water wasted washing your hands repeatedly.
Next, Alton Brown's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. The key to this recipe is melting the butter before mixing in the sugar and using bread (instead of all-purose) flour. If you don't have a #20 ice cream scoop (I know I sure the hell don't) then simply use a 1/4 measuring cup instead.
Finally, to cap off the weekend, I turned to the good folks at Cooks Illustrated for a coconut-free, not too sweet Carrot Cake/Cupcake recipe. Unfortunately, you need a subscription to log into the site, but for $4 a month, the how-to videos alone are worth the expense.
Whew! Ok, I need to motor. I've got at least 13 hours of driving ahead of me and I need to make sure all my playlists are in order prior to my departure. I hope each of you have an AMAZING holiday and an equally kick-ass New Year! 
It's a little slice of heaven.
(Or Nirvana.)
H Mart is only located in a few cities in the US, so I was ecstatic when I found out that there's one located just outside of the city. The only kicker is that because it's the only one in a 50-mile radius, the place is PACKED. And for good reason: H Mart has one of the most extensive produce sections I've ever come across. Exotic fruits and veggies for days, man! There was a kimchi counter and a woman making the stuff right there in the store. I hate kimchi (I think it tastes like feet), but couldn't help but be impressed by it all.
The store carries durian fruit. I almost bought it, but I really like not throwing up at the smell of my food.
Margi handling some extra-impressive zucchini.We spent a good amount of time trolling around the aisles, looking at this and that when I came across a box of something I'd never seen before:
This photo makes my husband giggle every time. Unfortunately, the rambutan got lost in the shuffle of holiday leftovers, and I wasn't able to get to them in time.
After I spent a good 10minutes making a selection from a wall of soy sauce options, my ride and I picked up some frozen odds and ends and then made it back to the city. I was in Hello Panda heaven the entire trip home.
And now, for your recipe.......
A while ago I decided to use up the last of some farmer's market apples with a recipe I had come across on the Darjeeling Dreams site: Skillet Apple Cake.
It's very easy to make, though I feel the cake part could be a little more moist. However, the dryness in my attempt may be due to the size of my skillet. I suspect the portions in the DD's recipe are intended for an 8-in skillet. Mine is 12in. Next time, I think I'll double the batter. Sorry I suck at staying on top of these postings. (Looks like I've got something to add to my resolution '11 list already.) I promise I've been busy,trying to keep up with a year that is flying by at speeds that would rattle Einstein's grey matter.
Anywho - holiday recap! This year saw Tony and I spending yet another Thanksgiving in separate parts of the country (our families live far apart and work commitments usually restrict our travel time). So we decided to be proactive and host a pre-Thanksgiving for ourselves. Then my need to feed others kicked in and we started inviting people. Lots of people.
About a dozen confirmed invitations later and I found myself lugging home a 14lb turkey with numerous yet-to-be-prepared side dishes. After some unexpectedly intense debate about bird preparation (to brine or not to brine?), I decided to brine the damn thing and be done with it. The bird and brine solution went into a 35 gallon Rubbermaid (kept in the fridge, of course) and from roughly 9pm Saturday night until 4:30pm Sunday afternoon, I was cooking.
Tony - bless him - helped clean the house and made no fewer than 5 trips to the supermarket to pick up various ingredients during the day.
Thankfully, all went well, and everyone was eating by 4:30pm.
The spread.
Also, the striped rugby shirt I will no longer be wearing.
(Seriously, why didn't anyone tell me it looked so wide on me?!?)
The final menu looked something like this:
*Brined Roasted Turkey (using Alex Guarnaschelli's recipe, but Cooks Illustrated's cooking method)
*Carrots with Shallots, Sage & Thyme (Courtesy of Two Cooks, One Kitchen)
*Roasted Sweet Potatoes (using the par-boiling method recommended by Serious Eats)
*Shredded Brussel Sprouts with Gorgonzola, Shallots & Tomatoes (Courtesy of Mango & Tomato)
*The Famous/Infamous Wiley Corn Pudding
*Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cherries & Cloves (shout out to Matt from ex-boyfriend collection for the recipe)
*Stuffing (Stove Top. I was too tired to make it from scratch.)
*Mashed Potatoes & Gravy (Thank you, McCormick!)
*Trader Joe's brand Corn Bread (really, really freaking delicious)
*Italian Bread (via Pillsbury)
*Various pies for dessert
I also need to thank Emily for making a green bean casserole, Suzanne for making that butternut squash & goat cheese tart, and Patti for the sweet potato pie mash. Oh - and props to Paul and Brad for bringing booze. (Bless ya!)
Tony and I are ALMOST done with the leftovers, which have taken the form of a turkey noodle casserole, turkey & rice soup, and - coming for the Ravens v. Steelers game Sunday - Thanksgiving pizza.
And now, we wait for Christmas. Which I can easily countdown to with my handy-dandy, best big sis-to-lil-sis present ever: the pop up Advent calendar.
Each day I get a new ornament to hang on the tree.
You wouldn't let a little thing like not having a corkscrew stop you from enjoying that bottle of wine you just bought, right? Seriously, if MacGyver can light a fuse without a match or build a bomb out of a fire extinguisher, there has to be some kind of creative alternative to the corkscrew.
As it turns out, we found five. Watch these videos to see what lengths people will go to to open a bottle wine in a pinch. If necessity isn't the mother of invention, the desire for a glass of wine certainly is.
This concept seems to be fairly widespread among the corkscrew-less wine drinking community. Looks like a few things are key here. One, you have to remove the foil from the top of the bottle first. Two, pick a shoe with a thick sole, and determine the best way to maintain a solid grip on the bottle and the shoe simoultaneously. Three, try and stop before the cork comes completely out so you don't spill any wine.
This basically applies the same principles as the shoe methodology (so does the phone book technique for that matter). Hey, if you're out camping or at a picnic, this trick could come in very handy.
With a screw, screwdriver, and a hammer
You might call this the engineer's approach to opening a bottle of wine without a corkscrew. Fast, efficient, and no mess. You can find several videos of people attempting the feat with just a screw or screwdriver, but the real innovation here is using the back of the hammer.
A lot of sources will recommend simply pushing the cork down into the bottle—either with your thumb, the end of a wooden spoon, or even a pen with a string attached. The technique works, but this method gets extra bonus points for coming up with a way to fish the cork out.
Proceed with caution when it comes to this last demo. A little dubious and definitely dangerous, it's the only one that actually breaks the bottle. Still, it gets the job done.
15th November 2010 17:09
Cleared: Paul Moriarty
Newcastle coach Paul Moriarty has been cleared of cheating over an incident in which he appeared to have fabricated an injury to prop Tim Ryan.
In last month's match against Northampton, the Falcons withdrew Kieran Brookes after he took a blow to the ribs.
In a half-time interview, Moriarty seemed suggest this was a temporary replacement and that Brooks would return at some point in the second half after a rest to replace an injured player.
Ryan, who had missed training in the preceding week because of a back injury, was duly withdrawn six minutes into the second period to be replaced by Brookes.
RFU disciplinary officer Jeff Blackett said today: "An inference could be drawn from Moriarty's statement to the media that Newcastle had planned to give Brookes a break and then fabricate an injury to Ryan so that he could return to the game after a rest.
Were that to be the case it would have been cheating.
"However, I am satisfied that there was no intention to cheat.
"Ryan had been injured during the week and although passed fit to play it was clear at half-time that he would not last the rest of the match.
"There is no requirement in the regulations for a medical examination of a player removed for injury, so it is impossible to gainsay Newcastle's evidence that Ryan was injured.
"It is also clear that when Brookes was replaced he understood that he would not return - this is supported by the evidence that he was given a post-match recovery drink and did not warm up with other unused replacements.
"Newcastle only decided that he might have to go back on when it became apparent that Ryan was injured and could not continue."
We divulged details such as pop culture guilty pleasures and regrettable fashion decisions. If you'd like to read the whole thing or just check out the site, you can read the interview here.
It was an experience, to say the least. I'm not sure where Baltimore stumbled, but it's having a hell of a time getting back on its feet. It says something when the blighted areas are being reclaimed by nature.
The rest of the week was a series of attempts to make use of some leftover kale Tony had prepared. Not a man known for his portion control, my husband made a LOT of sauteed kale. And then left it up to me to prepare the rest.
Quickly followed by Kale and Mushroom Sausage Pizza with Swiss 
See? Easy-peezy. The recipes below are pretty generic (I'm not the best at measuring when I'm cooking off-the-cuff), so feel free to personalize and adjust as you see fit!
