Everyone's Fave's

 The New York Times put out a fantastic guide of reader's favorite recipes this past Sunday. This is a please save because it will come in handy for the holidays. There is everything in here from the famed actress Kate Hepburn's brownies to Southern macaroni and cheese. These will be perfect for family dinners or every night and weekend dinners and snacks too.

The kind of cookbook is divided into five sections - The Icons, The Super Stars, The Chart Toppers, The Influencers and The Talkers. No matter what recipe you choose they;re all good.Some are extremely popular like the red lentil soup that has a pinch of red pepper to give it zing A quick dinner is the crisp gnocchi , fried in olive oil.Brussels sprouts or broccoli is first fried then the two are combined for  a tasty twist on a Northern Italian classic.

Yes, there are full meals as well.Try a caramelized shallot pasta for a Sunday dinner. This is a kind of puttanesca  with anchovies added but has a extra layer of flavor added, thanks to the caramelized shallot. A good Sunday supper is caramelized French onion grilled cheese.This is not the greasy diner version but an elevated salute. Gruyere cheese is used and blended with caramelized onions . This is then put on slices of bread - use artesanal here and then fried in butter. Finish with Kate Hepburn;s super fudgey brownies or a plum tart There are also drink recipes too from the Brazilian limoada to the heady  Tinto de verano,a mix of red wine vermouth and surprisingly Sprite.

This guide put out by the New York Times Cooking is a definite keeper. Use ot for fall Sunday dinners or for holiday get togethers. The recipes are not only popular but perfect

The Meeting House Princeton NJ

 Princeton ,New Jersey is lovely in the fall. The town has an academic charm similar to Britain's Oxford and Cambridge yet also has a distinctly American vibe.The main part of town around the University is full of all sorts of different restaurants .Yet there is one that's a few block away in the picturesque section of Princeton that stands out>It's The meeting Place on Witherspoon (yes, named after Reese Witherspoon's  ancestor  John Witherspoon who signed the Declaration of Independence and was Princeton's sixth president)

I liked the Meeting Place. It has Manhattan vibe even though it's deep in the country. The dcord is a sophisticated blend of farmhouse shingles and modern fixttures. The food is tasty and farm fresh.It's great to start with their flaky biscuits that come with a bitter blackberry jam and butter.

Their Sunday brunch is a wonderful mix of egg dishes. From a fiery huevo ranchereo to a creamy  Eggs Benedict diners cna enjoy these ample plates.

There is , of course, the traditional breakfast of  fluffy pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon

for a lighter nrucnh Meeting Pace offers a rich mushroom soup that's full of flavor. This is the perfect chill chaser for a fall day.It is even topped with fried scallions and croutons, with a swirl of truffle oil.

It may be brunch but there's always room for dessert. The eatery offers four only but they're excellent. Try their S'mores tart on a coulis of raspberry jam.

The tart jam rescued it from being too sweet as did the dark chocolate ganache.

There's also a light carrot cake with an even lighter than air cream cheese frosting. This was a perfect end to a lovely meal.

The Meeting Place is the place to go to if you're in Princeton.It's a wonderful escape into good food, especially after a fall day out. Try it when you're visiting the school and town.

Fall Finds

 All grocery stores are in full fall mode. THis is so true of Lidl where they put out a wide variety of sweet and savory fall themed foods and treats. They have maple drizzled kettle corn, home brewed pumpkin soda and a great find their Autumn Harvest pasta sauce.e

This was too good to pass up.It's a marriage of tomatoes, bell peppers , butternut squash and zucchini. It's the perfect cold weather sauce for any pasta and I cannot wait to try it/

What is great about this sauce is that , yes you can use it with everyday pasta but it will be great over gnocchi which I also bought.

Lidl gnocchi's,like their, spaghetti and rotelli, re always good, tasting like they've just been made and rolled out in your kitchen. They and the sauce will make a lovely autumn supper.I 'm also adding rolls to stop up the sauce. If you want to vary it, then sub in chicken or vegan chicken strips and serve over polenta for an equally hardy meal. This is perfect on a chil October night or brisk Sunday afternoon,.

It's fall and that means stores are going to be offering delicious harvest themed foods. Head to Lidl or your favorite store and see what's on display. You'll be amazed at the bounty of all sorts of autumn treasures.

The Perfect Fall Dinner

 It's fall and its a time for lush Sunday dinners/ What is your ideal dinner for crisp weather? Do you prepare pork chops stuffed with onions and apples. A family platter of pasta loaded with marinara and homemade meatballs. A juicy London Broil served with a buttery Yorkshire pudding? A plump capon roasted with new potatoes?

Here's the question - what is your ideal fall Sunday dinner? Let us know.

Emergency Eating

 Sadly more and more people are suffering severe weather thanks to climate change. it affects every aspect of life, especially how we cook and eat. Yet many don;t know what to do when a hurricane ,flood or fire hits. Luckily there is a how to to get through those tough times.

Regular contributor and cookbook author Kristen Migliore gave this handy and important guide in yesterday's New York Times Food section. First of all how much food and water should be kept? For water there should be a minimum of one gallon per person. There should be at least twelve gallons for a family of four. This will keep them hydrated for three to four days if you have space go bigger. Try to have enough water for two weeks. WHat about an emergency go bag? Store both together in a cool, dark place in your house. You may wind up in a place that will supply you with the basics. The more important is what foods should be stocked up - nut butters like almond and peanut along with rimmed fish - salmon and tuna.Tinned veggies and fruit long with beans can go a long way Canned potatoes are perfect because they can be drained and pan roasted with olive oil and salt for a tasty quick comfort food. Also get boil in bag Indian curries and Japanese just add water miso and ramen soups. pasta and rice are also musts because they last for a long time and make for filling meals wien cooked.

Hot drinks are a must. They can soothe and comfort. Store instant coffee and coffee drinks, tea bags and packets of hot cocoa. It's not mentioned but Gator Ade can also be good especially for kids if they need energy. Another must is some kind of cooking apparatus like a backyard grill, camp stove or chafing dish.what's the best way to make canned and tinned foods taste better? Also have shelf stable  flavorings to make that cooked food better.Like any powdered drink, spices like cinnamon , garlic and onion powder stay dry . Soy sauce and sesame oil are also stable and won't go bad. Sesame oil can last for up to two years once opened.Japanese furikake seasoning which is ground sesame, mixed with sugar,noei salt and sugar helps tinned veggies and tuna become tastier. Also try any kind of vinegar which can almost last forever and smoked paprika which can elevate food to another level are also good.Keep in mind all these foodstuffs have experitation dates. If you haven't used them already  then cook them before they expire.

These days are sadly filled with all sorts of disasters. Be ready .Be food prepared so your family can eat well. A hot comforting one goes a long way.

New York - A Guide For Vegans

 You would think that Manhattan with it's many restaurants would be a paradise for vegetarians and vegans. Surprisingly the answer is no. It's not easy ordering  meat free in the Big Apple. Yet herbivores can survive with a few tips.

Regular Priya Krishna wrote about it on today's New York Times Food section.The city does have a lively and diverse restaurant scene. New Yorkers  can shop for plant based meats and some  eateries offer Impossible Burgers on their menus. It's not enough though.Many restaurants shrank their menus during the pandemic four and a half years ago.Plant based meats are not on the smaller or shrunken versions. Charlotte Brooks, a professor at Baruch College in Brooklyn has found that some places only have two options.Lawyer Tracie Lyons who lives on the restaurant rich Upper West Side has problems with finding one that suits her veganism. Choices are few and far between and looking for a suitable eatery is a chore.Ms Krishna heard this and decided to go out on her own to see the options. even the Times lsit of city restaurants have places that will not tweak their menus to suit non meat eaters What's a vegan or eve vegetarian to do?

One of the answers is go to pasta.This works except for vegans because with pasta come dairy based cheese and butter.Ms. Krishna recommends Ci Siamo which does have cheese and butter in their dishes. A better choice is just ordering pasta or gnocchi with marinara sauce. Diners could order a dish without meat or fish yet the dish like endive with anchovy at Estella is just endive. sometimes the vegan option does work as it does at Jeju Noodle Bar where their mushroom scallion pancakes are popular.Some eateries go ad hoc and will create a dish in seconds featuring no meat. Just ask nicely as she did at the Viernamese place Mam on the Lower East Side.The fancy eatery eleven Madison Park has gone vegan with its' tasting menus. Vegans and vegetarians love this .Le Bernardin also did this too. Of course if you want truly vegetarian, then head to Dirt Candy, Superiority Burger and Buddha Budai. These are truly meat and dairy free and have great menus.

Vegans and vegetarians can enjoy the Manhattan restaurant scene. One know where to go. Two enjoy the dishes whatever is in front of you. It'll make for a good dinner.

Wngs Any Way

 Chicken wings are a big part of fall cuisine. They're served at tailgating parties. They grace Halloween party tables. They're the highlight of late season barbecues> What's best about them is that you can make them and their counterparts - drumsticks any way you want.

This chicken dish is versatile. You can have them smoky and sweet one day and spiky with spice and flavor the next.The first thing to consider is not the flavor but the crunch. A soggy wing might taste good but it it doesn't;t feel good in your mouth. what needs to be done before flavoring and frying is dry brining. Use baking powder and cornstarch for a crunchy, crispy texture.A pitch of salt is added for flavor and then the wings are roasted in a 400 degree Farenheit oven for forty-five minutes. You could also make the wings less crunchier but more flavorful with a Buffalo chicken wing recipe.Mix melted butter and cayenne pepper or Frank's hot sauce. Fry or roast the chicken first then drench in the sauce. reserve a bowl of extra sauce for dipping later on.Serve these with mouth cooling celery and Ranch dressing or even carrots.If you want super hot but super flavorful then try Szechuan style wings This is taking the wings and first  dry brining them in salt and baking powder. Then there's the sauce . This is a mix of toasted and crushed peppercorns mixed with chili flakes, Shaoxing wine and a garlic and ginger paste.dark and light soy sauce is also added to this along with palm sugar. You can add chopped peanuts and more chili flakes on top too.

The weather is still good for barbecued wings. Again there are options. Grilled wings are cooked when the grill li d is opened; while barbecued is done with the grill lid closed.This last will give you extray juicy and tender meat. what about the sauces? D you put the barbecue sauce on when the wingers are being cooked? Yes but put a thin layer of sauce on them. Barbecue sauce contains sugar which burns easily and browns faster than the meat.This can. make it difficult to tell if the meat is completely cooked. A better idea is barbecue or grill the wings and even drumsticks without the sauce on them and serve the sauce separately.A  fun idea is having a few sauces out so family and friends can have a choice. Try a sweet barbecue sauce made from ketchup, honey molasses and liquid smoke. Zing it up with garlic and onion powder.If you want give it some bite with a tiny drop of hot sauce. Another sauce perfect for wings and drumsticks is honey mustard. Use a good grainy mustard like Grey Poupon and mix with a wildflower honey..

wings are a perfect addition to any taol gater or Halloween party. There are so many different ways to make them. ENjoy them your way, whether grilled or fried