Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Beanalicious1, your grandma must've really loved you. These indulgent treasures are such a time-consuming pain to make, so my immediate family members are the only ones who get any. I would never spend the amount of time this takes on people that I don't truly love. I hope lemonfair's recipe is easier than mine.

Years ago, I bought a Wilton mold for chocolate-covered cherries, thinking it would make the candy-making easier and quicker. It was more of a pain than dipping by hand. I use Wilton fondant for decorating cakes, but I really don't like the taste of it, even after adding flavor extracts like vanilla or almond. I've never tried it for chocolate-covered cherries, though I suppose it would work. But there's something magical about making a clear sugar syrup and turning it into an opaque white mass that makes you feel like you're on par with Jacques Torres. It's a very good feeling.

Absolute must-haves are a good candy thermometer and decent chocolate. When I first started making these a long, long time ago, it was hard to find fine-quality chocolate in the suburbs so I used chocolate chips. If you want liquid centers, make them now and they'll be ready by Christmas. Mine never last that long.

Fondant (recipe from an early edition of the red plaid Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup

1. Butter the sides of a heavy 1-1/2-quart saucepan. In pan combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. This should take 6 to 8 minutes. Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Cover and cook about 45 seconds more. Uncover; carefully clip candy thermometer to side of pan.

2. Cook over medium-low heat, without stirring, until thermometer registers 240 degree F soft-ball stage. Mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface. Reaching soft-ball stage should take about 35 minutes.

3. Remove pan from heat; remove thermometer. Pour mixture onto a large platter. (I pour mine onto a pastry marble; before I got it, I poured it straight onto a clean Formica countertop.) Do not scrape pan. Cool, without stirring, until slightly warm to the touch. This should take about 50 minutes. Beat with a wooden spoon until candy is white and firm. (I work the clear syrup back and forth with a bench scraper.) This should take about 10 minutes. Knead 5 minutes or until smooth. You can knead in a drop or two of peppermint oil (it tastes like toothpaste if you use spearmint or wintergreen oil), or a teaspoon of vanilla, almond or other extracts or a teaspoon of maraschino cherry juice. Form into a ball; wrap in clear plastic wrap. Let ripen at room temperature for 24 hours. Use to make mint patties, to dip into chocolate, or to stuff dried fruit. Makes about 3/4 pounds.

Place maraschino cherries on a plate lined with two layers of paper towels. (Keep the juice in the jar with the lid to store any unused cherries.)Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper or parchment and keep it nearby. After the fondant has ripened, pull off a smal knob (less than a tablespoon), flatten it into a disc and wrap a cherry with it, pinching seam closed. Set it on the cookie sheet; repeat until the fondant is used or all the cherries are covered.

You can't just melt the chocolate and start dipping. If you want chocolate that has a crisp snap, doesn't melt easily on your fingers and candy that has a glossy, smooth professional finish instead of a looking like a dull unappetizing glob, you need to temper it.

Grate or chop a pound of chocolate. Place two-thirds of the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or into a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled halfway with water. Heat over hot, not boiling, water, stirring constantly, until chocolate reaches 110°–115°F.

Remove the top pan of the double boiler or the bowl from the saucepan and place on a towel. Cool at room temp to 95°–100°F. Add the remaining chocolate to the top pan, stirring until melted. The chocolate is now ready to be used for dipping.

(There's a cheater way to temper chocolate--melt a third to a half of one block of paraffin--Gulf Wax, in the jelly-making section of any grocery store--in the top pan of a double boiler with the bottom pan filled halfway with water and set over medium heat. Add a pound of chopped chocolate and stir until melted and the mixture is smooth.)

Using a table fork, dip the fondant-covered cherries into the chocolate and set on a cookie sheet line with waxed paper or parchment to cool at room temp. Place into mini cupcake or candy paper liners. Store at room temp.

Tis the season for stollen. This is one of Sara Moulton's recipes. It's a very good bread, and the recipe's easy, although it takes time.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/stollen-recipe/index.html

If you don't have baking equipment, make a nice gift basket by going to a good deli/specialty grocer and buying some cured summer-type of sausage; some Alpine Swiss, emmentaler and/or tilsit cheese; some pumpernickel and rye rolls or loaves; a jar of grainy mustard; and a bottle of German riesling or some imported beer. You'll spend about $50, but having people like that in your life is worth so much more.

I learned my first lesson with hot peppers when I was 10, almost 50 years ago. A neighbor on Okinawa had some beautiful Thai bird peppers growing in a pot. I asked if I could have one, and she gave me five. I made some soba noodles, chopped the peppers and threw them in the broth. Somewhere along the line, I touched my upper lip, which started to tingle. I rubbed it, then rubbed it more and before I knew it, my face looked like I had used a tube of Revlon Fire Engine Red to make clown lips. The burning sensation lasted well past dinner. Once burned, twice learned.

But I forgot that lesson right about the time that the Exxon Valdez spilled oil in Alaska. I was making homemade poppers with jalapenos I had just picked. I was wearing gloves to seed them, but forgot about the oils on the cutting board until it was too late. I remembered that the volunteers who were trying to save Alaska's wildlife were looking for donations of Dawn to help them clean the oil off of birds, so I scrubbed my hands and face with dish detergent. It worked.

Rule #1: Wear disposable gloves.
Rule #2: Keep the gloves on until after the knife and cutting board have been scrubbed.
Rule #3: Wear a headband to keep your bangs out of your face, and no matter what, don't scratch or wipe away any drops of perspiration from your forehead.

It's happened to Anthony Bourdain, too, and not on his face or hands. I'm glad I'm not a guy.

It's next to impossible to find real currants in the US. It's not legal to grow currants and gooseberries for commercial production in a lot of states, especially in states that grow a lot of white pines. Currants are a host plant for white pine blister rust. There used to be a federal law that prohibited currants and gooseberries from being planted; the federal law was rescinded in the 60s, but there are a lot of places that have state-level bans in place. Some states allow home gardeners to grow currants, but prohibit the sale of the fruit.

About the only way to get real currants is to find a merchant who imports dried ones. Or find a neighbor who grows them.

This company sells frozen fresh curreants:

http://www.currantc.com/index.php?submenu=Currants&src=directory&view=Products&srctype=V4_Currants_detail&refno=5843&category=Farm%20Fresh%20Frozen%20Currants

Sorry, Traveller, but you've got it backwards. Your new neighbors should be welcoming you to the neighborhood (which is an acceptably polite way of being nosy about the new people) by stopping by with plates of goodies.

I'd bring a small platter of assorted homemade cookies, candies and quick-bread slices to a condo association board meeting instead. Trust me--your name will spread like wildfire through the building and your neighbors will go out of their way to say "hello" and stop by. Unless, of course, you're curious about how what your neighbors are like and how they've decorated their condos.

We're entering the hibernation season. You are programmed, with or without the help of chocolate chip cookies, cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie, to prepare for winter by building up an extra layer of body fat for insulation during the coming months. As long as you don't overdose on high-fat, high-calorie foods devoid of any redeeming nutritional qualities, this body fat will melt off when you shiver.

Let's hope this winter is a frigid one. Go outside--get your internal combustion going and you'll be fine.

I think it depends on what's served. We have "chicken dinner," "lasagna dinner," "steak dinner," "breakfast for dinner," "chili supper," spaghetti supper," "soup and salad supper." "Lasagna supper" just doesn't sound right.

I'd call them and get their thoughts about gathering for dessert only. It sounds lovely.

I like the idea of the leftover turkey sandwich party, too.

I'm a Rome person. I swear by Rome Beauty and Red Rome for pies, turnovers and fried apples with pork chops. Luckily, we have an independent year 'round produce market nearby that stocks them during pie season.

I like Paula Red and Cindy Red for baking, too, but they're really hard to find.

Buy some artificial autumn leaves and ties them loosely around the cupcakes with gold elastic cord.

Roll flat some candied ginger, green gumdrops and/or dried mango and cut them into leaf shapes; set them off-center on the cupcakes and top with the candied violets.

Get a tube of white icing and use the writing tip to draw snowflakes or leaf outlines on the cupcakes.

Take six or seven pieces of candy corn, place them on the cupcakes with their bases flush with the rim and the points touching so that it looks like turkey feathers. Use mini M&Ms for eyes, and use a tube of orange or red icing with the writing tip to draw stick feet and the wattle. Yes, it's cheesy and will cheapen the sophistication of the ganache, but it's cute in a kindergarten sort of way.

This was in my local paper today (The News Tribune out of Tacoma, WA). Not exactly bread with rosemary and sage (which, personally, I never pair together because I don't like the combination), but it seems like it would make a nice side. I think what I'll do is substitute some dressing for the celery, onion and bread as a way to freshen up the leftovers.

Source: Jeff Bishop, il Trattoria di Merende, 813 Pacific Ave., Tacoma; 253-722-1992; www.merenderestaurant.com

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Preparation time: 45 minutes baking time, plus assembly. Makes 10 individual bread puddings.

1/2 medium onion, diced 1/4 inch

2 sticks celery, diced 1/4 inch

1/2 tablespoon garlic, chopped

1/4 bunch thyme, picked and chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 ounces unsalted butter

1 cup cream

10 ounces pumpkin puree (see notes below)

1/2 cup egg yolks (4-5 depending on size)

11/2 quarts French bread, toasted and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped

10 4-ounce foil cupcake liners, sprayed

Over low heat, melt the butter then sauté vegetables, add the thyme and salt. Add the cream and pumpkin purée, bring to a gentle simmer. Slowly temper in the eggs by whisking in a very small amount of the pumpkin cream mixture, being careful to whisk and cool the mixture as to not scramble the eggs. Carefully bring up the temperature of the eggs, then once tempered, add the eggs to the cream-pumpkin mixture and stir. Add to toasted bread cubes and chives.

Pack into sprayed 4 ounce foil cups. Bake in a very shallow warm water bath covered with foil at 375 degrees until cooked, about 45 minutes. Be careful not to allow the water to spill over the edges of the foil cups. Remove the foil from the pan to brown tops lightly.

Remove from oven and cool. If prepping a day ahead of time, place in refrigerator and keep chilled until you are ready to reheat. Reheat by removing puddings 1 hour before service and allow them to come to room temperature, then about 20 minutes before they are needed place a small butter pat on top of each pudding and place in a 250-degree oven until the centers are 160 degrees. Carefully remove from foil cups and enjoy.

Chef’s note: For the pumpkin purée, bake seeded and quartered Cinderella pumpkins at 325 degrees with butter, brown sugar, salt, pepper and maple syrup until soft. Scrape from the skins and blend while still hot. Be very careful the mixture is hot. You may need just a bit of chicken stock to loosen the mixture enough to work in a home blender. This will yield a very smooth purée.

TNT test kitchen note: For a cheater shortcut (because we all need a shortcut sometimes), use canned pumpkin purée. But your Pumpkin Bread Pudding won’t taste as flavorful as making the above purée recipe from scratch.

You're welcome a thousand times.

My sister Denise is the best gravy stirrer ever, by the way. She gets the spoon all the way into the corners and does the figure-eight thing so that the gravy doesn't catch on to the bottom of the pot.