do you think home-made rice crispy treats would work better or worse with this? I'm thinking they'd be easy to shape.

@cassandra. I actually searched seriouseats before I posted my question - nothing like that wonderful discussion came up. thanks for the link.

These are all great ideas. I don't know much about chutneys etc but today's Bittman column gives ideas for relishes etc and I am thinking that the green tomato-something that I end up with will be part of our thanksgiving.

I've never done canning, looks like its time to learn.

Thanks for the insight - I do appreciate that "comfort foods" are very often carbs because of the serotonin connection. That took lamb chops and garlic mashers off the menu - I could so easily go into a potato + butter + cream coma!

chili - baked - sounds interesting.
popcorn is a great idea!

roasted quail is such a lovely idea. Festive and comforting.

I also think eating out sounds good, but I don't think I could enjoy dinner, I'd be glued to my iphone...

I have settled on two things - maybe three with the popcorn idea:

Last night, I made a lovely pot roast flavored with tarragon, so we'll have that for our early dinner and
I still have some fresh tomatoes coming in from the garden, so I'll make a caprese salad for our later night light munching. I am getting ready to bake some bread right now.

two bottles of red wine, riedel glasses, and a lot of deep breaths.

Thanks everyone

Pasqual's had an off night - the entree was only so-so and it was one of their more well known dishes. The desserts were weak too. The wine list was good, as always, and the service was excellent. Don't know what was going on (or not going on) but it was the first weak meal I have had at Pasqual's. I had made reservations for Pasqual's two evenings and this experience caused us to cancel the second evening and go elsewhere.

El Mason was a real joy. Delicious tapas and some funky smooth jazz music. Nice wine selection.

The Shed did not disappoint. Fantastic red chili.

Blue Corn Cafe was great. Best margarita in town and really lovely green chili stew.

Casa Sena - ooh, not a good experience. A bad meal and bad service. I'll try it again, at least I think I will, but I was sorely disappointed.

An unexpected treat was the Santa Fe Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. A gorgeous array of fruits, veg, new mexico standards like roasted green chili, some craft items and overall lots of fun.

I was absolutely referring to food and restaurants - sorry if that wasn't obvious.
Thanks for the ideas.

I'll be glad to give you feedback. My current batch of BBB's will run out tomorrow so I'll be making some new ones on thursday or Friday. What I would like to do is try each of the recommendations and see how it goes. I am pretty sure I can't do 2 eggs to a can of beans - sorry bitchincamero. I bet egg lovers would think that was a great idea - Thank you for offering your help. and I do love cilantro so that will be an excellent addition.

These are all such great suggestions. I had to laugh at the Elgin's sausage - Elgin is 2 hours from me, It is so easy to forget something simple and local like that good sausage.

I also overlooked doing something simple like baking cookies or perhaps sending coffee and biscotti - and I have a great biscotti recipe.

I had never heard of the Lobsta Gram - I have to admit that one really looks interesting.

I am going to look through the sites and see what makes sense.

Whatever I pick this time, I now have some really cool resources for future food gifting - and I so appreciate you all taking the time to give me suggestions.

New Mexican chili :(

I grew up on it, and could eat it every day - but now when I visit Santa Fe and load up on food from The Shed or Pasqual's, my poor belly aches like it is raw on the inside.

I still eat it, every delicious spicy bite, but my body doesn't tolerate it. That is truly sad.

I do a lot of research on which restaurants are praised and which ones people dislike - chowhound is good and serious eats is great. I generally plan my travels around the food - so I am more likely to stay someplace les expensive so I can eat more or eat at better places.

travel + good food is a joy, but can be expensive. We try to save up for trips so we have the cash to spend.

OK - the SJ's were delightful! I used the above recipe but changed ingredients to:

4 T mustard
4 T sweet relish
4 T Pace
pinch of red pepper flakes
paprika
1 T Monterrey seasoning
salt
pepper

I forgot to buy buns at the store so we just ate the mix out of a bowl - it was great.

BTW - I think a soy protein version would be good. I'll probably make a venison version in the next few weeks.

I agree about the bun - you could toast it or, just eat the mix sans bun... Or maybe just keep on saying "yuck!"

My recipe includes a couple of tablespoons of "chili sauce" which I have always interpreted as Pace hot sauce - and adds a nice little spice.

I like the BBQ sauce idea.

about 10 years ago, I was asked to bring mashed potatoes to a holiday dinner. I must've made a horrible face because my host asked me what was wrong. I replied, "I've never made mashed potatoes, my mother always told me they were really hard to make so I've never tried."

The rest of the story is my dear mum is not a good cook and mashed potatoes might have been challenging for her. I have since learned how to make GREAT mashed potatoes and think of this conversation every single time.