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Wait, I thought avjar was Croatian....
But I've never tried it on pizza, just on cevapcici. I actually was on a quick shot on the news last June at the local Croatian festival taking some of it to put on my meat.

I don't see the sandwich that my grandma introduced to us as a child. It's pretty close to the others, but has one additional ingredient- sliced dill pickle. It's a comfort food to me too, and my mom can't stand the thought that we put dill pickles on our egg sandwiches.

Basically, it's whatever bread we had around- usually sourdough- toasted, with best foods/hellman's mayo and whatever mustard we grab (usually I use stone ground, but sometimes I use brown or yellow), an egg with a broken yolk fried until it's no longer runny in butter, and a sliced dill pickle.

Now I really want one, but don't have any bread in the house

My issue is that I tend to not use recipes. If I'm baking, I probably will use a recipe, but even then, especially for bread, I go by feel. When cooking nearly everything else, I throw together what looks like it will work. Usually it does. Sometimes it doesn't.

People always ask what is in my baked beans. Um, a couple cans of drained beans, a can of tomato paste, some blackstrap molasses, cumin, mustard, an onion, garlic....... I don't know, it's whatever I grabbed that sounded good. (I don't use pork because it's a migraine trigger for me)

Another deviant here. In high school I made dinner for the family by digging through the cabinets to see what my mom had bought that week- you can't exactly follow recipes if you cook and somebody else shops.

In terms of baking, I follow the recipe closely where I have to, but I will play with flavorings a bit, and I've learned to make bread by feel, and use the recipe as a guideline.

When I make clam dip I add worchestershire, lemon juice or hot sauce. None of them curdle the dairy, and they add a touch of taste.

Canning equipment doesn't have to be expensive, and as others have said, salsa is one of the easiest things to can. I try to get in a batch or two of peach salsa every summer for myself.

Just follow the directions and I think that everybody will be happier with the gift.

My mom bought me the steam n mash a few years ago- I've never used it to make mashed potatoes, but I have used it to steam many other things, including clams and mussels....

My family is known for getting odd kitchen appliances, but I think that something like the donut machine has a limited market.

For me stock is something I rarely make- it's not the effort, it's not the taste, it's that I live alone and so I buy veggies and meat in smaller cuts and it's too hard to save up enough scraps to make a pot of stock. (I am thinking of getting a small chest freezer and that my change my mind as I can keep a bag of scraps frozen in it.)

I also buy frozen peas and corn off the cob, butter, yogurt, and I sometimes I buy bread, sometimes I make it myself.

My mom has given each of us "kids" some silicone brushes over the last few years. I've found that for what I use brushes for in cooking and baking, they're much better than the traditional kind. Especially in how they clean up. I've used them to baste, both in the kitchen and in the kamado pot, I've also used them in baking to put butter or egg washes on breads. I've probably used them for other things that I can't think of right now too.

I love them. I can understand some people not liking them, but for me, they're great.

@mepolo- Jello is a huge weakness of mine. I posted the recipe because it IS yummy. I actually took the leftover stuff that wouldn't fit in the molds and mixed some sour cream into it to eat today.

My contribution for family holidays most of the time is my grandma's Jello salad. By far not the most horrible one, but still jello.

Make a box of strawberry jelly according to the instructions, mix in a bag of frozen raspberries. Pour half into a jello mold (we always use a ring one) and let set. Spread a layer of sour cream on top of it once it's set, then carefully pour the rest of the jello on top, and chill until it's set.

I have had to deal with this myself. I solve some of the problem by making smaller portions when I can. I also try to make things that I can take for lunch. I freeze certain full dishes, but a lot more partial dishes. (meatballs, rice and so on.) Also, if you're freezing things, don't forget to portion it out into single servings before it's frozen- plastic wrap works great for that. (don't forget this for meat especially!)

I'm actually debating getting a small chest freezer for the purpose of buying in larger quantities and repackaging in smaller sizes. I plan to keep a list of what is in the freezer if I do do that.