Gobble, gobble… no wait, that’s turkeys.

Cockadoodle doo!  But isn’t that just roosters?

(…Google search turns up Burger King Ad….)

What do chickens say?  How ’bout some salt and pepper?

Sigh.  A holiday away from New York should do me good.

Perch! Design via Cog & Pearl, $48

Whip up a batch of pomegranate margaritas to greet guests during the holidays.  I guarantee everyone will have more fun, sooner!

POM makes fabulous pomegranate juice that’s pretty widely available.  To delight anyone who doesn’t care for a margarita (or is underage), serve it plain or mixed some freshly-squeezed lime juice over ice.

POM Pomegranate Margaritas for 4

Adapted from Southern Living’s Pomegranate Margaritas

What I Changed (Reflected Here) and Why: Omitted the simple syrup because I hate cocktails that are overly sweet and because making simple syrup seemed like extra work; Maintained liquidity by shaking with ice a bit longer; Rubbed cocktail glass rims with salt.

1. Combine pomegranate juice with next 3 ingredients in a pitcher. (This can be done ahead of time.)

2. Rub the rims of 4 cocktail glasses with a wedge of lime and, one at a time, tip upside down into a plate with a shallow level of salt.  Twist cocktail glass until coated, then stand upright.

3. Just before serving, pour desired amount of pomegranate juice mixture into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Cover with lid, and shake 45 seconds.

4. Remove lid, and strain into chilled cocktail glasses. Repeat procedure with remaining pomegranate mixture.

Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.  You know, if you’re expecting a crowd.

Today I happened upon some Tostitos Baked! SCOOPS! at work.

Being a sucker for any food product with not only one but two exclamation points in its name, I scarfed down a personal-sized bag. Apparently that was equivalent, dietary fat-wise, to scarfing down just half of a bag of “regular tortilla chips.”

The texture is unmistakably Baked! in its bland and slightly cardboard-like flavor. Thankfully they did taste a bit saltier than the flat Baked! Tostitos I tried a few years ago.

What’s more, the Scoops!–pardon me, forgot to use Caps Lock–SCOOPS! come in a shell shape perfect for, you guessed it, SCOOPing. Filling ‘em with salsa, green pea thyme dip, or pretty much anything else with flavor is almost certain to add some legitimacy to all those exclamation points.

With a bushel of apples from our pick-your-own adventure, I’ve been creating a few apple recipes.

I’m currently serving on a jury and I brought in this bread one morning last week to share with my fellow jurors.

It is not very sweet, the buttermilk is palatable, and there is a subtle, surprising fusion of sugar and salt. At least that was my interpretation.

The other jurors simply said, “Mmmm.”

Apple Buttermilk Bread or Muffins

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks, a great recipe/wholesome food blog

Preheat oven to 400F degrees, racks in the middle. Grease and flour muffin tins if you’re making muffins or a loaf pan if you’re making bread. (Parchment paper also works for the loaf pan.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, and sugar and salt in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl whisk together the eggs and the buttermilk, whisk in the melted butter, and add the lemon juice. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined - try not to over mix. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, pushing out toward the edges. Now place the apple pieces across top. It’s okay if they overlap a little, but try to cover the entire surfaces of the bread/muffins. Sprinkle with the large grain sugar and then the salt. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cake is set (or a toothpick in the center comes out clean), and a touch golden on top. Muffins may take a bit less depending on their size. My yield was one shallow loaf pan (perfect for snack-sized slices for 12 angry men 9 happy jurors) and 6 medium-to-large muffins.

I fell in love with tamarind in Vietnam in 2005.

The fruit is hard to describe.  Imagine a pea pod that is hard, brown and crisp dry; inside is fruit the consistency of raisins held together by several fibrous strings that run from one end of the pod to the other.

Doesn’t sound very appetizing does it?  It is in fact quite tasty.  And like many things, it’s made even more exciting (and shelf-stable) when the inner fruit is extracted and fortified with sugar, salt and chili.  Some batches have more chili than others.  Some bites have more chili than others.  That’s part of the fun.

Lucky for me, Pearl River Market sells this delicacy for just $1.60.  Of course, in Vietnam the same portion would probably cost 2000D or $0.13.  But the plane ticket would be a little more than the difference.

There are two types of people: those who eat olives and those who do not.

It is hard for me to be friends with people who do not like them. It is very exasperating. I can understand that they are salty. I cannot understand that they should be limited due to fat content. Olive fat has to be one of the best things we can eat. I eat a lot of olives.

These olives are from Otto. An indication of a good Italian or Mediterranean restaurant is olive quality and selection. These were good. Everything else at Otto is good, too.

One of my dining companions for this meal does not like olives. I can’t remember her excuse reasoning. I do remember that it was very exasperating. However, I did get a slightly larger share myself.