Katie, I'm glad to see you again, you stay away too long and I miss you. Like you, I like LOTS of crystallized ginger in them, nice and "bite-y". Arlene, the imposters are the ones that they pick green, spray red and ship a couple thousand miles. When they get here they are still hard, plus they are dry, not juicy and they are white all the way through when you bite them. Fresh and local are something else, but if you tried to ship berries that perfectly ripe to Michigan, by the time they got packed and loaded on trucks and driven here and unpacked and on the shelves to sell them, they'd be a big moldy lump. Plus the varieties of berries they've developed to be sturdy enough to withstand shipping have not been developed for flavor, that's for sure.... Strawberries here will have to wait until June, everything in their own season, or I can eat styrofoam imposters but they sure aren't worth it. Those are beautiful, though, I'm sure glad you learned to post pictures! Annie

Ann H., traditional Chanuka foods vary with the community. Jews of Eastern European descent eat latkes (but never agree on how to make them). Israelis eat fried filled doughnuts. As you see in the string, and can find on many web sites, everywhere in the world, Jews come up with something different for Chanuka. The one constant is that it should be something cooked in oil; that's the point. The idea is to commemorate the story about the oil for the menorah. lpinkmountain, if you use a mix for matzo balls, you will go to hell. JUST KIDDING! But really, I have never understood what the point is of that mix. I mean, matzo balls contain matzo meal, salt, egg, water or broth, and fat (chicken fat best if you are not a vegetarian and your cardiologist isn't looking). So what's in that mix? I think it's just matzo meal, salt, and some bouillon powder (which I don't like anyway); you still have to add the rest -- doesn't really save any time and just costs a lot more and uses more packaging. Lakeguy, here is how I (a genuine Jewish mother) make chicken soup and matzo balls. It's a very simple recipe, without even any dill or garlic, but it really doesn't need it, because the strongly developed chicken flavor holds its own, so try it this way first. Really, you can make any kind of chicken soup your family likes, but make sure to follow the two essentials about the type of chicken and the length of cooking. Try to find a kosher chicken -- the bigger, fatter, and older, the better. The taste is just much, much better. It's not that the kosher slaughtering makes a difference. But they grow them bigger, and they don't feed them chemicals (not for kosher purposes, just to broaden their market to foodies), and the soaking and salting of kashering is like brining it. If you can't find a kosher chicken in your town, then go for an organic one, I guess. Lindac taught me the money-saving tip of using a package of wings instead of a whole chicken (kosher chickens are not cheap). Gellchom's Jewish Chicken Soup (eat! eat!) 1 cut up kosher chicken, or a large package of wings, necks, etc. 2 stalks celery, NO LEAVES, scraped and cut into sticks 2 large carrots, scraped and cut into sticks one whole onion, peeled Salt and pepper Rinse the chicken and put it in your soup pot. Cover with water to about 3/4 inch from top. Bring to a good hard boil, reduce the heat, and skim. Then add the vegetables, 1-2 T salt, and some pepper. Cover and simmer a LONG time -- absolute minimum 1 1/2 hours, but I like to let it go to much longer, even to 6. If it cooks too far down, then just add some water; the taste will still be plenty rich, I promise. Remove chicken and use for something that can have seriously overcooked chicken! Discard onion (and celery, if you want, but I like it in the soup). Remove carrots and set aside. Strain soup and return carrots, celery, and maybe some of the chicken. Chill and remove some but not all of the fat before reheating. Serve with matzo balls, kreplach, noodles, or rice. Matzo balls (this is just the old recipe off the back of the Manischewitz matzo meal box, before they changed it from schmaltz to oil) 2 T schmaltz (rendered chicken fat; buy frozen in kosher market or make your own) or oil (if you must!) 2 lg eggs, slightly beaten ½ c matzo meal 1 t salt, optional 2 T water or broth (use broth if no schmaltz) Mix schmaltz and eggs. Mix matzo meal with salt and blend. Add water and mix. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes. Boil slightly salted water. Reduce heat to low, form balls (with wet hands, and note that they will enlarge as they cook), and add to soup. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes.

Dandy, the pumpkin muffins were also an untried recipe but not as good as the ones I have made previously....kinda dry and not as much flavor. Here is my old recipe which produces moist and very flavorful muffins: Pumpkin Muffins 1 3/4 c all purpose flour 1 1/4 c sugar 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 3/4 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 2 large eggs 1 c canned pumpkin (not pie filling!) 1/2 c + 2 tbs salad oil (I use canola) 1 c raisins, craisins or dried apricots 1/2 c warm water 1/2 chopped nuts (optional) Preheat oven to 400F. Soak the dried fruit in the warm water to plump. Mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside. Mix the eggs, pumpkin and oil and blend well. Drain the fruit and add to wet ingredients. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and blend until just mixed....do not over-mix!! Spoon into lined muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes or until tested done. (I do jumbo muffin cups and bake 25-30 minutes) I sometimes sub 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice in place of the individual spices. I also sometimes add a touch of ground ginger and allspice. And I top the muffins with coarse sugar crystals before baking. And here is the link to the sausage rolls recipe: Caramelized Apple, Onion and Fennel Sausage rolls. I used mild Italian sausage so omitted the fennel seed. And I added a scosh of dry mustard powder as my previous recipe included that as well. I have to pace myself with these or would try to eat them all as soon as they come out of the oven!!

As soon as I get off this computer, I plan to put the ingredients for Edie's Bread into the bread machine and will let it make the dough. I need bread for tomorrow and do like to let it cool overnight. Having mostly leftover potatoes/onions/carrots left from the roast chicken (chicken in gone). Will do a hamburger patty in the air fryer and maybe a salad - haven't decided yet. You know I have been self-isolating so long that this week I had to think about what day of the week each day was. I sure hope and pray this we will be safe to go out and do things in the future. I don't want my brain to deteriorate. Have been doing crossword puzzles, sudoko, and other type of brain stimulation, but that gets old, too. Enough. Got to get in the kitchen.