The problem I have with palak paneer is finding/making the cheese! I sub feta but it is nowhere near the same. Plus I like mine medium hot, with some fresh naan. Again, pita bread or store bought naan just doesn't cut it. But that's my homeade version. So I'm not really a good person to encourage you on the palak paneer! I love Indian food but my own attempts at mastering the dishes I like have been . . . eh.

Roasted beets are delicious and easy. Scrub the beets well. Coat with olive oil, and stick into a 400 degree oven, or there abouts. Roast until tender when pierced with a fork. Take out of the oven, let cool till you can handle them, and the skins will peel off easily. Then serve them as a salad, or however you wish. Here's a recipe that Lpink posted a while back. I love it. The recipe calls for boiling the beets, which works well, but roasting adds that extra mmph of flavor. Syrian Beet Salad from the "Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special" cookbook (from LPinkmountain) 2 quarts water 3 large beets 1 TBLSP chopped chives (I used dried because I have them to use up, not as good as fresh though) 2 TBLSP chopped fresh cilantro (I'll bet you could use parsley in a pinch) 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 fresh chile, seeded for a milder "hot" and minced (about 1 TBLSP) Note: I didn't have fresh chilis on hand so I used canned. 1 tsp. ground cumin 2 TBLSP lemon juice 3 TBLSP olive oil or other veg. oil 1 tsp. salt or to taste I think I added a couple scallions to this too. Sometimes I made it with a TBLSP or so of minced red onion. Bring water to boil in a large pot. Scrub beets and remove top leaves (save for other yummy applications) and also remove bottom root end. The recipe says to peel the beets and cut into 1/2 inch cubes, but I cut the beets up into big chunks, boiled, cooled and then peeled and cut into small pieces. When the beets are ready, drain well and transfer to the serving bowl. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over the beets. Chill for at least 30 min. before serving. Sally

phillyfeet - any chance you might share that Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake recipe? Sounds yummy! localeater - that pumpkin leek tart also sounds great (as do most of the other things you mentioned!) - possibly able to share that recipe as well? Things are going to be pretty simple here for Thanksgiving. We are scheduled to start demo on Dec. 2nd, so I'm busy in emptying out the cabinets and getting ready for demo...trying to make a few soups to freeze (a nice pumpkin soup, a butternut squash soup, a potato & corn chowder soup, and a turkey noodle soup planned) and a few more easily microwavable meals.

Martha, if it came from a store other than a "foodie" type establishment, it's probably the Grade A or light amber. For cooking the Grade B dark stuff is more flavorful but also darker, coming from a later tapping of sap. There used to be Grade A B and C, now the grades have changed to include 4 levels of grade A, the "dark" is what grade B used to be and the "very dark" is old Grade C, which was usually sold to companies for flavoring because it's so dark. I love anything maple, though, so I'm saving the recipe for this pie, thanks. Annie