And here is Barbara Kafka's high heat method, from her great cookbook "Roasting": Simplest Roast Chicken 5- to 6-pound chicken, wing tips removed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Kosher salt, to taste I lemon, halved 4 whole garlic cloves 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (optional) 1 cup liquid for deglazing (optional) : chicken stock, fruit juice, wine, or water Place rack on second level from bottom of oven. Heat oven to 500°F. Remove the fat from the tail and crop end of the chicken. Freeze the neck and giblets for chicken stock. Reserve chicken livers for another use. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon, garlic, and butter, if using. Season the cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in a 12 x 8 x 1 1/2-inch roasting pan breast side up. Put in the oven legs first and roast 50 to 60 minutes, or until the juices run clear. After the first 10 minutes, move the chicken with a wooden spatula to keep it from sticking. (Figure it will take a total of about 10 minutes per pound.) Remove the chicken to a platter by placing a large wooden spoon into the tail end and balancing the chicken with a kitchen spoon pressed against the crop end. As you lift the chicken, tilt it over the roasting pan so that all the juices run out and into the pan. To make a sauce, pour off or spoon out excess fat from the roasting pan and put the roasting pan on top of the stove. Add the stock or other liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil, while scraping the bottom vigorously with a wooden spoon. Let reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the chicken or, for crisp skin, in a sauce boat. If there is no lemon, garlic, or butter on hand, roast the chicken without them. Or play. Use peeled shallots or a small onion, quartered. Add some leaves from the top of a bunch of celery, a couple of sage leaves, or a Bay leaf. Try a few juice orange or blood orange wedges. Vary the deglazing liquid to change the flavor of the gravy or to match what's in the bird. Basic Chicken Stock-or canned-is the starting point, but use part wine-whatever is left over, red or white-or a little vermouth. Make one third of the liquid orange juice if oranges are in the bird. This is not astrophysics. Have fun.

Jillius, I can recommend a dishwasher safe cookie sheet and jelly roll pan but you won't like the price. I have the Gold ones which are no longer made but will come up on ebay for about 6x what I paid for them 10years ago. My Gold Jelly roll pans did not have the handles of the newer aluminum finish. They are great pans. You can thank me later once you recover from the shock :-) I second the recommendation for Demeyere. I have a mix of Demeyere and All Clad. I prefer the Demeyere everytime. Mine is the Demeyere Sirocco which they no longer make. For storage, I use all glass containers. My favorites are the Glasslock. Lots of options on the manufacturer website for containers include round bowls, containers with handles, etc. Costco carries Glasslock and for the sets, it is a great value. I have spent enough of your money for today:-) Tomorrow, we can discuss Chopping Boards and Knives!!!! Good luck!

I've gotten some really good ideas from everyone who contributed to this thread, so thank you! I will add for anyone still reading a few that we have had recently that absolutely hit the spot during our cold, Pittsburgh winter. Beef stew (obviously everyone already knows about this one!). I finally found a recipe I really like and I think I've made it three times since the weather turned cold in November. Will likely make it again in a week or two. Old fashioned beef and noodles - I found an excellent recipe on a blog called The Spiced Life. This might be my favorite winter meal. Chicken Noodle Soup - I love it but never had a recipe I like. On another forum online I found a nice recipe that uses turmeric which I think is what my other recipes were missing. The only problem with this soup is that it feels more like a lunch or a side dish - my husband doesn't consider it a "dinner." haha. Chicken Paprikash - the New York Times recipe is out of this world. We like it with buttered egg noodles. Pasta with Bolognese. In the summer, I do a lot of lighter, quick sauces especially when our garden tomatoes are fresh. In the winter, we like that long simmering, thick, rich, red sauce.

I like to come across the crystals so would not layer it in, as it might dissolve? Dessert is set now, this has been very helpful. I wanted cranberry for the seasonal factor. Oreo Thins crust, curd, and fresh whipped cream. No ganache as I am not big on chocolate and that may be too much; i prefer a hint of it. The cookie crust eliminates any risk of undone crust, too. And since it is my first time making this and it's in an unfamiliar oven, I don't want to get too cute. Working backwards, I need to decide on the entree, veggie and starch. The entree needs to be a chicken dish because of other meals we are having on other days. Most of these recipes are from the NYT but you can kind of tell what they are by the recipe title. I have not made any of these dishes before, except the vinegar chicken. A big hit so I'd consider it again. I would really like to make one of the first two starches but to me potatoes don't exactly go with chicken, or is that silly? Need more ideas for something green. Here are the possibilities I am considering by category, below. Obviously I would not repeat flavors so some are not compatible. Thoughts on my menu ideas? Chicken dishes: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022977-roasted-orange-chicken https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5727-chicken-with-vinegar Sheet-Pan Tarragon Chicken With Sherry Vinegar Onions https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024625-baked-chicken-thighs Sheet-Pan Chicken With Apple, Fennel and Onion Veggie Balsamic Strawberry Spinach Salad (Kenji) (and yes, I've been buying very good strawberries lately) https://leitesculinaria.com/17580/recipes-spinach-raisins-pine-nuts.html https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024114-green-salad-with-sour-cream-and-onion-dressing Starch: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023633-ombre-gratin https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017724-cheesy-hasselback-potato-gratin Roasted Acorn Squash with Pine Nuts, Honey, and Parsley | America's Test Kitchen Recipe https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/sour-cream-and-onion-hasselback-potatoes Dessert: Chocolate-crusted cranberry curd tartlets