Boy! That brings back memories! There's a childrens book called Shoo Fly Girl. She sold pies. Our teacher in 1st grade used to read us books to encourage us to read on our own. The recipe was on the back page of the book. She baked a pie & we each got a taste. I remember it being very sweet! Later in life I baked one for DH & I. It's a cold snowy day. I fried ham & cheese sandies, then baked brownies for our lunch. Tostados for dinner.

I was outside today, too. The weather is just wonderful. Came in the house to cool down and think all of the biting bugs followed me in. No cooking today. One granddaughter made mac and cheese last night (she is experimenting with recipes for a potluck at work), so we will have those leftovers tonight. May cook some chicken to go with it, as well as some California mixed vegetables. Too eaten up with bug bites right now to even think straight.

I finally started my Thanksgiving cooking that I meant to start 2 weeks ago! This year I'm experimenting with freezing and seeing how things turn out. My family isn't picky so I know they won't mind. So far I made a giant batch of caramelized onion cognac gravy, and I just finished my stuffing. It's a mix of cornbread, ciabatta and french bread, and normally I make an unsweetened corn bread but this year I tried a sweetened one and I don't like it as much. I don't think anyone will mind though. They may even like it as it adds a slightly sweet note to all the savory vegetables and herbs. It's cooling now and will be packed into freezer bags. I also prepped and froze all my onions, celery and herbs all chopped and ready to go. I removed all my corn on the cob (16 ears!) and froze it for my corn casserole and picked through 3 lbs of spinach (3 pounds of spinach is a LOT!) and froze for my baked spinach dish. I think this is going to save so much time and stress for me so I can actually relax on Thanksgiving since I make enough for an army and can't seem to stop. :) I have a second stuffing that I'm trying this year that was posted a few weeks back in the vegetarian stuffing thread so I'll make that later this week. Then I think I'll be done until the week of.

For the post-post-Thanksgiving dinner, I’m making clam chowder. Basic recipe, potatoes diced and parcooked in duck stock, then shallots, garlic, scallions, slivered brussel sprouts sautéed in butter, add drained potatoes, add flour and herbs/spices/S/P, add a bagful of clam meat (frozen from Asian store), a bunch of T’giving ham diced, then milk, heavy cream, some stale bread buzzed in mini-Cuisinart, and a can of sardines mashed up (since there’s no actual clam juice, I wanted something seafood-y). I can’t find Old Bay but used enough other herbs/spices to approximate it. Simmering now and will add a bunch of minced parsley for color and before serving. It tastes okay, not the best clam chowder I’ve had by some distance, but will be acceptable comfort soup.