We do pickled shrimp, and if it’s cold enough some raw oysters. Light snacks that won’t burden you before the main meal. I avoid making anything super cheesy or heavy because I fill up quickly.

Maybe hand pies? The US seems behind in that area - and yet we love portable food. Doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch.

It must have been desperately hard for them to be raising a baby without any family nearby, and I wanted to be there so badly. They live near Woy Woy (just north of Sydney) and their neighbors have been super nice and helpful, especially the grannies that have been cut off from their own grandchildren abroad. They…

Y’all, I think it might FINALLY be happening! Our son, his partner and their toddler might be coming from Oz to the US in late January or February. We have not met our precious granddaughter (our only grandchild) yet as she was born just after the pandemic started. She will be almost two when we get to hold her. I’m…

As a cheap beer connoisseur, I can declare that Michelob Ultra is the most neutral, followed by Busch Light. No sweetness or hint of that corny flavor. Bud Light has a slight note of - coriander? - especially when it’s warm. Miller Lite has some light corny notes, within an acceptable range, but not ideal.

I dunno. I’m a Southerner too - family from the Gulf Coast and larger family further inland on the borders of Alabama and Georgia. As our elders have gone, NO ONE makes the jello salads anymore. They hit the table in the 70's and stuck for some reason. Why would some sweet jello salad need to be on the table when you…

I used to volunteer at a shelter. I loved naming litters of puppies and kittens. I tried to stick with themes for each litter because it made changing things up easier. I remember one small litter of puppies were named after “beans” - Garbonzo, Pinto, Butterbean and Jellybean. Another litter I named after Southern…

I’d say he’s a sad sack of white flour who still doesn’t understand how bread is made.

I wouldn’t call store bought puff pastry terrible. Certainly, it isn’t as good as homemade and if you really like to bake, rough puff is better and worth the effort.

I really like fruitcake, but no one else in my family does, and I can’t eat a lot of it. So I generally just get one of those small loaves from the grocery store to satisfy my limited craving. I wish I could delve into the GOOD STUFF of fruitcakes. However, it’s just not worth it given its limited appeal within our…

In our family it was the “pink salad.” Cottage cheese, sugar free strawberry jello mix, canned pineapple and sugar free Dream Whip mix. Egads! It hit our table for 40 years, always in a yellow Tupperware bowl. I love you mom (and miss you so very much), but I don’t miss the end of that salad! I inherited the yellow…

I like boxed stuffing too. But it doesn’t taste like Thanksgiving to me. We always ate cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving. My mom would make Stovetop along with some (really dry) chicken or pork chops on a Wednesday night. I preferred the Stovetop to the meat!

I kind of agree. To me mac and cheese is a dish all its own (like lasagna) and not a side dish. When I make it, I serve it with a big salad or some other green vegetable as a complete meal. And with everything else groaning the table at Thanksgiving, it seems an unncecessary addition to so many other sides and carbs.

Living in the Southern US, we never really ate mashed potatoes at any gathering. I guess because we didn’t grow potatoes? We grew sweet potatoes. The only time we ate regular potatoes was baked at a steakhouse or something.

Our remaining family is so small. In the US just our daughter and her husband. Last year, we ate Thanksgiving on TV trays on our front porch, got tipsy and then moved the party to the backyard where our pot-smoking neighbors were blasting great music. Facetimed our son and his partner and our granddaughter in Oz. Went…

Two things I discovered:

Hee hee! Great feature. I hope you make some progress cooking. Even my husband has learned to make avocado toast, fried eggs and has - recently - learned to sear fish. Which is no small feat!  Of course, he’s 64. But when you have time, there’s hope.

This. I was a stay at home mom for my two kids. My husband was the breadwinner. This was the late 80's and there wasn’t such a thing (at least in the US) as paternity leave. I was a young mom. Overwhelmed. Needed help. It wasn’t available. We got through it, figured it out. All’s fine? No. Because my husband doesn’t…

Our friends always make chili for their pumpkin carving party. I usually bring black-eyed pea salsa and jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Sometimes I’ll throw in another dish that I like. But the jalapeno cornbread is non negotiable. Everyone would revolt. It helps to make items that can sit out a while without having to…

At our local Publix, employees are up in arms because new employees are getting a hefty sign-on bonus, while employees who have been there for a while get nothing. They have had several employees leave that store only to go sign on with another store across town to get the bonus. They feel as if current workers should…