Our neighbor, a local pastry chef, has been doing some recipe testing and we have been the beneficiaries of some of her trials. Yes, it’s been such a trial to taste brownies and pain au chocolat.
Of late the hand-delivered packages have come in something like a shirt box. The first one I opened in the morning and it looked as if a wild animal had been in it. Oh, it was only my husband late at night.
We saved a few delicious morsels for ourselves and my husband Jim brought the rest to work. The other day we got another shirt box. Jim was out with the dog. I hastily put a post-it note (didn’t want to write on the box because I knew its final destination) RAT POISON!!! and a really badly-drawn skull and crossbones.
I was affixing the sign to the box the second he walked in with the dog. Oh, well, he asked if it was really rat poison. It was just to keep him from eating the entire thing. It would have been better for me to keep the box cool in the garage.
So now Jim has a new team at work and we haven’t even had them over for dinner yet. I don’t bake but am known around work for my lemon-blueberry-pomegranate trifle with lemon curd. Now I live in a neighborhood with stellar cooks and luckily we like each other and have dinner at each others’ homes regularly, especially in the off-season (not ski and summer) but these ladies can cook and bake! And also host a splendid dinner party.
So it looks like I’ll have to cook something for the team, to let them know Jim and I appreciate their work and that I usually don’t burn toast. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Though of you, Dee, when I saw this article on Concorde grapes in the WSJ…hope all is well.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203499704576622773076335108.html?grcc=3Z6189390816939663667&mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_lifestyle
P.S. I made mincemeat bars on Sunday — the recipe is on the Nonesuch jar (only they are called “raisin-nut bars” for people who think they don’t like mincemeat then end up liking these).
Thank you so much! Saveur also has a recipe for Concord Grape Soda but warns that the Co2 can burst a capped (emptied and rinsed) soda bottle. I’d rather take grape juice and add fizzy water to it, but that’s because I can’t get the real grapes out west.
And isn’t mincemeat wonderful? I have a jar from last year and should get another before they’re sold out. There’s one store that, suprisingly, has it unless you get close to the holidays. I can’t sell my in-laws on mincemeat or lebkuchen, flavors I grew up with. But I did make a lemon-blueberry-pomegranate trifle that disappeared in minutes. At least I know what they like! Dee