My step-mom and I took a bread baking class there several years back, and it was so fun and informative! It’s really Disney for bakers 
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Thank you for your well wishes! We survived and amazingly with no damage. High and dry, safe and sound. Our hearts are breaking for our neighbors who lost their lives, livelihoods, and homes.
Have you heard from your sister? What town does she reside in? Feel free to PM me.
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@ChristinaM I am so glad to hear from you! (I think we all are actually 
) I live in Canada and we’ve been hearing about hurricane Helene up here too mentioning that Ashville was one of the hardest hit areas. I’ve been seeing pictures of homes completely submerged in water with nothing but the rooftops exposed and some areas completely flattened by the wind. I’m glad to hear you’re okay.
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Thank goodness, so glad to hear from you! It is absolutely heart-breaking what has happened to huge numbers of people. WCK is already up and running there I was glad to see when I went to donate.
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Oh Christina, so good to hear from you. The devastation is immense, the images on the internet are Shocking and yes heartbreaking and the death toll is going to rise. I hope your young son is doing OK.
My sister and her wife live in Black Mountain. She was finally able to contact my mother and my brother, who live in Raleigh, and I found out around 8 pm last night that they are OK. Don’t have details yet. They live in an semi-assisted living community there.
It is heartening to read about how people who can contact others are coming together to help each other. Those beautiful tiny towns in the mountains… completed erased away. I remember reading in Our State magazine years ago about devastating 1916 flood in your region. Back again.
My parents used to own a vacation home in Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, which they sold years ago. I strongly suspect it’s gone now.
There’s a lot of information on the internet about how to help/where to donate. If you have any charities you recommend, please let me know.
Thank you for letting us know, and take care.
EDIT with an update…my sister and her wife somehow got out of Black Mountain today to drive to Raleigh. They had no water for several days and will be staying with my mom and brother for a few days. They are past Charlotte now so should make it Raleigh fine.
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Hello to everyone from the very warm and sunny Twin Cities of MN where there are a few clouds passing through right now which is rather strange. The past week has been a bit all over the place as Mr Autumm was traveling for work and then came home and presented me a case of Sick Husband Syndrome. I slept in the guest room and was most happy to do so. Things are returning to home and I actually have some meal plans as activities are in full swing and work is picking up again Cooking for 2 adults and 2 growing girls.
Sun 29: Semi homemade pizza with TJ’s dough in a bag. Turned out okay- I like Byerly’s dough balls better I guess (local chain) But used up a whole bag of CSA arugula on the arugula/prosciutto /fresh mozzarella pies
Mon 30: Tonight! Theater and skating for big kiddo. Old school ground turkey tacos with the usual fixings and some fresh mango salsa as a fancy garnish for me to eat by the spoonful
Tues 1: Both of us go into office. Theater/afterschool camp/CSA pickup. Grilled chicken with lemon orzo and feta. Should do green beans CSA but might be lazy and green salads
Weds 2: Both girls skate. Leftover pizza. Cook up the chuck roasts which are one sale for italian beef sandwiches
Thurs 3: Italian beef sandwiches, CSA veggies
Fri 4" Honestly probably thai takeout.
Sat/Sun: Hopefully grilling0 I’m craving a good burger
Take care everyone!
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Glad to hear from you -I was worried! I have friends in NC; haven’t heard from them, but I don’t think they are in a majorly impacted area.
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I’m going to visit the Fairfax VA store this weekend to offer them local support!
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Back home after 10 days away. Temps have cooled down and I am ready for autumn cooking. Tentative plan:
10/1 - Some sort of tamale pie. I pulled ground beef and some diced tomatoes from the freezer. Lots of corn on hand, details TBD
10/2 - Fish tacos, cabbage slaw
10/3 - I need to do something about all of the thai basil on my deck so maybe a thai basil chicken thing?
10/4 - Pizza night, spouse is in charge
10/5 - Thinking a beef stew sort of thing using a big hunk of beef my son brought back from a farm trip months ago.
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Back in my kitchen after a month, exhausted, jet-lagged, a bit under the (crappy) weather, and work has exploded. So here we are 
Craving simple, warm, and flavorful dishes with enough for multiple meals.
Some ideas for the coming week:
— Curry chicken noodle soup (I finally restocked red curry paste; note to add potatoes and fat noodles for restaurant copycat)
— Kheema (like this), then Shepherds Pie and Kheema Macaroni
— Japanese salmon & mushroom rice / Takikomi Gohan (ingredients here, cooked like this except with mushrooms & mushroom broth for the rice)
— TJs Lemon pesto capellini + roasted zucchini + tbd protein
— Roasted salmon + Spinach rice from COTM Pati Jinich / Arroz Verde
— COTM Viet roast chicken thighs or TJs satay sauce chicken + slaw + Viet Umami noodles (angel hair)
Might bake something to scratch an itch. Not sure what though.
Will also look through COTM for more menu inspiration, as travel made me cook less than I planned to from books I was very interested in (both Andrea Nguyen & Pati Jinich).
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Welcome back from a truly epic trip!
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yes, Saregama, this was another completely epic trip with loving care from you to family. If I were you, I’d be getting take out and heating TJ frozen food. You are impressive! I hope you get over the jet lag soon. It’s comforting to be back home again and warm, simple food really helps!
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COTM threads are up – Come join in!
Oct 1
Greek Meatballs and Caldo Gallego
I’ve been baking my Greek meatballs in the oven lately, using lean ground beef, and baking them at 395 ⁰F for around 25 minutes until they reach 165⁰F on my Thermapen, and they’re working out well. I use roughly one pound of ground meat, 3 tbsp breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp milk, 1 egg, 1 chopped small onion/ 1/2 cup chopped onion, a couple shakes of ground cumin, a shake of Aleppo pepper, a couple shakes of dried oregano . Some parsley if I have any.
Oct 2
Niçoise Salad
One Dining Companion avoids some ingredients in Niçoise, so his meal will be a tuna cake with potatoes and sliced tomatoes
Also, zucchini fritters if I get my act together. Portugese beans with bacon, linguica, onion, garlic, cumin, tomato sauce.
Oct 3
Roast Chicken and slow-cooked green beans.
Has anyone heard from @pan? I miss his posts.
Oct 4
Salmon tbd
Oct 5
Steak, sides tbd
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Already off track. Still planning to do the thai basil chicken tonight. I really should build more leftovers into my planning.
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Greetings, People.
We have a dual oven – conventional on the top, and convection/fan below. Yesterday, the latch on the upper oven door malfunctioned and it is locked and won’t open. The door had been acting a little goofy lately – sticking in that one corner on occasion – and yesterday I guess it decided just to lock and stay locked. We’ve tried most of the common solutions (throwing the breaker, on/off the cleaning function, etc.) with no luck. I’ll be calling in a tech, but out here in the boonies who knows when we’ll really see one. I’m guessing the latch will need replacing.
Fortunately, we have a lot of options in the meantime. The lower convection oven, a counter-top convection oven, stove top, two lump-charcoal grills, a gas grill, and a bread machine. I don’t think we’ll starve – lol! This will give me a good chance to really learn that counter-top convection oven which we purchased last year. Yesterday - for the first time - I baked frozen scones in it. They came out perfectly flaky, so that was a win.
Feeding two adults in the PNW:
FRI: NYT longevity noodles – a fan favorite at our house. Will post a photo to the NYT COTM thread.
SAT: Salmon Caesar salad.
SUN: Hoping to finally get to Louisa Weiss’s bacon & leek tart, and serve it with tomato-basil soup and cheesy croutons.
MON: Woks of Life beef fried rice.
TUE: Leftover leek tart. Salad.
WED: Chicken of some sort, and a pasta salad.
THUR: Pork chops. Squash-mashed potatoes. Baby peas from the garden. Applesauce.
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Your menus look great! I would eat at your house every night Good luck with the oven. I find I use my countertop oven 90% of the time, turning on the big one only when I have something that doesn’t fit (or to do braises in the winter to warm up the kitchen…)
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Thanks for the kind thoughts and the encouragement regarding the oven! It’s reassuring to hear you use your counter-top version frequently. My guess is once I master ours, I will, too.
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+1 on countertop oven. I use it 100% of the time.
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