Good morning. We’re through the Jewish High Holy Days and still more than a week out from Diwali, and we’re not quite at the point yet where we’re jotting down ideas for Thanksgiving. It’s a perfect time to do a pantry cleanse, a pantry reboot, get yourself squared away for recipes new and old.
This is not hard to do, as Julia Moskin has taught us. This weekend, follow her lead. Then get to the shop and get yourself cooking when you’re home: coconut milk chicken adobo; pork gyros; fish-pepper soup; Vietnamese lamb.
Once you’re cooking, it’s easy to get on a roll. I like the idea of a marinated beet salad with whipped goat cheese this weekend. I’d love to make this pasta with garlic, anchovy, capers and red pepper as well. I’d like to make breakfast and, along with my eggs, I’d like to eat these sweet-potato hash browns.
It’d be cool to make and eat a fried eggplant sandwich this weekend. Or a Mission burrito? Fried chicken biscuits with hot honey butter (above)? Those are the literal best. We could get in the car, take them to the beach, eat them wrapped in blankets by the shore.
You going apple picking this weekend? Make an apple pie. Get some cauliflower from the farmstand while you’re out there, and we’ll show you what to do with it. (Buy brussels sprouts, and we’ll play the same game.)
Me, I’m going to pull this huge container of lobster carcasses I have in the freezer, thaw them, roast them and use them for stock. Lobster essence is a fantastic addition to the best clam chowder. It makes for delicious risotto. I’d absolutely use some of it for paella of the sea.
The idea is: Get your kitchen in order; lay in some new supplies; and then cook with them in pursuit of great flavor, to make other people smile. Do that this weekend because in two or three weeks cooking for loads of people is all we’re going to be talking about, and this exercise will put you in a better mind-set when that conversation comes. You’ll have kitchen confidence. You’ll be ready to make this your best Thanksgiving yet.
In the meantime, there are thousands and thousands of recipes that have nothing to do with holidays waiting for you on NYT Cooking. Yes, you need a subscription to access them. We’ve talked about that. It’s no different from your subscription to Spotify or HBO. (With us, you can also get gift subscriptions for people you love.) We even have a NYT Cooking app for your Android phone now! Download that today.
Further inspiration is available to you on our Facebook and Instagram pages, and on our Twitter and YouTube accounts. (On YouTube, here’s Angela Dimayuga cooking her chicken adobo. It’s delightful.)
And if you wind up sideways with a recipe or confused by our technology? Please write for help: cookingcare@nytimes.com. We will get back to you.
Now, it doesn’t have one thing to do with the preparation of sablefish or the brewing of tea, but you should get to know Sarah Marquis, a Swiss “new-school” explorer, profiled this month in Outside by Bill Donahue.
This is Mandolin Orange, covering Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather” back in 2014.
Here’s Christopher Cox on the restless restaurateuring of Jean-Georges Vongerichten, in The Times.
Finally, it’s a “mast year” for oak trees, meaning they’re dropping more acorns than usual, and why is a mystery “that has baffled botanists for centuries.” J. Craig Anderson has the story, in the Press-Herald of Portland, Maine. See you on Sunday!
