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The pearl onions, I don't know, should be easy enough to improvise. My mother used to make creamed onions, probably the yellow vidalia? ones medium sized peeled, trimmed, left whole and boiled, maybe not all the way so they'd hold their shape. Then a cream sauce, white or *bechamel", don't remember there being any cheese in it but might be a good addition. They did not go over well when I made them but I really like them and they baked up nicely, and the pearl ones sound delicious. Chef John made something with the pearl ones, an ingredient I think, not by themselves.

I love pearl onions but haven’t even thought of them in years. I bought some in the produce department wants, they were a pain to peel! I think they have frozen ones though?

I can’t think of any thanksgiving recipes to post. I guess I usually just wing it. Like tonight, I made stuffed peppers. Using the last of the peppers from the garden. I started out with the recipe from Better Homes & Gardens. But that one is too tomatoey for me, So I use about half the amount they say. But I added in some fresh tomatoes at the very end. Plus I use more ground beef then they say, and I added garlic and marjoram and thyme. Idon’t know how much of each, just until I thought it was enough. And I skip the cheese.

That’s how all of my “recipes” go. So I would hate to post something that I really wasn’t sure about.

I'm looking for that special ingredient that sets the creamed onions off, like dill on lima beans or nutmeg in creamed spinach. My béchamel recipie is 2 T each butter and flour to 1 C 4% milk. I know, the classic recipe calls for 3/4 C milk and 1/4 C cream. I don't season the basic sauce, waiting to season as it's incorporated in the next stage.

Vadalias we only see occasionally here. The several others range front about 3" to 5" and are great for slicing and dicing. Boilers are about 1 1/2" to 2" and are great braised around roasts, in a shrimp boil, or tossed into stews. The pearl onions are a great side with chops and such. The local market dropped the frozen pearls - they were really convenient but cooked almost instantly and seemed like they had lost a bit of their flavor. The ones in their skins are a PITA to peel, for me at least, even blanching and rubbing the skin off. It just takes so many of the little devils.

As I think about it, the most grueling task was hollowing out cherry tomatoes. Using a melon ball cutter about 1/4" in diameter, scraping out the interior ... hour after hour, so it seemed. This is an all hands on deck proposition. I would pipe in a mixture of cream cheese and minced smoked salmon, seasoned with a little black pepper. Garnish with a tiny sprig of broad leaf parsley stuck in the hole. People attack these like they haven't eaten in days so you have to make a boatload.