Stardew Valley Cookbook Achievement Pictures

I’m don’t know if anyone has asked yet, but what’s your favorite thing you’ve made so far? I’m thinking of getting it as a gift for someone.
Tough call. I like everything I've done so far. The gift idea is a great one.

It's so far a tossup between the mango sticky rice, autumn's bounty, red plate, pumpkin soup, survival burger, blackberry cobbler, and pumpkin pie.
 
BTW, a number of my previous dishes are making into my family's Thanksgiving food roster this year. At first, I thought we could make the roster Stardew-exclusive, but the more I thought about it, the more I fully grasped how much that would cross out: Turkey (all meat for that matter since my mom generally does not like any kind of seafood), several casseroles, bread rolls, etc. So we came to a compromise.

I don't know if I can get pictures of these dishes when they're done for familial privacy's sake, but I will try.

Alongside our usual platters, we've negotiated preparing the following dishes:

Cranberry Candy
Autumn's Bounty
Pumpkin Soup
Stuffing
Pumpkin Pie

My mom and I have spent the past couple weeks making lists, shopping, and cooking what we have time for and what can stay in the fridge until the day. We're even getting something we never dreamed we would officially need a mini-fridge. We did the Cranberry Candy a few days ago; it just needs the cider and syrup mixed together on Thanksgiving Day. And we just finished the Autumn's Bounty last night. Made some extra so my mom and I would have half for our gathering and my dad would have half for his gathering elsewhere.

If this year's Thanksgiving has taught me anything, it's how much thought, preparation, planning, time, and effort the holiday requires. I'll never take it for granted again no matter what hard times used to do for me and may do in the future.
 
Autumn's Bounty.jpg
Cranberry Candy.jpg
Pumpkin Pie.jpg
Pumpkin Soup.jpg
Stuffing.jpg


I was able to get some images after all.



First, I took some extra time off work last night to pitch in with some prep work, then my mom and both my grandmothers pitched in all day today and it was a lot of work, a lot of planning, and most certainly, a lot of math. But in the end, we got everything done, everyone loved the mix of usual Thanksgiving food (turkey, ham, string bean casserole, and yam casserole) and the Stardew recipes. My dad even gave us a tub of multi-flavored fudge before he left for his Thanksgiving function out-of-state. The people at his function only got the Autumn's Bounty, but they loved it enough that they're ordering their own copies of the cookbook!

Only 1 other relative was able to visit my house today as the others who were able had some car trouble mid-highway drive. So we have WAY more leftovers than expected. But still, the feast was great and I managed to pack down a little of everything there was to choose from, which surprises me because IRL, I'm a big tall stocky man and lost over 60 pounds over the last 3 years and with it a fair chunk of my appetite. I guess working hard in the kitchen for over 4 hours in a day really builds up a need to eat.

We also ran a risk of getting too full on finger food and the Autumn's Bounty (assorted veggies and between 5-10 different flavors of crackers) we had before the main feast even started!

Today went so well, I even took stock of the many things I'm grateful for and how my life has steadily improved over the last soon-to-be 3 years.
 
@Umbra of Emberspike your photo of the Cranberry Candy looks amazing. I'll have to make this one from my copy of the SDV cookbook. I've been looking for some non-alcoholic cocktail recipes to sip by the pool for our upcoming summer here in Australia :)
Thanks.

And funny you should mention non-alcoholic cocktail recipes.

Despite not being a cooked dish in the game, only being exclusive when Gus is at the resort on Ginger Island, the book includes a non-alcoholic way to prepare Pina Colada. Maybe consider that?
 
What a great idea thank you! Pina Coladas are one of my favourites. I'll have to revisit the cookbook again.

Do you know what you are going to make next?
I'm not sure, but it probably won't be until after Christmas. My mom and I are absolutely beat and financially spent after everything we did over the past 4 months.

When we return, we'll move on to the winter recipes. Maybe the roots platter or fried mushrooms? Unfortunately, she is adverse to nearly all seafood, so for those options, I'll have to make special plans and visits with my dad.
 
Learned something new about Autumn's Bounty tonight.

It can last a few days, but after that, it ferments and tastes a bit like wine. And we still have about a quart of it left. We may have to throw it out after tomorrow because we're not managing to go through all of our leftovers from Thanksgiving.

Next time, we may have to half the batch because we had a lot of it the first time we made it too.

Another update: despite our burnout from last month, my mom and I are probably going to try the Triple Shot Espresso recipe this weekend. And depending on whatever functions my family goes to this month, we might try our hand at Granny Evelyn-Style Cookies too.
 
Triple Shot Espresso.jpg


And here it is: Triple Shot Espresso.

First of all, it's good but it's not my favorite kind of coffee product, or my mom's. She and I prefer weaker coffees with a full dose of cream and sugar. This certainly works for a temporary buzz and lives up to its name. The only mystery is whether it's a triple shot in a single shot glass or if it's meant to be drunk in 3 shot glasses worth.

It's basically an espresso concentrate that is better drunk in small doses whose ingredients include dark roast coffee beans, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and green cardamom pods, the latter of which has a rather fruity scent to it.
 
Poppyseed Muffins.jpg


Fresh from the oven: Poppyseed Muffins

True to the game's description, the effect from eating these is pretty soothing. This was a surprisingly quick and easy recipe to prepare. As with usual Poppyseed muffins, the flavor in the middle is lemon, but the tops are sprinkled with turbinado sugar. They add an extra sweet light crunch to every bite.

We've decided we're going to make these on Christmas morning.
 
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