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Am I the only one that doesn't care for this sauce?

"Gutterpunk"? Please enlighten me.

Numeric culture is funny, isn't it? There's the perennial question of why hot dogs and hot dog buns aren't sold in the same multiples in this country. I hadn't heard of selling things in multiples of 15, though. I actually have an egg container that I picked up at a garage sale last year, same idea as yours but for a dozen. If it falls out during a refrigerator avalanche however, the eggs will be just as broken as in the standard containers. Maybe the mess will be contained, but it would still be a mess. The more standard cartons are relatively secure now, I think. For sure, the 18 eggs on the left are fairly secure, because the container under that carton has a lipped lid. They'd both have to come out at the same time. The blue dozen-egg container on the right may be relocated before I move. I've learned the hard way to be careful opening cupboards and doors after traveling. A few days ago I was glad for that caution; when I parked after an especially rough road, I started to open the refrigerator door and could hear contents shifting. BOTH those cartons you see in the collage above were trying to slide out, along with a couple of condiment jars! I managed to save the eggs and have relocated them since that near-disaster.

Every once in a while I crave the deep, rich flavors of a Mexican chile paste. This one had toasted ancho and guajillo chiles, roasted garlic, chicken stock, black pepper, cumin, cloves, and Mexican oregano, rounded out with a little molasses. Chorizo, shrimp, mushrooms, and zucchini for sustenance.

Maybe you could use something like this. I bought something similar when we first moved here because at that time when you bought eggs they gave them to you in a paper bag and I never got home without breaking one or two. The only problem with it was that it only contained 12 eggs and here they sell them to you in multiples of 15. I still had three that were in danger of not making it home in one piece.

This egg isn't especially photogenic, at least not in my hands, but it came out well. The others will probably go into salads of one sort or another. When I left home, I had 4 boiled eggs and 3-1/2 dozen raw eggs, thanks to the generosity of my DIL and her prolific chickens. In fact, I gave another 2 -1/2 dozen to the friends who helped me finish loading. I tend not to eat eggs unless I'm putting them into something -- nothing against them, it's just my cooking style -- but of course I couldn't turn down the gifts. I'm not in a hurry to work my way through these, but I do need to include them from time to time in my meal planning. They'll last a long time in the shell, but there's also the possibility of opening the refrigerator door after a rough road and having scrambled raw eggs on the floor. That nearly happened last week!

I saw it happen last year, when I was staying put but needed to go somewhere in the pickup only. The highway message boards were flashing the warnings, but people tried it anyway. It wasn't pretty.

Plus being very dangerous. If that headwind turns into a side wind it can easily flip a trailer.

Getting back to food: This rather odd pinkish stuff is mixed-berry kefir, while I wait for eggs to boil. I'm giving them more time than I would at home, because I'm a couple thousand feet higher here than there. (My instant-read thermometer says the water is at 204F.) I'm not especially crazy about the boiled-egg idea for breakfast, but I don't have any better ideas and the kefir won't hold me through my shopping and errands. Just as last year, I'm realizing some things I'd forgotten -- not things I couldn't find, like the Instant Pot and hand mixer, but things like window washing equipment. There are at least 2 squeegees and 2 extending poles sitting at home, in plain sight, due to previous purchases that my darling and I made and then forgot to pack! So in addition to the groceries and trailer consumables I need, I'll be picking up some cleaning equipment if I can find it. Last year I only needed 1 day to rest and recuperate before traveling again. This year I'm making it 2 (and counting). I feel much better and more rested than yesterday, but I still have things to do and I'd be fighting a strong headwind anyway if I wanted to move on today. As much as I love aerodynamics, I'll simply say that a headwind makes a huge difference in fuel consumption.

They're a little tough - but they're not uncommon in Indonesian stews/curries. They're typically added whole and then removed later. They're used in the woku (as well as pandan leaf which I can get frozen) and the original North Sumatra rendang. You can also slice it thinly across the grain to make it edible.

Thanks. I also have a tumeric plant in a pot on my patio. I use the rhizome all the time but I had no idea that the leaves were also edible.

I buy or grow everything here. I can't get the buah keluak nut in shell here, but I have found prepackaged processed nut meat (meat taken out of the shell and pounded into a paste) at my local Indonesian store. I can get decent red chillies here, but I grow the Malaysian/Indonesian chillies now from seeds taken from dried chillies that I was able to bring in. I also grow the lime leaves and curry leaves - but I can buy those also in a pinch, but they're expensive. Some ingredients (like turmeric leaf used in the woku from the night before) I have to grow because it's not sold here and I can't bring back fresh ones. So I grow the turmeric leaf from the rhizome that I buy in the grocery store.

@liamsaunt Thank you for taking us along., and of course , the Menus and Rocky.

thanks - it smells amazing if you like shrimp paste!! It uses tons of it as well as the kitchen sink of SE Asian herbs/spices.

Thanks for bringing us along, as always!

@KennethT your repertoire of meals is fascinating. Every time you post a meal I have to consult Mr Google. Do you have a source in NYC for the ingredients that you need or do you return from your trips with suitcases full of special items?

The bean salad recipe I was looking at included capers, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to include them. They do offer that brininess. Will do taste tests and ponder. Thank you! I’m going to avoid those long skinny legumes this time. 😀

We are heading home today, weather permitting. We spent yesterday walking up and down Grace Bay beach and soaking up what sun came out between clouds We were not going out to dinner because of the Super Bowl, so instead went for a late lunch at the bar on the resort. Cocktail/mocktail. Snacks menu Neither of us were very hungry so we just opted to share a couple of the sushi options. This is the chili garlic tuna roll and the truffled salmon nigiri The path to our room at the resort and one last Grace Bay sunset Would we come back to Turks and Caicos? I would have to say that’s a qualified “maybe.” There are good things and bad things about it. The best good things: we had some nice food, the people are friendly, and the beaches are lovely. The worst bad things: the traffic is awful, and there are often packs of feral dogs roaming around the streets and the less visited beaches. We’ve been trying out a new island each year in addition to our usual visits to St. John and Bermuda, and so far have not visited a place that comes close to matching either. Anguilla is next on the list, and we might be headed there this summer, if we can resist the usual siren song of St. John. Time will tell. See you on the dinner thread.

I zoomed in on the photo and the gravy looks fantastic. Actually the whole dish does. I can only imagine how wonderful it must smell.

The prairie dog (and gopher) population in MT is what most ranchers rage war on. Back in the day there were bounties for removal (couple pennies for every tail turned in) and even now, many places will let a person shoot the critters. (Their burrows can trap a cow or horse leg and if running that leg can break. And they damage grazing/hay ground).

Pan Southeast Asian noodle soup... Singapore chicken rice broth, Vietnamese rice noodles, Indonesian sambal cobekan...

Peranakan ayam buah keluak, chicken in black nut curry.

@YvetteMT by the way, I would love to have your recipe for pineapple teriyaki meatballs.

What about olives added to it? You could take it in a Mediterranean direction like this salad I had a few days ago: a nice vinaigrette, not too sweet. One issue is that it might clash with the sweetness of the pulled meat sandwich. I'm not sure about compatability, but I'm throwing it out as a suggestion. You say you don't want green beans in the bean salad. What about wax beans? Or are you simply trying to avoid those long skinny legumes this time around?

I came across this recipe the other day for Swedish meatballs with chicken. The meatballs that I had were with pork and beef but I used the sauce recipe and it was quite good. Something that I will make again. I'd like to add a hint that I learned this time making my meatballs. I added about one teaspoon of baking soda for 2 lb of meat and used soda water instead of plain water when I made them. They were the tenderest, juiciest meatballs that I have ever made.