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A small tart with raspberries three ways, Raspberry jam was spread on the bottom of the crust prior to placing on the tightly packed raspberries . These were dusted with raspberry confectionery sugar, tart was baked and then lightly brushed with clementine jam.

If you want to try making your own maple vinegar you could check out this post from @Nyleve Baar and the following discussion. Also, in this post in the 2017 Recipes that Rock topic, @Anna N shared another recipe link.

Having had our 5th wheel for 5 years now - I could certainly suggest some improvements. We have little to no counterspace in the kitchen area once the dishrack takes up counter space. However we have a huge space between the kitchen and the sitting area - large enough for 3 couples to dance. I get that it is about the slideouts, but still...And who ever thought it would be a good idea to carpet the stairs, the dining area and the bedroom? Sand, dust, dog hair - we are considering ripping all the carpet out.

Thank you. I considered a motor home but since I already had an excellent tow vehicle I decided to stick with the pickup and fifth wheel. For the money, I get more space. What is comical to me is that, large as this trailer is for one person, it still can seem crowded sometimes. (Well, you've seen what I'm doing with the space - that is, filling it up). Given the 2 cats and large dog along for the ride, I think my darling and I would find it too cramped for months on end. It should suit more than one person in the shorter term, though. I am considering going home by way of Nevada so my sister can stay with me a few days. The couch folds out into a Queen-sized bed. I haven't decided the route home yet. If she does come stay with me, we'll see about the claims that this place can sleep 4!

One day in San Diego we went to North Park Produce, a Middle Eastern grocery store where I could get lost for days. My friend needed halal meat for a dinner party she was throwing. She knows my love of shopping and browsing, and she suffers from no such predilection herself -- at least, in the grocery store, she's more of a buyer than a shopper. We indulged each other: I aimed for the things I most wanted to see but skipped a lot else I'd like to have seen; she let me wander a bit and called my attention to things I might have missed. Her aim was the meat counter, for halal chicken. I admired a lot of other items there too. Look at that beautiful meat! I had to ask what a banana shank was. Have you heard of it? Know what it is? I wanted to look there for sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, for the dipping sauce I intend to make at some point. I found 3 different brands. Couldn't decide. One has sunflower oil; one uses olive oil; one had sugar added. That one was the cheapest, of course. I left it and took one jar each of the other two. I'd thought that the one with sunflower oil also had olive oil mixed in. I see now I was mistaken. That's what happens when I hurry. Speaking of olive oil: there was a wonderful array of the stuff, as well as canola, canola/olive, sunflower, avocado, avocado/olive oils, and so on. I couldn't remember the status of olive oil here in the trailer. I knew the open bottle was getting low. Did I have any in abeyance? I decided to err on the side of caution. There was also a wonderful array of canned fish, smoked or otherwise. I have quite a few cans of anchovies and sardines, but this caught my eye and my curiosity, and made its way into my basket. I've heard of sprats but never had them as far as I know. Then there was a the produce section. Amazing! Huge, fresh ginger as big as my hand; sour melons; sour plums; tomatillos and carrots and other familiar produce that all looked fresh and good. I bought a largish piece of ginger and have already used most of it. Should have bought more. Ditto for the herbs, but I settled for mint since I knew I needed it. This is the first time I've seen green almonds or raw garbanzos. If you'd asked me, I'd have guessed that garbanzos / chickpeas come in pods more like peas. I'd have been wrong. I didn't take photos of the restaurant section, the breads, the spreads, the cheeses, or the kitchen gadgets. As I said, she was trying to hurry without hurrying me too badly. I bought some Danish white cheese. And now that I'm back "home" in the Princessmobile, I see I already had two, count 'em two, unopened bottles of olive oil. I'm sure there are two because I bought twice, forgetting what was in the belly box storage. I should make it home safely without needing to buy more. 🙂

Here’s today’s work! Dark Chocolate and Stout Brownies!

I really admire your dedication to RV life. Not sure I would have the gumption to do it without my husband. I would definitely have to downsize both truck - a big Dodge Ram 350 with duallies and 35' fifth wheel. A friend of mine who recently lost her husband, sold their huge motorhome and bought her self a small one - 24' I think. It is just perfect for her on her own but has enough room for one or two more people.

I'm back inside after some 2 or 3 hours of exterior work. Air up tires, clean and lube glide seals, check generator, mount bike back on rack, clean interior of pickup. It's a good thing I started when I did, because it's getting hot outside now and the black surfaces (ladder, stair rail) are almost too hot to touch. I've plenty to do inside where the air conditioner is running. Before I forget, I want to show you a wonderful salad I had at my friends' house. It's based on Feasting at Home's Asian Slaw recipe. It's easy to make, once you shred / chop the cabbage. The main ingredients are cabbage, cilantro, a few green onions although we used finely chopped "regular" onion instead. The dressing is olive oil, a touch of sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, a bit of sweetener. We topped ours with peanuts; the recipe calls for optional toppings of chopped nuts or sesame seeds. The recipe writer notes that it's also a very forgiving and adaptable recipe: other elements can be added to the slaw (carrots or kohlrabi, for instance) so it's a pretty good clean-out-the-fridge salad recipe. We ate a LOT of this stuff, and it's something like tabbouli that I'll be able to eat again and again. It also made a nice topping for other salads, or for meats. It took well to having nut pastes added to it. It'll probably lend itself well to the wrap idea that @rotuts mentioned. I intend to do that with tabbouli, too. Tabbouli is on my list of interior chores for today. Oh, a comment on the finely chopped onion: my friend likes the flavor but it irritates her mouth and gut when she eats it raw even in small quantities. She tames the onion's bite by soaking the chopped bits in vinegar for a half hour or so. It did seem to keep the flavor but blunt the bite.

I've got a very old Trader Joe's shopping bag that belonged to my late Mother that I often get asked about by TJ employees. I never understood why she liked shopping at TJ's until I attained a certain age and now I do too. 😀

Beef Tendon Pasta pressure cooked the tendon in tomato sauce and spices 2 hrs

Made a couple baguettes today. They are just plain white bread but they do have a nice crispy crust thanks to a generous cornstarch wash before baking.

@Smithy Lavash , when fresh a pliable , makes an interesting Wrap. thank you for the [pics of the H-Mart. love wandering around stores like that.

Breakfast. Urrp. I'll give myself a little time for that to digest before getting back to work, and tell you a bit about the San Diego trip. Working backwards, for the moment. I make no promises about chronological sequence. On my way back here on Monday, I stopped at Barons Market, near my friends' house, in hopes of scoring more of that great Bread & Cie bread. No luck this time: there were baguettes and a few other loaves, but none of the type I wanted. That's all right, though: this market's bakery also offers sourdough bread. I came away with: You can see some of the kalamata bread slices under all the avocado in the first picture. I don't know yet what I'll do with that lavash, but it looked too good to pass up. Other lavash offerings contained a dough conditioner, sodium citrate or some such. This doesn't. I didn't buy anything else at Baron's. I got back on the freeway for a few miles, then found my way to an H-Mart. H-Mart! A Korean superstore!! I've read about H-Mart from some other eGers but had only visited one for the first time during my previous trip to San Diego with my friends. That time, I'd picked up some soap dishes and some massively useful adjustable suction cups with hooks for the shower. I was hoping to find more of those suction devices. No joy. I didn't buy anything at H-Mart, but during my blitz through the housewares department I snapped a few photos for your enjoyment. Their produce and meat departments are wonderful too, but I didn't want to take time to be tempted.

Lamb patty with just enough hot sausage for a little mouth tingling.Griddled both the patty ( onions, garlic, green herbs, mustard, etc.) and the sourdough bread. The sourdough got a swipe of tapenade, the patty got some melted Gouda. Topped with tomatoes and snippets of chervil, lunch was served.

I have a Maple Balsamic from Amphora Nueva. Excellent product that has both savory as well as sweet applications. Warning: all of their flavored balsamics are enticing and delicious.

I don't remember where or when I bought it. Its label says it's made in Ottertail, MN, where my husband's daughter and her family live. Odds are I picked it up there on some visit to the local farmer's market when we were making salsa together. We egged each other into buying a lot of experimental products! Edited to add: the link above goes to Buehler's Produce, the place we like to frequent. If you wish to see a glorious place during the height of the Minnesota growing season, see this post.

My most likely takers are not the cute raccoons or opossums, Im liable to have bears. And while I love Yogi, Im not feeding him. (And i don't think the ravens will be grateful either)

That maple vinegar sounds intriguing. I've never seen it.

Goats ? Feed Corn ( inedible for people : pure starch strains . I know . Ive tried it ) is ground up for Cows. Id go w a CobCam. Live Feed ?

After all the corn was shelled, we had mountains of them and my mother used to burn them in the wood cooking range. It's the only thing that I know of that they are good for and they did make the kitchen smell good.

Toss them on the front lawn. instal a night cam. Publish. Advance Home Science.

Nope. Inadequate dentition.

Hungry Cow ?

I grew up on a pig farm and I can tell you, pigs will not eat corn cobs. They're very adept at stripping off the corn but they leave the cobs. That should say something about the futility of following food fads.