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We actually tried to drive up to where the Hoppers had their home and studio in S. Truro (on Stephens Way), but couldn't get close. Most of the roads close to it are private. https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2013/07/28/a-look-at-hopper-s/44406145007/

Yes! He always picks the worst flavors. It has become a running joke in our family. One year he got jelly doughnut, another time he actually ordered one called dirt bomb! I think he does it because he knows I will never finish my normal flavor, so he can try something weird and then eat the rest of mine. I love Hopper’s paintings. My favorite is Cottages at Wellfleet, since we have stayed in the house in the center of the painting many times. We don’t rent it anymore for many reasons, but we had lots of family celebrations there back in the day.

sorry, very confused here. I had the impression the topic was "home pickling" - not commercial stuff. in the home prep, indeed, some last longer than others - but with no scientific control over the acid/salt content, the potential for botulism developing from herbs/spices, keeping non-canned - just pickled stuff for long periods is perhaps not the best idea.

It definitely was delicious - more so than the versions we had in the food court of the mall in Jakarta - so much more complex. I imagine that industrially produced sambal hitam exists (as well as lots of other time consuming favorites) and is slathered on by most people other than me, in my quest to become a SE Asian grandmother....

@KennethT, that sounds really delicious, and truly a labor of love!

It constantly amazes me how much time and effort traditionally made Indonesian dishes can be. This past Labor Day weekend, I wanted to experiment in making a dish called sambal hitam - or black chilli sauce - from the small island of Madura which is just off the coast of the large city of Surabaya, in East Java. We had it several times while in Jakarta a couple months ago and really enjoyed it. After watching maybe 10 different recipe videos, it seems that, while none of them are the same, they fall into two groups - those that use kluwek (aka keluak, aka buah keluak, aka black nuts) and those that don't. I was hoping to get to make both versions to compare - spoiler alert, I only had time to make one and that was pushing it! Anyway, you make a spice paste with chillies (I used two different types - the large red chillies I can buy at HMart, and the curly red chillies that I grow using seeds that came back with me), shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (the first time I've ever seen them blended in the paste), candlenuts and coriander powder. The spice paste is mixed with enough water to submerge the protein of choice - typically either duck or chicken - and simmered until the poultry is tender. The poultry is then removed and the spice laden liquid is then reduced to a thick paste, and then, in another wok, fried in some oil until it is a dark dark dark brown - just about black (hence the name). The poultry is then deep fried for a short while to brown, then drained and the black paste is spread on top. From start to finish, it probably took me about 4 hours!!!!! So, I definitely didn't have time to make both versions..... With some stir fried bok choy

Love the Highland Light: As did Hopper:

I had to do a search for this one, never heard of it before. 🙂 It's peanut butter and marshmallow cream, right?

@Norm Matthews the flat iron is from the blade , w the middle tendon removed , giving two thin steaks the grain on the F.I. runs parallel to the cut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_iron_steak if you ever see ' blade roasts ' go for that , and remove the center tendon = 2 flat irons. blade roast should be on the less expensive side of cost

Today's breakfast. Made Moe eggs and sausage for breakfast. Easy over free range eggs from a friends chickens with grilled bratwurst sausage from Glenwood Meats in Langford with toasted baguette. Baguettes baked early this morning. Dough had been in the fridge for just two days.

@rotuts Thanks again. If I ever see it again I certainly will. I don't see flat iron steaks very much any more and they are good too.

@Norm Matthews blade is the best of the chuck remember the shape , and buy more .

@rotuts Thanks for the info. I do not remember if it looked like that and can't tell from the pictures but it was very tender except for one area so they probably were blade steaks. It can be hard for me to tell which steaks cut from the chuck can be good or tough and even harder when the butcher gives them some fanciful name.

@liuzhou I would have loved one of those tarts this morning with my cappuccino. Yesterday's breakfast. Made Sesame honey garlic chicken and fried rice.

@Norm Matthews is there a tough tendon running down the middle of those streaks ? if so , they are cut from the blade meat , thus blade steaks the blade is under the scapula , and can be best seen in a 7-bone steak : look on the L side ; its this cut you can see the bone ( scapula ) is shaped like a 7 . the meat is very tender and very flavorful . the problem is that tendon in the middle that separates the two muscles under the scapula, just cut it out after cooking is an easy way to deal with it.

Eggplant Bolognese w/ tomato beans

@Honkman, does this sound at all like what you made? It is from the Google AI response when I looked for a recipe. This recipe is a modern, fruity twist on classic spaghetti carbonara, replacing the standard pepper with fresh basil and incorporating the sweetness of roasted grapes. The traditional creamy, egg-and-cheese sauce is preserved, but the result is a lighter, brighter flavor profile. The key is to add the egg-and-cheese mixture off the heat to create a silky sauce without scrambling the eggs. Ingredients 1 pound spaghetti 8 ounces guanciale or pancetta, diced 2 cups seedless red grapes, halved 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, plus extra for garnish 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 3 large egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg 1 large handful fresh basil, torn or roughly chopped 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground Salt, to taste Instructions Prepare the grapes: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the halved grapes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15–20 minutes, or until the grapes have softened and started to blister. Cook the pork: In a large, cold skillet, add the diced guanciale or pancetta. Cook over medium heat until the fat has rendered and the pork is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the crispy pork to a plate, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Turn off the heat under the skillet. Whisk the eggs and cheese: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and whole egg with the grated Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses. Season with the freshly ground black pepper. Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Combine the sauce: Drain the pasta and immediately add it to the skillet with the rendered pork fat. Toss to coat. Slowly pour the egg-and-cheese mixture over the hot pasta, tossing vigorously to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, add a splash of the reserved pasta water to loosen it until it reaches a silky, creamy consistency. Add the final ingredients: Gently fold in the roasted grapes, crispy pork, and most of the fresh basil. Toss just to combine, being careful not to crush the grapes. Serve: Divide the pasta into bowls and top with the remaining basil, extra grated cheese, and a final sprinkle of black pepper. Serve immediately. [1, 2, 9, 12, 13]

When I see this topic, I always internally chuckle to myself. In Mandarin 屁股 (pìgu, pronounced pegu) means buttocks; bottom; behind; backside; rump; arse; butt.

Spaghetti Grape-Carbonara with Basil from an essen & trinken recipe - really nice summer take on spaghetti carbonara. The carbonara is done in a classical way with pancetta, shallots, pasta water, eggs and egg yolks and parmesan. It is served with halved red grapes which are sautéed in butter and finished with verjus until dry (which gives a nice fruity, yet slightly sour component) and marinated basil (mixture of basil, olive oil, honey and verjus)

Agreed. I pickle young ginger slices as served in many Japanese sushi restaurants as a tongue cleanser. No unpronounceable ingredients involved; just rice vinegar and salt. Stays in good condition for months, not that a batch often lasts often; I eat it too often! I see no reason why you couldn't do the same with onions of any colour.

I was about to post something similar. My experience is pretty much what you describe using a small sample of a particular brand of pickled jalapeños that I've been using for more than a decade. The jars that I've used all lasted well more than a year - only because I finished the contents, not because of quality issues - and the most recent jar, purchased about 8 months ago, has an expiry date as mid-2027. @AlaMoi There may be some factual basis for your belief, but at the least, I don't think it's the only answer.

Everyone ended up heading home yesterday, and my husband and I were feeling lazy, so we just walked down the street to Mac’s. It is a 2 minute walk. Drinks. I had a mocktail with jalepeno, lime and basil. Husband’s drink had watermelon, I think we shared an order of oyster bao buns and shrimp and scallop dumplings Then I had a spice crusted tuna over soba noodles and husband had halibut with lobster mashed potatoes We went for a walk down to the pier after dinner. We discussed getting ice cream, but were too full. The sky was crazy. No filter on this photo, the sky really looked this red It only lasted for a few minutes, then turned a more reasonable color This morning we checked out of the Wellfleet house and headed up to Truro to do some exploring before going to Chatham. We visited Highland Light and hiked a couple of easy trails with views of the dunes and ocean We are staying at the same house we rented earlier this year, the one with the massive refrigerator. We stopped by the Chatham fish pier to buy fish for dinner, but the market was closed today. The seals were still milling around We went to the other fish market in town, and I made warm lobster rolls After dinner we walked into town and husband got the worst sounding ice cream, fluffernutter. The owner gave him a small scoop of the wild blueberry too, so he could try it.

Shepherd's pie.

Steak, Salad and Sourdough and Taylor Swift The grocery had these little steaks. They callled them patio steaks. I don't know what that is so I marinated them just to hedge against them not being tasty. They were good. They each were under $3.00. Taylor Swift lives part time in Kansas City now so she appears in the newspaper occasionally. Sometime around her engagement announcement, it was mentione that she was really into baking with sourdough. A few days later, there was an interview with a guy who teaches sourdough classes. I have been making sourdough French bread for 40 years and haven't been much interested in experimenting with different recipes, like cinnamon rolls. Anyway, the guy said baking bread in a Dutch oven was important. I looked into it and found that putting it in a preheated Dutch oven will seal it in so the moisture is trapped around the bread and the steam will enhance the rise. Another article had a recipe that was very much like mine except it used a little more water and used diastic malt powder. Malt powder is also supposed to help the yeast and gives a nice golden brown to the crust. I tried it with my Dutch oven and it was a little too small. The top of the bread rose to touch the top of the oven and it got too brown. There was very little rise outside the oven and there wasn't much today when I tried again with a new Dutch oven. I am guessing something happened to the yeast when our refrigerator stopped working and we had go get new one. By the way, when I ordered the diastic malt powder, spell check changed it to diabetic. This time the bread turned out well. Charlie even had seconds.

My perspective is that simple, natural preservatives like salt, vinegar and sugar plus spices and herbs can transform fresh, organic produce into flavorful pickles and preserves extending their useful life for weeks, even months, depending on the particular fruit or vegetable and how they are processed.