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Out to lunch a couple of days ago with my husband. A cup of seafood gumbo (with hardly any seafood), and a shrimp Caesar salad for me. What I enjoyed about the salad was how easy it was to eat. The romaine was chopped into bite sized pieces and I didn’t have to fight to make it ready to eat. Oh, and it tasted really good. He had crawfish enchiladas that came with sides of rice dressing and green beans. He ate every bite, although neither of us tried the bread. At an all day meeting a few days ago I chose to eat at the restaurant where the meeting was held. The other attendants went elsewhere for lunch, which was probably smart. This grilled chicken Caesar salad was bountiful, but also, overpriced (in my opinion). After tax and gratuity, it was $35 and some change for a salad and a glass of iced tea. I was not ashamed to take the leftovers to go.

@Shelby mentioned zoodles recently, which reminded me I haven’t had them in a while. Despite buying the zucchini specifically to make zoodles, I was too lazy to get out the zoodle maker, and used a veg peeler to make zucchini ribbons. Turns out I like the ribbons better than the noodles, so my laziness paid off. Shrimp scampi.

No restaurant depot, but a couple of restaurant supply stores. I have bought from each of those, but also found good prices on deli containers on Amazon (with careful looking), and I usually get the styrofoam three compartment and one compartment plates from Costco or Sam’s. I’ve priced things at Webstaurant, but the shipping costs don’t make sense for what I’m currently buying. I would love to know of other sources.

Louisiana’s high point … Mt. Driskill … 532 feet!

This popped up on my Youtube shorts reel and this morning I didn’t feel to go out to the bakery, so … Spelt low-fat quark Brötchen with seeds … Takes literally 3 min to mix and then 17 min in the airfryer … Taste & texture are pretty good - will be repeated 🤗

Chicken Meatballs, Potatoes, and Lemon from “Comfort” by Ottolenghi - the chicken meatballs are made with ground chicken, mint, scallions, cilantro, garlic, egg, grated potatoes, panko breadcrumbs and cumin. Pan-seared and than braised with potatoes, celery, onions, garlic, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and sugar in chicken broth. Finished with some cilantro and served with yoghurt sauce (yoghurt, mint and cilantro) and some olive oil

Here are some images of the dump style serving. The Pail Style The Shovel Style

Thank you, @Smithy. Being in California, I already have access to some of the best produce available locally. I am also lucky to have a fantastic store called Specialty Produce just a short drive away. If you are ever in the area, it’s absolutely worth a detour. They sell to all the best restaurants in the area and are also open to the general public.

And Maryland goes all the way up to 3,360 feet! But hey, those punk kid mountains out west haven't been around since before trees existed . . .

@FrogPrincesse, where do you get edible quince? I've given up on trying to get it from a grocery store in the Upper Midwest. Maybe I've just forgotten what it's like to live in California. In the Central Valley we had access to loquats, but I'm not sure even there we got quince. I'm envious. Your color looks perfect.

Well, Dorothy -- we're in Kansas. I'd hoped to make it most of the way through the state, but I pooped out after 6 hours of driving and found a truck stop with electrical power and hot showers. Enough driving for one day! I've mentioned before that when I'm driving I can't take photos. You'll just have to use your minds' eyes. I've been driving through rolling prairie, watching the Minnesota snow give way to Iowa's stubble fields with occasional snow, and now Nebraska's and Kansas' obviously soft ice on rivers and ponds. Don't go out there now. There were snowmobile tracks on the rivers in Minnesota. I've been fascinated with hawks perched atop power lines, maybe one per mile, each one watching quietly for field prey as intently as a fisherman watching a bobber and hoping for a bite. I giggled yesterday a bit, when I passed a sign in Iowa pointing off to "Hawkeye Point -- the high part of the state -- 1,670 feet"! I realize that may sound pretty high if you live in Florida or Louisiana, but folks from the western part of this continent will likely be as amused as I was. (Why, Minnesota goes all the way up to 2,301 feet!) I'm happy to report that it's warmed up as I'd hoped. I'm done with long underwear for the trip! I'll be able to put water in the trailer tank soon! I think I can switch from boots to sneakers! And things seem to be working commensurately better in the Princessmobile. I discovered this morning that the inverter I had installed last summer actually has enough oomph to run the microwave. I'm thrilled. Now I hope I can find decent truck stop coffee before I get around to brewing my own! The chains around here offer multiple bean varieties and brews, but even the "strong" and "rich" stuff from this truck stop chain seems insipid. As for food: this morning I made a peanut butter sandwich -- whoopee -- and didn't bother taking a photo. A little after noon I was decidedly peckish and realized I've been jonesing for pizza for a while. One and a half slices were lunch. Gooey, fatty, but pretty good. Two slices were dinner, after I was mostly set up and incredibly hungry. If you're horrified at the idea of salad from a paper plate, then look away now. This was the rest of dinner. Why dirty a paper plate when there's just enough greenery left from a salad mix in one of those ready-to-eat plastic bins? It's headed for the trash anyway.

I made my yearly batch of quince marmalade a couple of weeks ago. I used a food processor to shred the fruit which saved a lot of time. I have learned that cooking quince long and slow will gradually develop a lovely color due to the conversion of tannins into anthocyanins. The marmalade is a bit runny but I like that way.

@patti do you have a restaurant depot near you? Where are you buying your supplies? (not the food, the paper goods like the styrofoam containers?)

No such thing as fresh passionfruit in our little town but I can buy frozen pulp in a Mexican place nearby.

It does work really well! I’ve had this on my list to try for a long time but hadn’t managed to have both oysters and passion fruits at the same time. He says bottled passion fruit juice is fine but I wanted to try the fresh stuff!

I love anything passiond fruit but would never ahve thought to pair it with oysters! I can "taste in my mind" the combonation and I like it!

If Brussels sprouts for breakfast are challenging, how about shucking oysters for today’s Hangtown Fry? Oysters, breaded and fried in bacon fat on scrambled eggs with crispy bacon. I consulted a bunch of recipes but went with the one in the Hog Island Book of Fish and Seafood except that I took the oysters out of the pan before pouring in the eggs so they’d stay crispy. These oysters were on the large size for this purpose but I wanted to try it and worked with what I got in my weekly fish share. Spicy cornbread biscuit on the side.

I got oysters in my weekly fish share so I stopped by the farmers to pick up a few passion fruits to use in this oysters with passion fruit mignonette from Nik Sharma’s Season. This was perfect with the sweet/tangy passion fruit and a generous amount of red chile flakes.

Miso isn't something I've baked with before, so after picking up a packet or two there was work to be done. First up, Dorie Greenspan's Miso-Maple Loaf Cake... I didn't much care for the texture of this cake - too dense and close crumbed for me. "Sturdy" should've tipped me off. I've also learned to be suspicious when a recipe says the mixture "might" curdle, as that's usually code for "always curdles, but let's pretend it doesn't matter". But I really liked the flavour; the miso-maple combo was a winner. Next, Miso Rose Chocolate Chip Cookies... These mostly tasted of chocolate. A pleasant miso umami-ness came through in the aftertaste, albeit not particularly strongly. I couldn't detect the rosewater, but that may be down to the brand. I found the cookies a touch too soft. When baked for longer to firm up more, they were too dark and overbaked for my taste. Finally - and this is quite a mouthful - Prune & Chinese Five Spice Sticky Toffee Pudding with Miso Butterscotch Sauce... Great flavours here; the five spice worked really well with the miso toffee sauce. I was less enthusiastic about the sponge, however, which was too soft for my liking. I'll just have to sub those flavours into my regular STP when I fancy a change. Overall, I liked what miso brings to the party. Just need to find the right vehicle for it.

That conch place looks right up my alley. How were the conch fritters? That calm sound looks amazing - you could turn it into a postcard!

My husband recently mentioned something he thought we should spend money on in the house and I thought, “Can we afford that?” And then felt horribly guilty that I spend our money on something I want to do (like the CFMs), but considered telling him I didn’t think we could afford what he wants to do. It gives one pause. I’m not exhausted yet! But I have given some thought to how long I can realistically do this, or even how long I want to do this. Thank you. My contact at the church told me that the regulars loved the pizza last time I made it, and encouraged me to repeat. I hope they did enjoy it! Thank you all for your kind words and support. I feel like I’m already more than halfway to my goal and it could be very doable! I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t also get something out of it. It keeps me busy enough, it gives me purpose, and it gives me a sense of accomplishment each time we deliver. I can’t do much about the state of the US and the economy, but I can do what I can do, and I have always loved feeding people. Y’all wouldn’t be on this site if you didn’t know how good it feels to make good food. (And why I beat myself up when the food isn’t delicious.)

Believe me, I have tried! It is just tooooo cold. 😂 Yesterday we went over to explore the area where another house we can stay in is located. The beach was very pretty. It was good for walking because it was flat and the sand was packed in There’s a little restaurant on the beach called Da Conch Shack. As you get closer the conch shells start to pile up in the water The restaurant The menu We shared some conch fritters And some blackened grouper tacos After linner we went back to the Bight for a long walk And then back to the house, where the Sound was like glass

Decided I'm going to jump into the spraying cocoa butter world. I've found a dealer who is selling overstock Q5 turbines at a significant discount. Q5 packages are discounted if getting an RSD unit, which is basically returned, unsold stock from a prior dealer and come with a 2 year Fuji Spray warranty. He can combine that turbine with the spray gun, whip hose and 0.8mm cap set for the chocolatier package. He also sells the D6 chocolatier package. Listing it here in case someone else in interested too. hello@spraysystem.store and https://spraysystem.store/. Tim will respond.

@blue_dolphin, that story took me through chills and shivers (I grew up near the Sierras and know those roads) and laughs and admiration! Too bad about the Awahnee, but good on you for the entire adventure! My "jury rigged" system wasn't as dire. For reasons that I don't fully understand, and need to call about, the mobile repair folks "fixed" the problem, temporarily at least, by switching the "in" and "out" wires for the glide. So far it seems to be working, instead of jamming cockamamie in the frame as it had been. I've been able to move on. The Greek Chicken salad in a "shakeable bowl" turns out to be exactly as @chromedome described. After shaking the mixture (without explosions, splashing or other culinary disasters) it looked like this: If I'd made this salad I think I'd have torn, chopped or cut the greens finer, but the flavors were excellent and the salad was a fine dinner. More than one type of lettuce and olives; pepperoncini; chicken breast that wasn't dried out; tomatoes; cucumbers; shredded cabbage; feta cheese. No doubt I've forgotten a few things. There was a gracious plenty of dressing. All told, I'm pleased with this dinner.

Replying to myself to say that I’m sure you are confident that the repair will do the job and get you where you need to go and I don’t doubt that one bit! It reminds me of an incident that happened years ago when I’d recently moved to California. My parents came to visit from NY and I took them on my tour of the state. On the way from San Francisco to Yosemite, a rather winding route, up, down and side to side. After a long uphill, my gas pedal stayed stuck to the floor even when I took my foot off entirely. I tried to pry it up with my toe and the pedal came free but the engine was still at full throttle. It was a manual transmission so I could down shift to slow down until we came to a turn out but it backfired like the 4th of July when I shut it off. I called AAA from a pay phone. The guy they sent showed me how the accelerator cable was catching on a crack in its sleeve. He said it would take about a week to get a replacement shipped to them. Then he used his pen knife to trim the sleeve where it was catching and said if I’d handled that situation, I should be fine. I was entirely confident in that jury-rigged repair, though I believe my mom was saying the rosary the whole way home! To make this somewhat food related, I’ll add that I’d made reservations at the grand old Ahwahnee Hotel for both our night’s stay and a lovely dinner but with all the waiting for the AAA guy, we were running late. My pleas to extend the check-in times were denied so we dined in the cafeteria and stayed in a tent cabin! Looking forward to your travels and hope they go smoothly!