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H.B. Moe ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhdOPhTHeoE

Celebrating Moe's 84th birthday today. Starting with his request for breakfast. Soft "Steamed" eggs with buttered toast fingers.

Popovers for breakfast this morning, a dozen minis. Filled with this morning’s ricotta, blackberries and a little rhubarb compote.

My cherry trees are absolutely groaning with fruit this year... I've filled about a dozen of these tubs in the last week or so... I indulge while picking, and have made a couple of jars of jam, but most went to friends and neighbours. It's always a kick in the guts that the vast majority are out of reach. I guess the birds, at least, are happy. With the ones I picked this morning, I made a quick compote to go with a slice of deep-fried bread and butter pudding and some vanilla crème fraiche...

Glad you made it safely through the metro congestion and road work, but so sorry we didn't get to visit. Next time!!! I'm looking at a new house today, so I may be out of Liberty next time, but not that far!! I'll keep you posted.

Don't look now but I think you've moved to Costa Rica. Things like that are just daily occurrences here.

I was idly flicking through my food delivery app, looking for inspiration. This momentarily baffled me. At first I thought it was a black trash bag but then noticed the whitish semi-transparent top. Then the penny dropped. The contents are an ingredient for dinner. It is a mixture of duck blood and rice vinegar. The vinegar prevents the blood from congealing and adds tartness. Used in a Yao minority dish called 醋血鸭 (cù xuè yā), literally ‘vinegar blood duck’. A young duck is chopped on the bone and stir fried with garlic, ginger, chilli, bitter melon, sesame and peanuts and finished in a rich sauce made from the bird’s blood and vinegar. Served with green vegetables of choice and rice, it makes for a delicious lunch or instead can be served as part of a larger family style meal. The vinegar cuts the richness of the blood, whereas the blood limits the astringency of the vinegar, leaving the duck tender and juicy, but not at all greasy. I have made the dish but never seen the premixed blood and vinegar before. Very fresh blood is on sale in my local market so I grab it before it congeals. Yao Blood and Vinegar Duck

I don’t know what’s happening. In the last couple of weeks, things have been going wrong. First I cooked some black boletes. I’ve been doing this for years and always bought them from the same seller. About half an hour later, I started shouting for Hughie*. Since then I can’t even look at a picture of the things without feeling distinctly nauseous. Things went downhill from there. A few days later I discovered my local donkey meat supplier has ceased doing their wonderful ‘donkey burgers’. I can still find the meat, but I liked the convenience of just ordering them online and waiting 30 minutes for them to be delivered. Anyway, I kind find the bread they used anywhere. The it got much worse. For unknown reasons my favourite Portuguese canned sardines have disappeared from China! I used to bulk buy them, but now I’m down to my last two cans. In fact, ALL European sardines have disappeared except Porthos brand which I don't know. It’s the end of civilisation! * A Scottish phrase attributed to my old friend Billy Connolly meaning to projectile vomit. A fine example of onomatopœia. As can been seen here. You may need an interpreter – this was recorded in Scotland. Billy Connolly _ Two Scotsmen in Rome - YouTube

Highly recommend these guy's https://reluctanttrading.com/collections/peppercorns

@haresfur thanks for your suggestion. It's not what I'm seeking now as I want to make my own marinade, but y'know, there's always a time and a place for a quick and easy technique. I can get the Beerenberg sauce here easily enough, and it might be nice to try it.

Its been a while since I've posted anything, but in some random google searches, I can across a 3rd edition of Chocolates and Confections with a publishing date of 2026-02-03. Anyone by chance know what might be included as far as new information in the book? https://masters.ecampus.com/chocolates-confections-formula-theory/bk/9781394356065

Absolutely. I make the best sleazy at-home fast food. If you can't be bothered to clean a rack, put on baking paper on a tray but it gets a bit soggy. Do what you like. Cook lower if you don't want char.

Are you suggesting I use your technique?

I just marinate boneless chicken thighs in bottled peri-peri marinade overnight. More surface area than bone-in. Beerenberg if I can find it, otherwise the ubiquitous Nando's (chain restaurant who also sell their sauce and marinade in grocery stores). Put on a wire rack in the convection oven and blast at oh, 210 degrees until done. I like the char.

@C. sapidus That chicken dish looks and sounds great. I may try playing around with it. As I close my eyes and taste it, I'm thinking some pasilla de oaxaca might be a nice addition (maybe not for you, but I like smokey flavors), and while the difference between Mexican oregano and Rancho Gordo's Oregano Indio may be subtle, the Indio may be nice to try. FWIW, I prefer it to regular Mexican oregano in many dishes. Pasilla de Oaxaca is sometimes hard to come by. One source that's been dependable thus far is https://oaktownspiceshop.com/products/pasilla-de-oaxaca-chiles-whole?

One of the (presumably) obvious things about traveling solo in the Princessmobile is that preparation and setup take roughly twice the time as when there were two of us. For example: in the Good Old Days, he'd be doing outside prep chores while I was making lunches. We'd share some exterior duties, like hooking up the trailer, stowing the Anaconda (that's the massive 50A power cord that weighs half as much as I do), doublechecking that nothing is left behind and everything is working properly. Now it all falls to me. I learned, among other things, that the serious disadvantage of camping under a tree is all the debris that drops onto the glides and has to be swept off. Sure, the tree protected the Princessmobile from hail, but instead dropped wet leaf litter and seed pods. Ah, well. It would have been a bit quicker if I hadn't bothered to document my road-food sandwiches, but I decided to take pictures. I made 2 sandwiches so I won't have to do it tomorrow. Both are generous: one on the Prairie Los Angeles Heritage bread, and one on sourdough bread I've had stowed in the freezer. Here are the meats and cheeses: and the evolution of the sandwiches themselves: (Incidentally, with these sandwiches I finished off a small jar of pickle relish and a large jar of pickles. I'm making headway in the refrigerator.) I'll tell you what: the storage containers that Wolfe's used for enchiladas are coming in very handy now. As it turns out, a less obvious disadvantage to solo travel is navigation. I had 2, count 'em 2 GPS systems. One kept cutting out. The other hasn't been properly updated. Eventually they both agreed on what to tell me to do, when they were both talking, because I'd known more or less which route I wanted to take and kept going that way until they capitulated. That is, I thought they had capitulated.... Remember I said I really, really wanted to avoid Kansas City? I found myself taking the Turnpike eastbound, right to the edge but slightly north of Kansas City. Road closures. Construction. Breathe, Smithy! And near the end, there I was looking at "Liberty, Missouri". 3 or more exits worth. Right where I'd told @Maison Rustique I didn't want to go. 🙂 I waved a silent, and general, hello to her, not knowing exactly where she was, and eventually got out onto open freeway again. The other thing that doesn't work as smoothly is eating. Sure, I had those great sandwiches. In the Good Old Days the passenger would have opened the cooler, fished out a sandwich and napkin for the driver, and the driver would have had a leisurely meal when driving on non-busy roads. Nope. I had half of one sandwich at a rest area, and pressed on. The rest is all in the refrigerator for tomorrow, or the next day. I made it to my intended destination in southern Iowa: the Lakeside Casino, formerly known as Terrible's. In past years we've been here a month earlier. This year the goslings in the flotilla are larger than in past visits, having grown somewhat larger than puffballs with legs. I was Very Hungry by the time I went through the rigmarole of establishing a reservation (required even though the RV park is mostly empty) and setting up. Of course I could have had leftovers, or another half-sandwich. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to the restaurant, since my darling and I had almost always gone there to dine on our way home and there might be painful memories. I decided to chance it. If you're interested in seeing their entire weeknight menu, take a look here. In most years past, I've opted for their "Awesome chicken sandwich" and it has sometimes been awesome, sometimes more average. This year, I was more inclined to try their fish and chips. Then I noticed that they had a prime rib sandwich (until supplies run out). I asked about it. Turns out the prime rib in the sandwich is shaved, or shredded, or some such. Nope. For just a few dollars more, I could have this: We never splurged to that degree here. My darling always felt that his (our) home-cooked ribeye steaks couldn't be beat, and he wasn't interested in risking money or calories on a lesser product. Besides...in his later years he always claimed to prefer pork. I ordered a draft beer, the first I've had in a very long time. It came, and I sipped and pondered, then ordered. What the heck. I'm almost home. It's almost a special occasion, and also a sad one. (Last visit, we were together. Two or three visits ago, Iowa Dee was still alive. I don't like the trend.) I ordered the 12-oz prime rib, medium rare, and prepared myself to sip and enjoy and remember. Well. Before I could say "Sam Adams" the dinner was delivered! I really hadn't intended to have beer with that dinner, but I wasn't even a quarter of the way through the lager. It wasn't a bad combination, just not the wine-and-beef I'd had in mind. No matter. The rib was good. The horseradish sauce and "au jus" provided were excellent with it, and the sour cream quite good on the potato. The vegetables were, well, "filling" is the best I can say for them. I took a few bits of the prime rib and enjoyed them immensely. I ate about half the potato and all the vegetables, and brought the remainders home to the Princessmobile. So now I really, truly won't have to do any food prep before I get home. I may buy something anyway, but if I do it will be because I simply can't resist. Or obligation in a Walmart.

We had halibut fish and chips for a late lunch. I knew we wouldn't want dinner so I decided instead to bake Butter Tarts. Dessert for dinner.

At his age, I wouldn't have chosen plain either. My fave, only available in restaurants, was chocolate chips in pancakes. Never thought of M&M's! 🙂

Adobo de pollo de Lujo (red chile-braised chicken with potatoes and greens). Sauce was ancho and guajillo chiles (toasted and soaked) blended with roasted garlic, Mexican oregano, cumin, cloves, black pepper, and chicken stock. Sauce was fried, simmered with chicken stock, simmered with the chicken, potatoes, and Swiss chard, and then reduced. Topped with sauteed white onion. Edit: Mrs. C's sourdough bread did an excellent job of sopping up any extra sauce. I had been craving the deep rich flavors of a Mexican dried chile sauce and this hit the spot.

(hugs)

Thank you so much. I am so sad that the peonies are done sigh. Yeah.....I still feel lonely and she's been gone for days. (hugs)

@Shelby delicious meals & gorgeous peonies! So glad that this year’s visit from your Mom included air conditioning and better weather. I find that the house is so much quieter the day after company leaves — I also don’t enjoy that first super quiet no guests breakfast. Probably a sign of a great visit… otherwise I’d be thrilled that the visit is over. 😄

Oh my you've made my week. That's so nice of you to say. The bad thing is no one eats it because they say it's too pretty 🤣

There have been many spectacular pictures of food in the history of eGullet. The salami rose is simply in a class by itself

Crepes for breakfast this morning with local strawberries inside and out. I will likely repeat this tomorrow morning as I made a dozen crepes 😋