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I do understand that, but I was caught off guard and wasn’t sure how to feel and/or how to address it. Regarding the Magnalite, yes, they’ve been put into heavy use during this project! My enthusiasm for Magnalite has varied over the years. As a young bride, it was something I definitely wanted to receive as a wedding gift! Along with a rice cooker and a Talk About Good cookbook. We south Louisiana cooks are devoted to it. When I discovered eGullet in 2005, I was influenced to get Le Creuset, and I switched my allegiance to those, sort of pushing my Magnalite away. Speaking of hanging your head in shame, I gave my mother’s 17 quart Magnalite to my sister, instead of treasuring it. I’m glad you kept yours! In recent years I’ve revived my love for it. I bought both a 13 quart and 17 quart roaster on eBay, but original Magnalite, not the new versions. They are so handy for larger scale cooking! I used my Magnalite chicken fryer for the cheese sauce. I have saucepans and 6 & 8 quart gumbo pots (I guess other people would call them stock pots, but we know they’re for gumbo!) Also, the weight difference means you can get them in and out of the oven easier than the Le Creuset (or Lodge, or Staub, or which ever). I’m ashamed to say that I ignored my mother’s warnings and used to put my largest Magnalite skillet (used for smothered round steak and smothered chicken, etc.) in the dishwasher, and it is pitted and ugly. Mom, I shoulda listened!! I haven’t found one on eBay, but then I don’t cook those kinds of meals (for home) anymore. You’ve taken me down memory lane! Mais la!

Seen at the grocery store yesterday, when I was getting low on mayonnaise: (I guess I should have cleaned the lens earlier!) I was surprised at how much the price has shot up on both products since my last purchase: somewhere between $2 and $3. We have been discussing the rising cost of groceries; this is another example. I bought the Duke's, btw.

Yup, this! I think there's probably a liability issue at play in some jurisdictions, too. But clearly that's not the case where you live, and I'm absolutely 100% behind anyone feeding people who need feeding.

You are the sweetest! Your support means so much.

I am amazed, astonished, uber-impressed with the work and love you put into this project in general, and that last meal in particular! Thanks also for the information about the pulled pork and how you did it. The mac and cheese -- well, too bad I'm not down there! I'd come take some of those leftovers off your hands! (Not that I need them.) And nice to see you using the Tabasco green sauce.

I've got a similar type gadget. Mine is like this. 6 in 1 Multi Opener, All in One Bottle Opener, Can, Soda, and Jar Openers, for Kitchen Cooking (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

A local seafood restaurant collaborates with the sponsors of two of the community fridges to donate leftovers four days a week (Tues - Fri). My husband and I volunteer to do pickup of the packaged meals from the restaurant for delivery to a community fridge. Community volunteers sign up for the delivery, and it’s been working for the last six months. Sometimes the meal donation is as small as 12 plates, but more often it’s more than 20, and even 40 plates, four days a week. I admire this restaurant!

YUM!!!

After a very long but successful couple of days, 24 pulled pork meals were delivered to the community fridge! I fretted over the pulled pork so much! My intention was to make pulled pork mac n cheese, but to make that work, I should’ve put the pork in the oven much, much sooner, so that it could be ready to go into the mac n cheese before baking. Since I needed to have the pans of mac ready to bake in the morning, it was easier to refrigerate the oven ready pans the night before (when the pork was only beginning its journey in the oven). Did that make sense? I thought I’d use my two large Dutch ovens in separate ovens, but the 17 quart roaster won out. All the pieces of pork butt fit, and it would tie up just one oven. I seared all four pieces, deglazed with onions, bell pepper, celery. I used Serious Eats recipe as a guideline, but skipped the bourbon, and tailored it a few other ways. Serious Eats - Oven Pulled Pork I poured in half of the barbecue sauce which was made of ketchup, molasses, (and some Steen’s cane syrup, which tastes a lot like molasses, but I didn’t have enough molasses for a double sauce recipe), cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, brown mustard, hot sauce (I used Tabasco Green sauce). In the oven at 300 degrees for twelve hours (I hoped). Searing three of the four pieces of pork shoulder. Deglazing. They all fit! Half of sauce poured over, and ready for the oven after covering the pot. My husband grated 8 pounds of cheese! (I was quadrupling my mac and cheese recipe). We didn’t end up using it all. No pictures of boiling the elbow macaroni, but I did 2 pounds in each pot of boiling, salted water, before spreading out the macaroni in two hotel pans (one pot per pan). I made the bechamel in two batches. I usually use 5 cups of buttermilk per batch, but quadrupling meant that I would be four cups short after a using a gallon, so I added two cups of whole milk to each batch. Making the bechamel. Melting that much cheese took forever, it seemed. Almost there! Mixed the cheese sauce and mac in each pan, covered them in foil and refrigerated. (This is where my husband always doubts me when I tell him I can fit something in the fridge. Or in a pot. Or in a bag. Heck, this is a man who will choose a gallon ziplock back to store 10 leftover crackers.) 😏😂 I woke up to the tantalizing aroma of delicious meat cooking in the oven. At 5:30am I checked the pork. It was definitely to temp! You really can get a bark in oven baked pulled pork! I double wrapped each piece in foil and placed them in a cooler, with newspapers all around to further insulate. I let the roasts rest until ready to pull the meat. I skimmed the grease from the pan sauce, and then strained it, mashing the veg as much as I could to get the flavor. I strained simply because there were unattractive bits in the sauce, otherwise the onions, etc. tasted pretty damn good. This is before straining. I combined the strained oven sauce with the remainder of the barbecue sauce, and used this for saucing the meat before plating. My husband washed and peeled the sweet potatoes. There were a few more than pictured. Ready for the ovens. The mac and cheese ready for the ovens. After the ovens. This much of the second pan left. Wow, did I overestimate. I knew I’d be seeing my son later that day and was sure he’d want some mac and cheese. Nope, his wife made some the night before for supper and they had plenty. Joke’s on me! I have this much in my fridge in three containers and maybe I’ll just take them to the community fridge. The pulled pork. I added more sauce to it as we plated. For some reason I have zero pictures of the coleslaw. I used bagged coleslaw, which my husband volunteered to chop finer because he doesn’t care for coarsely chopped. The pleasure was all his. I had two bottles of commercial coleslaw dressing, one in the fridge and one in the pantry. It is far too sweet, so I matched it with mayo and added red wine vinegar. Tasted it. YUCK!!! The bottle of dressing that was in the pantry should’ve been refrigerated. Tossed all of the dressing and my husband picked up more at the store. I know I should’ve just made it from scratch, but I didn’t. Added mayo and red wine vinegar to the newly purchased dressing and it was fine. No pictures, except plated. We both agreed we didn’t work this hard when we worked! The delivery was made at 12:30, and we wanted to collapse. But I was babysitting my 20 month old grandson at 2:00, so I put my collapse on hold. Luckily, he loves to sit on my lap and listen to children’s music on my phone (holding the phone is part of the draw). We sang and couch danced for a couple of hours. My Mimi heart was restored.

bamix® of Switzerland Cordless Basic Stick Blender/Immersion Blender, Red – Multipurpose Blade, Beater, Whisk (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) inn Red !

Yes, my Bamix is also wired. Hmmm. I'm wondering if I could justify spluge and get a cordless Bamix . . . 🙄

FWIW, I didn't read the detour to food-safety customs as hateration, I saw it as more of a reflex from the professionals who've had the rules branded onto them. Meanwhile, I've been meaning to say, I see all that shiny magnalite in effect! And I see it with my head hanging low in shame, as my own custody of my mother's magnalite has been so derelict that I can't even remember it being shiny, although it sure was shiny when my mother passed it to me back in 1996. It had been my Louisiana grandmothers before (not Lafayette, way over in Terrebone parish). C'est dommage. I'm looking forward to seeing the sammiches.

Sorry to be late answering this but it got moved and I couldn't find it. I bought mine at a grocery store here about 15 years ago. It was an Impulse Buy. I wasn't sure what it was but I knew I wanted it and it was the best Gadget that I have ever gotten. I've never seen anything like it since.

We are all right behind you, Patti. Don't let anything negative get you down. And here we go for the next installment. I love reading about what you are doing.

Steamed chocolate pudding (recipe)... The cake was disappointingly dry and crumbly. I didn't have cake crumbs so used breadcrumbs instead, but I doubt that was the issue given it's similar to the one a couple of posts back and by the same chef. Even a lake of custard failed to rescue things, so it must've been poor.

Well, that changed the energy of the thread! While my enthusiasm was momentarily quelled, I won’t let it stop me from continuing this project. I’ve been aware of community fridges for five years and I’m not sure how long they’ve been in existence, but in that time, this type of meal donation has been allowed. I will continue to do it until personal circumstances or the law tell me that I can’t. Everyone has the right to approve or disapprove (at least we currently have the right). Indifference kills more people than feeding them does. And now I’ll work on the post about yesterday’s CFM.

I do know that in NJ, restaurants that donate left over food to food banks and other charities are protected by a law that doesn’t hold them liable for any food related illnesses, which encourages them to donate.

InDirect Smoking for me! 🙂

The company involved in this one has been in denial mode, arguing that botulism just isn't a credible issue with infant formula*, and that it must be post-manufacturing contamination that has caused the problem. That is no longer the case. https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/11/from-defiant-to-contrite-formula-maker-confirms-bacteria-amid-botulism-outbreak/ *(Yeah, and the Titanic was unsinkable...)

I have a nice rice cooker but I now always use my 4 qt instapot. Equal parts by volume rice and water. 4 minutes on high pressure (not the rice setting) then a natural release. The last is key to keep the rice from sticking to the pot.

Holy cow! that is some beautiful work.

Shrimp Burger with Fries - shrimps are minced in the food processor (1/3 very fine, 2/3 in larger pieces) and mixed with mayonnaise, cayenne pepper and scallions. After forming patties, you coat them with fine ground panko crumbs. Served on a toasted brioche bun with lettuce and tartar sauce and with fries

No, one color at a time is used. You can see more of the designs on Tine's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRAgznvDc_4/

Thanks! Yes, in Deephaven, MN. I know original name...