All Activity

Steamed pudding (in the British sense)... Based on this marmalade pudding recipe via Darina Allen, I swapped in Jersey Black Butter (a spiced apple preserve) and Scotch whisky. It was good. The cake was light and moist, without the hassle of whipping up a traditional sponge. I think the one-bowl, breadcrumb thing might become my go-to method for this type of dessert.

Agree, @Maison Rustique and @Duvel. My best pizza ao far has fresh sage, fresh goat cheese, peaches and shrimp!

@Duvel, I'm gonna say try it. A local pizza place here used to have a dessert pizza that was delicious--had apples, cheese, caramel sauce and I can't recall what else. People would always look horrified until they tasted it and then there would be none left. I think what throws people off is that they think any pizza is going to have red sauce, garlic, etc. And it doesn't have to.

You are doing an amazing job of this and your list is already extensive! I've got to guess that no one would complain at your repeating any/all of those regularly! Due to health issues (mine and my husband's when he was still here) and other issues, I've had a lot of food gifted to me and meals delivered by my insurance provider while I was recovering from surgeries. Your food looks delicious and that's half the battle of doing this. Here is a short list of the things that made me not eat what I was given, if you're interested in knowing things like this: Food that might have been tasty, but was slopped into a container in such a way that it flat-out looked disgusting. Food that needed to be put into another container for heating/baking. When you are barely able to stand up, trying to do much in the kitchen is not feasible. Food that can't be frozen and cooked/used later. I often got so much at once and had little appetite so would end up tossing food because I couldn't use it before it went bad. Food that was either so bland that it didn't taste like anything OR food that was so highly spiced that one bite would have steam coming out my ears. There is a happy medium there--though a good solution might be to write a spiciness level on the lid of the container so the person knows what to expect. Or little packets of s/p to tape on top of the container for seasoning. That's all my caffeine-deprived brain can think of at the moment. Can't recall who said it above, but I, too, have an abundance of Rancho Gordo beans that I wish I could send you. I've already packed them for moving, so not happening right now. Thank you for what you are doing and for caring what you are giving to people!

Rancho Gordo bean donations are accepted, but not expected! 😀 And thank you for doing what you can! We are all in this together. 😍

My thinking process is slow, as well. These days I contemplate and weigh my options far too long! I absolutely love broccoli salad and have made it a time or two recently, but I hadn’t considered it for the fridge because I’m not sure if it’s universally appreciated here. I’ve done red beans and rice with smoked sausage (not andouille) & ham, with coleslaw and cornbread. I haven’t done gumbo yet, mostly because I hadn’t figured out the packaging. This will sound very dumb, but I was avoiding soup because I wasn’t sure how to package a deli container of soup with something to go with it, like crackers, or bread, or rice for gumbo. I knew the brown lunch bags I had were too small, and the deli containers wouldn’t fit in a styrofoam container that could hold the accoutrements. And then, duh, it hit me, buy bigger brown bags. I felt like an idiot. So that’s when I was able to do the tortellini soup and the bread to go with. I am now prepared to do gumbo. It would definitely be chicken and sausage. I’ve done chili/cheese baked potatoes and the feedback that week gave me pause, as one family was so excited because it was the first meat they’d had in a week. 🥹(Relayed to me by fridge/pantry manager.) I was also thinking of baked sweet potatoes with a pulled pork or chicken type option. Opinion?

Another Sunday roast, this time lamb. It was nicely pink but I don’t mind it roasted a little longer as well. The ubiquitous roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, beans, mint jelly and gravy.

So far they work great Bought a few induction mats to cover burners. So far all good

Not sure whether this is a bad idea or - after the possible consumption of certain substances - the best thing ever …

My best friend has been visiting, and tonight was our last night to try new recipes together. We chose another New York Times recipe: Eggplant Chickpea Salad with Olive Dressing. (The recipe should be unlocked in this link.) Basically, you cut chunks of eggplant into 1" cubes, add a couple cans of chickpeas that have been drained and patted dry. Put them on a sheetpan, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed fennel seeds, and roast at 450F until the eggplant is soft and the chickpeas are starting to crisp. In the meantime, make a vinaigrette of lemon juice and olive oil, and mix that with chopped olives and finely chopped shallot or the equivalent amount of red onion. Serve the lot over chopped or torn lettuce. Top that with crumbled feta cheese and, if you wish, yogurt. (The recipe says "drizzle" with the yogurt, but it calls for full-fat yogurt. I only have Greek yogurt, which isn't amenable to drizzling. So it goes.) Garnish with herbs if you have them. We both liked it, to different degrees, and with different adjustments. She thought the fennel seed was overpowering, and she would prefer rice or beans to the lettuce. I loved the lettuce and didn't find the seasoning too strong, except in a couple of bites. Maybe we didn't mix things well enough. She would have added more roasted vegetables (red bell peppers, for instance). We think that a tahini sauce would do better than the yogurt, and we both thought it needed crunch of some sort: toasted walnuts or pine nuts. A trick I learned from her tonight was to ease the punch of fresh onion by soaking it in vinegar for at least 10 minutes, then draining it, before adding to a recipe as fresh onion. Without that vinegar soak she gets a violent headache although she loves the flavor. With the vinegar soak she gets the flavor without the headache. I'll keep that in mind. I do think it tamed the onion's punch without robbing it of flavor.

Every time you write that, my fading eyesight sees 'root canal' and the idea of root canal dough has me worried!

酸辣禾花鱼 (suān là hé huā yú), hot and sour rice paddy carp Served with rice.

While working on a new batch of roti canai dough (during rest times - both for the dough and my shoulders) I had time to make bison burgers with guacamole and chipotle puree.

small snack size or sandwich size ziploc bags would be ideal for that sort of thing. I'm also thinking I should send you some of the Rancho Gordo beans I haven't had time to use! Thank you for doing this. Food insecurity is one thing that absolutely breaks my heart and I've been doing as much as I can these last few weeks; I'm using coupons from warehouse clubs to buy toiletries and diapers for local food banks; and the little bits of things we don't use (a leftover half case of pears, milk that "expires" in a few days from a delivery instead of the usual 20-30 days) and when it feels insurmountable, I remember that we are all part of a rising tide to lift our fellow boats so they don't sink.

I've been thinking (I'm getting older so it's a slower process lol) and I'll post ideas when they come to me. I'm keeping in mind that some ingredients are expensive...but I figure I'll put out my ideas anyway and maybe they can be modified etc. to be cheaper if needed. People always seem to like the ever present (at least around here) broccoli salad: Broccoli florets (could also add cauliflower florets) Chopped red onion (or white) Shredded sharp cheddar Crispy bacon Optional: roasted sunflower seeds (but adds a lot imo) Dressing: Stir up mayo (not miracle whip) sugar and red wine vinegar. Salt and and pepper to taste. (google will give you lots of recipes if you need amounts but I think you cook like I do and just wing it lol) ------ Red beans and rice with andouille and like a fruit side or salad side? ----- Some kind of gumbo--probably chicken would be on the less expensive side or sausage? --- I think the baked potato idea is great--maybe chili for the topping? Those little containers could hold some sour cream, diced green onions and shredded cheese?

I was just contemplating ham and mac’n cheese! Will be discussing soon. Here’s my current working list of ideas from notes on my phone. Asterisked ones are things I’ve done (which doesn’t mean I won’t do again). The second pic is something called “Hobo Stew,” which looks really good. I’d change the name, though! I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Smithy, thank you so much. I’ve saved the pdf and I’ll be checking out the links! Hobo Stew is a recipe I’ve been looking at, as well.

Went to this website https://inspection.canada.ca/en/inspection-and-enforcement/food-safety-investigations/pistachio-recall-salmonella and found the many...MANY!!!...recalls. However, nary a word about the origins of this enormous boatload of pistachios is included. I find this a bit strange.

I am very, very impressed with what you're doing and how well you're doing it! Since you're looking for ideas, and given the photos you've posted, I wonder whether you've done any sort of baked potato casserole, with cheese, cream, even maybe an appropriate meat? Here's where I got the idea for something I wanted to try duplicating sometime, and this recipe looked like a good starting point for my attempts at duplication. (I still haven't gotten to it.) What about macaroni and cheese, with ham if you can find it? Tuna and noodle casserole? My best friend and her husband have cooked on occasion for a homeless shelter in their area. One she remembers is called "Dump and Bake Chicken Alfredo". They literally dumped all the ingredients into the pan, baked and served. She remembers chunks of raw chicken, pasta, milk, and either cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. (She's looking right now for the recipe to see what the cooking time and temperature is, but not finding it.) There is a meatball and marinara sauce version that starts with cooked meatballs. She says that when they've made that dish they've assembled it, baked and been ready to serve all within an hour. Edited to add: she hasn't found the chicken recipe, but she sent me a meatball and rice recipe. I've attached a PDF of it. Dump and Bake Italian Meatball and Rice Casserole.PDF

The Pistachio warnings from Health Canada, as far as I could see, started in September. I just did a quick count of the alerts and there have been over 50, which is why I was so surprised to see so much of it on the Costco shelves.

So I googled Crown Pastries, the sole source of contaminated pistachios in the last food recalls : Crown Pastries sources its pistachios from "Pistachios Land", a term they use to refer to the origin of the high-quality nuts used in their products. While their marketing uses this general phrase, Crown Pastries is an authentic Syrian bakery with deep roots in Aleppo, Syria, and they likely import pistachios that align with the traditional Middle Eastern standards, possibly from major producing countries like the United States (specifically California), Iran, or Turkey, which are the top global producers and suppliers to the Canadian market. Specific details on the exact supplier or farm are not publicly disclosed, but the company emphasizes using premium, high-quality pistachios as a core part of their authentic recipes.

I agree it does seem rather odd. There was a recall of pistachio cream in the US early in the summer but nothing since. It was a rather limited issue with few affected. The US is the world’s largest producer of pistachios (followed by Iran and Turkey, I believe) and the largest exporter but we also import them, presumably from the same places as Canada so you’d think there might be some of the same issues here.

This will be with good friends of ours. We've been making dinners back and forth for 35 years. "BYO" = Build Your Own. The first two wines are from Michigan. BYO BliS char roe, Terra potato chips, crème fraîche + sour cream 2 Lads Sparkling Rosé 2020 Alaskan coho salmon sous vide, lemon dry brine Carnaroli risotto with butternut squash and sage Brussels sprouts à la plancha Bluestone Chardonnay Reserve 2023 Pear-caramel ice cream Bayley Hazen Blue (+ a little sour cream) on challah croutons Cockburn’s 20 Year Tawny Port

It really is a hoot and I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I should get back to it as I’ve quite enjoyed the silly sandwiches I made!

Thank you blue_dolphin for telling us about A Super Upsetting Cookbook About Sandwiches by Tyler Kord. It's hilarious! Might even be good bedtime reading . . . .

Not below the border. Curious.