Mudpuppie
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Posts posted by Mudpuppie
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This morning NPR had a piece about a Scotsman searching for haggis in LA. He finally found it. Fun story.
You can hear it here: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1592237
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I think the Two Buck Chuck cab is a decent $7 wine that's a great buy at $1.99. If you're a connoisseur, you're likely to hate it. But if you're not, or you have friends to dinner who aren't, it's perfectly okay.
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After reading and re-reading this thread, I just want to say that I feel very cheated. Maybe this belongs in the "Not again, Mom!" thread, but still. Who knew that people made snow ice cream with actual cream and sugar? We just had snow + vanilla. Y'all don't know how good you have it, acid rain or no.
Jeez.
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Talk O' Texas is nationally distributed
Talk o' Texas is the brand that Sam's Wholesale carries in the gallon jars. It is very good, but more dilly than spicy.
Interesting! I never would have called them dilly. I'm a spice addict, too, so I feel a little defensive about this. Are the Talk o' Texas spicies it blazing hot? No. But are they spicier than your average okra pickle? I'd say yes.
I like them, but maybe because they're the only ones I can get around here.
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I wouldn't avoid fertile eggs, but I don't think I'd go out of my way for them, either.
But you know something, I can't remember how they get hens to lay eggs even though they weren't fertilized. How?
A female (in this case, a hen) is going to produce eggs regardless of whether there's a male around. This is true for most (all?) animals. In the chickens' case, the rooster just does the fertilizing -- hence "fertile" eggs.
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But what I want to know is how your folks changed their pickling procedure in such a way as to minimize the slime.
They eliminated the poking.
I have my own personal okra rule that I know many won't agree with. Here it is. Controversy awaits.
An okra pod whose skin has been even slightly cut, nicked, pierced, or otherwise compromised should never, ever touch liquid until it's cooked. (Hot oil is okay, though.) So if I add okra to anything wet -- tomatoes, stew, anything -- I flour and pan fry it first. For some this might equal overcooking, but it eliminates the slime.
I hate fire ants!
Interesting okra fact: Fire ants love okra plants. I don't know if it's the sappy stuff or the flowers or the pods themselves, but they love 'em. I have memories -- possibly imagined -- of fire ants coming out of the pods after they've been picked.
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Brooks, I have to admit I've never had pickled okra. I'm wondering where it might be available in New York. Is pickled okra something that's sold in most any food store in Louisiana, or/and is it mostly a home-made item?
When I lived in Boston I found it at Stop and Shop. Talk O' Texas is nationally distributed -- it's in my local CA grocery store and it's great. They have a spicy version, too, which makes them winners in my book. One complaint, though, is that there are usually a few tough pods in the jar. You can also get it on some mail order sites.
My warmest okra memory: My folks made pickled okra when I was a kid because my dad had a garden full of it. We lived in TX, but my parents are both Hoosiers and okra was new to them. Dad didn't know that okra plants are, um, prolific, so they had to put some up.
The first time they made it was almost the last. In order to cull the tough pods, they thought it would be a good idea to prick each one with a fork. Makes sense, since you don't really know until you bite or cut into it whether you'll be able to chew it. Anyway, the pincushion okra pods produced okra pickles so slimy that it was like an industrial accident. You could pull one out of the jar and raise it at arm's length and the slime would extend for upwards of three feet.
Fortunately they tried it again and made some yummy pickled okra.
My worst okra memory: Picking the stuff. This was before dad discovered Clemson Spineless, and after the fire ants discovered Texas. God, was okra picking hot and miserable.
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I'm glad you can keep hens, but it sucks that you can't have any roosters. I can see why, if they want to limit everyone to 3 chickens apiece. But chicks are so cute.
Naw, wouldn't want roosters. Noisy, temperamental, etc. Plus, fertile eggs kind of creep me out.
So here's a question, to bring it back to food. Do y'all buy fertile eggs? If so, why? Do you avoid them? Maybe you've never paid attention?
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Thanks, now I'm REALLY drooling!
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But...what about fresh okra? Is there anything that can be done with okra beyond pickling it???
This is me drooling....
Slice the okra up, about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. (Make sure it's dry when you slice. If it comes in contact with water you'll be slimed.) Coat in cornmeal or flour. I often use polenta. Pan fry in just a little oil until crispy. After the okra is cooked enough so that it's no longer wet (i.e., potentially slimy), you can add onions and garlic. Don't add them too early, though, because NO WATER. Yummmm.
Sorry, off-topic. But any chance to proselytize about okra. (Actually, I can't think of anything I didn't like as a kid but like now. I must have had good taste back then.)
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Mudpuppie, where do you live that you're allowed to keep chickens? We're not allowed to where I am (Montgomery County, MD), at least not in the suburban areas. Animal control has a report occasionally about impounded chickens that were being raised for food or eggs.
That's too bad, they're lots of fun.
I'm in CA, near Sacramento. I live right in town on a smallish city lot. Per city ordinance I'm allowed three hens, but no roosters.
Can't beat the eggs or the entertainment value. I strongly advocate chicken ownership!
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Nothing to add really... maybe Dan's on N. Lamar in Austin. Good breakfast.
Or Wok N' Roll on Burnet.
There was (maybe still is) a gyros place on Burnet we used to frequent.
Ditto on Les Ami /sigh
Ditto on the Egg Roll carts on the Drag
Ditto on Dirty's.. noone mentioned Hut's?
Are the egg roll carts gone???
Please say no.
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As a Southern California native, this is completely new and utterly foreign to me.
Is it like an ice milk? A Slushee? A Slurpee?
How sweet! We had this on occasion when I was growing up too, but nothing fancy -- just snow and vanilla.
Of course, this was in Texas and there was never more than a little snow, so you had to pick the inevitable blades of grass.
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I have no idea if it's still around, but I have fond memories of the "Catfish King" in Waxahachie. The hush puppies, specifically.
How about Brahm's? They used to make a good hamburger.
Catfish Plantation? The haunted one? It's still there. (I grew up next door in Midlothian.)
Braum's had good cherry limeades too.
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Sniff.
Remember the real Quack's? And the GM steakhouse? (The one across from Whole Foods is still hanging on, god bless 'em.)I don't remember the ice cream place across from Dobie.
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I take it, then, that you're a farmer of free-range chickens?
I would like to call myself a "farmer of free range chickens." In actuality, I have a couple of chickens who have free reign over my suburban backyard. Free range, yes. Farmer, no.
I submit, though, that you will not find happier chickens, or tastier eggs, anywhere.
Chickens are complex creatures. No, they're not brilliant. But they do have emotions and personalities. The treatment they're subjected to in factory farms is nothing less than cruel.
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Oh, God.
La Choy Chop Suey. Yeah, the canned stuff.
It was putrid and I never ate it...just sort of mushed it around my plate. Mom always accompanied this horror with a bowl of the crisp chow mein noodles (also from a La Choy can, most likely) which would end up being my dinner.
The chow mein looked like something even the dog wouldn't touch...
Lucky dog.
Argh. We had this too. With cubed stew meat. Always accompanied by "apple salad," which was a sort of faux waldorf salad with lots of mayo and some cool whip.
It was my brother's favorite meal, and he was the pickier eater, so we had this often.
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I know that 'free-range' and 'cage-free' don't necessarily mean ideal conditions for the chicken. But I don't think an extra dollar or two for a carton of eggs is too much to pay for better eggs, especially since cheaper eggs just mean that costs are 'externalized' to the animals, the workers, and the environment.
I totally agree -- and there's the bigger issue and I've been trying not to refer to.
For you, the extra dollar per carton is worth it. But is it worth it to pay $2 more per pound of [beef, chicken, pork, etc.] if you know that the animal was raised under relatively humane and healthy conditions? And would you pay $4 for a pint of strawberries if you knew that the migrant workers who picked them received a living wage and were not exposed to harmful chemicals? Would you pay $6 for a yummy Big Mac if it meant the cow was happy and the slaughterhouse worker was happy and the truck driver was happy and the McD's employee was happy...?
I think people should be totally in charge of their own consciences (and I try not to impose my own conscience on other people), but I think most american consumers are happier not to use their consciences. It's simply easier not to think about these things.
And then again, buying free range, cage free, vegetarian eggs does not necessarily mean that you're improving the life of a chicken. (Who, by the way, often live horrible lives if they're part of the industry.)
We are just that mixed up.
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Rice Krispy Squares or a Jello Mold with extra Cool Whip!
Actually, I was thinking about sugar-free jello with fat-free dream whip stuff thrown in.
And remember the "dirt cake" made out of oreos and cool whip that got served in a terra cotta pot, with gummi worms on top?
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i've noticed that actually. but like i said - it's the free-range organic veg ones that i notice it with - not the standard eggs. i'll have to look closely at the dates from now on.
Maybe the free-range-organic people aren't very conscientious about shipping their eggs in a timely way. Or maybe your store doesn't have a high turnover in the high-end eggs? They could be sitting in the fridge for a couple weeks at the store.
Just some thoughts.
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Every year when I go home for the holidays, I take my trusty 10" chef's knife because I know all too well the quality of the parents' knives.
And every year, I get at least one knife that "never needs sharpening."
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so mudpuppie can you explain the egg yolk thing to me?
i find with vegetarian, free-range/cage free whatever eggs that i buy - the yolks seem to hold together, like the skin on them is tight....(important when i'm trying to seperate out yolks) but with the grocery store kind, it's like the yolk breaks if i breath on it the wrong way...
is that a function of freshness? feed? hen health?
Freshness. The yolk of a fresh egg is much firmer than that of an old egg. In fact, really fresh eggs are very hard to whip, and even if you try to break the yolk in the frying pan, it won't really run.
When you buy eggs, there's usually (always?) a date code on the carton. You might have to do some deciphering or call the company, but you should always be able to tell when the eggs were actually laid.
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But a manure-covered slab of concrete sounds fine for chickens. It's the crowding that sounds like a problem. Like most other animals, chickens need some space. They are social creatures who chase one another and, less commonly, like to hang out together.
This isn't really true, Pan. Concrete is bad for a few reasons, though the industry maintains that it's fine. Chickens hunt for food by scratching. They obviously can't do that on a concrete floor. There's a deprivation thing here, but I won't go into that because it's a much larger issue. So set that aside.
Sure, chickens will eat from feeders, so it's not like a concrete floor will starve them. What it will do is bore them. And a bored chicken is a restless, cantankerous, puglistic chicken. And chickens do love to hurt each other. Now, space is one thing and yes, they need it. But if they're bored, they're going to fight anyway. And if they're wounded, well, that manure-covered floor is going to mean serious transmission of disease.
Again, a deprivation issue. But also a consumer one -- if you're buying eggs, you presumably want to buy eggs from healthy chickens.
And as for occassionally hanging out with each other -- not really accurate. Chickens flock by nature. They need space, but they also need company. My chickens wuv each other.
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"Vegetarian" eggs means that the hens aren't fed feed that contains animal by-products. This is important for one major reason -- think BSE, a product of cows eating cows, sheep eating sheep, etc.
What they are fed, or are allowed to eat, is another matter. If they're free-ranging, they most likely have access to insects. (This isn't necessarily the case, though, because "free-range" has no official definition. It could mean that they roam freely through a concrete barn and can't actually scratch in the dirt. In other words, free range might just mean cage free.)
I have chickens. When buying feed, there are varieties that are clearly marked "vegetarian" and those that aren't. I always buy the vegetarian kind just because i have a better idea what's in it. In the end, it doesn't really matter. The chickens turn their noses up at the stuff.
Personally, I'd always buy the "vegetarian" eggs. Animal products that go into animal feed are the stuff that most people would never choose to eat. And the stuff that hens eat affects egg quality and taste in a unique way. (I never, ever feed my chickens cabbage.
) So for me, I'd just rather have the vegetarian eggs.
TX XMAS report
in Texas: Dining
Posted · Edited by Mudpuppie (log)
We do that to disorient the yankees. The main difference is in the color of the bricks in the strip centers and homes. It's gotten lighter over the years, having progressed from 60s and 70s tan to 90s and 00s limestone.
As for Cheesecake Factories in NoCal, there's one in SF and one in San Jose, should you feel like you need a fix.
Not that I'm recommending it. Just didn't want you to feel deprived.
Have you noticed that a lot of CA produce is cheaper in TX than it is here? It is cheaper still in Canada (even after you factor in the exchange rate). I live just a few hours from Watsonville, but always pay more for CA strawberries than I ever did in TX. The exception seems to be artichokes, which will soon be down to $.59. Nyah nyah.