chromedome

I often make a simpler summertime salad of just fennel and fresh orange segments. Once I've finished "supreme-ing" the oranges I squeeze the juice from the remnants over the fennel, and add a splash of olive oil (and a bit of lemon, if the oranges aren't tart enough). Very nice on a hot day,* and minimal prep. *Which in the local context, means anything past the mid-20s C.

Random thought that occurred to me last night as I was dozing off... There really ought to be a cocktail called the Metaphor. "Gotta hand it to ol' Jimbo, he really knows how to mix a Metaphor..." Edited to add the afterthought.... "...and WTH would go into one?"

I have grown them all successfully, and fenugreek as well. A lot rides on how often you cycle through your spices, of course, but if you plant enough you'll get *some* germination even with older seeds. Once you've got the first few growing, of course, you can let a plant or two bolt and produce mature seeds. Refrigerate those, and next year is looked after. In the present company I'm guessing most of us have fresher spices than our less food-centric neighbours, so the odds are better. Push come to shove, you could always buy some fresh at your local bulk-foods store or whatever. Dill is just about as fast-growing as cilantro, so it's a good candidate for growing from seed. Fennel and fenugreek take longer to go to seed, but don't take too terribly long to reach the usable-as-herb stage. One quick note: Keep some space between your fennel and dill; apparently they're closely enough related that they can cross-pollinate and your next-year seeds will be unreliable.

Cilantro grows quickly and freely from seed - quickly enough, in fact, that I usually stagger my planting times even here in my relatively short-season climate. Grab the bottle of coriander seed from your cupboard and plant a dozen or so in a suitable location, and you should have a few germinate even if the seeds are somewhat past their prime. Thin them if necessary, and then you're off to the races. If you want to do a second planting, you'll now know roughly what germination rate to expect and can plant accordingly.

Depends whether it's genuinely uncured, no quotes, or "uncured' in the celery sense. Cut off a small piece, fry it and taste it. If it tastes like plain pork, you're good to go. If it tastes like bacon, you probably need to do something else with it (...or maybe just soak it a while to get some salt out...).

There's nothing wrong with that, you just have to carry it off with a certain degree of assurance. You don't tell people "I just threw together any old thing," you gaze at them airily and tell them "I think of it as 'jazz cookery'...I'm very improvisational."

LOL Yup. You thought herding cats was a challenge?

I was all excited because I thought I saw flank steak on the cover of the Sobey's flyer. Turned out to just be tenderloin. Bummer.

My eyes see "David Soo Hoo" and my brain autocorrects it to "Cindy-Lou Who." ...please tell me I'm not the only one...?

Yours comes out of the tap already lukewarm? Such a convenience...I have to leave mine sit out in the Brita for a couple of hours after it's filled.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/5/8/21248618/coronavirus-meat-shortage-food-supply-chain-grocery-stores

My sweetie asked for Eggs Benny tonight, so it was breakfast for dinner. Hash browns for one side, fresh dandelion greens with caramelized onions, garlic and pine nuts for the other.

My daughter sent me this link. I'm not sure how big a plant you could grow in something the size of a coffee mug, but it's kind of cool in its rather precious way.

Now that I slow my mouth long enough for my brain to catch up, the brand I used to see most often in restaurant kitchens was Rubbermaid's commercial line. Durable, and you could get them with extra-long handles for deep pots.

Lucky guess, based on how put-together your current food looked. My across the hall neighbour is due around the same time, with her second. She's 5'8" or 5'9" and about as big around as my leg, so she's already starting to look like a snake trying to digest a basketball.

Congratulations on the impending arrival of a new mouth to feed. Your first?

I thought it intriguing that the all-male and all-female populations worked so well in their disparate environments. I can't see the likelihood that both would occur in the same physical location, though that's probably not necessary when you're breeding 'em that way instead of sorting them.

Can't help you on that specific brand, but most kitchenware stores seem to have things that are similar. Truthfully, I just buy mine at the dollar store and discard 'em when they get grubby.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/coronavirus-eggs-farming-20200511.html

Hello...my name is Inigo Montoya...

Yeah, they're not at all responsive. Changing the temperature is like watching an oil tanker do a three-point turn. On the upside, they're pretty easy to wipe up. No cracks and crevices.

Tongue-in-cheek (it is Drew Magary, after all...) but not inapposite: https://www.sfgate.com/food/slideshow/Drew-Magary-pancake-breakfast-diet-coronavirus-202014.php

Speaking as a writer, I can but admire such an elegantly economical narrative.

...in this LA-area publication. https://www.lataco.com/taco-shop-homelessness-volunteer/