Smithy

Aha. @Duvel, note the correction here. i was mistaken about the meaning! Thanks, @Tropicalsenior and @Margaret Pilgrim!

Oh, that gave me a good morning laugh! But in case your question is genuine: here it means "flat" as opposed to "fat" or "puffy" or "round". These little filets were indeed quite flattened, and so delicate that the contents fell apart as I was spooning out the amount I wanted. I used about half the tin's worth. I'll show it when I make the next batch of this stuff.

It is always, always, always drier downwind of a mountain range than upwind, where "downwind" indicates the usual wind patterns. At our latitudes the winds are "prevailing westerlies" so the western sides of mountain ranges are wetter than the eastern sides. The mountains wring moisture out of the atmosphere as the wind blows up and over the mountains. Death Valley is especially dry because it's separated from (and downwind of) the Pacific Ocean by at least 3 large mountain ranges. Eastern Washington and Oregon are much drier than their western sides for the same reason. The drier region downwind of the mountain range is its rain shadow. Since you're coming up this highway, I very much hope you take time to stop and visit Manzanar if you haven't done so before. We've been touring, and I'm learning that I can do at most 2 of these 3 things at once: cook, visit, write. We've been doing a lot of touring and cooking (and eating), but the writing about it will have to wait. I will say, however, that I finally got around to my first attempt at duplicating the Celestial Sauce from Cafe Luna. Pretty good stuff. I'll write more about it later. The ingredients -- well, most of them anyway: And the final sauce: Texture about right. Flavor quite good. We kept wondering what could be done to improve it, and coming up blank while we kept dipping our bread into it. The fireplace burgers afterward were anticlimactic.

That's how it has seemed to me: dry, dry, barren, even for an area that is normally dry. Thanks for this excellent description!

The dog rides in the truck with me. The cats stay in the trailer, but they generally ride up in the bedroom so they weren't in any danger from breakage. Once I discovered the damage I was careful to clean and clear it all away...counters mopped, floor mopped, stove grills removed so the stove could be mopped. I must say, the floor hasn't been that clean in weeks! Last night I made a celebratory "welcome" dinner for my sister: mushrooms, garlic and red bell peppers sweated, then barely-cooked noodles added to make an alfredo sauce around them. Smoked salmon from home mixed in at the end. It was wonderful, and I'm quite pleased with it. It's one of my hip-pocket recipes: give me the ingredients and I don't need to consult any notes. Still, sometimes it comes out better than others, and I suspect the slightly narrower no-yolk egg noodles she brought has something to do with it. Sorry, but I don't have any photos! She arrived after dark and needed to be guided up to the spot, and then we were too busy gabbing and eating. Maybe I'll show you leftovers later.

For what it's worth, I find that most cilantro stems chop up beautifully and add bulk and flavor. I wouldn't do that with parsley, but cilantro seems to whizz right up, stem and all. I learned that trick from a chef who made a delicious salad dressing using an entire bunch of cilantro, stems and all.

Thanks. I've tried pinotage a few times, and even brought home a bottle or two from a South African winery some years ago. I've decided I don't like it. I know that I can get a refund through Naked Wines if I don't like a wine, but it feels abusive (to them, not to me) to try something I almost certainly won't like. However! Have you ever tried Arabella's shiraz/voignier blend? Now there's a combination I'd never have expected to try, much less like. It was one of those mystery gifts. I like it very much.

This bread is dark, not particularly sweet, with an even crumb to make it a good sandwich bread. They actually call it Squaw Bread in house, as they've always done, but when I asked what term they now use in public he said they're calling Prairie Bread. The recipes for Prairie Bread that I could find easily online don't match; they're loaded with nuts and seeds. This recipe for Squaw Bread looks more nearly like the right thing, but I don't detect the molasses sweetness that this recipe calls for although the unsweetened cocoa may blunt the sweetness. My copy of the Los Angeles Times Cookbook lists the ingredients as whole wheat flour, rye flour, all-purpose flour, nonfat milk, brown sugar, honey, raisins and the usual yeast/water/salt additions. *Shudder* I promise you this bread didn't have raisins. It doesn't have any inclusions, in fact. It's just a good, smooth, very brown bread. It was a favorite of my dear departed friend because of its healthful ingredients. I've written Wolfe's and asked if they're willing to share the ingredients, and maybe even baker's percentages.

It took me two days of driving to get here whereas I'd hoped for only one, but I had to spend time horsing around with equipment issues: jump-starting the pickup because the trailer had drained batteries in the cold and gloom of L.A. stormy weather, and later having to dig out the air compressor (twice!) because of low tire pressure. Still, here I am in yet another very quiet, very beautiful spot. It's clear that there's been more rain here than there was in the lower desert, even though I'm in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada. How lovely to see flowers! I saw beautiful blooms along the road also, but couldn't stop for any photos. That sandwich I showed you from Wolfe's served me well for two road-stop lunches. Here, I'll show it to you again. 🙂 Prairie bread with roast beef, mayo, mustard, tomatoes, sprouts, pepperoncini, pepper jack cheese. One half was enough for each day. I had also purchased two chicken enchiladas there. I had one of them on my overnight stop along the way, in a truck stop. I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to cook it, and settled for cooking it in the oven at about 350F on a steel baking sheet. It was an economical way to cook the enchilada, but I should have put it on something like parchment paper. The sheet had to soak overnight before I could clean it. Let me tell you, these enchiladas are the thing of my dreams. The chicken is cooked well enough to be tender, but still has some chew. There's a something tart (tomatillo salsa?) and something that gives a little bit of heat. The tortillas are corn tortillas, amazingly tender for corn, and the masa flavor adds beautifully. I'm not sure what-all else is in there, but I think I've spotted guacamole. I think I tried for a money shot but couldn't get one properly. I was ecstatic, though: the dinner was excellent, and I had another still in abeyance! The next morning I hit the road, found a campground, and learned not to trust either Google Maps or my GPS when they try to take me The Short Way. I don't know whether that was what caused the mystery damage, but when I opened out I discovered that the microwave oven had somehow opened itself, dropped the turntable disk onto the hard counter, then closed itself again. Glass all over the counters and floor! No photo. We had one of those jack-in-the-box spillages from the freezer some years back, but that didn't result in nearly as much damage. The scenery really is marvelous here! Last night I had the other enchilada. This time I was smarter about the cooking vessel, and used on of the Corelle pie plates I'd picked up at a garage sale in Yuma. First time using one! It worked well. It would have worked better if I hadn't been distracted by a long, drawn-out phone conversation with a friend who calls roughly once a year. The texture suffered badly from overcooking, but the flavors didn't. Breakfast this morning: some of that great kalamata sourdough bread I bought in San Diego, with a mashup of lebneh (cheese) balls I brought from home. I keep forgetting I have them. This morning they hit the spot.

The next day I moved on into the L.A. Basin to stay one last time at the house of the dear friend whose birthday we've always celebrated at Midwinter. She died last January at age 104, and this weekend was the Celebration of Life for her. I chose my travel time carefully, being leery of L.A. traffic at the best of times. I chose well, and only had a few incidents of needing to overcome what the Victorians would have called The Vapors. (There's no hitting a "Pause" button when things get tight! I just have to keep breathing, stick to my job, and hope all the other drivers do theirs.) My friend's daughter made me welcome, but I slept outside in the trailer in order not to contribute to the household's chaos; her two best friends from college were also staying with her and had the guest rooms occupied. I made an interesting discovery that first morning: with the kitchen glide in, because I was parked on the street, the kitchen island is an impediment! Fortunately, I could reach the stove to make my morning coffee. The morning and evening walks were beautiful. I loved seeing so many flowers in bloom. It's a beautiful, quiet neighborhood with well-tended yards. The night I arrived, my friend made a stellar dinner for the four of us. Meltingly tender salmon, crisp asparagus, rice, steamed carrots, excellent baguette and cheese. Chocolate chip mini-baguettes for dessert. She knocked herself out. It was a brilliant dinner. There's a citrus-butter sauce atop the salmon and rice, but it doesn't show well here. I don't have any other photos of food we ate there. The next day was the Celebration of Life, with hors d'ouvres at a reception afterward. When we decamped for the night back to her house, we sat up till all hours talking and drinking wine. The next morning I visited the local Trader Joe's and the wonderful one-off Wolfe's Market nearby. They've struggled to stay open during these changing times, and their prices have shot up dramatically, but their deli is still excellent. I bought a sandwich for the road, some potato salad, salad dressing, and chicken enchiladas that I'll show in another post. I miss Wolfe's. They used to have a market also, but now it's just a deli and catering. Still a treasure.

It's been a busy week. In a few hours my sister will arrive to visit for a few days, and we'll be busy touring and visiting. I'll use some of my quiet time to update this story. I moved out of Yuma and back to our beloved boondocking spot for one night. It was absolutely marvelous to have dead silence outside: a little unnerving to not even hear any night birds, but blessed not to have traffic or barking dogs. If I worked at it I could hear highway noise a mile away, sometimes. It was also hot. Much, much, much too hot for comfort and I didn't want to start the generator so I could have air conditioning. It was also much, much, much too hot that evening to be interested in building a campfire although I'd intended to do so in honor of my sorely-missed darling. So the campfire structure remained pristine. I did go for walks, first in the afternoon heat and next in the morning. If anything I missed him more there than I had in Yuma. Yuma wouldn't have been his speed. This was, heat and all. I so wanted to show him my discoveries. I have never seen ironwood trees in bloom before. On the highway I thought I was seeing lavender-colored trees. "No, it can't be," I said to myself. But since I was driving, I couldn't stop or take photos. When I got set up and started walking, I found that they are, indeed, lavender when they're blooming. They're a member of the pea family, and they have the classic pea flowers for blossoms. I'm not sure what I ate that night. Probably my first attempt at a wrap, using the lavash I'd purchased in San Diego. I don't think I realized what I was in for! I used about half of one sheet, loaded it with hummus and tabbouli, and ate it. That wrap will need more. Maybe filling it with more interesting and varied stuffings, then grilling it as a proper wrap from Babylon Market in Tucson would do it. The next morning was so pleasantly cool that I considered staying one more day, but I was on a schedule. I admired the sunrise... Made a sandwich for the road... and headed off to the Salton Sea, only a couple of hours away. It was hot there too, and not quite as quiet, but beautiful anyway. I was glad to have moved on. That night I reheated some of the pork dish I'd made. Again I didn't want to mess with the generator, so I heated it on the stovetop in a pan. Not bad! And that's a good thing, because I have yet one more helping of it that I'm about to go have for lunch.

I'm so sorry that happened, and I'm very surprised that neither of you could detect the freezer burn after it was thawed! What a shame!

Wow! I wish I could justify ordering that. When I click on the link you give, it lists the Staub as $149.99. In addition, there's a 15% off offer for new email subscribers. I must not. I must not. I must not...

This is something I hadn't heard of before, so I can't comment on whether they work well. I will note, however, the potential for a neat piece of equipment that will become difficult or impossible, or at least terribly expensive, to repair or replace when necessary. I've managed to ruin one vacuum sealer already (countertop variety) because I wasn't careful enough to keep liquid out of the pump. If that had been built into my oven drawer it might have been a nightmare. As it is, I could easily replace it.

This bit really made me laugh! But I feel your pain on the space issue. We began with a pickup-mounted camper, and after a summer of trips here and there, and a week solid on the road, we agreed we needed more space. I turned out some pretty good dinners, but quickly ran out of space if I tried anything like what I'd do at home...or here. Kudos to your husband for finding just exactly the right size cutting board for the stove top!