Smithy

Getting back to the Somali goat and rice dish, because I finished the goat tonight: the spices seem to be a blend called Xawaash. As with most spice blends, every one is a bit different. This page gives one recipe for it. The spices involved are cumin, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon bark, cardamom, cloves, and turmeric. I don't like cloves but in this small amount (yes, I could taste it tonight) it was acceptable. If I ever try making it myself I'll probably omit the cloves and maybe the cinnamon, but it's all pretty well balanced in these leftovers.

Could it be because the spinner doesn't quite reach the bottom?

Now that I've looked at Shelby's kit, and looked into fermented tea leaves, I see it isn't something I'm likely to be able to buy easily except through mail order*. I'm pretty sure all that stuff is available at one or both of the grocery stores adjacent to the place I visited today for that salad. I am NOT going back there, at least not this time around. *Of course Amazon has oodles of kits. I've no idea which one(s) would be good. (Maybe copying what Shelby has would make sense.) Arbitrarily, here's one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Now that I see the selection, I'm more inclined to think that going back to the nearby grocery store would make sense. Too bad. I'm tucked in for the night, and hope to leave in the morning.And I already have loaded cabinets!

I learned the same butter-wrap trick for greasing pans at a tender age, but didn't want to disparage anyone for whom this is new information. I'm not sure I've ever used the wrapping over the dish when melting butter in the microwave, though. I've generally used one of my silicone lids. Her trick saves a dish!

Well, let me enlighten you! To quote a favorite movie line: My mind has been expanded! Oh my goodness, this is good stuff. Here's a preview. The place, Shwe Myine Thu, is only a couple of miles away from my current camping spot. Given the high recommendations of @Shelby and @patti , how could I not go out to get some tea leaf salad to try? I bundled up -- for a Texas norther, that is, not for Minnesota -- and drove over. The outside has picture menus of various dishes they offer, though I didn't see tea leaf salad listed. Inside, the place was clean and quiet. I ordered my salad and had a lot of time to enjoy the artwork and other picture menus. At some point I realized that I was looking through an interior window at an attached Burmese market -- not the Asian market on the east side, but another one attached at the west side. The entrance is so far from the restaurant that the place must be huge! I did not go over there. I already have Condiment Creep problems. However, I couldn't resist this packaged mix in the restaurant: The description / ingredients were posted below the stack of containers: I asked about what to do with it, and was told that it's a good addition to rice. I think she said to fry it first, although the ingredient list suggests it's already been fried once. What the heck. It was only $5. I have now added it to my pantry goods, and will be pleased to get recommendations for use. Eventually my lunch was ready. The young woman behind the counter was very apologetic for the wait, and said it's always best to call ahead. I really didn't mind; I'd been enjoying looking around and even watching some of the activity in the attached market that I was resolutely avoiding. So, here's what I opened when I got home: See the garlic cloves and little chiles there in the corner? I've saved them for later. I didn't think the salad needed any help. One of you who knows about tea leaf salad can tell me how I should have used them. If flavors could be drop-dead gorgeous, this would fit the bill! Crunchy. Very crunchy. A llttle tart, a little spicy heat, a LOT of flavor. I think I can identify some lime juice and fish sauce, but I'm not sure what else is there. I'm not sure what-all is in it. Fried peanuts are easily identifiable. There's something very finely sliced that might be cabbage of some variety. Tomatoes, of course. Some other crunchy things too. What is this green thing? It's very crunchy, and has some heat. Wuf. This is wonderful! I'm glad I followed patti's and Shelby's recommendation! It was only $8, and I'll be getting 2 meals out of it. The gentleman you can see sitting with his back to me suggested I eat this over rice. Maybe so, but I ate it straight this first time around. If you're ever in Amarillo, I recommend you look these folks up: @patti. @Shelby, and anyone else who has a recipe for tea leaf salad, please share it. I've been looking online and the recipes are all over the place as far as procedures and ingredients.

I'm in Amarillo, Texas -- the panhandle part. This is turning out to be a good stopping point, and I'm glad I've had a few extra days here.

I've never tried the box grater on its side, either. I'll have to try that and see what I think! It does make sense.

Well, maybe I'll have to go check out a tea leaf salad. I've never heard of it before now! I'm here for at least another day. The wind has shifted around from the southwest to the north, in a classic "Texas Norther". The temperature right now is 43F, which isn't bad compared to what I came from but not much fun to be out in, since the wind is 25 gusting to 33 mph. I'll leave that crosswind to the professionals. And it would definitely be a crosswind for me today. Breakfast this morning was from the yogurt I bought yesterday, and a healthy dose of frozen blueberries. The only plain Greek yogurt I could find yesterday was Chobani nonfat Greek yogurt. I don't know for sure whether it's the brand or the fat content, but this yogurt is thin and disappointing. I usually get Fage 2% or 5% fat content. This yogurt is certainly edible, but I won't get it again if I can help it. The blueberries are Wyman's wild blueberries, and they're wonderful. I generally find cultivated blueberries to be hit-and-miss as far as flavor; wild blueberries have more intense flavor. This frozen food is a nice product. My best friend, who lives in San Diego, says she can't find it there.

I'm sure she was filming in a studio set! I have never seen a freezer that empty, and I wonder who among us has that kind of space? That's what I was giggling about. I'm certainly going to check the vanilla extract bit, next time I use vanilla in something. I think she's mistaken about that being a universal rule. Let me know what you find out too, please.

I second @blue_dolphin's recommendation; I'm pretty sure the only premade pie crusts I've ever bought have been Pillsbury or Pepperidge Farm. I seem to recall finding premade pie crusts already in the pan. Maybe those were Pepperidge Farm? But they tended to be smaller, so her idea of buying them flat to fit your own pans makes sense. @blue_dolphin, thanks also for your comment about the egg:dairy proportion for your larger pans.

We went to Rudy's a few times and generally enjoyed it. It took a bit of doing to get to the one in El Paso but we thought it was worth it. (We had to park and walk in.) That is, we thought it was worth it until we discovered Cooper's Old-Time Pit Barbecue in Llano (and elsewhere). That's even better! Llano became a regular stop-and-stay for us, partly because of the wonderful park and cycling opportunities but mostly because of the excellent barbecue. I'm not planning to go that way this time, but eventually I'd like to go again.

At this end of the globe, it's hard to imagine "so damned hot" but I know it happens, and will again here! How did you dress that salad?

Criminently! When I see menus like that I wonder why I bother to cook for myself, or travel except to places like that! Such creativity! Thanks for the link. We don't still have an explanation of the source, but there's plenty of inspiration here. 🙂

I could wish that she didn't use the descriptor "hack" so much, but that might simply be because I'm jaded to the hackneyed phrase. I agree that she has a good presentation style (except for that) -- very laid-back and easy-going. I especially liked the quiche ratio: break 3 eggs into a 2-cup container, then use dairy to bring the quantity up to 1-1/2 cups no matter how big or small the eggs are. I'll definitely try that one, as the perfect egg:cheese ratio for a 9" quiche. I also liked the use of muffin tins, turned upside down, as taco holders. Some others, like the jargarita and the use of store-bought waffles to make croutons, made sense to me although I'll probably never try those tricks. I did marvel at how empty her freezer compartment was, to allow the storage of a bottle of bourbon and still have empty space! 🙃 What tricks have you especially found useful?

After my shopping adventure, I perused the local tourist flyer in the laundry room. Thanks to the weather I may get another day to Get My Kicks on Route 66. I learned, from looking through it, that there's a LOT more ethnic diversity than I'd have expected. It's reflected in the grocery stores I mentioned above, and in the restaurants that I didn't even know about until I started spotting them while driving. Whaddaya know. I could eat myself silly around here and never eat the same cuisine twice!

There actually were a couple of "African market" listings with Somali food. I chose the one most nearly along my route home, that said "truckers welcome" although I'm not a trucker as such. One the way there, I turned into the wrong parking lot, that had this building: The building to the left of the Asian market is a Burmese restaurant; I also passed a Thai restaurant or two, and maybe a Vietnamese restaurant. But no, I was set on Somali food. I pressed on, and found the place in question. Err... yes, really. I half expected the door to be locked but it wasn't. I went inside. Nobody there but the proprietress, who at first thought I was asking for a "restroom" instead of the "restaurant". I thought about walking back out, but decided to take a chance on the place. They offered goat and rice. I don't get many chances at that. I'm glad I did. She packaged it up, complete with salad and utensils and a banana (tomorrow's breakfast!) and sent me on my way, $20 later. Inside, there was a gracious plenty of rice, goat, and a "salad" that will serve to augment other salads. It's a lot of food. The salad has a very sharp onion that will benefit from a good vinegar soak, but I have no other complaints. The rice is fluffy and delicious, and seasoned with something I can't quite identify: garam masala, perhaps? I'm not sure what the lime is for but I tried it on everything. The goat is very moist and tender, and seasoned similarly to the rice. It's advertised as "goat" rather than "kid goat" (or "cabrito" in this area) but it has nothing of the gaminess I've been told to expect. Maybe it's kid. There's a lot. I'll be making more than one dinner from it all. And yes, with all these groceries I already had, and those I bought today, I could have been cooking. But when will I have another opportunity at Somali food? Edited to add: I forgot to mention the red stuff in the little plastic condiment container. it's a nice, spicy, pepperish sauce, most reminiscent of peri-peri. I didn't think it necessary on anything I tried, but it didn't detract either. I'll use it on something.

I spent the day on a combination of walking, loafing, working on the trailer (chores, laundry) and shopping. I absolutely, positively had to go get fuel: the gauge was nearly on empty and although the "miles remaining" info said I had 40 miles to go, I didn't want to push it. I put 32 gallons into a 35 gallon tank. That's close enough to "empty", don't you think? Then it was on to a pickup wash, and then a Walmart. I needed trailer chemicals, the window squeegee I've mentioned before, and a few groceries for myself and the 4-footed companions. Really, I didn't need much in the way of groceries: a few odds and ends, like yogurt and sliced cheese. Then the floodgates opened. This Walmart is HUGE, even by the usual Walmart Superstore standards. I went through my "Help! Get me outta here!" phase while I tried to navigate the various auto parts, RV parts, household cleaners, and groceries while I was busy dodging the electronics, toys, sporting goods, garden goods (seeds and fertilizer for sale here already) and countless other departments. Eventually I had enough scratched off my list that I could start to take photos. The cheese section is amazing. I found proper chorizo, although I realized later I'd picked up the beef instead of the pork. Oh, well. I really just needed some sliced cheese (and of course I got more than I needed) and vegetables. But how could I resist more than two things from this section? It took a while to find the jalapenos I wanted; this immense selection of chiles didn't have them. They were elsewhere altogether. All that done, I headed back for home, anticipating a happy session of cooking...but wait! While searching the local maps I discovered an African market and restaurant!

Thanks. That sounds like a good, rather classic combination except possibly for cooking it all together in a slow cooker. (I'll have to try that!) Did you make up the name? If not, do you know its derivation? It sounds like a takeoff on, oh, steampunk.

"Gutterpunk"? Please enlighten me.

Numeric culture is funny, isn't it? There's the perennial question of why hot dogs and hot dog buns aren't sold in the same multiples in this country. I hadn't heard of selling things in multiples of 15, though. I actually have an egg container that I picked up at a garage sale last year, same idea as yours but for a dozen. If it falls out during a refrigerator avalanche however, the eggs will be just as broken as in the standard containers. Maybe the mess will be contained, but it would still be a mess. The more standard cartons are relatively secure now, I think. For sure, the 18 eggs on the left are fairly secure, because the container under that carton has a lipped lid. They'd both have to come out at the same time. The blue dozen-egg container on the right may be relocated before I move. I've learned the hard way to be careful opening cupboards and doors after traveling. A few days ago I was glad for that caution; when I parked after an especially rough road, I started to open the refrigerator door and could hear contents shifting. BOTH those cartons you see in the collage above were trying to slide out, along with a couple of condiment jars! I managed to save the eggs and have relocated them since that near-disaster.

This egg isn't especially photogenic, at least not in my hands, but it came out well. The others will probably go into salads of one sort or another. When I left home, I had 4 boiled eggs and 3-1/2 dozen raw eggs, thanks to the generosity of my DIL and her prolific chickens. In fact, I gave another 2 -1/2 dozen to the friends who helped me finish loading. I tend not to eat eggs unless I'm putting them into something -- nothing against them, it's just my cooking style -- but of course I couldn't turn down the gifts. I'm not in a hurry to work my way through these, but I do need to include them from time to time in my meal planning. They'll last a long time in the shell, but there's also the possibility of opening the refrigerator door after a rough road and having scrambled raw eggs on the floor. That nearly happened last week!

I saw it happen last year, when I was staying put but needed to go somewhere in the pickup only. The highway message boards were flashing the warnings, but people tried it anyway. It wasn't pretty.

Getting back to food: This rather odd pinkish stuff is mixed-berry kefir, while I wait for eggs to boil. I'm giving them more time than I would at home, because I'm a couple thousand feet higher here than there. (My instant-read thermometer says the water is at 204F.) I'm not especially crazy about the boiled-egg idea for breakfast, but I don't have any better ideas and the kefir won't hold me through my shopping and errands. Just as last year, I'm realizing some things I'd forgotten -- not things I couldn't find, like the Instant Pot and hand mixer, but things like window washing equipment. There are at least 2 squeegees and 2 extending poles sitting at home, in plain sight, due to previous purchases that my darling and I made and then forgot to pack! So in addition to the groceries and trailer consumables I need, I'll be picking up some cleaning equipment if I can find it. Last year I only needed 1 day to rest and recuperate before traveling again. This year I'm making it 2 (and counting). I feel much better and more rested than yesterday, but I still have things to do and I'd be fighting a strong headwind anyway if I wanted to move on today. As much as I love aerodynamics, I'll simply say that a headwind makes a huge difference in fuel consumption.

What about olives added to it? You could take it in a Mediterranean direction like this salad I had a few days ago: a nice vinaigrette, not too sweet. One issue is that it might clash with the sweetness of the pulled meat sandwich. I'm not sure about compatability, but I'm throwing it out as a suggestion. You say you don't want green beans in the bean salad. What about wax beans? Or are you simply trying to avoid those long skinny legumes this time around?

Following up on this: in case someone's interested, I snapped a photo of the works in progress, because my description may not have been clear. I still wouldn't bother buying another.