Smithy

They're fun, aren't they? The Christmas lights began going up the day after we arrived. The park is also setting up for their annual light festival, called something like "Starry Nights in Llano". Lighted archways define walkways, with playful displays along the way. There are lighted Christmas trees at the top of the hill, where the walks start. There's a "Snowflake Express" train, and a display of Santa working on his pickup, and Santa catching a fish, and a reindeer (Rudolph?) catching a fish, and lovely angels and poinsettias and doves and other holiday decorations. I wish we'd be around to enjoy it in its lit-up glory, but that happens sometime after Thanksgiving. We'll be long gone by then. The trailer is repaired, hooray! That tale is still to be told, but right now it's time to start dinner. Lest you think that we aren't eating any greens in this haven of Texas 'cue, here was lunch: Green salad, with a side of chicken salad spiked with Little Green Dress, from Vivian Howard's latest cookbook. (See this topic for more information. The fuss over LGD in particular starts here.) Delicious. I've learned that LGD changes its character depending on what it's mixed with: where in a salad dressing I pick up more of the tart savory flavor of the olives and capers, in this chicken salad with mayonnaise I taste more of the herbs. The crackers are something I'm trying for the first time. Okay by themselves, great for scooping up chicken salad!

I'm having beans for breakfast again. That means we're back in Llano, Texas! Yes, we know there's a pandemic. Our reasoning is that we can shelter in place as easily in the Princessmobile as we can at home. More to the point, more than a foot of snow fell in mid-October, and then the temperature dropped to 11F. Nothing would keep my darling home at that point. We winterized the trailer to prevent damage from water pipes freezing, and headed south on November 5, 2 days after the General Election. By then it had warmed up at home again, to an unseasonable mid-70's, but we knew it wouldn't last. (It hasn't.) There are two flaws in the shelter-in-place-while-mobile reasoning, one of which we foresaw (laundromats rather than our own washing machine) and one of which we didn't but should have (trailer repairs). The trip already has been eventful. I'll write more about the events, and the packing-up, and the food we've brought along or purchased along the way, later. Consider this a place-holder while we wait for the repair team. Here's a preview of good ol' Texas 'cue:

They look like Hachiyas to me. As @heidih noted above, they need to be dead-ripe, as in about to turn to custard, or else (IMO) cooked to kill the astingency. Here's a writeup on Fuyu vs. Hachiya, with an interesting discussion (read the comments) including American persimmons. Those are probably the ones you had in Tennessee.

Be sure to tell us what becomes of the persimmons, please!

I went to Amazon and, of course, found several bean frenchers. This Norpro clamp-style frencher (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) sounds similar to the one @chromedome mentioned. There are also hand-held frenchers of many styles. Here's just one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). I've never worked with one, so have no suggestions on style or utility that might be best, but a hand-cranked clamped model sounds easier to me to work with, although it would also take up more space in the kitchen.

Yes. I bought the Kindle version of the book for myself, but after I've made more things from it I plan to make up little jars' worth of some items (LGD, the tomatoes) as Christmas gifts. I might accompany them with a copy of the book, if I think the recipient would use it. I might buy a copy of the book "just in case" for the recipient, and then keep it if she doesn't want it. I just had LDG three ways at lunch: in the chicken salad I made, as a dressing for some chopped lettuce, and as an augmentation of last night's deli potato salad. I agree with the comments above that adjustments can and should be made. I added a touch more vinegar and found it more to my tastes.

Welcome to eGullet, Chuck! Thanks for clarifying about the name/gender, although as time goes on you still may have to correct people, if it matters. Heck, I read and enjoyed @Jaymes' posts for years before realizing Jaymes was a she. I admire you for starting a confectionary business. You'll find wonderful resources here from very experienced confectioners and chocolatiers, and you'll also be able to share tips and boo-boos with other newcomers. As someone who's never made candy more elaborate than fudge, I won't be able to help in that area, but I can help you find your way around the forums, if you need it. So can any other host or manager, so feel free to PM one of us if the need arises.

Another fine topic, probably my favorite, is The Boy Ain't Right in the Head

Dammitall anyway. I never met him, but his posts here amused and informed me. I began to take interest in Louisiana's fare in large part because of him. I'd always hoped to see him in person someday.

Now that you mention it, my parents' kitchen had the same, or else very similar, pattern in blue. We loved it, but of course almost anything gets old after a while.

Ha! I admit to being massively envious of the pantry! The kitchen is gorgeous, and I too wish you many years of happy cooking in it. All that space! That elegant backsplash! Those appliances! And I'm with Elsie on the double sink...so much nicer for my purposes than a single basin. For me the big dilemma was the size ratio of the two basins. I'm pleased with my choice. I hope you are pleased with yours.

My batch of LGD did indeed mellow a bit, and as @blue_dolphin noted, it's better as a condiment than as a stand-alone dish. So far it's been on a hard-boiled egg and last night's potatoes. It was my dinner-prepping snack on tortilla chips. It was my midnight snack (must stop snacking while I'm cleaning up from dinner) on leftover chicken. I think it'll be a killer addition to potato salad. I'm going to try it in chicken salad, and of course there's the tuna. Nice stuff! Meanwhile, I started a batch of can-do kraut using a lonely head of red cabbage a friend gave me a month ago. I had thought I'd braise some of the cabbage for last night's dinner, but in the end did the whole head. I think I'll need to repack it in a day or so, though. It's in an oversized glass jar that's fine sitting on the counter, but in a few days we're headed out for the winter. A plastic container is much easier to deal with on the road, and if the plastic reacts to the kraut...well, it will be a lesson learned.

Do you have a link to the recipe you used, if you used one? That looks like something I'd like to try.

In truth, I think the cabinets look(ed) great once that awful countertop was gone. But I'm looking forward to seeing the new version of the kitchen. I am most surprised by the idea of raising the whole house. I tend to accept walls, grades, heights, and so on as they're set, rather than seeing the possibilities of changes. Very cool. (And I'll note that when I first read the phrase "raise the house" I thought you'd made a frightul typo! Glad I was wrong about that!)

I wish to correct myself. I said: I was wrong. I don't know what the bright green but mild olives were that I was thinking of, but the Mazetta Pitted Italian Castevetrano olives that I bought yesterday taste very much like Spanish olives, or Queen olives. I like them, but they aren't what I expected and I don't wish to mislead anyone. Since @Shelby agreed with me, I wonder whether there are different treatments and flavor profiles? My batch of LGD is sitting and, I hope, mellowing, as I type. It has a bit more bite than I expected. Perhaps because of the HUGE double shallot I used.

One root system, two bulbs or lobes. Typical for a shallot. My question is: is this one shallot or two? Not that it matters, it's all I have today, but I just realized I don't know the answer. I'll never forget the time when I used 3 heads of garlic in a sauce when the recipe called for 3 cloves of garlic! I've come a long way since then, but clearly I don't know everything.

Do you find that fire-roasting is critical to the flavor? I ask because I've had baba ganoush in Egyptian restaurants that was made over a stove and was DELICIOUS. However, my attempt at it earlier this summer, when I went the lazy way and cooked the eggplant in the oven, was a bland disappointment to me. Fortunately my husband still liked it, so it wasn't a total loss.

Here's something I hadn't imagined or expected: a shortage of spices because of a shortage in packaging materials! Washington Post article. I hope this article is included in their free pandemic coverage: A spice boom has left manufacturers scrambling, and packaging materials can’t keep up

@Anna N, I totally agree about Shelby's cookery! I just thought it comical, and hadn't gotten Shelby's joke earlier since I hadn't started the book when I saw her post. I agree that endive was shorthand for obscure (or poncy- love that word although my spell checker doesn't) ingredients. If VH happens to be following along on this topic I'm sure she'll be impressed.

How ironic. Doesn't she say specifically in the opening that if you're looking for things to do with endive you should look in another book? 😄 I'm really enjoying her writing style. Thought I'd done all the grocery shopping for a week or two, but since my Other Half has rationalized the need for Halloween candy there's a trip again today. Which means I can get a cuke for kraut and the ingredients for LGD!

Welcome, @BatchCooker! If you like science and cooking, you've come to a good place. Feel free to wander around the forums, check out what's here and join in the conversations. If you need help finding things, or understanding how to use the forums, feel free to reach out to a host (I am one) by Personal Messenger (PM) or take a look at our Help Files. I especially love German comfort food, and hope to learn a few things from you about it as you post here. What are some comfort food dishes you especially like to make and eat?

Indeed! Thanks for the reminder, Kerry. The Harvest Right and perhaps some other freeze dryers got a lot of attention a few years back. Those topics can be a great resource: Freeze Dryers and Freeze Dried Food (Part 1) Freeze Dryers and Freeze Dried Food (Part 2) Welcome, @Tactical_Pickle!

I compromised and bought the Kindle version. I'm in a position where compact is better anyway, although less satisfying.

FWIW castelvetrano olives don't taste like what you might expect. They're green ripe olives, not green unripe olives unless my memory fails me. (If I'm misremembering, somebody please correct me.)) Very different flavor profile. I'm especially irked because I DO like mint, but neglected to collect any before it froze hard. Our herbs are done for the year, except some very hardy sage and rosemary. Now it's MY turn to damn you all. I don't need more cookbooks either, but will probably be pulling the trigger on this one soon.

Huh. Maybe I'll have to try that cut again. Yours sounds delicious! Thanks for reporting back on it!