Smithy

This post isn't about Death Valley. Rather, it's about a wonderful thing to do with citrus if you have it: Citrus-Marinated Roasted Chicken is one of my favorite ways to roast chicken, when I have the oranges and lemons. Right now I have plenty. This recipe comes from Fine Cooking, Issue 115, and it's been a family favorite since I first tried it. The marinade consists of orange and lemon juice and zest; garlic; oregano; honey and soy sauce. Tuck the chicken in with slices of lemon and orange. Let them all get cozy for 6 - 12 hours (in truth, I did about 3). Roast: first at high heat, to brown the skin, then at low heat to finish the chicken. The bottom half of this photo shows the beautifully bronzed result. Strain the sauce, defat it, boil it down and serve. If you have two whole chickens and a big enough pan, cut them up and roast them both to ensure plenty of leftovers. I only had chicken thighs, and wish I'd fit more into the pan. My darling liked the sauce not only on the chicken and rice, but also on his salad! The pictures above don't convey the extent of the dinner. Between the sauce in the pot, the chicken, and the salad, there wasn't much room left on the table. The rice cooker is in the other room. Here's the whole spread. The perspective is skewed because of where I had to stand; the sauce pan is NOT bigger than the dinner plates! And now for a change of pace: I know a lot of the country is under storm watch of one sort or another. @Shelby is hoping for snow; @rotuts is hoping that Shelby will come out and shovel his snow; folks in the L.A. Basin are celebrating the rain storms but, in some cases, dodging mudslides or working to avoid traffic accidents. The rain that's been pounding the West Coast has even made it to the interior deserts, and the wildflowers are making the most of it. Here's a bit of color for you. The sky has been pretty, too. This was yesterday's sunset and moonrise:

I have been googling that idea, and you're right - it IS gorgeous. I especially like the philosophical aspect of accepting and accentuating "flaws" as part of the whole. Thank you! None that I see. @andiesenji, may have some ideas. This. I was raised never to underline books, to keep things in as near-new condition as possible. I've decided that the attitude is fine as long as it doesn't interfere with the original purpose of the item in question. Some of my books - those that are old and considered collector's items - are unmarked. Cookbooks have gained character with notes. And if a dish gets broken during use, I'lll be upset but it will still be there in my memory, associated with good times. A friend of mine who lost her husband at much too young an age learned the lesson to Use the Good Stuff whenever possible. "Look at the good china! What was I saving it for?" she raged one evening. (She has gone on to remarry and live a happy new life. As far as I know, she Uses the Good Stuff now.) You are so correct about the law of dish breakage! Making it into an ornament is another good idea that I'd never thought of, and I thank you. Right now I'm leaning toward the kintsugi treatment as a first option to explore. As Kerry suggested above and @caroled has confirmed, this plate will look beautiful with gold veins and patches in it. I'm so glad I didn't throw the pieces away! (The treatment will probably cost more than the plate did, but it will have a whole new story to tell!) OK...has anyone here done kintsugi repair? Any ideas about how I'd go about it, or should I send it to a professional?

That sounds like a worthy idea! I'll do some googling on that.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. There were too many small chips - and even some powder, from the very center, to be able to glue it back together. However, I have the chunks with me - wrapped carefully in a paper bag to avoid having sharp corners pierce the garbage bag. I wrapped it all up that way, placed it at the bottom of the garbage bag, and then - the next day - fished it out again. Maybe there's a way to embed the fish portion in some mortar to make a decorative tile.

I managed to overspend, too. A week or so ago I finished Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes, which I had purchased for $2.99 thanks to Toliver's post here. What a delightful book! I decided to see whether Ms. Bard had published more since then, and was pleased to see that she had. Maybe it was because I wasn't wearing my glasses, but it was only after I'd hit the "buy" button that I realized I'd purchased her Picnic in Provence: a Memoir with Recipes for $9.99 instead of the $0.99 I thought I was paying. It wasn't on sale after all. Oh, well. I love a bargain, but I also like the idea of helping support a writer.

Our visit to Death Valley began with a bang. One of the hazards of trailer travel is that things get jostled. Airlines warn passengers to open overhead luggage compartments carefully because "contents may have shifted during flight". The same principle applies in the Princessmobile. As a general rule we remember to open the refrigerator and cabinets gingerly after setting up at a new location. Sometimes we forget, and a measuring cup or plastic canister of cat food jumps out at the unwary door-opener. We've never had breakage, though - until now. How this plate came from the depths of the dish cabinet to the very door so it could jump out at my darling is a mystery. We had gone over a mountain pass - up roughly 4000' and then down nearly 5000'; as we recall, the roads were smooth. We didn't do any serious braking, but the grade must have somehow allowed the plate to roll toward the opening. The first year or two that I had this plate, I stowed it in a cushioned shipping envelope for travel. I stopped because our current arrangement of racks and dish storage seemed too stable for anything from the back to make it to the front. No matter pondering "why" any more; it happened. Stuff happens. It could be worse. I bought this plate in Feb. 2015, at a little antique/junk store near where we'll be camping soon. My darling, thinking it could be replaced and feeling terrible about the damage, offered to buy another - two, in fact! Alas, this particular plate was a one-off: older than I, and a lucky find. I could have left it at home, parked in the china cabinet, but we wouldn't have had the pleasure of using it on the road. We have other good dishes. This just happened to be my favorite, in part because it was unique. So here is my lamentation for a favorite plate. In the grand scheme of things this is trivia, but it was a sad start to our stay there. I'll get back to the travelogue later today, or tomorrow, now that we have a good internet connection again.

I haven't, and I am also resisting, so I'm not answering your question either. However, I am curious about the first sentence quoted above. What were you looking for? In what way were the cruffins you made deficient?

Please tell more about this. I'm a big fan of dill pickles, and might want to try this soup!

I know you said pasta is done and done to exhaustion, but what about mac and cheese balls on a stick? Somewhere - probably here on eGullet - I've seen little balls made of macaroni and cheese that were rolled in breadcrumbs and then deep fried. Not exactly the most healthful option in the world, but poker runs aren't usually about good nutrition. This is a gimmick that, if tasty, would make extra points.

@Jacksoup, I'm glad you're asking questions about the Meyer lemons because I also have a generous lot of them to use up. I'd forgotten about Meyer lemon curd, and the vinaigrette noted above also sounds excellent. Thanks for eliciting those tips! When I have Meyer lemons available and mild fish to go with them, I like to cook them with a very lemony sauce with a bit of mustard. My husband and I invented this dish based on what we could remember from a favorite Egyptian hotel, and named it Roadway Inn Fish in a pun off the New Radwan Hotel. You can see a picture of the dish here. A few posts later is the recipe. I believe you have a bumper crop of other citrus as well? If so, then citrus-marinated roasted chicken might be just the ticket. In fact, I think I'll be doing that in the next week, now that you've reminded me. This post has a link to the Fine Cooking recipe. Here's how it came out that time.

I'm late to the party due to being offline for a week or so, but I want to follow up on this. We've heard recommendations for Sparky's as an outstanding burger place. What do you say, now that you've been there? Is it worth the drive up from Columbus?

Good for her! Thanks for posting that information, and please wish Loretta luck on our behalf, next time you see her!

We could have a lot of fun transliterating our ancestors' language into modern parlance! For now, however, I'd like to know whether the "Irish potatoes" were always of the same type. If so, what general category (if you know)? I don't recall seeing anything other than russets in my grandmother's cookery. I can't know whether that was her choice or a matter of availability in the area to which she'd moved. We never discussed the potato spectrum from waxy to starchy.

I grew up thinking in terms of "potato" vs. "sweet potato". It's interesting that they considered it necessary to distinguish the type either way, so that what I think of as the default "potato" was "Irish potato".

In the end, I have done little holiday baking...but I DID do these today as part of New Year's breakfast. I'm so glad I did! No pictures, but there's another log in the freezer for later.

Chopped up for tenderness, mixed with something else (celery? antipasta bits?) that would work for me. Since @Darienne doesn't do sausage, she might not do pepperoni either. I'm trying to brainstorm something that would appeal to non-sausage eaters. I, however, have added the sausage and puff pastry to my post-Christmas shopping list!

I wonder if the same approach would work for a sweet filling (finely chopped dried fruit, nut paste) or a different savory filling. (What? Nuts with ground turkey? Ideas, anyone?) Can't see why not, but it occurs to me that I have time and opportunity still to get some puff pastry and experiment on more than just the two of us! We also like Jimmy Dean sausage.

I'm afraid I would be out of my depth to suggest choices from your cellar, but I'll point out that your Google Drive document requires access by another Google member, and your approval. Perhaps you could post the document here, so members could see it.

The meals, treats, pastries and ideas here have all been wonderful! I, for the second (or is it third) year running, have not used the dried fruit I bought with which to make stollen or a fruited bread. I suppose it isn't too late for New Year's. When we got to the family gathering, I discovered that my cousin was jonesing for the latest chocolate pudding - a Hershey Special Dark Chocolate mix - so I bought 2 packages and a graham cracker crust, and presented him with a chocolate pie made from the stuff. I took special pains to save a package that clearly says "Made with genetically engineering products" (or maybe "Made with genetic engineering"). He loved it. For the rest of us, I made an eggless chocolate mousse - heavy cream, bittersweet chocolate, sugar, hot water. Each of us had about 1/2 cup serving, and it was a gracious plenty. For today I brought what they requested: bread. I'm really quite proud of it. Sourdough, from a starter I began a month or so ago in Tucson, and using special flour I picked up in Tucson. Not a GMO to be found, as my cousin enjoyed teasing me. (The others appreciated that same point!) We all loved the flavor and texture, and I was pleased with the shaping. I do hope this means I'm actually learning something about bread-baking, rather than dumb luck. Although, when it's a pinch like the holidays, I'd just as soon be lucky as good.

Welcome! When you're home and cooking for yourself, what do you like to cook?

KennethT said it for me.

We used to have a neighbor who did toffee like that. I loved it. Believe me, I'd have noticed if the chocolate were only on one side!

It's a good thing the ants didn't point it out to you!

I have exchanged emails with the Desert Museum's native foods culinary instructor who is featured near the end of this post about the Sonoran Desert Harvest festival. She corrected me regarding her preferred ways to get juice from the prickly pear fruits: although I had correctly stated that the fruits could be frozen, then thawed and drained to collect the juice, I incorrectly stated that they could also be boiled to get the juice. She notes that boiling takes way too long. The other method is to puree the fruit ( @lemniscate, I think this is what you said also) then drain through the pillowcase. The boiling is the final step prior to bottling, to kill off microbes. She wrote: CHOLLA FLOWER BUDS: I've read that all cholla buds and fruit are edible, however some are less accessible than others. That's where the propane torch comes in. Plus some fruit varieties get woody or desiccate at the end of the season, so why bother? Chain fruit cholla fruit is one the rewarding edible cholla fruit (few spines on the fruit itself) around here. Large round, persistent pieces that you can boil first (like the buds) and either freeze or dehydrate for long-term storage, or chop and saute in garlic-olive oil for your scrambled eggs or a salad. The taste is different but still healthy. Just not as much calcium as the unopened flower buds. Unlike the flower buds, which are only available for a ~month in the spring, the persistent fruit hangs around for more than a year, so you have a longer time to try it out. I've corrected the record in my original post. If there are more questions or comments, she's happy to field them.

Not much cooking of worth going on lately. I came down a week or so ago with some wheezy-hacky-chest thing that just keeps hanging on. I think I'm coming out of it, but don't have the energy I'm used to. Leftovers and convenience foods have been the usual meals, with a lot of salad supplementing it. Up in Minnesota there's a food-delivery company that's been around for ages: Schwan's. They began as an ice cream company, but sometime in the last few decades branched out into prepared meals. We've tried their service a few times, to mixed success. When we left home, we had two packages of fish dinners, each worth two nights' dinners for us. The beauty of these, when they taste good, is that you cook it in the oven from frozen, by placing it on a baking pan. Nothing could be simpler. The last of these meals left the freezer a couple of nights ago. We liked this. The seasoned tortilla chip coating was crisp and gave flavor to what I consider a very uninspiring fish. (I think of sole, flounder and other "mild" fish as being vehicles for butter and seasonings, nothing more. Give me salmon every time. My darling disagrees.) The tomatillo salsa was the real winner; it took the filets from 'reasonably good' to 'delicious'. This is something we'd consider buying again. Yesterday I finally got organized and ambitious enough to make the Chile Relleno Casserole from Seasoned with Sun, the El Paso Junior League cookbook discussed here earlier. It isn't a difficult casserole to make, but the first time I set out to make it I had no milk, and then I had no thawed burger, and then I had no unpeeled chiles...it's taken a while. Early in the afternoon I peeled the remainder of the Hatch chiles I'd bought in Deming, so that step wouldn't hold me up. To make this, you brown burger (they note that the burger is optional) with onions, drain off some of the fat, then season lightly with salt and pepper. In the meantime, split the roasted, peeled chiles in half lengthwise and layer half on the bottom of a baking dish. The recipe says to spread about 1-1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar atop that, then the meat mixture, then the remaining chiles. A batter of milk, flour, beaten eggs and seasonings goes over the whole, then it goes into the oven. I tend to be a very literal-minded recipe reader, and I found myself wondering: did they really mean that the cheese was only to go in the interior? Had I missed something? I hedged my bets and reserved some of the cheese for a top layer. Then I hedged again and put it only on one end of the casserole so we could try it both ways. Bake at 350, 45-50 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Let it set up for 5 - 10 minutes. Serve. (That bit of salad is a token plate decoration. We'd already eaten most of it before I snapped a picture.) This was very good, and for someone with a functioning brain would be very easy. We both thought it looked better with cheese atop the casserole as well as inside it. He thought it could use a bit of sweetening - salsa, perhaps? The heat is absolutely dependent on the chiles, although one can augment it with a touch of hot sauce if desired. The leftovers are great for breakfast. This could be an easy make-ahead casserole, I think, for a breakfast crowd. Sorry about the lighting. Yesterday I got the trailer's Christmas decorations, such as they are, up. I'll post pictures later.