Smithy

It has a little bit of give and springs back, as an old dinner roll would be expected to do. It doesn't feel spongy-nice like a fresh, soft roll, but it also doesn't crumble or cave in when I squeeze gently.

@curls, those are great thrift store finds! I remember that sort of deviled egg platter from my childhood. Well-appointed households had them and they featured heavily in parties and picnics. I'm glad you're giving new life to one. As for that Corningware -- perfect!

...and here it is, apparently unchanged, in July. When/if I get around to opening that bag, I think I'll do it outside just in case there's some sort of noxious spore growing. But I can't see any changes in it. I'm really curious about how long it will hold like that.

That sounds tasty. Last winter I discovered for myself how useful, versatile and generous a rotisserie chicken can be. Twice I bought a rotisserie chicken when I really wasn't in a mood to cook at all or eat much. Each chicken lasted me about a week, with identifiable parts (thigh, wing) featured in some meals and the remainder cut or shredded into salads. Chicken salad sandwiches would be good at this time of year, but so would a few shreds of meat atop a good green salad such as you describe.

It never fails: when I finally have time to cook a dish I've had in mind for days or weeks, I can't find the image or the recipe that inspired me. So it was today. I finally thawed one of several ribeye steaks that have been hanging around in the freezer for far too long. I can still see in my mind's eye the inspiring image of slices from the steak -- rare in the middle; seared on the surface; drizzled with a delicious herbaceous sauce. Was it on a salad? Tacos? I've no idea. It looked wonderful: seared outside, rare inside, drizzled with that marvelous sauce. It didn't come out that way. I overcooked the steak in my zeal to try out our new charcoal grill. Nothing rare about it! But -- the steak tasted good anyway. In the absence of the inspirational recipe, I winged a chimichurri sauce, and the sauce took flight. The salad was the no-brainer I've been enjoying lately. Ths was a good dinner. There's more steak left, and sauce, and the salad greens. I'll work toward getting the timing right for the meat doneness, but even slightly overcooked it's good. Maybe eventually I'll find the darned recipe that inspired this dinner.

Thanks so much for the reminder about quesadillas, @Shelby! I dug out the package of tortillas I'd found in the freezer. It turns out there were both corn tortillas and flour tortillas. Both, er, a bit long in the tooth from all that time in the freezer, and more crumbly than flexible. Still, they were good for proof of concept. I sandwiched cheese between both sets, and pepperoni inside the flour tortillas. Brushed both sets with oil, and pressed both until done. Then I had to wait...and wait...and wait until they were cool enough to handle and eat. Nice crunch. Nice flavor, although one of the cheeses is something I won't buy again. I think I preferred the flour tortillas to the corn tortillas for this purpose, but they both worked. The only problem was that I really didn't need BOTH those tortillas AND the salad I'd made for dinner. Serious excess. Good, though. I'll remember the quesadilla trick. Cleanup won't be bad.

Thanks for some great ideas, folks! I can see I'll have to use all this batch and then keep a bunch of already cooked beans in the refrigerator, stored in their liquid, per Joe Yonan's cookbook Cool Beans (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Thanks for the reminder, @blue_dolphin. I bought the book last March, but have been a bit too preoccupied to remember it until you asked.

You're busted!!

I am soooo glad to get your news! Rockport and Aransas Pass both crossed my newsfeed. I've been worried on your behalf about storm surge. Let's see your celebratory dinner! Perhaps a potluck with guests who stayed, if any?

I had never heard of these before! I wonder if they truly are grown in Egypt. I saw plenty of onions bundled together for sale in the souks, but never saw the gardens. Fascinating growth pattern. Thank you for this!

I chose expedience in Getting A Package Out Of The Pantry yesterday, and used the Instant Pot to cook an entire package of RG Royal Corona beans. They were at least a couple of years old, and probably deserved something more careful than I did. Seasoning, for instance! But no. I put those beans into my 6-quart pot, added enough water to cover them plus about 2", pressure cooked for 25 minutes, allowed natural release. Decided when I opened them that they weren't done enough, so I just relocked the IP and used the same cycle. This time they were cooked, maybe a little overcooked. But they're soft, and who cares if some split? Now I have all those beans to eat. These beans are huge, and each bite carries a lot of bean flavor. Unfortunately, it's bland. This morning, for breakfast, I plopped some onto toast, mashed them, nuked them, and sprinkled the warm assembly with feta cheese crumbs. First lesson: that spread was dry. Second lesson: nuking a heel of toasted whole wheat bread guarantees tough bread. It wasn't even edible using a knife and fork! I ate the spread, ditched the bread, then started again. Nuked some beans, sprinkled with feta afterward, then dressed the whole assembly with part of a sardine and its oil. Better, but still not wonderful. I need to make plans for the rest of these beans. I've reviewed enough of this topic to re-find the bean confit recipe here. I'll try that with some of them. What else can I do with them? Who has some good uses for giant white beans that were cooked to softness with no seasoning?

That's the way it looks in the photo.

Oh no, @rotuts, I find appliances in other countries to be fascinating. My first trip to The British Isles, and then continental Europe, was quite the eye-opener. Here's hoping that one of our Australian connections can shed some light on you question about the stove. @haresfur? @Captain?

I wonder if that might be a wok ring atop that particular burner. My best friend's gas stove has one. The configuration is different, but maybe a flat-bottomed pan atop the wok ring would look like that.

By the way, what sort of humongous fish is that in your profile photo? Looks like a nice catch. I'm looking forward to reading about your fish preparations!

Thanks for that! I enjoyed reading the history of the restaurant and the area. I was surprised to read that anchovies weren't part of the original. I'm going to have to try making Caesar Salad for myself sometime soon, after company leaves. One thing, though: it may not be as showy as the original, but I'll probably chop that lettuce into smaller pieces before tossing. Is that heresy? 😉

What sort of preparations do you have to make, and how soon do you make them? I'm thinking about storm shutters, but maybe not in an RV park? Do you advise your guests to leave? How far inland and how quickly would people have to move in an evacuation? Do you have water stored, a standby generator or three? What, if anything, can you do with your garden? Is there anything left of fresh produce, sandwich fixings, bread etc. (food that doesn't need to be cooked) in the aisles of the local HEB?

They certainly look good. Did you have ingredients aside from the pureed fruit? Dairy, for instance? I haven't put my CreamI back in action yet but may get around to it this summer.

I missed that when Kerry first posted the link, so thanks for the quote! Gotta admit I thought the "pizza" they showed looked pretty puny, but there are some interesting ideas there. Hmm, I might even get adventuresome and try the omelette idea. When I don't have company, that is.

Welcome, @TX Salt Life! Prior to Hurrican Harvey, my husband and I spent happy times camped on the Bolivar Peninsula, just north of Rollover Pass; and also on Goose Island State Park near where you live. Those were fun times. We hated to read about the devastation at the state parks and the private resorts. Here's hoping Beryl gives you a miss. We particularly enjoyed buying seafood at the local shops and figuring out what to do with it. His preferred method of dealing with almost anything was to fry it -- but there's so much more to do than that! I'm fond of shrimp with pasta, for instance. And the oysters! Oh, yum. Your gatherings with guests for communal cooking sound fun, and I hope you'll say more about that. Lime curd and lemon curd are familiar and delicious to me, but I hope you'll post about watermelon jam -- either here or in one of the continually open topics. Here are some you may especially enjoy: What are you preserving, and how are you doing it? Gardening: (2016-) If you have any questions about how the forums work or where to post something, feel free to ask a host (I am one).

I just found a package of corn tortillas in the freezer. Does it work with corn tortillas as well as flour tortillas?

Well c'mon, show it off and strut your stuff!

How hard are those "thorns"? Sturdy enough to poke a hole in you if you fell on one? I've never seen a durian in person, but from photos they remind me of hedgehogs. Or sea urchins.

@Ann_T, meatballs are such a pain to make but when I see yours I can imagine maybe going to trouble again sometime. Nice job!

That's exactly how I got mine, for $8. Unused as far as I could tell. I've fixed that!