Smithy

Haha, I had no idea! There really is a Nessie Ladle (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)! And a Nessie Colander Spoon (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)! And...and there's more! 😄

What a happy accident! Please elaborate: what makes it especially special above the D3 lines?

I thought belatedly about bacon, and how well it would go with these. Maybe next time. Happy birthday to Mr. Kim!

I didn't pay enough attention to the Pillsbury ingredients to notice that! Yes, the texture of this Rhodes dough was definitely better, more in keeping with my ideal cinnamon rolls. Thanks for that observation.

My cooking and baking have become minimalist lately but my darling occasionally wants cinnamon rolls and I remembered to look for an easy-bake package in the grocery store. In the past, when I've done that, I've gotten whomp rolls of one sort or another (see here, for instance) but this time I ran across a new (to us) brand: Rhodes AnyTime! cinnamon rolls, with REAL cream cheese frosting. "READY IN MINUTES" it proclaims on the front. We laughed when we looked at the instructions on the back. Well, I suppose 40 minutes or so still constitutes "minutes". Here's the result. Starting at top left and going clockwise: raw, as arranged on the included pan; baked, before frosting; baked and frosted; and a money shot. These were surprisingly good, and quite easy once we knew what "minutes" meant. 🙂 He'd have preferred raisins and nuts in them, but this will satisfy him for a few days. I liked these better than the Pillsbury brands we've tried so far, although I haven't tried the super-decadent "hack" discussed earlier in this topic.

I ran into a friend of a friend a couple of days ago, checking out the produce at a small honor-system farmstand here. The stand didn't have lettuce (and the other offerings looked poor), but when I mentioned what I was after my friend's friend said "Come to our house! Our garden went crazy with it this year!" I came home from their place with a bag filled of 5 kinds of lettuce, harvested while we talked: butter lettuce, baby romaine, green leaf, and 2 others I can't identify. I've been working my way through these lovely greens with abandon: lavish salads and sandwiches, loaded up with sweet delicate greens. This isn't a gallon bag; it's more like 2.5 gallons. It was FULL when I first came home with it. My best friend and her husband spent most of their professional years living in Tanzania or Malawi, with a garden and gardener. They have lamented the poor taste of grocery store lettuce here in the States (although they're no longer inclined to garden). Now I understand what they've been talking about.

Wouldn't that be part of the pork belly?

Thanks, all, for the creosote fire comments. We've suspected that it was more operator error than something built into the equipment, but with two brands of pellet grills involved we weren't sure.

I know that Milk Street Magazine isn't getting much love on this topic, but I've been enjoying it -- especially now that Saveur and Fine Cooking have both gone down the drain. But now I'm getting irritated. I have a print subscription so I can get the physical magazine. Today I want to make the Eggplant Parmesan from their March-April 2023 issue. (I posted about it here, with some admitted tweaks.) Can I find that issue? No I cannot. I suspect it's in the Princessmobile, which is in the shop. Either that, or it's jumbled in with all the other magazines and tax records and music that I really must deal with this weekend, after I find a shovel. No problem. I'm a subscriber. I went online to get it...and so far am foiled. Am I correct in thinking that even if you subscribe in print you have to pay for a separate digital subscription?

@JAZ do you remember which others you tried (so far)? I'm intrigued by the steak and stout pie -- that sounds like a nice take on an English classic. The chicken tikka masala pie sounds like cognitive dissonance to me. I love the flavors, but in a flaky crust like a pot pie? I'm curious. Oh, and how was the crust?

@Darienne, now that I've reread this latest discussion I realize it may not answer your question...but I've been looking at and learning more about Serviceberries / Juneberries and want to share a bit of information about them. This picture comes from Teresa Marrone's Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide -- Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). In my ramblings I've noticed several of the local serviceberry trees have different serrations and sizes on their leaves, and she states that the serrations are different for different varieties of serviceberry (the Saskatoon berry being one variety). The other thing I noticed is that they have a distinctive end where the blossoms used to be. Cherries, plums, elderberries and a number of toxic berries don't have that. You can see what I'm talking about in the photo. It looks like a little explosion at the blossom end. The other good thing -- this is what I especially needed to look up -- is this sentence in the fruit paragraph: "There are no toxic lookalikes." You had said that you don't have serviceberries on your farm, so this may be all unnecessary, but I'm sharing it anyway in case someone else is interested. These berries are delicious!

@rotuts wouldn't that be a hoot to tow down the road behind the Princessmobile? We'd sure make a lot of friends! 😄

Thanks. I agree that it seems the most likely issue; we have a wood-burning fireplace at home and have gotten the same information. I do wonder, if one is trying low temperature cooking, how that's avoided. Maybe the smoker chimney simply has to be cleaned periodically?

Oh, without a doubt they were using food-grade pellets, probably the Traeger-supplied brand. It may have been mismanagement of the unit, but it happened with 2 different brands of smoker. I think the other was an Oklahoma Joe but I don't remember for sure.

My DIL has now advised me that, although she loves the idea of pellet grills, she's tried two different brands (Traeger and Oklahoma Joe, IIRC) with the same result: creosote buildup leading to fire. I think we'd have heard if there'd been property damage, but the pellet grills have been retired. She's back to a charcoal grill and an electric smoker. Has anyone here had problems with creosote buildup on the pellet smokers? Got any tips for preventing or correcting it? She swears she cleaned the devices diligently but still had problems.

Some very good comments and questions here! I'll elaborate. We mostly use a gas-fired grill, for the convenience of having an immediate source of heat for quick cooking. Our usual grilled dishes are simple: burgers, dogs, skewered meats and vegetables, or a vegetable stir-fry in a barbecue basket. I know from experience that an open flame (i.e. campfire, or charcoal) improves the flavor of most of those, but of course that takes more time. (We aren't set up for campfire cooking here in northern Minnesota but we do it sometimes during our winter travels.) I should mention that the gas grill is a requirement also because we need a gas-fired side burner. That gets at least as much use as the grill, for messy projects that are better done outdoors: hash; melting paraffin and making firestarters; canning. For all these reasons, gas is a must. I mentioned above that some or all of the meals benefit from wood or charcoal, if we have the time. and that leads to charcoal vs. pellets. Now we get into things we've tried to do with limited success: long cooks, probably at low temperatures; also smoking. We have made a few hams: that is, brined pork butts and then smoked them by having one end of the current grill maintain high heat (with wood chips, to generate the smoke) and the other end holding the pork over a low flame, using a Thermoworks Smoke system to monitor temperature. The grill has 2 chimneys; the one closest to the high heat was blocked off so the smoke went out through the other one, above the ham. It's worked pretty well. We'd like to try other smoking and Texas-style barbecuing: briskets, chicken, homemade sausages; ribs; pork butt. Some vegetables. (My DIL does wonderful things with smoked corn!) We did all that in our vertical smoker, with limited success, which is why we moved to the gas grill as I've described using it. We no longer have huge dinner parties (woe is me) so we don't need a huge system. We do need something that will do gas, both with a grill and a side burner. We want something that will do gas in one part and charcoal or pellets in the other, for the sake of the better flavor when we have time, or the flavor and control of the low-and-slow cooks. As for the memorable "THIS is how we do it!" meals, I'd say that goes to something like beef brisket or ribs, or pork butt. The things we can get during our winter travels, that are not especially memorable here in the Northland. So...with that in mind, is there any more good advice to be had out there? I've appreciated everyone's comments so far!

My husband and I have decided that it's time to replace our rusted-out, still-sortof-functioning gas grill with a new grill. We don't plan to eliminate gas; it's convenient and quick. However, I've been wishing we also had a charcoal grill for the flame, flavor and smoking possibilities. My reading suggests that a pellet grill can do the same as charcoal, perhaps better, but there are pros and cons. (Oh, and our electric vertical smoker is also going. We want something that will grill at high heat, do low-and-slow barbecuing or smoke. An offset smoker would be nice, but I don't think we have the room for that element.) We are finding double-duty grills with 2 chambers: one for gas, and one for pellets OR charcoal. We're down to figuring out which will work better for us. We don't have the real estate for individual grills of each type. From what I see so far, here's a breakdown for pros and cons of each: Charcoal: fuel less expensive, no electicity required, considerably more monitoring and adjustment required for good temperature control, especially for smoking or long cooks. Pellets: fuel more expensive but more compact, requires electricity always, capability to set something up and walk away for hours, with only occasional monitoring. (I have Thermoworks monitoring capability.) More precise, and easier, temperature control. More options for flavor due to choices in pellet (hickory vs. pecan, etc.) Maybe a wider range of temperatures available. Pellet grills have until now put me off due to the number of moving parts, so to speak, and the microelectronics that have so much potential to fail. On the other hand, the precise temperature control sounds nice. The grill we'll be buying will live outside year round, as most grills do, but will be covered and unused approximately 6 months out of the year, in snow country. I'd like some discussion from those of you who've been there: what do you like, or not like, about your pellet grills? What do you like, or not like, about charcoal grills? Which is better at providing a wide range of temperature options? Then there are some specific questions: 1. If we buy a charcoal version, can we add pellets of our choice to adjust flavor? Will mixing pellets with lump charcoal mess up the air flow? 2. Do you have particular brands to select or avoid? In the pellet market I'm considering Traeger or Oklahoma Joe. I know @rotuts and his Woods Hole gang have opted for something considerably heavier and pricier, but that's out of our league. In the charcoal market I'm ogling a Char-Broil brand which, to be fair, has done reasonably well for us in the current gas-only version.

I JUST learned about Serviceberries (aka June Berries here, or even Funeral Berries in the Dakotas) last weekend. I've heard the name without knowing about the berries themselves, much less the provenance of the odder names. Now that I know about them -- and how good they are -- I've discovered that we have a tree of them in our yard, and many trees up and down our road. Oh, boy! More foraging!

That's a mind-boggling name from where I sit! What do you suppose it is? Glad you've found a promising new resource.

What is "techni ice"? Those frozen packages that go under names such as "Blue Ice", or something altogether different? That kitchen looks gorgeous, and very inviting!

So... if I take the special offer from your link, that'll give me access to EYB and this new site for a discount this first year? Do I have that right? (To be fair, the subscription offer is in line with any magazine subscription, so I should stop kicking myself for not signing up for EYB when a Lifetime Membership was something like $100.)

Where in Canada are you? The services available to you will be very different in, say, Toronto or Vancouver than they would be in, say, Dryden or Sioux Lookout. There's been a lot of discussion of meal prep kits, or food delivery services, in this topic: Imperfect, Misfits, etc. (the Food Delivery Services).

Thanks for that. I can see the Nightshade Family resemblance, and I've never seen it before.

That's very good news: first, that the Valley crops are doing so well and second, that those crops make it to farmers' markets. When I was growing up in the San Joaquin Valley, we went to fruit stands run by neighbors, unless our own trees had what we wanted. (We raised citrus, but had pet stone fruit trees.) In later years, after I moved to northern Minnesota, I couldn't get decent stone fruits until one memorable year in the 1980's when, suddenly, the local grocery stores started getting peaches and nectarines that actually smelled right for a week or two! The season and choices have expanded since then. What was very strange was that by then my family in California simply couldn't get decent stone fruits unless neighbors brought them from pet trees. Rock-hard and flavorless in the grocery stores. Same at the fruit stands! We never figured out why I could get decent fruit here when they couldn't get it from nearer the source. I'm glad the farmers' markets are filling the quality gap that the fruit stands used to fill.

This grass-fed tri-tip steak got a 120F bath for 4 or 5 hours (I lost track). I had treated it first with a dry rub. When it was dinner time, I blotted the liquids off and gave it a quick hot sear over the grill. Looks good, no? We both agreed the flavor was good, but only a few bites could have been called chewy; the rest were downright tough...inedibly so, in the opinion of my other half. Not a good thing to say about tri-tip. So, what should I have done differently? I think I have another of these cuts lurking in the freezer. If I can't get this right, I won't buy it again. Is this a function of grass-fed beef? Note that I had cut it across the grain before serving.