Smithy

While we were in Llano I tried out another Milk Street recipe I'd been wanting to try: Paprika Potatoes. I love paprika. I love chicken paprikash. I love potatoes. What wouldn't be to like about this recipe? Well, I was unimpressed. The texture didn't come out as well as I'd been led to believe. (I did use Yukon Golds, which they said would work.) More to the point, the flavor was...muddy, and slightly bitter. I think it must come down to the quality of the paprika. I think mine was pretty fresh, but maybe McCormick's isn't the way to go. My darling said he liked it. I realized with a sinking heart this morning that there's still some lurking in the fridge somewhere! Yes, I'll eat it...but I won't bother making it again. Has anyone else tried this recipe?

That's a good point about the price of produce being affected by this year's flood. I think there's still something going on at that particular grocery store in Llano, however; we also went to a more upscale, specialized market (I'll show you later) and their produce prices ran more along the lines of what we'd expect. Granted, the caulifllower heads were smaller than at the Lowe's, but they weren't half the size and they were half the price. Here are some more shots and prices from Lowe's grocery store; we had to go back for something. I confirmed that the cauliflower really was as expensive as I'd shown earlier. Some of their meat wasn't too bad. I think @blue_dolphin was right about the price of the bacon I showed earlier; they looked expensive mostly because they were large packages. But check out that butter! I decided I didn't need it after all.

There are at least two of us who are interested! Any chance you can post it to RecipeGullet, or is it copyrihted?

That looks more like something rolled than something layered. Am I looking at it correctly? If so, could you tell a difference between having layers vs. having everything rolled up? What was the pastry like? I ask out of curiosity. The whole meal looks delicious!

Let me know brand, please. My DIL can't take gluten and she misses pasta terribly.

They didn't have any California garlic. I could have bought 3 heads of garlic packaged together for under a dollar, but those were from China. The loose stuff, of which I bought 1 head, was labeled as being from Peru.

We needed to replenish some supplies at the grocery store. It's a nice place: clean, pretty well stocked, with what seem to me quirky selections: hunting and camping gear as well as food we'd expect to see. But my, it is expensive! It isn't especially upscale, but the prices seem more in line with those of a luxury grocery store than what I'd normally expect. I think it must have to do with distribution costs, although the Texas Hill Country isn't exactly remote. The cauliflower was the first shocker. It wasn't on our list, but if it had been I'd have changed my mind. We've never been impressed with their produce section, but we were able to get the needed round of breakfast fruit (not photographed) and some lemons. These were some of the tiniest lemons I've ever seen, but their prices were commensurate with their size. I didn't complain. I also needed a head of garlic to get us home. Cheese was pricey, but not much more so than I'd have expected in Yuma. I didn't need any flour or pasta, but I had to see whether there really were 5 brands of rice flour here as I'd predicted earlier. 😄 Nope, only one...but the same brand that I'd bought in New Mexico. Its normal price here was the sale price there, so I'll remember this place if I need any when/if we come through in the fall. I was also interested to see a gluten-free pasta. Didn't need it, but someday maybe I'll try it. I have trouble believing that a chickpea pasta would taste the same as a flour pasta. Maybe it depends on the sauce. The meat department was the biggest sticker shock. Fortunately, we didn't need any. The price of chicken was good, although we didn't need or buy any. They didn't have the brand of Polish sausage (Kiolbassa) that I especially like, but Opa's are also good tube steaks. It could be argued that we didn't need these either, but we bought 'em anyway. The Country Blend is new to us, but we know we like their Hatch Green Chile version. Outside the store is a profusion of barbecue grills, deer corn, deer feeders, and garden starts. I got two basil plants to take home with me. I've always had good luck with these, and the basil is nice to have along the way. I've mentioned before that most of my photos are collages to cut down on data usage. However, the pictures are fuzzy as a result. If anyone wants a clearer picture -- for instance, to read fine print on a label -- let me know and I'll post the original.

My mother's did. They may have been Mirro or Wear-ever but I can't swear to the manufacturer. I'm sure those pans are older than I am, and I hope my greatniece makes good use of them for another generation's wear. Now that you mention it, I think my mother acquired one like that, maybe from a Pampered Chef party. I may have it tucked into storage at home. I think the diameter is larger than the 8 or 9" I was thinking of, but if I make enough sweet rolls it'll work, won't it? 😉

Those of you who've followed this blog know that I love visiting Charlie's store and perusing their kitchen gear. There's usually, not always, something for me to buy. There's always something to tempt me, even when we're on the return trip and nearly home. This time, I had a specific item in mind. We all know about buyer's remorse. How many of us have experienced giver's remorse? I gave a (large) carload of stuff, mostly cooking gear, to my greatniece last fall as she was setting up her first apartment. Yes, she needed (or wanted) the stuff! I could spare it! I was doing us both a favor, and passing forward the blessings and help that my parents and their friends had done for me when I was setting up house for the first time. Well. I'm a bit sorry I gave her my mother's cake pans. Never needed them before now. I have springform pans. They're all at home. My mother's pans had push-up bottoms, like this set (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). What I like about them is their straight sides, perfect for baking sweet rolls. Are they better than the springform pans? Not necessarily, but those pans are at home. I am NOT asking for them back. We did each other favors, and her aunt is a wonderful baker. She'll probably get far more use out of them than I would at this point. Still, I'd like to have some for the trailer. I checked out the antique and junk stores. My favorite of those shops closed over the winter! 😕 Nobody else knew what I was talking about. Off I went to Charlie's. I didn't bother taking photos of their hilarious tea towels, but you can see them here for a good laugh. I fondled some charming dipping bowls. I gave mine to my great-niece too. Those I don't want back, but it's fun to look. I admired a huge strainer, perfect for fishing dumplings or pot-stickers out of a wok. Couldn't quite justify buying it, although -- in retrospect -- maybe it would be better for removing fried shrimp than my current setup. Hmm. It isn't too late to go back! Kim didn't know what I was talking about on the cake pans, and none of what they had would work. I wonder why cake pans are made without removable bottoms, whether of the type I'm looking for or the springform variety? Leak prevention, I suppose. However, I can all too easily imagine the bottom sticking to the baked goods and refusing to release. What a mess that would be! I did indulge my desire for a new can opener. I haven't really made friends with our side-lid opener that doesn't leave sharp edges but does often make a mess when the lid jerks off too abruptly. Kim commented that this type was her favorite, and I noted that I found our side-cutter type difficult. "I couldn't make mine work at all!" she exclaimed.

They are lupines, but not the same variety. I've learned that there are oodles of varieties of lupines, ranging from the 2' high beauties in Minnesota to the stunted desert lupines where we spend most of the winter. The Texas Bluebonnets are unusual (to me) in their stratified coloring and bunched stalks. And oh, the lupines in the Sierra foothills are gorgeous! Lucky you!

Llano, Texas. Welcome to the Hill Country, just in time for storms. This morning it was dead calm; now there's a thunderstorm overhead. Last night or the night before other parts of the Hill Country experienced baseball-sized hail, but so far we haven't been so 'blessed'. After months of living in a dry climate, the humidity takes some getting used to. The flowers, which were sparse in the Davis Mountains, grow with flashy extravagance here. The bouquet I picked back in New Mexico finally withered and died yesterday, more than a week after I picked them. The blazing star at the top of the photo above only lasted a day, but the desert marigolds and verbena make excellent cut flowers. Those of you who've been following along know that we love Llano for the shops and the Texas 'cue, as well as the park we stay at. It's a delight, after all this time, to have 50A electrical service and water that doesn't require a pump! I used the Instant Pot a couple of days ago to cook more chickpeas for the chickpea salad I discussed above. I don't need to show you another picture of that. In the next few posts I'll show some of the shops, and some of our meals. I don't know whether we'll go get takeout tonight. Depends on the rain, I think.

Welcome! As noted, there are a lot of folks here who cook to accommodate celiac disease. I am lucky enough not to be one, but I'm sure you'll get good guidance. I also probably won't be of much help in the frying department, although I've been learning about how to do it better. 🙂 If you have questions about how the forums work, or where (or whether) to post something, THAT I can help you with, as can any other host. Feel free to ask by PM, or in the Moderation and Policy Discussion forum. I look forward to seeing where your food journey takes you!

Ah, I knew I was going to have to get that book! Now I have. 🙂

I keep meaning to revisit, and maybe contribute to, eG Cook-Off #87: Potato Salad. Then I get distracted, and forget. I might find something we both truly like. If you haven't visited that one, you might consider adding your 2 cents' worth. The truth is my darling grew up with the standard, garden-variety Midwestern potato salad (eggs, sweet pickle, Miracle Whip and of course potatoes, and all of it cold) and that's his comfort food. I never liked the stuff as a kid, and never knew until I was in my 20's or 30's that potato salad could be made any other way! He thinks potato salad with mustard is bold stuff. I like it well enough as long as it hasn't been sweetened with pickle or MW, so we occasionally find a store-bought salad we can agree on. As a rule, he buys his deli potato salad and I make my own when I want it.

"Dressing while warm" isn't something I've fully incorporated into my cooking consciousness yet, but it should. You're right about potato salad, especially Ina Garten's French Potato Salad where I first learned the trick. That's a favorite of mine, although I need to be sure I make only enough for myself. (My darling is of the goopy sweet potato salad persuasion. Our potato salads are safe from each other. 🙃)

That's what freezers and plastic containers are for. 😉 But I get it. I did that, more than once. I'm not sure it ever put me off anything, although I did learn the hard way about refrigeration. (Leaving a pot of corned beef and potatoes out on the counter until I'd finished it, 3 or 4 days later, was not wise. 🙄 )

As I mentioned before, our mountain retreat had NO internet or cell phone connection. I was forced to confront the magazines that, to my shame, have been carried around without inspection for well over a year. This issue had several interesting articles. The one that caught my eye first was about upping one's game with bean salad by dressing the beans while they're warm. For Better Flavor, Microwave Your Chickpeas I know some of you don't like chickpeas, but I suspect the approach would work well with any cooked beans. Here's a photo of the article, with the recipe if you can read it; and here's a link to the recipe itself. For now it's free. Recipe for Turkish Chickpea Salad The first question I came across was one of altitude. We were at 6,000' MSL. I'd already scotched the idea of a potato braise until we were at a more normal (for us) altitude. I didn't have canned chickpeas. How long would it take to cook the dried beans? Would they get hot enough to cook? I suspected so, but wasn't sure. I wasn't willing to run the generator long enough to run the Instant Pot. I settled on an overnight soak for the chickpeas, followed by a good drain and rinse, then a good long simmer. I don't remember how many hours I gave it. The trailer was cool. A simmer atop the stove helped. After the chickpeas had cooked satisfactorily, I hauled out what my darling calls "the lunar lander" to make thin slices of onion. I've normally used this gizmo only as a cheese grater. It worked pretty well on the onion. Was it better than my knife skills for thin slices? Probably not, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it if my knife hand weren't working properly. Finally, it got down to the seasonings. They include Aleppo pepper, sumac, lemon, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, ground cumin, fresh parsley, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes. I didn't have fresh basil, so I substituted some of my jarred pesto. I still have a stock of Trader Joe's sun-dried tomatoes in oil. That was easy. Then I came to the cumin. I should explain, by way of background, that I get a *groan* and protest from my darling every time I buy a package of ground cumin. "It doesn't last!" he says. "Get the whole seed and grind it!" Well, I do keep the whole seeds on hand...but sometimes I simply don't want to be bothered with that extra step. Ground cumin is more convenient. Except...except...something was off with this dish. It was good, but something wasn't right. Could it be the cumin? .... Could it really be that last month's ground cumin had already gone stale? ... I don't know the answer to that question yet, but after I made that first salad I broke out a fresh package of cumin, used some of it, and put the rest in the freezer. It'll be interesting to see, in a month or so, whether there's a significant difference between the stuff stored in the freezer and the stuff stored in a bottle at room temperature. As for the Turkish Chickpea Salad itself? A winner! We're already on our second batch. Even my darling, who normally likes things sweeter and a bit more syrupy, thinks this recipe is a keeper.

I'm impressed that some of you are having success with Misfits and/or other delivery services. I still strongly prefer grocery shopping for myself, but if I had mobility problems or needed to stay home for some reason, I'd be looking to this topic for inspiration and guidance. It looks like Misfits is getting the kinks worked out.

I'm glad you brought that up. In fact, when I looked afterward at a couple of hard-copy recipes I had, I saw that they used cream and not coconut milk. I think that would have been closer to the flavor profile I wanted, but I didn't have enough cream. When I was able to get back online and look at JohnT's method linked above, I saw it did use coconut milk and my memory wasn't as bad as I'd feared. So I think either way is fine; it'll just change the flavor a bit.

One of my culinary successes while in those mountains has become a culinary excess. I love Indian food. I love curries -- Indian, Indonesian, Thai -- but still have to refer to cookbooks to make them. Then I get intimidated. I know, Raghavan Iyer (RIP) did his best to take the mystery out of Indian curries. Madhur Jaffrey and Julie Sahni did the same. Still, I open a book and look at all the spices, and get tired thinking about it. Butter chicken, though: heck, that's easy! I can do that in my sleep! So I said to myself. I had chicken thighs taking up space in the freezer. Butter chicken would get rid of a couple cans of tomatoes, and a can of coconut milk, and some ginger that's been traveling along with us. I have a Butter Chicken marinade spice mix my best friends brought me from South Africa. And it was a cool day, so a slow simmer atop the stove seemed a good idea. It also gave me a chance to finish the wild rice / basmati pilaf lurking in the freezer. Yes, it was good. A little sweeter than I'd have liked. Not much like the Cape Malay butter chicken on which @JohnT coached me, several years ago. So much for my being able to cook this dish from memory! But the big thing is, this was a huge recipe. We ate it that night. We ate it the next night. On the third night, I simply couldn't face it again. It sat in the refrigerator until yesterday, roughly a week later. I had half the remainder for lunch yesterday. There's still a good 2 cups' worth, but now it's taking space in a smaller container, in the freezer. Eventually it'll seem like a good idea again.

My mother volunteered at a Boys and Girls club. One holiday season, for something to do, she explained to her charges what a New Year's Resolution was and put them to work thinking about something for themselves for the following year. One little girl wrote, "I will work on my pay-shits". Mom puzzled over that one for a moment, then said, "and now we're going to learn how to spell 'patience'!"

I can believe all that, based both on Life Experience (i.e. seeing how things change with time) and on what I've read. The closest I've come to seeing the charm of El Paso is the Junior League Cookbook, Seasoned with Sun: Recipes from the corner of Texas and Old Mexico (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). Cookbooks are wonderful cultural gateways for me, but I haven't had the opportunity to really experience firsthand what El Paso has to offer. I appreciate your insights.

Well, I'll have to blush -- or laugh -- at the controversy I caused. When I posted my question, my brain did NOT connect the orange-yellow thing (with a vein or a line!) with the white layer underneath. Furthermore, to my eye and on the screen I was using it looked redder, more like persimmon. It was clearly a separate...something...lying atop the white below it. You know those illusions that ask which way the dancer is spinning, or where the light source is? Once you see it properly it's difficult to see the original that your brain processed in error. I can't begin to justify why I didn't realize that was an egg. Sorry for the confusion!

We ran out of bread midway through the week. Well, I ran out of my sourdough bread, and there wasn't enough of his whole wheat bread to last us for the week. No matter, sez I, I'll make bread. Used to do that all the time. Haven't done it in a while, but I have all the stuff. ... ...except I didn't have my notes on how to make pita. That was all online. I'd left that particular set of recipe notes at home.... ... but how hard could it be? I used to do this all the time! I did have my printed notes and recipes from an online course I took from Peter Reinhart (what a lovely teacher), so I selected his recipe for a soft sandwich loaf. I don't have any interim photos. I found it fascinating to see how much water I had to add, and keep adding, a bit at a time until I got the right tactile feel in the dough. That flour was very dry, having spent months in a desert climate. It was very gratifying to add a bit, knead a bit, let it all rest, then check the progress of the dough. Lather, rinse, repeat. It was a good slow-day project. At some point my darling came inside and his eyes lit up. "You gonna make sweet rolls?" Well, I hadn't planned to, but I could easily enough split the batch. I did. It's just as well, too. The rolls came out better than the pita. The trick to pita is usually getting it to puff up and separate, and this topic shows that it can be just as problematic with commercial products as for home cooks. But I used to have it down cold. Well. I don't think I'll try using a cast iron skillet again. I had a tough time controlling the heat and keeping the poor pitas from scorching. Most of them puffed up, though. The other odd thing about these is that they taste vaguely like pancakes! Have I never used this bread recipe for pitas before, or did they pick up something from the cast-iron skillet seasoning? I don't know, but I can't say I'm crazy about the flavor. Still, they worked for sandwiches.

We've changed our scenery, climate and culture completely. I have probably carped about I-10 through El Paso at least twice a year, as I've had to deal with my severe cognitive dissonance regarding that city. My first impression of it ever is born of Marty Robbins' lovely ballad,"El Paso". "Down in the West Texas Town of El Paso."..he sang, and the song makes it clear that he rode to and from the town on a horse. Oh, the small dusty settlement image that evokes! I'm sure he never imagined this: The road engineers and designers have tried to make the roads attractive, and have succeeded to some degree... ...but still, my direct experience with the city is a far cry from Robbins' decades-past romanticism. I mean no disrepect to the city or its citizens, but what I see of this long, narrow city -- winding as it does between mountains and the border -- does not tempt me to find a way to stay. I had packed sandwiches, asparagus and radishes for road food. I left the cheese off of his; it's delicious but also crumbly, so too messy to be eaten one-handed. Eventually we turned off I-10 and headed up into the Davis Mountains, where we stayed for nearly a week. Yes, Texas has mountains. It was quite an adjustment to have no internet or cell phone coverage. Our lifestyle is pretty relaxed already, but the loss of "screen time" meant a lot more time to read hard-copy print, nap, go for hikes, and work on non-electronic projects. I re-learned, although it shouldn't have been a revelation, the value of physical books and magazines. I did have some good cooking experiences. I'll tell about them in separate posts.