Smithy

I made my first-ever attempt at cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. My husband has been busily reminiscing about his mother. When she got out the bread-mixing bowl in the morning before he and the other kids were off to school, he knew that when they got home there'd be either warm bread or cinnamon rolls, or maybe both. I decided to take a whack at it. He wanted raisins, per his memories. I'm not a big raisin fan but I adore pecans. I went with raisins at one end, pecans at the other, and both in the middle of the roll before cutting. They came out pretty well, even with the raisins! It's a good thing, too: with just the two of us, we'll be eating these things for a while. 😄

Packaged salads, shredded cole slaws, a bunch of other items processed in Yuma, AZ and Bessemer, NC sold under Dole, Kroger and other brands, are recalled due to listeria concerns. For the first time, I need to go check my refrigerator. Here's a link to an article about it: https://www.abc15.com/news/state/packaged-salads-produced-in-yuma-and-north-carolina-recalled-due-to-listeria-concerns?_amp=true Here's Dole's recall notice: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/dole-fresh-vegetables-announces-voluntary-recall-salads-processed-its-bessemer-city-nc-and-yuma-az eta: My cole slaw mix is in the clear. Whew.

You are so right! 😄

I forgot to mention the air fryer I bought because of the gang of enablers here. In this case I'm looking at @Shelby (again) and @mgaretz...I knew I'd left someone out a few posts back!

My name is Nancy, and I have been enabled. Many times. Much of the credit / blame goes to @Shelby, @Kerry Beal, @rotuts, @gfweb and @btbyrd, in no particular order, but I'm probably forgetting some names that belong in the Enablers Hall of Fame. 3 Instant Pots, different sizes and technologies (although one was a gift, so not my own purchase) A handful of Thermoworks products: instant-read thermometers, IR thermometers, Smoke remote-read dual-probe system, pH meter. Everything but the pH meter is in pairs, at least: one for our trailer, and one for our house. Ninja Creami Anova circulator Joule circulator Immersion blender (I'm on my second one, now) 2 Food Savers and a manual vacuum-packer Are cooking pots "kitchen gadgets"? They were my gateway enablement, thanks to our late, lamented @fifi and our long-since retired @Wolfert. Put their names on the wall, too. And @andiesenji! Le Creuset enameled cast iron pots of many different sizes clay pots of many different sizes and shapes a Moroccan tagine I think I already had a cookbook fetish before discovering eGullet, but the collection has expanded massively.

Yesterday at Fry's grocery store (Yuma, AZ) the Neufchatel was 2/$4.00, or (IIRC) 1/$2.59. There didn't seem to be a shortage, and the prices were not discouraging. The same prices applied to the regular Philadephia brand cream cheese.

I generally get their "Light" cream cheese (i.e. Neufchatel) but that seems like the usual price for both. I haven't checked the grocery stores for it lately, though; still working on the pair of packages I bought LAST WINTER for a dessert that never happened.

The daughter knew what it was and claimed it had been there all along. The mother denied knowledge of it and claimed the daughter must have brought it with her when she moved in! No, I didn't try to make off with it, since the daughter uses it.

I had never heard of a Foley potato masher, nor seen such a strange "fork" until this topic. Two days ago I was visiting friends...and spotted this in their drawer!

Here ya go: @ninagluck's Eggnog recipe There are questions and discussion in a few following posts.

I just realized that my Kevlar glove would be a good idea when I use my box grater. I usually have no casualties with relatively soft cheese, but the last batch of parmesan took a small toll. Kevlar: it's not just for mandolines any more!

For once, dinner went as planned, and was not part of the normal repertory. Puff pastry, rolled out (without breaking!) and spread with roasted tomatoes in olive oil, Trader Joe's marinated artichoke hearts in olive oil, chopped salami, fresh basil, and shredded parmesan. 400F oven until the pastry was puffed and browned, the cheese melted, and all the ingredients had become friends. Finger food, once a knife had cut it into manageable sizes. Crisp crust. Delicious ingredients. Even my darling, who would never dream of choosing something like this, enjoyed it greatly. We ate every crumb. Delicious? Yes. Rich? With all that olive oil? Oh, yes. Urrp.

Thanks for the insights, everyone. I've gotten some private commentary as well. The upshot is that I haven't done anything with those jars except open one, note its beautiful topping of fat sealing it, close it again and put all the jars back in the refrigerator. I can throw 'em out later, or (probably) do the small taste-test-and-wait routine. At any rate, I'm going away for a few days so nothing will happen on that front for a while. Today has been a maintenance day. We took the Princessmobile to an RV dump site to empty the holding tanks, refuel the generator tanks, and refill the water tanks. The entire process, including driving, takes about 2-1/2 hours. It began with a bit of drama, however: the trailer brakes wouldn't work. This has happened before: he steps on the pickup brakes but the trailer brakes don't activate. It's a bit of a nuisance on flat land, downright dangerous going downhill or in tight traffic at freeway speeds. Our brakes had been intermittent and we couldn't figure out why. I sighed, had him pop the hood, and looked at the associated fuse. It wasn't just blown, it was broken! I've no idea why. The top is the fuse as we found it; the bottom is the new replacement. These particular fuses are hard to find, so we buy several when we find them. It's a bit of a deal getting the Princessmobile ready to move, even for a few hours: an extra hour at each end for teardown and setup. I still have my feet up, resting, having finished a small sandwich and some potato salad. That sandwich has mayo, horseradish mustard, salami, a small chunk of ham, the last of the Cooper's dill pickle chips, and lettuce. Lots and lot of lettuce, as I like it. The sole maintenance job still under way is the oiling of my Boos butcher block. The wood gets thirsty in this 12% humidity, and if I don't stay atop keeping it oiled it can start to split. I wasn't diligent enough with it the first year I had it, so there are small splits at the ends, but I think I've kept it from getting any worse. Here it is when I had just added the oil on half, so you can see the contrast in wood condition: The cutting board is still in the process of soaking up that oil, and I'm allowing it an hour or three to take it all in: I'll flip it and do the other side later. Last night I'd planned ham 'n' mac 'n' cheese for dinner, but we spent too much time admiring the evening sky. Can you say "Plane of the Ecliptic"? From upper left to the sunset: Jupiter, Saturn (faint but visible in the picture), Venus, and the faintest sliver of new moon on the threshold of winter. Happy Durin's Day. We came inside and nixed the ham 'n' mac 'n' cheese in favors of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, which are much, much quicker. Tonight, if I get off my duff, we'll be having a puff pastry pizza. If I don't get going, it'll be something else you've already seen before!

LOL here we all are, giving advice to the Italian nonna of wild game!

@Shelby, have you ever tried cutting smaller chunks - one or two bites each, to marinade, skewer and then barbecue as kebabs? That might work for tough meat, though I couldn't swear to it.

This has been a wonderful update of your blog. I've said before but will say it again: your food is sooo much better than anything my hunting gang and I enjoyed during our deer camps! I'd really love to come stay with you for that time...and hunt, or not hunt...heck, I'd love to come camp out with you any time! Many thanks for bringing us into your house!

Speaking of shelf life...I am about to take a deep breath and empty these jars into the garbage. 😞 Two years ago I attended a class on meat preservation at my favorite kitchen store. The class was taught by some of Duluth's preeminent preparers and vendors of such dishes. They made and let us taste pork rilletes, duck confit and king salmon candy. They gave us recipes to make them, and recipes with which to use them. They also sent us home with sealed jars of each, prepared in their commercial kitchen. I brought mine along in the Princessmobile refrigerator, saving it for the special occasion when my sister came to visit. Then ... the world turned upside down... she couldn't make it for Christmas, and then the pandemic struck. I called the teachers recently, told them I still have those carefully prepared jars, unopened and refrigerated these two years. Would they still be safe? The answer came back: absolutely not. They weren't preserved with that sort of shelf life in mind. *sigh* Part of me thinks they're thinking mostly of liability. Preservation of meat with salt, sugar and fat is a time-honored tradition. The other part of me thinks that I did ask because I wasn't sure, and these guys are the experts.. But this stuff still looks so good. *sigh* I'm probably going to pitch it today, instead of continuing to stall as I have been. I'd love some reassurance that with it sealed refrigerated it's still safe unless it smells or tastes spoiled. Opinions? Advice? And the obvious advice is: DON'T save the good stuff for a special occasion. Make a special occasion instead!

I mentioned his pressing desire that we should be removing things from the refrigerator and freezer. One reason is that he simply can't find things when the compartments are crammed. To be fair, I have the same problem, to a lesser degree, but I have a better idea of what's in those compartments. (The cupboards may be another story. The day before Thanksgiving I drove to town for a couple things I needed. I had been sure we had brown sugar, but I couldn't find it, and I also needed dark corn syrup for the bourbon pecan pie. Directly I got home and went to put things away, I found the stash of brown sugar. Later, whilst looking for a box of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice, I found more brown sugar! The unopened package went to a food shelf.) One night we decided it was time to cook the half-package of shrimp and the container of cooked pasta that were taking space in the freezer. At his request, I agreed to make another crack at Shrimp Bolivar - one of the one-offs of mine that's never the same twice. Pasta, butter, garlic, cream, grated parmesan, and the shrimp. Garnished with parsley because it was taking up space in the refrigerator. It came out very well, and of course he wondered whether I'd kept notes, and of course I hadn't. The garlic braid came from a farmers' market in Duluth last fall. The variety is Russian Giant. It's well named, isn't it? Gorgeous and flavorful stuff. And huge.

The rising sun continues its march southward, for another week or so. When my darling was doing research in Egypt, he also tried his hand at making videos of the scenes and people around him. One of the more hilarious bloopers was when he said, while admiring the gorgeous sunset, "The sun sets every night in the Egyptian desert." Of course he meant to include a descriptor: spectacular, or beautiful, or something like that. But he forgot, and this was all on camera. We still laugh about it, and we often repeat that line to each other with the sunrises or sunsets in this place. Woe is me, I had the last of my precious smoked salmon pâté from New Scenic Cafe this morning! On toast, with cream cheese, and a garnish of cilantro that he discovered in the refrigerator. I can't say the garnish added any flavor, but it was a reminder that things need to be removed from the fridge and freezer. But what will I do without that pâté? Maybe I need to try making some. First I'll have to get smoked salmon, or else smoke some here. We have plenty of mesquite. I wonder whether mesquite-smoked salmon would have the right notes? Ideas and recipes welcome. Last night it was Superburgers and smoked corn, over the camp stove. When he cooks, he goes for the familiar faves. Lately it's been either hash or Superburgers. Reminds me of one of James Herriot's stories, when the housekeeper had to leave for a time and Tristan assured the other men that he could cook. It turned out that he could cook bangers 'n' mash, or bangers 'n' mash, or mash 'n' bangers for a change! They were very glad when the housekeeper arrived back home! Anyway, bless him for cooking. (His daughter, when told about our cooking that smoked corn in the burger grease, said "Oh, I love it!! Another way to make vegetables fattening!") I mentioned that when we got here we realized that nobody had disturbed our campfire ring and wood since last spring. He recognized some of the wood; I recognized some of the rocks. Here's what I mean. Look at the colors of the rocks we've picked up from the nearby wash! The wildlife shot is strictly gratuitous.

Here's the back story: I have a new friend whose mother died recently, and who is clearing out her mother's house. Her mother collected clocks. Big clocks. Little clocks. Lots and lots of clocks, and they all need to be shipped to purchasers, and my friend needs packing materials. That's how we met: I get stuff through the mail that's bubble-wrapped or otherwise cushioned; I give her those packing materials. When she discovered that I love to bake, it became a running gag for her to give me some doodad cluttering up her or her mother's house (that I don't need either, but it's funny) in exchange for packing materials. I now have a set of baking pans that seal at both ends, the way you can make specialty loaves and then slice the bread into cute little shapes for canapes. I'm pretty sure my mother had some too. Heck, I may have hers in storage. I want to try using these things to make fun-shaped bread but have no idea what sort of constraints there are on the dough. Are the any special recipes to be used? Time, temperature? Grease the bejabbers out of them? (One has fluted edges. I'm showing you the simple heart-shaped one.) Or maybe these are for some fancy pâté instead and I'm on the wrong track altogether...? Suggestions, guidance and recipes, please!

Here's a picture of the mini-pie set, from when I bought it in 2014. Maybe it'll be easier to find with more info. Edited to add: it looks like this (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) is the current version. The dough cutter isn't quite as elaborate as on mine. Note also that mine was on blow-out sale when I bought it. You're welcome, from one enabler to another!

By the by, I'd like to know more about that bread you baked, please. It looks delicious.

Before Thanksgiving recedes too far in the background, I should tell about it. Last year, there were people in our preferred spot - a multi-generational, multi-trailer family - so we set up about a quarter mile away. This time, we were the only people in the area. A few trailers were set up about a half mile away across a road, but we only heard them when they came by on their 4-wheelers. It was quiet. It was also a quiet day for us. Here was the menu I'd set up: I should explain about that ham. We discovered that one of our favorite grocers back home carries very good double-smoked hams, and that they're willing to cut a whole ham into smaller chunks and vacuum-wrap them for us. We'd cooked the first half before leaving home, and had a fair number of sandwiches from the remaining slices. This was part of our trip planning. The other half came along, first in our cooler and then in our refrigerator, awaiting Thanksgiving. It weighed 8 pounds. That meant we needed to squirrel away my beloved 6-quart Le Creuset French Oven, because nothing in the trailer would be big enough for that ham. The pot fits into the oven, barely. I checked before we left, then wrapped it carefully and stowed it in an equipment locker. (When/if we ever move out of this trailer into another, it will take days. I swore I wouldn't keep accumulating stuff, but...well, I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam....) I intended but failed to do some of the prep work on days before: make the pie crust, for example, or even bake one of the pies. Trim the green beans. I had refreshed the sourdough starter - here's the initial refreshment ... ...but I hadn't mixed the dough, much less given it time to rise! The bread roll idea went out the window. I wanted to make mini-pies with a special 4-mini-pie tin I purchased years ago. The intent was to make 2 bourbon pecan pies and 2 apple pies. I think that was the second casualty to my poor planning; the pies became 4 apple mini-pies instead. Then the green beans with bacon fell off the menu. As I was trimming them, he pointed out that there was already more than enough food for the two of us. His appetite has diminished greatly in the last year or two. I finished prepping them and put them back in the refrigerator for another day. We had to juggle timing for the ham/potato pot, the scalloped corn, and the mini-pies, because the oven only has one shelf and the "glue pot" (his Mondagreen for it) takes up too much space for anything else to fit. He prepped the ham: diced the potatoes, tried and failed to find space for them under the ham, so put them around the sides instead, sprinkled the lot with Lipton's Golden Onion Soup mix. I don't have any pictures of the preparation, but I can show the sight we enjoyed while it was cooking, and the results of dinner. It was a hit! And it was a gracious plenty. I don't think we even touched the pies that night. We had two for breakfast the next morning. Not enough filling (especially in the double-crust pie) but tasty, and a good proof of concept.

You should see what my spellcheck/autocorrect tried to do with "backstrap" above! I'm sooo glad I caught it before it went out. (It tried to substitute "jo" for "ba")

Incidentally, your broccoli salad looks like it includes shredded cheddar. Is that right? It looks prettier than the one I make.