BarbaraY

Salsa de Molcajete. Roast tomatoes on a griddle or over the burner on a rack, roast your choice of green chilis, and some fresh garlic. Grind up in a molcajete and season with salt. Add some fresh cilantro or oregano if you like. Heaven. If you don't have a molcajete use a food processor but it won't taste as good. Learned from an "old" Mexican lady whe I was about seven. She roasted her veggies on the top of her wood fired kitchen range. I say "old" because she was probably much younger than I am now.

I have one of the combination microwave/convection ovens. I love the thing as it makes wonderful biscuits, crisp on the outside and tender inside. I will have to try it for pie. I found early on not to try to cook skin on chicken in it as the grease gets all over it and it is very hard to clean it all out. It's good for casserole type dishes, too. As to the microwave part it is mainly used to melt butter and rewarm coffee.. Popcorn is made in the Whirly Pop in this house, too. No scorched paper bags. Do we have a "gag" Smiley?

It seems that I have somehow missed this topic. I love potato salad and the only one I ever met that was awful was one of cold potatoes mixed with mayo, a really weird "salad". My mom was not much of a cook but she could make pretty good potato salad. She used boiled russets, chunky onion, dill pickles, sweet pickles, minced olives, pimiento, hard boiled egg, and lots of Best Foods Mayo. I never did figure out why she bought expensive minced olives instead of whole olives and chop them. I vary my potato salad so sometimes it's made with Russets and sometimes other types. I did try the Cook's illustrated French Potato Salad and found it very good, also like Julia Child's version of Salad Niçoise. I once made the Salad Niçoise for two busses of tourists, about ninty people and it went over very well.

While I was eating it I thought it would be good with shrimp or crabmeat.

I made the salad today exactly as you described except that I added a few drops of sushi vinegar to give it a little more tang. Good despite the fact that I don't really care much for canned tuna. I ate it all.

Ribeye steak medium rare and smothered with sauteed mushrooms. I may not wait until I have to go to a desert isle. Maybe have it now just in case. And a jug of real Italian Chianti.

I had always used charcoal. Then I came to live with a man who was in the propane business. (Picture Hank Hill) No charcoal for him. Once again I'm using charcoal because no gas grill I have ever used gets the right heat. The newer ones may cook hotter but I haven't tried any of the newer models.

Now two years after my previous posts as to how well my daughter was doing, I have to qualify those statement.TOTAL COMPLIANCE IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! My daughter hasn't been eating right, hasn't been taking her suppliments, nor exercising, and drinking beer. Now she is very ill and barely able to make it to her work as a cook. Her Dr.s are making every effort to correct this condition but she has lost way too much weight and is very weak and exhausted. I can't blame the surgery but her non-compliance. Now my elder daughter is scheduled to have the surgery next month. Obviously this worries me but she is more grounded than her sister and will take the suppliments, eat the protein, and exercise as she should.

I really didn't know it was possible to kill a fig tree.

A word of warning to those who wanr fig trees, If you plant one you will have it forever and ever. We cut one out this spring because it was shading the vegetable garden and sending out suckers in every direction amd the fruit wasn't good at all but dudty dry inside. Now, despite copious doses of roundup it's still sending out even mor suckers. Will build a fire over it in the fall and see if that will do it in.

I have two apple trees, a pear tree, a fig tree, walnuts, and grapes. This is apple country around here but we had a late, long freeze that did in most of the apple orchards for the year. I have a few on one tree and none on the other. Freeze got the walnuts, too, but I never get any nayway because the squirrels beat us to them. Have been here 13 years and got walnuts once. I have a Kafir Lime that has to come into the house every winter. I't getting to be a pain to move it around but i love having it.

All I can say is, "I want some of that!"

Perhaps a pressure cooker, if you have one, would do a better job.

I think porridge croutons might be workable if you make it very firm and then fry it. P.S. I'll be very busy that day.

A fascinating report. I found it very interesting and was surprised by the lenght of time it takes for the enoki to grow. I had no idea the wrapping them in paper was how the clusters were formed.

Since my ditsy bro is one of the security guys, nothing surprises me that gets confiscated no matter how good. He would probably think the vanilla beans were some kind of drug. (Maybe they are.)

Shelby, every time I read Hiroyuki's sushi thread I fairly drool. I've had plenty of sushi here but never anything so beautiful an enticing as that. That would be #1 on my list followed by a real truffle at #2.

Guess I'm just chicken but I have never brought anything banned yet. I really wanted to bring some Italian cheeses home but was afraid they would be confiscated. One woman in our group said she was hiding some in her candy. Wonder if she got home with it.

Hi Soba. Nice to see you blogging again. The Farmer's market pics are wonderful and just looking at the radishes made my mouth water. I really want some of that salad.

Martin Yan has one in his book Chinatown Cooking. Each recipe that I've seen has small variations.

I find that toasting brown rice in a dry skillet makes it very tasty. No butter, just heat until it browns and even a few puff. Then cook in my rice cooker. Works every time.

I bought a rolled Jenni-o turkey breast. It was rubbery and spongy and I e-mailed the company. I got an apology and six $2.00 for their products. I tried one and tossed the rest of the coupons. Also e-mailed Orowheat bread about the lack of Northridge breads and was told they had dropped this product. I don't know whether I should protest the drop in quality of their English Muffins and rye bread.

That Charlotte is just too beautiful. Such patience getting everything just so. I'm sure it tasted as good as it looks.

Some of the mini-markets around here still carry Ice Cubes. My daughter brought me one a few weeks ago. Next time you buy gas check it out if you can afford it after buying gas.

We live in the foothills and had a couple of late frosts. It froze the mulberry trees, figs, walnuts, and grapes and they're all still looking pretty sickly. We planted this week in the newly fenced garden area; Early Girl tomatoes, cucumbers, Japanese eggplant, cantaloupe, and bell peppers. Last year the deer got everything we planted, hence the new fence. All in raised beds. We will have another bed by the weekend for green beans, etc.