Lilija

Let me add: Today, I was nibbling on toast and jam, while my housemate had an omelet. There was a bottle of the good stuff on the table, and I was musing how there's nothing it wouldn't improve. He laughed and dared me to squeeze it on my toast along with the cherry jam. I did, and ate it, then I doctored the other piece. Now, I'm plotting a way to utilize cherries, sriracha, and maybe some ginger in a glaze, or sauce. My first thought was a simple pan sauce for some pork chops.

At least you weren't like "mmm, ribs"

I use it...um...everywhere. Anywhere that ketchup might taste good...sriracha. Anywhere where hot sauce might taste good...sriracha. Anywhere where hot pepper flakes, or chili paste, or anything with heat might taste good...sriracha. Sweet, hot, garlicky. It's my favorite condiment.

I don't think I've ever cut myself prepping food, but I do cut myself from time to time, through other accidents. Lame. Last good one was because I tried to catch an 8" chef knife that I knocked off a counter. It was totally reflexive, and wouldn't ya know it, I actually caught the damn thing. I also cut right down to the bone, at the base of my pinky. I burn myself about every other day, so much so that I don't even notice. I have lousy depth perception, and I'm always accidently brushing the roof of the oven or toaster oven, or grazing the edges of hot pans.

I just noticed this, and my favorite use for soft tofu is the non-groundbreaking miso soup. Whatever I have leftover gets thrown into the next morning's protein shake with a banana, milk, and some ice, or something.

This is all very valuable (except maybe the bacon suggestion...tasty idea, but you know... ) I jotted all of this down, to give to her today, also I dug up some good legume recipes, soups, stews, and veggie burger ideas. Keep em coming, though. These are great. We could always use more meatless recipes, in our own non-veg routine.

Oh, these ideas are excellent, you guys are the best! Keep em coming! I can't wait to pass on all this great stuff, to them. Hell, I'm not even a veg, and I'm craving half of this stuff.

A close friend's daughter just went vegetarian on them. My friend is kind of at her wits end, trying to think of meals for her as well as the rest of the family. She's a great home cook, but her family isn't very adventerous. The daugher is interested in tofu, and my friend has never prepared it before. I gave her some ideas, but I'm seeing them again, Thursday, and would like to have some more recipes and ideas. Can you guys give me your favorite, family friendly tofu recipes? Stuff that's not too complicated, that might appeal to kids, and meat/starch types?

I'm no health nut. I likes me some cheese and beef...I was gagging halfway through that clip. I had to turn it off when the doctor/owner guy was sensually describing what goes on his "quadripple" burger. Retch.

If it tastes better, go for it. If I want to finish a bottle of wine that doesn't -do it- for me, I mull it. Same idea, different execution.

Yeah, my grandmother never strained the broth, before adding soup-fixins. I -hated- eating around the gristle bits and random fat chunks. I meticulously strain my broth, and that ain't changing.

May I use that expression and pretend I invented it? My place, The North End Diner, burnt down last year and I'm still adrift. ← Of course you may I don't know what I would do without my diner. It went through some hard times, and a string of mortgage fraud, where it was closed for a few years, and I was almost depressed. Luckily a reputable business owner bought it, and it's incredible now.

There's a local diner, called the Yellow Rose, that we go to maybe 2-3 times a week. There's a big menu of fixed lunch specials (as in, they never change) where you can get anything from an omelet, to a huge salad, to a range of sandwiches and burgers, or even a small dinner like meal (like chicken marsala, hot open roast beef, penne and vodka sauce, stuffed flounder)...with soup or salad, fries, drink, and a dessert for under $10 a person. Two of us can eat for usually $18, not including tip, with enough food to bring home. Dinners run slightly more, but two of us can generally eat a giant dinner, soups/salad, sides, drinks, dessert, for right around $25. The food is good. That's the first place that comes to mind, but since all we've ever done is eat on the cheap, I know dozens of great places, where you can get dinner for two under $25, without skimping. I was a recessionista before it was the in thing

American cheese, quahogs, lime juice

canned tuna, maple syrup, chevre

That looks like a great meal, and I make yorkies all the time, but with garlic butter instead of drippings. Sometimes I just want 'em for breakfast, y'know?

It's the "secret ingredient" in the "Mom's tuna" recipe that had people coming in from all over the state, back when I worked at this old deli. Celery salt in tuna is awesome, though nowadays I use celery seed.

There's a great pancake topic around here somewhere, loaded with ideas. This will probably get mixed in with that one, but I'll reply here anyway. With that blend, I bet bananas would be excellent. mashed bananas in the mix, or diced up and on top. Or coconut. Or grated citrus rinds, or even a combination of all three. Walnuts sound like they would be good in that, too, or pecans, or other nuts. Of course, the first thing I thought was "Nutella" but it doesn't sound like what you're looking for But then, Nutella is the first thing that pops into my mind for a lot of things.

Last night, I made broth using about five pounds of beef marrow bones, and the bone from a roasted lamb leg, from the freezer. Tonight, in went barley, diced turnips, carrots, parnips, celery, and some chuck scraps. We're so full from our late lunch, it might wind up being lunch tomorrow, if we decide not to go out for dim sum. This is definitely one of those freezer soups, that I made just to warm up the house, and for the sheer pleasure of making it. It'll be many good future meals, but there's no real place for it on our menu today, haha.

Urgh, I hate this. It's too early to tell if this is PMS related. I want to make biscuits. I want sausage. I want gravy, bacon, and grits. I want butter on ALL of that. Then, I want to wash it all down with something hot, and overly sweetened. If it's PMS, I can justify it. I'll cater to that whim, to some degree, at least. If it's not, then I'm just being a glutton... Also: Popcorn, summery fruits, and fake strawberry flavor. It's all I can do to keep from eating my strawberry lip balm outright. In retrospect, it probably is PMS.

That kitchen is bigger than my whole house, I think. I use trays for one purpose, and that's bringing stuff outside, to barbecue. I can get all the condiments flatware, and table stuff out in one trip.

Is it wrong that I want to bury my face in that picture?

My ratio was 2:1 Applejack to WTAH. Two nice rocks. I initially went half and half, but any subtle fruit of the Applejack was lost, so I upped it, and it was perfect.

There's a few that I like, I don't know if I'm allowed to post them here, but I'll PM the links to you.

I have an almond scrub that always puts me in the mood for marzipan. Most of the soap I buy comes from Etsy, it's all hand done, and the scents are amazing. Beer soap, this one called chocolate delight (which looks EXACTLY like a chunk of fudge sitting in my shower), all manner of citrus and herbs. Oh, it's crazy. A lot of time, I'll get cravings based on my products. Don't even get me started on candle scents.