StanSherman

I caught my first yellowfin in 1968 and have caught, processed and cooked thousands of pounds since then. In the 90's I fished with a few buddies for three weeks off the coast of Baja. We were actually fishing for everything other than yellowfin since they were always available. We'd put up two or three large fish per day for afternoon snacks and canning. We decided one evening to taste test tuna by age. We had fresh, one day, two day, three day and four day. As straight sashimi the three day stuff was the overwhelming winner. Each piece was the upper side of the belly after bleeding on a 70-80 pound fish. The trick is in how you prepare the trim pieces. There will be some very usable "mushy" meat on the outside. It spices up real nice as an Ahi slider. A nice piece chared with a seasame/wasibi crust can be sliced over a nice avacado/cilantro/mango salad. Spicy tuna roll and make sure the best becomes sashimi.

Besides the acid, generally the harvest to process time is usually faster. My homemade stuff stays pretty green since it goes into the mix within 10 minutes of cutting.

I had it with onions at my favorite Indian restaurant that just recently closed. It was wonderful! I'd appreciate your ideas on the best recipe. I'm going to an Indian market on Tuesday (the closest is 90 miles away).

Yes, we grew two 50 foot rows. For our situation the spring bulbs from Hirt's Gardens produced the best.

Child unit number 2 helped out this week and actually got 250 pounds of various potatoes, 300 pounds of various varieties of onions bagged and 30 pounds of garlic all bagged and labeled for specific uses in the basement. The shallots just take so much time to put up. Our home preserved larder is at ridiculous levels. The Amish are laughing at me. We may get our first freeze next week and there is no way for us to process everything. One neighbor doesn't have cancer, the other has prostate not colon cancer, two neighborhood grand babies were born this week. We're getting real tempted to dig a hole in the garden and let the next rain fill it. Next,have everyone over for a food/mud pig fest.

I've been using shallots in every dish lately. I've pickled some and this is what's left.

What would be the term for a strictly kosher deli serving me a pastrami on white with mayo? It happened to us several years ago. It reminded me of the mayo scene from "The History of White People in America".

If you happen to read this prior to you travels. Double check the road conditions especially the ones out to the Mendocino coast. They had some serious storm damage and may have serious construction delays.

Arcata, Trinidad and Eureka are all next to each other. Personally, I'd be inclined to stay in Arcata, do a romantic dinner at Larrupin and the next morning have breakfast at the Samoa Cookhouse. I like the lumberjack feel of breakfast there. Even in August that part of the coast can get cool enough at night to sit by the fire at Larrupin.

Ooops, and quite different towns at that. Also near Arcata is a town of Trinidad. It's been a few years but Larrupin Cafe was sure nice then. http://www.larrupin.com/

I don't think New Sammy's has a site but there are lots of articles about it. They did expand a little since they got most of their press. They even have a sign now. They are not open every night so timing can be a problem One article: http://articles.sfgate.com/2003-08-24/living/17503025_1_chez-panisse-restaurant-bay-area Regarding oysters: The town of Marshall (on Tomales Bay) has a few spots to get oysters. It's about two hours north of San Francisco. Tomales Bay Oyster Company has picnic tables and BBQ grills set up. You by the oysters and shuck, BBQ yourself. You can also make that a day trip from SF. There are great oyster options in SF also. The Oregon coast is nice but gets clogged in August with large motor homes usually driven by older folks. The bigger the rig the older they will be. The California coast going north to the border takes more than a day if you want to enjoy anything. You may just have to pick one of the loops and make the best of it. I'd consider leaving SF early and taking 101 to Cloverdale and then 128 out to the Mendocino coast. This is a really beautiful drive going through a coastal wine zone then through the redwoods along a river. When the river end you end up with a very dramatic coastal drive. It returns back to 101 in Leggett. Lunch in either Mendocino or Noyo Harbor Spent the night in the Arcadia area. Either have dinner/Breakfast at Samoa Cookhouse. The next day drive along the coast to crescent City and then go through the redwoods on 199 to Grants Pass and back to Corvallis.

How much time are you allowing for the drive? Are you staying in motels, camping? I've done the route well over 50 times in the past 20 years. Going south from Crater Lake the most direct route is highway 5, but I always recommend driving south along the coast since the car will be on the side of the road closest to the shoreline. If you are taking one portion on 5 one of the great spots in Oregon is New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro. It's just North of Ashland, another nice destination. If you like oysters there are two very different but great choices. Coos Bay, Oregon and Tomales Bay, CA. Tomales Bay is in a wonderful food area and you could/should spend a few days around there.

To keep it civil they have made it too much for some people. Though balance.

Please don't take me seriously. I was posting someones copy of the US government spec on brownies. I believe it's real since I've seen so many.

The recipe is a bit too long to cut and paste. http://liw.iki.fi/liw/misc/MIL-C-44072C.pdf

Brunch buffet. I'll drive right past all them there folks who can't believe they're still. The crowds should be light since everyone will be stuffed from the night before.

Consider yourself invited.

I'm on probation with the smoker. I kinda destroyed a Bradley digital by overloading too many briskets into it and the fat caught on fire. The firecracker dishes will go better at the big party night in August when we start the evening off by lighting two strings of 4 million firecrackers each. It's a pretty big night that over 3000 pyros get to sit back and be entertained by their favorite display companies.

It's a real problem for me. I live on the outskirts of a town of 160. We'll prolly have 300-400 for the 4th. I'm not allowed to even look at the menu.

These are friends that I really care about. Iowans would be happy with anything, but they do appreciate that extra care. Typically they make the same dish 2-4 times a month for Church and Little League. We tend to cluster as teams. Your team is, typically, where you are on the 4th of July (local group). Then we belong to a regional club and then a national club. We design, build and display our own work so we need to trust each other with our lives. We grow into another Dysfunctional Family. Memorial Day weekend is the debut for many of our new experimental shells. This is our last chance to make any adjustments before our big national competition in August. In the past I've done pork with chimichurri, carnitas, chicken marabella, and special salads.

Like the name. Might be a cold plate. Dinner is early with and average temp of 80.

We do a club campout for Memorial Day weekend with a pyrotechnic club. I'd like to try something different for the main potluck dinner. I have plenty of time the day before (at home) and a hour or two the morning of, but prior to service it gets busy getting fireworks ready so plating has to be quick. We have a small oven, three burners, crockpots and large cast iron dutch ovens. Please give me some inspiration. Thanks!

Not my assertion at all. We were visiting some Amish yesterday. They eat a whole bunch of crap. Tons of sugar, lots of butter and fat, but the kids are not overweight. I really think physical activity has a huge play in this.

I'm not a particularly religious person and I wish to keep religion from any more political influence, but there is a huge part of me that would rather see Mormons administer food stamps rather than the USDA. The USDA employes more people than the totality of agriculture. If you point that out to a farmer they'll point out the food stamps. If you point it out to a poor person they will talk about millionaire farmers getting subsidies.

How often do they visit the market? Does that person work a job also? Are the producers of fixed priced goods large and well compensated?