BeeZee

Grandma pie at a local pizza place, rain held off so we could eat outdoors. Basil a bit fossilized, but otherwise tasty.

Avocado, pepitas, splattering of TJ’s guajillo salsa on rice cakes.

Grilled swordfish (broke during transfer to my plate), corn/black bean salad.

I saw Raniers at WF this week, but I know its too early for them to be good (esp at that price). Cherries purchased today at Shoprite were from California. They are smaller than the ones from Washington state that I usually buy, but those don’t seem to be here yet.

I would kill for some fresh young peas in the pod, I like to eat them raw. I tried to get my gardening co-worker to plant some for me, but he said they are too difficult to grow since they need particular temps to flourish, so if Mother Nature doesn't cooperate in early Spring (which she rarely does around here), no go.

Ate too much pineapple while cutting it up, seemed to be pretty high in acid because I burned my tongue. Should've stopped after the first piece when I sensed it could be an issue...

DIY cocktail sauce is the way to go - extra horseradish, please!

Tried the guajillo salsa, which I think is new-ish (I purchased it a couple of weeks ago). Medium spice, fairly thin, good for drizzling over things, not many chunks.

So envious. Love seafood and a beach vacation sounds so nice right now...

Magnifying glass app on my phone does the trick when needed (it basically hijacks the camera function, very simple, and free to download). Have used the flashlight function more than once in restaurants, too.

Cacio e pepe puffs were blech. I mindlessly munched through a bunch, realized they really didn't taste enough of cheese to keep eating them, and threw the remainder out. Only $1.99, so no great loss.

Chopped Greek salad with chickpeas, leftover rotisserie chicken.

Lance Nekot cookies - lemon creme - were pretty good, if memory is correct. Haven't had them in years, though. I can imagine that the Oreo version is very sweet and lacking in lemon flavor.

Overwhelming beauty. So nice to see a place so different, truly defines "exotic" across the board in landscape and food.

As a follow up, the Shiksa enjoyed her first bowl of matzoh ball soup. She's thinking of converting for the food, now😁

Our local bagel place, which isn't up to NYC standards but is pretty good, used to have bialys - haven't checked recently if they still make them. IIRC, the owners were Turkish. Anyhow, unlike a fresh bagel, which I will never toast, I like my bialy very toasted, heavy on the cream cheese. My late Grandfather was a bialy fan. Nice memories.

The matzoh farfel and mushroom dressing, turmeric gives it a nice color.

Correct, as @weinoo points out, the product I will use is matzoh crushed into small pebbles. The remainder from the canister is destined for a granola-like treatment, which is another way to add flavor, lots of honey/sugar and spices.

Thanks for the notes, I will be heading to Asheville for a wedding in October, and staying a couple of days.

Farfel used instead of bread cubes, mixed with chicken stock and sauteed veg, butter (because we aren’t Kosher) and baked so the top/edges crisp. I prefer it to the more typical kugels, which are dense. Just a nice savory side dish that goes well with borh chicken and beef. I guess you could look at it as another form of “the bread of our affliction”🤣

Going to my parents’ house. There will be 9 of us, including my stepson’s fiance who was raised devoutly Christian and is now more or less agnostic, it is her first Passover experience. I will be making farfel dressing with mushrooms and a simple apple/walnut charoset to bring.

desk breakfast - rice cakes, homemade hummous, salsa. Everyone laughs at rice cakes, but the ones from Lundberg actually have flavor and don't crumble like crazy.

Wild Fork opened a brick and mortar store 5 minutes from my office, looking forward to getting over there for some fish.

I took a class on how to make macarons at Sur la Table in February 2020, just before everything shut down. Whether you think they are "worth the trouble" depends on how you look at them - triumph of technique merged with proper balance of flavor in a small bite...or a fussy little cookie. I found the process fascinating, and given more free time, I'd like to do more experimentation. As you noted on your first taste, the incorrect use of a flavoring can leave one wondering what the hype is about. When I've had ones with well-balanced and creative flavors, combined with the properly textured shell, I found them a joy to experience. I'm predisposed to small bites, so the concept fits my preferences.

Would have been better on a day that was a bit cooler, but Saturday I roasted the bone in turkey breast I had gotten for free at Thanksgiving. “Little potato company” small red potatoes roasted as the turkey rested, green beans. Heated some homemade gravy that I had saved in the freezer. Really good, I’ve had good luck with keeping the turkey nice and moist. Regretfully, forgot the cranberry sauce, but that will keep another year.😁 Now I have room in the freezer for making ice cream or pops!