IowaDee

On our last visit to Aldi's, the line was terrible and, as usual, just one checker. One couple had two over flowing grocery carts. Glad I kept my nasty looks and possible snide comments to myself. The checker told me they were there buying groceries to donate to the local food pantry. That brought me up short. Here was a couple buying food for people who couldn't even shop for their own and I was on the verge of bitching with my mouth full so to speak. Kind of put standing in line in perspective!

Make German Potato salad. The dressing is vinegar and sugar based so the extra sweetness from the potatoes would probably be just fine.

I'm just three miles north of the Missouri line. In an good year, this would be prime hunting time but I haven't talked to anyone who has found them Have to remember, however, that hunting grounds are usually a secret and only told to those near and dear. Before my in-laws sold the farm, we could find mushrooms by the bag full. The people who bought it, don't let anyone hunt there. We would find so many we used to soak them in the bathtub. I have yet to figure out where they grown and why. One year a bunch came up in the front yard underneath our lilacs. Never happend again. I suspect they live for taunting hunters. Even without much luck, hunting them is almost a rite of spring around here.

I think of all the many places you and Kerry have been, this one is about my favorite. Everything calls out to me. I really look forward to your Wednesday outings. Thanks for sharing them with all of us.

Hee, hee I saw what you did. rampage indeed.

Lol and not a vampire to be found anywhere around either!

Hum, it sounds like a relative of elephant garlic but maybe older. Maybe mastodon garlic? I'd give it a try in a second.

Now I understand the saying, "Eat it before it eats you." I love that cake. And knowing it is for a little girl makes it even better. I have a kod like that, tom boys rule.

Okay, this is crazy priced but in a good way. We sometimes shop at a cool little store run by local Mennonites. It is called Dutchmans and they do have a website I think. The fun in going there is the hunt for the surprise bargains you may find. Last time it was beautiful avocados for a dime, juicy limes for a nickle and fresh pineapples for a buck each. Yesterday that had 2.2 pounds of Ile de France Brie for $2.99! Yes the entire wheel for that price. Maybe not the best brie, but at that price, damn good. The great deals are not advertised so it is like a treasure hunt around the entire store.

I love them too. I can just see them for sake in a zoo's gift shop or as a fund raiser for a nature center. Edible poison arrow frogs, who would have ever "thunk"

Anytime you need your refrigerator cleaned out, please call me. That meal looks wonderful When I try that, I end up with three sad peas, hal fof a very limp tomato, something that might have started life as a sausage and that damn jar of pickles that no one likes very much. If it is a good day, I can scrounge up a heel of bread to hide the mess in. Trade me? Didn't think so!

Shelby, this might be a tad off topic but here goes...have you ever ordered anything from Jake & Amos? They make some awesome pickled products, beets among them. They have mix and max sales that are pretty good. I buy their stuff at a local Amish store but have ordered on line and the service was fine. Got a girl friend a case of the beets, half plain and half pickled, for her birthday and it wowed her.

It is beautiful. I suspect, if Jackson Pollock cooked, he would create something like this! Frame worthy for sure!

Why not suggest a food truck featuring goose dishes? The Flying Goose , We Will Cook your Goose. Possibilities are endless just like the damn geese appear to be. Many years ago, The Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources rounded up Canada geese and took them to Canada at the request of a local government agency there. Their local population had been wiped out and they needed a new supply. We were happy to do it! Hard to imagine any place actually having a shortage of them isn't it?

I'm rich, I'm rich I tell ya. Some mornings we awake to 30 or more Canadas on the pond. Earlier this spring, I could have paid off the place with snow geese. And boy are they free range. Just walk across the yard after they have been grazing on it! You know they have "ranged" there Also have blue winged teal, wood ducks, mergansers, and a pair of coots. (Oh wait, that last item is me and the hubby) If you want them, I'll throw a muskrat in for free with every $100 worth of geese. Have fixed one goose in my life and I set off a huge grease fire in our first apartment. I still remember the mess so never again.

Oh my your baby's growing up and leaving home.. I'm sure you raised him well and he will be a credit to you. If the rest of the photos are anywhere as amazing as the one above, you have made a thing of beauty. All the eGullet aunts and uncles must be almost as excited as you are. I know I am!

When I use oregano, it is the Mexican version rather than the typical one used in Italian cooking. is the Mexican one used there as well? I love the lighter almost floral aroma and taste and now the other seems harsh. Again, thanks so very much for this blog. Things like this are the very best of this place.

I really, really will hate to see your blog end! You have a special way of transporting us right into your life in a wonderful way. The local Chamber of Commerce should hire you to market Ambato. I promise a population uptick! Again, thanks for sharing with us.

Yes, you get the doggie bag at the onset and don't have to ask for it at the end. Time saver.

In other words, they are the Andes version of Rocky Mountain Oysters! I too am loving your blog. How great that you Mom and Step Dad pitch in as well. Did they ever envision a retirement like they have? It all sounds wonderful and put me down for a spot in that egullet colony.

I'm loving this blog. I even spent some time on line looking at real estate there. Pretty sure I would need something at a lower altitude but that amazing market calls out to me. Looking at beautiful fruit makes me almost understand vegans

I just paid $1.50 for jumbo brown eggs from our local Amish. Beautiful, bright yellow orange yolks. The eggs are so big that the carton can't be closed without using tape. I like brown eggs for hard boiling. Easy to see if you missed a bit of shell.

One of my grandmothers served squab at some holiday meal. I was pretty young and the sight of the 'little birdie" made my cry. Hunting and eating doves is popular here but don't know if anyone raises them as domestic birds. Funny how we call pigeons rats but doves are messengers of love and peace. Bet when all is said and done, the genetic make-up is almost identical!

I have heard the phrase "pigeon egg blue" forever. And now I find out they are white. Or maybe it refers to a different species of pigeons? As to using them, would pigeon pie be one possibility? People around here just refer to them as flying rats so I have never tasted one.

I loved your past two food blogs and can't wait for the next one. Every time I read about the best places in the world to retire, there is Equador at or near the top of the list. I'm ready for a trip if only in your shoes.