Country

The "...denser 'dirt' concretions on them that take a stiff brush to remove" may well be potato scab, which needs to be removed with a knife or peeler. But, as Heidi suggested, a photo would help.

Mackerel is a pretty oily fish and, while I've smoked mackerel, I've never seen it dried. If it is possible to dry mackerel, it should probably be brined first.

Thanks very much, Lindacakes. I hadn't heard of it so did a search and, among other things, came up with this YouTube video of the first four minutes. You're right. It looks like a very good film. Thanks again.

As I remember his reason had to do with spawning, or something else to help the shrimp population. Nothing to do with what you wrote Johnny.

A friend of mine, who's in his 50's and has fished all his life, always said December was too early to go for shrimp and it would be better to start in January. Sorry to ruin your December menu Johnny.

That sounds ideal! I'd miss it too.

Percyn - A few posts back you have a pic of someone weighing something, and the sign to the right lists "chicken ham" which, along with some other stuff, is the cheapest thing. What is "chicken ham"? Ham and chicken ground together, or mixed after grinding? Or something else altogether? Thanks.

What ScoopKW said.

Here's a link with a little more info than the BDN article. The Working Waterfront. It notes how a lot of lobster boats (and some fish draggers) rig over and go shrimping in the winter. Some of them will get hit pretty hard if they haven't had a good summer lobstering or dragging. I thought I read somewhere that days out were going to be limited to certain days of the week. But, neither Bob's link nor mine mentions that, so maybe that's not true. In general, people that go shrimping aren't too happy with this. They feel it's clamping down too hard, and that there are plenty of shrimp. I don't go shrimping, so I don't know. I do know that years ago, before regulation, that there was a cycle in the shrimp population. About 14 years if I remember right. The shrimp would get depleted to the point where it wasn't worth shrimping, and then they'd come back and people would start going again. It was just an accepted way of doing things - and worked. But, maybe now, there are too many boats getting into it. And, years ago, lobstermen could just fish for lobsters and make enough money to take the winter off. Now, it's a lot harder to do that.

What a great market!! I've never seen anything like it. And the bagged shrimp look just like Maine shrimp. Amazing.

If we can include country fairs, the Common Ground Fair (in Maine) has some of the best concession stands around. Here's a pic of some of them. Many more not shown. Some of them have lines that seem endless once the gates open and time to eat - which is all day. The pic in the link must have been taken during set-up before the fair opened.

Same here.

Great blog PanCana! Looking forward to more.

There's an old saw that seems to apply here: "It's easier to receive forgiveness than permission." And I would suggest one of my mother's favorites: "Don't bite off your nose to spite your face." If you are still or in the future become interested again in Campbell's Coworth food, just paste on a smile and go. Maybe someone at Campbell's Cowarth has been reading this thread and reservations will be hard to get?

If he has a special practice in karate, he may have a preferred (or special) diet and simply chose not to say so.

Living Near a Fast-Food Restaurant Not Linked to Weight Gain Whew. I'm safe. Actually, the nearest fast food (McDonald's) is 16 miles from me and I only eat at such a place 3-4 times a year. When I need that fix.

I've never worked in a butcher shop, but I've been around butchers ever since I was young and never heard any of them complain about the work, or thinking about changing their line of work to something else. Don't know if this helps, but best I can do.

My thought too. Though if the sauce tastes good now, maybe stop now.

Where's Howard? Is he above corned beef hash, cabbage, and beer?

I couldn't agree more. I have, however, done just that to experience food and ambiance. Agreed. I certainly wouldn't want to drive all that way to enjoy a meal, and then be seated anywhere near some "food obsessive and avid restaurant collector" snapping pictures of their meal.

Me too.

Me too. But it looks like we're not going to see pics of those beautiful, cholesterol laden, breakfasts.

Unless it's something delicate, it's hard to get the fond too dark.

Cut a big chunk off for her. (And some more for good friends.) Once you've started eating the ham, the clock starts ticking. Not very fast, but it's ticking nonetheless. If it were my ham, I would cut it into quarters and freeze two pieces, eat one, and give one piece away. Just make sure it's wrapped VERY well in the freezer. You don't want this to become freezer-burnt. FoodSaver or some other good vacuum sealer would be the way to go. Lamb, and other stuff I've frozen, has still been good after being in the freezer for a couple of years.

Same here. Mirepoix after the meat comes out, deglaze, then put the meat back in on top of the mirepoix. And go from there. eta: Like Scoop says the right pan. Heavy. I always use Le Creuset doing this.