Porthos

This father loves fruit-topped cheesecake.

No pictures but this dinner is significant to me. It's the first time since my Southern ren faire has closed and been packed away (at faire site - I'm still emptying tubs of kitchen fear and getting it all put away) that I have had the time and energy to cook a real meal. Hsn't happen in at least 2 1/2 months. SVed a boneless New York strip steak, seasoned with salt, pepper and some Penzey's Italian Herbs. 131 F for 3 1/4 hours then seared. Served with Michael Symon's Cilatro Pesto, steamed broccoli with salt and butter, and Driscoll Farms strawberries. This was the first time I've made the cilantro pesto and it's a keeper. It's from Michael Symon's 5 in 5.

I purchased it several months ago and read a bit of the introduction. Then all of my time got swallowed up with ren faire stuff. I have several ecookbooks I need to read now that I have time again

Thank you for sharing that story. My wonderful FIL is in a care facility nearing the end of his earthly journey due to that scourge cancer. He has had a full, rich life and, outside of short-term memory issues, is still mentally engaged in life. My DW and I decided early on when entering this phase of his life with him that he could have anything he wanted to eat, he just needed to eat. He gets 3 well-prepared meals a day where he is. But when we visit him we bring beer and snackage, mostly cookies and such. A few months ago when we arrived for a visit one of the care givers started fussing that we needed to not give him the cookies we had brought because he wouldn't eat his dinner. One of the owners was there and told the caregiver to leave us alone. She understands that an occasional meal of sweets is not going to change his outcome, and it gives him pleasure to have the treats.

And it is done. God Save the Queen. Smallish turnout for tear down so I didn't have to grill up too much food; 24 burger patties, 13(?) Costco Polish dogs and 14 regular hot dogs. I made my signature Grain Salad with feta, and I made some bagel schmear with cream cheese and a package of Coscto's Smoked Salmon that was left over. Upon leaving my Tundra was packed the gills since there were several things I forgot I needed to bring home. However, the unpacking of this load will wait until Monday since were are going to the Scottish Fest in Orange County tomorrow for some well-earned down time. I can already taste the steak and mushroom pastie.

24 hours from now and I will be done. I have talked with friends that I do faire with and they get why I made my decision to walk awau. We use my large event grill for part of a potluck for our major tear down day, which is tomorrow. Me, I've been tearing down since Tuesday. Tomorrow my grill, a few propane tanks and some random totes will go into my truck in the afternoon and then I ride off into the sunset. My DW is having a hard time with my decision to walk away completely. I think it will take some time for her to make peace with it. She has commented that there will be parts that I will miss. That is most likely true, but they will be minor things to miss. I know, and as I have indicated above, my friends know that this is the right thing to do. It's not out of anger that I leave, it's out of an understanding that my life has changed in 18 years (19 seasons) and I need to live my life for who I am now.

A friend who is a carnivore like me posted this: This was my response: Welcome to heaven. Here's a steak from the fatted calf. Welcome to hell. The vegan taco bar is open 24/7.

For me it's about how they cut up. The DH cuts cleaner than BC or Pillsbury. I use the one-egg version and go 1/3 cup oil and a 1/ cup water. They want a 1/2 cup of oil.

Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode on how liquid smoke is made and how to make your own. Mmmm, no. Wright's still gets my business.

In a similar vein, My DW and I have a time-honored brownie recipe adapted from her mom's recipe. When we want brownies at home we make them from scratch. However, I bake 4 foil catering pan's worth of brownies a week for desserts at faire (girl brownies and boys brownies - I'll let you guess what the difference is) and those are made from Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix, the only brand I'll use. I still like the taste of Kraft mac'n'cheese over my home-made; it's a comfort food thing. The only variance is the addition of sour cream.

I haven't been in many years but the North Beach Restaurant was a go-to place.

Thank you. It's off the list. I've substituted the d5.

@JoNorvelleWalker Not challenging you, would just like to know your reason(s) why not.

I go through 19 dozen eggs a weekend during my southern ren faire. So happy to know that I haven't been serving potentially tainted eggs.

My DW and I will be celebrating a significant anniversary next month. She suggested that giving me a new knife or a nice pan would bring her pleasure. I've looked at knives and nothing zinged my strings. So I have started looking at pans. Pan one: Demeyere Silver7 Covered Sauté Pan 5 qt https://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-2756047/Demeyere+Silver7+Covered+Saute+Pan?cat=TCA-257761_Saute+Pans Pan 2: All-Clad Copper Core Saucepan 4 qt https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/all-clad-copper-core-saucepan/?pkey=call-clad-copper-core&isx=0.0.1254 I hope to add a couple of additional choices but for now this is what I have. Thoughts on either of these pans? ETA things in my kitchen MUST be dishwasher safe. This is an absolute.

By weight how much pasta are you trying to boil? My guess would be too much water for the pot's size based upon your description. I use inserts or a pan and colander depending on how much pasta I am cooking.

When I discussed my retiring from the feast kitchen one of the things we talked about was whether it meant I was just stopping running the kitchen or if I was going to stop participating in this faire. I talked a little bit about it but made no commitments. I have concluded that my best personal option is to walk away completely when this season is done and everything is packed away. I am willing to let them use my equipment in the future. but they would have to fetch it and return it. I would rather not be physically present at all. I am continuing (on a year to year basis) my participation in the faire up near Hollister in the fall. Even as team leader I have considerably less overall responsibility there and have already had discussion on how to minimize the actions and motions that do contribute to my pain level. And the tradition of really bad puns being made as we work must continue.

Yes, it is Del Real. I've been buying it for enough years I don't pay attention to the name any more. My bad.

Most likely. I was very tired when I posted ir.

It's not a recipe. Del Rio is a brand that Costco, among others, carries.

I grilled up 12 pounds of carne asada for today's ren faire feast. I reheated 5 pounds of Del Rio Carnitas. Everything else was my normal feast food.

Once I got going hot and heavy with my spring season ren faire stuff I didn't really have time to do anything more with Rouxbe school website. I think the fact that there wasn't anything compelling enough for me to try and make time for is sort of my conclusion. Their offerings are something I would never pay for.

Your way with words always make following your travels fun and enlightening. Thanks for once again taking us with you.

Milton's Healthy Whole Grain. I like the taste, texture and the fact that it has 4 grams of fiber per slice. I buy it in 2-packs at Costco. I eat very few sandwiches but lots of toast, and this just really fits the bill for that. Saw the Dave's in Costco this morning. Didn't buy any because I was doing ren faire shopping and I didn't wanted to have to edit the receipt.

Dave's Killer Bread is in at least one local market I regularly shop. Since I have my go-to bread I have been ignoring it. I may just have to pick up a loaf and give it a whirl.