FauxPas

Here's the one I usually buy, it's just the pressed juice and a bit of pulp, no sugar and not boiled down so it tastes really fresh. I love the colour and the slightly tropical berry flavour. I often add a couple of teaspoons to sparkling water, as in the photos. The claim of 72 servings seems completely far-fetched to me, but it's true that you don't need much for colour or a bit of flavour.

They ripen in the late summer (August/September) so by now they've probably been ripe for a couple of months, but as long as they are juicy, they should be good to use. Like any fruit, I assume they are at their best when first fully ripe but I'm not a cacti expert either. 😀

Here's another description of the freezing method (See Process 2 in the article): http://www.rootedfood.com/musings/2014/12/11/prickly-pear-harvest

Oh yes! That would be delicious and so pretty. Maybe even add a touch of tequila?

They are a bit past their prime, but could still be in very good shape. I'd be a bit careful/discreet about foraging there, it might be restricted. I just bought some of the AZ Cactus Ranch nectar from our local Sprouts. We have visitors from Canada and I wanted to make them prickly pear beverages, maybe even a margarita or two. 😄

yes, it really is a perfect solution for this place. As I said, kicking myself for not doing it sooner. Laughing about the 2 liter sodas.... 😀

Do you just use that one cup of custard mix or do you top up with more custard after positioning the sliced apples?

A year ago, I posted about a nice little stand that Target was selling that worked really well for Instant Pots. I did buy one and it languished in the box in our storage room until today, when I FINALLY put it together. It's not hard to assemble and it really does the trick, so I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner (though to be fair to myself, we were away from this house for six months or more). I have the 6 qt IP on the top, the Mini IP on the bottom with its Slow Cook lid, and other lids and some steamer baskets on the middle shelf. The beauty of this for me is that the stand fits perfectly inside the pantry and it's very lightweight and can be quickly and easily pulled out when needed. I have an electrical outlet right outside the pantry and a bit of space there so I can conveniently cook on the stand itself, then slide the whole thing back into the pantry when I'm done. So it really clears up some space for me and could possibly even hold a bit more! 😀 Pantry door is just to the left and kitchen is to the side.

Hahahaha, that's pretty much what my husband says. And he says it EVERY time I eat cottage cheese, which I rather like, so I've heard him say it quite a lot. 🤣🤣🤣

Just tried a brand called Good Culture, made in Wisconsin. The local store (Fry's/Kroger) only had the 2% small-curd and I know some people don't like that, but I thought it was pretty good. A bit tangy, but nice and creamy. Ingredients are skim milk, whole milk, cream, Celtic (?) sea salt, live and active cultures. They also have a Whole Milk version and a Double Cream, wouldn't mind trying those ones. Has anyone else?

This is more than what you are actually asking for, but there is a site called The Dinner Daily, which will shop the sales from your local grocery stores' flyers and prepare a meal plan and shopping list around those items. It's free for two weeks. But maybe you are looking for something both free and simpler! 🙂

The Beecher's cheese box is in the Tucson stores, so I would think it would be showing up in the Phoenix stores.

I wasn't being snarky, I really wanted to know where it was from! There are a couple of sea salt producers here on the Island (scroll down to see a few). I usually buy from Clever Crow Farm which is very near here. It's a very small operation, Lia slowly simmers the salt water on the stove in her farm store and has a drying room for the salt (and herbs) on the lower level. Thanks for checking on the source! 🙂

I would have asked them what part of Vancouver Island their sea salt comes from. 🙂

Funny (or gross) Hallowe'en food from FaceBook. FeetLoaf (look like just ground beef and onions) Brain Cake (not sure of the ingredients here).

Ha, @Kerry Beal mentioned she was going to let you check it out first! I am just so pleased that someone else was able to enjoy it! I found it a fun read and thought Kerry might enjoy it, given her time on the Queen Charlottes aka Haida Gwaii. I am even more pleased that you were also interested in it!

Steam them. Maybe @weinoo or someone else can fill in the timing details, I can't get back to the actual 'recipe' part. But this was in in the 'cover' story (basically, heat up your water before you put the eggs in the steamer basket): Here’s the real trick, and it confirms the data I’ve been collecting for years now: By far the most important factor in determining whether a boiled egg will peel cleanly or not is the temperature at which it starts cooking. Starting eggs in cold water causes egg-white proteins to coagulate slowly, bonding tightly to the inner membrane of the shell. The difference is night and day: Cold-water eggs show nearly nine times more large flaws and double the number of small flaws. There are two stovetop cooking methods that allow preheating for a hot start, and produce eggs that are equally easy to peel: boiling and steaming.

I still like to throw a couple of hard-boiled eggs in the pickling juice and pull them out when the whites have just a tinge of rosy colour to them. A childhood memory, my dad liked doing that. They really impressed me when I was quite young!

I don't like too much clove taste either. I like to use cinnamon sticks, just a hint of cloves and maybe a touch of star anise.

It's rare that I remember to take pics but I do have a few taken over the last little while I thought I would share. Our CSA farm share for the summer just ended. They also have an autumn one but we'll be away for too much of it. We had lots of cherry tomatoes! Too many for us to eat fresh, so I roasted them and/or froze them. I took the trouble to peel some of them during slow-roasting, I thought @Shelby would approve! We had LOTS of beets in our farm share. Pickled beets. Borscht. Pork chop (sous vide, then quick panfry) and a mix of pickled and roasted beets over beet greens with feta cheese and balsamic reduction. Stuffed Poblano Peppers, Alex Guarnaschelli's recipe. These were SO good and I was able to use a lot of CSA produce - poblanos, red peppers, tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, topped with panko crumbs. Only wish I had a better photo, as the topping looks a bit burnt but it wasn't at all. Made that 'famous' NYT plum torte for dessert a couple of times. Not sure why, I don't really think it's all that great, though the plums were lovely. Had local halibut and salmon a few times, of course. Another sub-par photo here, sigh, can't see the beautiful flaking of the fish for some reason. Corn and peppers and potatoes from farm share or local farm market. Panko crusted halibut with a garlic and serrano pepper aoli. Not the most appetizing photo but using up more produce and my husband had a craving for a chuck patty with cheese. The green beans were braised with tomatoes and garlic and onion and seasoned with cayenne and paprika, a version of Lebanese loobyeh. A few nights ago, we had Thai chicken skewers with peanut sauce. Then we had Filipino pork adobo, thought I had a photo but can't find it now. Another pork chop with a plum and balsamic reduction, corn + peppers, potatoes. We had lots of berries from local farms, strawberries finally came to an end about a week ago. These were the last ones of the season, still delicious though! Had them for dessert with a little bit of vanilla ice cream. Good old standby, aglio e olio! This was with asiago cheese.

@Shelby, I thought you might be curled up and snoozing with Chum on the couch, both of you being a bit tired out after all your hard work!

I hope so, too! Sorry to hear about your dental woes, hope the gum issues can be controlled/improved. Your green beans look amazingly good! What's your weather like these days, will your tomatoes ripen OK?

I love your blogs also! Looking forward to reading about your various adventures. And I really hope that tooth doesn't bother you too much, and that the antibiotics clear up any problems fast!

Also, I think RCWilley only ships to the continental US. I had one sent to our US address, but we won't be there until October or November for me to try it out. I have an induction range here, but not in the other house, so it could be quite useful there.

Me too!