FauxPas

@Anna N, have you tried cooking sausages in the air fryer yet? That was the thing that put my friend over the top. Or do you like sausages?

I think this is a green pea as opposed to an edible dried pea and the fact that many of the modern varieties were developed by breeders in England. Maybe? Peas date back to ancient times and are believed to be native to Europe and parts of Asia. Cultivation of peas however is thought to have begun in the seventeenth century when plant breeders in England began developing new and improved varieties of garden peas. The modern english pea was named as such due to the plethora of new varieties that were breed there. Because of their long shelf life dried peas traveled to the new world with explorers and became one of the first crops grown by early colonists. https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/English_Peas_2012.php This explanation sounds plausible. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/vegetabletravelers/peas.html Garden peas were not common until the 18th century. Toward the end of the 17th century they were still such a rare delicacy that fantastic prices were sometimes paid for them in France. "This subject of peas continues to absorb all others," Madame de Maintenon wrote in 1696. "Some ladies, even after having supped at the Royal Table, and well supped too, returning to their own homes, at the risk of suffering from indigestion, will again eat peas before going to bed. It is both a fashion and a madness. " The English developed fine varieties; hence the common designation "English peas" in America.

English shortbread vs Scottish shortbread or British shortbread. 😄

Well, if you are ever in Taiwan. 🙂

Oh yes. I really like Fever Tree. For some reason, I can't find Q around here any more but I liked it as well. I'm really not crazy about 'regular' tonic water after using FT and Q.

Well, in that vein, I have to say that a local gin distiller, Sheringham, makes a Rhubarb Gin that I tried once and it was ah-mazing. There was something about the combo of gin and rhubarb that really worked for me. You have to scroll down to read about the rhubarb bit, I guess it had to be classed as a liqueur for some reason. Though I could add rhubarb to gin on my own, in one way or another, but this one worked for me. I think I tried it with soda water and with an artisanal (sometimes I hate that term) tonic water.

I love these SO MUCH! 😃 Also, noticed you had Gilbey's Gin up above, with which I am not familiar. Is that a fave? I'm not a gin person, but I like a G&T now and then. Someone told me the Bombay Sapphire that I buy occasionally was a bad choice. I'm not sure what to look for in gin, they all taste on the edge of being a bit too herbal for me, so maybe I'm buying the wrong ones or maybe I'm just not destined to be a gin drinker.

Yay! It will be lovely to read about your adventures! 🙂

I've never preserved any kind of pie filling and I was interested to read about the use of Clear Jel for thickening. I've never used it and wondered if people like the resulting texture, but the reviews on Amazon are almost all really positive. And apparently it holds up really well. So I learned something by looking at that recipe! If you didn't want that kind of texture (and I'm not even sure that there's any reason not to want it), I guess you could use a different recipe. Maybe something like this, which uses apples and the added pectin probably creates some gelling and raisins help absorb extra liquid. But I've never tried either recipe and again, not sure that there's anything wrong with your original recipe. It's just a somewhat random thought on my part. 🙂 https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/peach-pie-filling.htm?Lang=EN-US

Oh, I thought it was similar to the one on NY times (that did credit Marian Burros), but didn't realize the one was basically the same as the other. 🙂

A somewhat unglamorous cake, but a tasty one. It's the Late Summer Berry Torte recipe from King Arthur that @Kerry Beal makes now and then. I had some plums to use up, so I put them in and skipped the berries. And the only candles I could find were these huge ones, so opted not to put one in the cake itself. 😃

They have good bulk prices on some produce and I believe they are mostly organic as well, but I don't know if they are certified organic. But this is the place to come or to order online for bulk tomatoes or cabbage or pickling cukes. And they have so many varieties of corn, so much fun to try the different ones through the growing season. So far, it's been Kickstart, Anthem, Fastlane and probably some others that I missed. Some bags of pickling cukes in the top left, dill in the front. Their field cukes are usually a good deal, but they have large English cukes and Persian cukes as well. They always have a variety of tomatoes, since they have some greenhouses. I love their ceiling lights, the watering cans are a nice touch!

Our biggest standalone farmstand by volume is certainly Sieffert's. They grow a lot, enough to supply several local grocery stores with a variety of their produce. And I love that the local groceries, even large chain ones like Sobey's, still contract with Sieffert's and other local farms to make sure they get fresh, local produce. This is one busy farmstand and they are always bringing stuff in throughout the day. I tried to find a quieter time to take pictures, which is later in the day so they did sell out of some of their fruit and veggies. They always have a variety of old farm equipment in the parking area, filled with various flowering plants. One of the fields adjacent to the farmstand is filling up with sunflowers and pumpkins!

I really love it that you still have a sense of adventure! 🙂

One place we go to regularly during the summer is a farm called Berry Best. They grow a variety of things themselves but also bring in some fruit from the Okanagan (peaches, plums, apricots, cherries) - all organic. You may pay a bit extra for their fruit but it's really delicious and very carefully picked. For example, the strawberries are handled minimally as the fruit is usually snipped off by the stem. So Jane's berries are gorgeous, and also amazingly full-flavoured. She grows 3 different varieties of blueberries that vary in terms of tart vs sweet, and you can pick the variety you like so buy one type for pies, another for eating fresh. Her raspberries are amazing, also picked each morning fresh. She doesn't open until 10 or 11, to allow time for picking and packing as she does supply some local stores and other businesses. If you are looking for jam berries, she will usually have some less than perfect fruit for a reduced price. Once we had Jane's berries, we were reluctant to go anywhere else. And even though we can get a better deal on stone fruit at the supermarket or some other stores, we know hers are coming from small organic farms that care about quality and are carefully transported. The first peaches we had this year were from her, they were some of the best peaches we had ever had. My husband ate his over the sink. I cut mine into slices and savoured every last little bite. I made a peach cobbler but it almost seemed wrong to cook them. I realize that my crappy photos are because I'm really a bit shy of taking photos in stores/businesses. And this is a small farmstand/store. But keep in mind that we are a small community and my pictures were taken toward the end of the day when a lot had already been sold.

I hadn't seen these before and was going to throw some in the cart when I noticed they were $3.69 per bag. And not exactly a huge bag either. 🙂 Still, I'd like to try them. They only had a few bags left on that shelf, does that mean they are really popular? Ingredients included "spices, sugar, onion powder, mango powder, garlic powder, tomato powder and paprika extract".

Does your granddaughter use it much? I think you said she was quite keen on one. If so, what types of things does she make?

Oh, I think you have a way(s) to go yet, Grasshopper. 🙂

Got a few pickling cukes, made a few pickles. Nothing too crazy. 🙂

I'm somewhat embarrassed at how bad these photos are and how poorly they represent the variety of vendors at this local market. It really is a nice and diverse market, super popular and fun to wander around when I have the time. I was in a hurry yesterday so only snapped a few quick pics. I picked up some pickling cukes, strawberries, onions, peas. And then some of the cukes became pickles.

Not boring! Actually, quite beautiful! 🙂 I made a tiny little bit of lower-sugar apricot jam recently, just a simple recipe of fruit, sugar, lemon zest, tiny bit of Grand Marnier. It's the one thing I absolutely have to make each year. Yesterday was blackberry-raspberry jam and today was Sun Relish. Sun Relish is a recipe from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). It includes equal amounts of peaches and yellow bell peppers along with lemon, some hot peppers, sugar, white wine vinegar, lemon, salt. I made it a few years ago and gave some away and got some great feedback on it. It's tasty and pretty! This time I used habanero peppers but used them very sparingly. 😀 Blackberry-raspberry jam and Sun Relish

My background is Scandinavian and I was at University of Oslo for a bit. I remember summer potato salads, often very simple. Maybe like this one with just potatoes, sour cream, mayo, and a LOT of dill. I think the recipe I linked may be heavy on the dressing though, as I seem to recall most being lightly dressed. My problem was with all the dill, I find dill a bit overpowering sometimes. A family member made something similar but with lots of radishes in it. Looking online, I see variations with a bit of vinegar or lemon juice, celery, red onion, or even sliced pickles, like this one from Outside Oslo.

Oh no, we've lost another good one! I'll miss her cheerfulness, her empathy, her friendly tone and humour. Just took a quick look at posts about flying kites and a funny story about her husband driving her to work through Topanga Canyon while she was pregnant and eating crackers to ward off nausea. Loved all the little details of her life that she shared, one of those warm folks who make you feel that you know them even when you've only read a few online posts!

Some controversy over his behaviour at his former restaurant and his win. Here's one link, more if you wanted to search for it. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/top-chef-gabe-erales-apology-firing-harassment-1234987992/

Mashed potatoes can be frozen, just think of all the Hungry Man Dinners out there in Freezerland, ha. (Didn't/don't they have mashed potatoes in them?) 😀 You could make up something like some Shepherd's Pies (with venison?) with mashed potatoes on top and then have an easy meal to cook later on, if you have enough room in your freezer(s). I've frozen Cottage Pie before, but I can't remember if I browned the potato topping before freezing or not. I think either way will work, but you might want to allow it to thaw a bit before heating. Here's an example of one not browned in advance, but thawed before final cook. https://food.unl.edu/shepherds-pie-including-directions-freezing