FauxPas

That sounds like a pretty good price. What is their return policy? It's a backup so you can leave it in the box and if there's a better price in the next few weeks, you can perhaps return it and buy the lower-priced one. Or get a backup for your backup, hahahaha 😄

I last made butter tarts a couple of months ago, but can't even remember what I put in them. I have a photo of them, for some reason. Pretty sure some of them had nuts. I had a friend who gave me her mom's recipe, which might have had currants instead of raisins, but I know I didn't do that. I do like a thick pastry shell, not too gooey because it's a pain to try and eat them on the go and I like them to be portable.

And share with us again....

You can make do with muffin pans.

I bought that one, also! And when I went to check out the other one, Amazon kindly reminded me that I already owned it.

It's a stunning porch/deck. I love the finishing details and it looks so spacious. What a lovely place to sit and enjoy the morning/day/evening, I think I'd be out there all the time!

All the food looks wonderful. I love the bench! And the garden is looking good, too. Perfect to have a place to sit and watch it grow. Though I know that Chum secretly believes that bench was built just for her. Would love to see the new porch, if you are willing to share a photo. How many freezers do you have?

Oh no, this sounds dangerous! I would hate to get my kitchen completely reno'd and then have to start thinking about how to store the spices. Would you be willing to share details (maybe photos or plans) here? Maybe someone would have some useful suggestions.

Ha, I worked at a cannery when I was a kid and we canned asparagus for what felt like forever! That season never seemed to end. At first my job involved separating out less appealing spears to send on to soup production. Later, I gathered the better specimens by size for canning. The area I worked in was hot and steamy and reeked and I carried that smell home with me, then desperately tried to get it out of my clothes and hair. It was years before I could eat asparagus without feeling nauseous. And then I discovered that I lack the mutated gene that would prevent me from smelling the body's breakdown of the asparagusic acid. That was somewhat off-putting as well. Now I know it's likely most bodies do the same thing, just some folk have that mutated gene in their olfactory receptor region. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-asparagus-makes-your-urine-smell-49961252/ I can and do enjoy asparagus occasionally now, but it's still not at the top of my list. I'm much more likely to prepare it for someone else than myself. It's interesting to see what people do with it, though.

I also see the Canadian Costco price at $249.99 Cdn, which is a pretty good deal for US buyers, ha.

I see the US Costco price at $249.99.

As a professional football player said when he retired from the game: "Ninety percent of me is very sad, but my knees are very, very happy." Take care of yourself, @Porthos!

You know that I like their bread. The problem we had was getting there before they sold out!

I can't help you with recipes or specific techniques, but Arizona does have fishing and fish. You don't need an ocean to find fish, as I'm sure you know! I know that there are trout and even rainbow trout to be found in AZ. I think making a 'fake' rainbow trout could be a lot of fun. Getting something to give you that colouring and speckling. I bet there are folks here who could help with some of the decorative ideas - there are so many decorative techniques for food and the modernists have several tricks up their sleeves. I'd love to see such how such a project would develop! Images of rainbow trout: https://www.google.ca/search?q=rainbow+trout&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS768US768&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwh4_siLvaAhXP5J8KHdCKAacQiR4I3AE&biw=1093&bih=642

This is the one thing I wanted to avoid for my spice solution, as I REALLY didn't want anything else stored on my counter-top. But we each have our own priorities and various amounts of space around our kitchens, so every solution is likely to be a bit different, I guess.

List of meal kit services in US. Some that I had never heard of and a couple that sounded interesting. https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/every-meal-kit-delivery-service-in-america-article?mbid=nl_nl20180327fig_trendingrecipes&CNDID=34168170

For some of us, maybe!

I've seen these IKEA CD towers used for storing quilting fabric and thought they would work for spices, too. Sure enough, someone has been there before me! The nice thing about these is that you only need a very small strip of wall to get a considerable amount of storage. But you are still faced with finding the best container.

What type of solution might work, @Anna N? Are you trying to create storage in existing cabinets or a pantry or do you need to try and create all-new storage areas? I'm in the latter camp in this house. I don't have room for much in the cabinets and my pantry isn't as large as I would like and I don't have much wall space for racks or shelves, so have to try and create new storage. I could reconfigure my pantry but it was easier to buy the over-the-door unit and add the small rack on to the end of the cabinets. One thing I am considering for the other house is a spice rack I saw on Amazon. This spice rack was attached to the side of a fridge by one user, you can see his review - it's the top review (don't arrange by date), by Adam S. He used some strong magnets to attach it to the side of a stainless steel fridge. I'd like to try that, or attach it to the wall. (More wall space in the other house) But if it worked on the fridge, it would give me some more space without having to buy any new containers. But maybe you just want some new containers?

And I guess they stack really well, yes?

Just being a bit cheeky, sorry about that. But the glimpses of your kitchen and storage that I can remember seeing all seemed to show a very organized place!

You need to prove that statement with a photo, my dear.

Well, when needs must....

Wow, you have a complete set of spices, that's for sure! And you seem quite organized in many ways. It's just so many spices in those spots. You really need a dedicated spice pantry. A good-sized pantry, just for spices.

Photo, perhaps?