FauxPas

Your dinner photo gave me a craving so I made similar for dinner tonight, though my crappy smartphone pic doesn't do it justice. Not as nice looking as your ham, but it was still tasty! And I don't know why the potatoes look so strangely orange in the picture. Or why the mustard looks so menacing.

Plum sauce! https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/07/chinese-plum-sauce-recipe.html

Hahahhahahaha! Well, we Canadians do understand it when we pay with credit card instead of cash! 🙂 Canadians also don't understand the high tariffs that the US slaps on European tuna. Costco Canada has lovely Italian tuna (Rio Mare) for $11 Cdn for 4 tins of 160 g. And it's $5.50 US for 114 g tin of the Spanish here in the US right now. Is the Spanish Ortiz really that much better? I'll have to check when I'm back in Canada and see what varieties are available in the local stores. I have tried to find Rio Mare while in the US, ordered it once through Amazon but wow it is so expensive here! At any rate, there are US tariffs on tuna that make the imported price very high.

I'm afraid I can't help @FrogPrincesse, but will bump this again as Melissa Clark's Instant Pot e-books have been on sale at Amazon US (and maybe Canada as well). Dinner in an Instant is currently $3.99 on Amazon US and looks to be the same price on Amazon Canada. Comfort in an Instant was on sale yesterday for $3.99 but perhaps for only a short while, as it is back up in price again. But it might be on sale again today or tomorrow.

Melissa Clark's Instant Pot books have been on sale on Amazon. Right now, Dinner in an Instant is $3.99 on Amazon US and it even looks like it might be on sale on Amazon Canada as well. (Not sure if this link will properly take you to Amazon Canada or not, it seems to revert to US when I use it down here. If that makes any sense.) Comfort in an Instant was on sale yesterday for $3.99 but when I went to post about it, it had gone back up in price. If interested, it may be worthwhile to keep checking the price.

I just ordered some lettuce seeds from Renee's, 25% off through Monday. 🙂 https://www.reneesgarden.com/products/lettuce-romaine-caesar-duo I'll grow my own, dammit. 😡 🙂

This looks delicious!

Curious about the pom juicing. Would love to hear more about it.

What a shame, it certainly LOOKED tasty! 🙂

Yes! I hate seeing good produce go to waste. Food banks often have volunteers who will pick edibles that would otherwise go to waste. I hate seeing all the citrus trees in AZ with unpicked fruit.

The answer from Desert Harvesters is "yes!" I'll paraphrase and abbreviate. If starting from dried buds, refresh by soaking for 3 hrs and then boil for 30 mins. Drain. Pack in sterilized jars with 1 clove of peeled fresh garlic and 1 small red chile. Heat 1/2 cup vinegar with 1 tbsp sugar or honey plus a few cloves. Fill jar with liquid. Cool and store in fridge or I guess you could process in a water bath. Desert Rain Café used the cholla buds in their Pico de Gallo - cooked and cooled re-hydrated or fresh buds with red onion, red bell pepper, diced tomato, cilantro, lime juice, jalapenos, sea salt.

I don't find it useful as much as I find it informative and entertaining. 😉 I'm up there with @Anna N - sometimes a cookbook is just a good read! I'm not a forager and not sure how many of the recipes I would ever use (maybe none) and as you know, this is not our full-time location. But it's an interesting read and I feel good about contributing to their cause. Someone like @gfron1 might use it to expand his knowledge/connections, I know he was an early purchaser of the book. Pretty sure he could have contributed to the book, with his NM and AZ knowledge.

News flash, @Smithy. I just found out that the Tohono O'odham people are reopening Desert Rain Café this weekend! But they are going to be even further from Tucson this time, in Ajo instead of Sells, AZ. Still, I will make the drive, Ajo is a fairly cool little town. Maybe we can meet up there in the Spring, especially if you are interested in going through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument? Someone there can probably answer questions on cholla and other things. I'm really hoping they will still be selling saguaro syrup!

For Prickly Pear juice, a man I know just freezes the tuna (fruit). After harvesting, he freezes them for 48 hours, then leaves them on top of a triple-cheesecloth-lined colander over a pot and they break down as they thaw and the juice collects in the pot. He applies some pressure to increase the yield, if necessary, then does a final straining through a coffee filter. (This is also a method that is recommended in Eat Mesquite and More.) We're not in town at optimal harvest time and we have a cactus ranch nearby which sells the pure juice, unsweetened. Arizona Cactus Ranch sells their Prickly Pear nectar in a few different stores around town. It's pricey, but we find a small amount can go quite a long way. Here is his graphic of the process:

I'm with you on that one! 🙂 I used to buy cholla buds from Desert Rain Cafe in Sells, AZ when it was still open (and they used them in some of their dishes), but I don't really like the texture. And I don't think I would want to harvest the buds or the fruit! A friend of ours recently took a spill off his bike into a cholla and he was still picking the results out of his skin weeks later.

Yeah, it seems it's the cholla's buds that are most important. Maybe because the buds are available in Spring and the fruit ripens later when the other desert fruit are also available. I have the Desert Harvesters book, Eat Mesquite and More and the emphasis is definitely on the buds for culinary purposes. However, they do talk about the fruit for medicinal purposes. So, it's edible, but not sure how often it's used in a culinary manner. I'm sure someone else will know more. The root is also attributed some medicinal properties.

Here's a couple of less-than-great photos I took during one visit to El Guero Canelo. Sonoran Dog is a quality frank wrapped with bacon and grilled, served inside a bolillo bun, with toppings of tomato, pinto beans, onions and condiments including mayo, mustard, a jalapeno sauce, maybe some cheese. A hot pepper on the side.

It was lovely to see you again! We really enjoyed connecting up again and hope to see you in the Spring!

Oh, I know it will! 🌟⭐🌙 I am somewhat regretting not joining you tonight, but I had a busy day with a quilt course and a luncheon and wasn't sure I would have energy for tonight's expedition. But I am very much looking forward to hearing about things! I hope you guys have a fabulous time!

I love Edible Baja Arizona! I know @Smithy has picked up a copy of two in the past. But the last I heard they weren't publishing anymore or not on a regular basis anyway. Do you know anything about their publishing status? I could search online for info, but if you already know.... We don't live here year round, but when we were here I used to always try and get a free copy whenever the new ones came out. (Maybe if I had bought a subscription, it would have helped them more!)

Edible Baja Arizona did a nice little article on coyotas a few years ago, with a recipe. http://ediblebajaarizona.com/hola-coyota

Are you going to the downtown location? I think it's the most authentic. Absolutely you need to try the Carne Seca. It's their signature dish and I think they still dry it on the rooftop at that location. https://www.elcharrocafe.com/ Tableside guacamole is overpriced but fun. Fajitas or tamales can be decent. And if you want really good Sonoran cuisine with delicious moles, consider visiting Cafe Poca Cosa. A bit more upscale, more adventurous flavours. https://cafepocacosatucson.com/

Funny to see the animals move in, where did you sit? 🙂

Mmm! Apricot goes so well with curry! One of my favourite beverages with a curry is St. Ambroise's Apricot Wheat Ale (Quebec, Canada) or Pyramid Brewing's Apricot Ale (Seattle). I'm sure other breweries make similar ones. Looks like a lovely meal, @Anna N, @Kerry Beal.

The easy way to deal with this may be to make two smaller batches, one with onion and one without and see which he prefers.