Shelby

Kay, I just love that Pie Shop picture. In honor of St. Pat's Day, I made beef corned beef from the grocery store (we usually corn our own venison, but we thought we would be out of town for St. Pat's, so we didn't start one). I halved it and did one half in beef broth NOT using the icky spice packet that comes with the roast and instead using pickling spice that I have. The other half I did in apple cider because I read online it was the way to go. I didn't taste much difference, though. Only thing I did was wash 2 crock pots instead of one lol. I also made the most delicious rye bread ever. I used the recipe from King Arthur Flour. It uses, among other ingredients, dried potatoes and pickle juice. I was really impressed. In fact, I just hacked off another slice, heated it up, drenched it in butter and ate it. Sorry for the bad pictures, I was too lazy to get out the camera and used my phone instead.

Oh. My. God.

Hey Rich! Good to see you blogging! I love your writing style. It's very easy to "get in to" and I feel like I'm sitting next to you having a conversation. I hear you on the gardening. You and I may have to plan a rain dance together. Maybe if we do it together it will have more of an effect. I planted radishes, spinach and lettuce a few days ago and I'm afraid I did it too late. I throw a few "ya'll's" around from time to time...... Oh, and ya'll be safe today....you and I are supposed to have some major tornado possibilities today and tomorrow.

Here it is

I made a sour cream blueberry pie. I've never made one before. It was really good I took a picture, but it's on my iphone. I'll try to retrieve it and post.

If I ever get to have you cook for me, I pick all of this.

Ohhh, ok. Thank you. I missed the show last night. Hopefully I can catch it.

I missed the part where Sarah was rude to Emeril. Which show was it in?

What a breathtaking sight looking back out of your plane window! Thank you for your wonderful blog this week and I'm glad you made it home safely.

After it bakes, the top layer or two is kind of crispy/flaky, and a commercial/mediocre loaf is more like a cinnamon roll in that the layers are a little looser (the dough layers MUCH thicker) and if you tried picking up a slice you'd have layers flake and fall away and filling would spill out. Even bad povitica is still pretty good, but the good homemade stuff is way, way more dense and extremely heavy. The layers don't really flake, but you could unroll them if you wanted....they'd just be moist and buttery, and the filling would adhere much tighter. It will fall apart under its own weight, and is best eaten with a fork after you nuke it for a few seconds and add a pat of butter on top. Edited to add: I thought I'd at least find a decent example of the good stuff via Google images, but what I got was twelve pages of pretty sorry examples...nothing remotely close to the thin/tight layers you're going for in a good batch. *adding this to my list of things I must eat before I die*

The blossoms still on the squash!!! WOW! I want, I want, I want! That only happens around here if you pick from your own garden.

I will be completely honest - that looks like something I would most thoroughly enjoy eating. Made some spaghetti and meatballs yesterday - the wife likes the thick tomato sauce like she grew up with, so I didn't get to get too creative with the sauce. Ground the meat (50/50 pork butt/beef chuck) with caramelized onions, garlic, parsley, and other somesuch before browning. For a simple meal, these turned out nicely. If you're wondering, it was not actually overexposed in real life - that's just the hastily taken photo. Edited for punctuation. I could eat that every day of my life.

WOW, that dough is awesome! So, is it kind of like a flaky cinnamon roll?

Awesome set-up! I can't wait to see the finished version.

I wish I could pluck a chicken leg off of that plate.

All of the fresh produce --especially the fruit and the cukes--are making me drool. The weather looks so beautiful there!

*fist bump*

No kidding! He would probably cringe at the way I cook.

What do the labels say next to the pans?

You know by now that you don't need an invite, just come on over I gotta try that onion sauce.

Exactly. I also appreciate that I can use it as added counter space when necessary, though that's a pretty minor, secondary consideration. I have never found that this unit lacked enough power to get a pan as hot as I wanted, but then again, you and I have very different cooking styles, I think. My ventilation hood couldn't keep up if this stove cranked out any more heat when I am searing things, I smoke up the house pretty well as it is, so I have taken to doing that sort of cooking on the patio: better ventilation (and 65k BTUs, but the only time I have it cranked all the way up is for stir-fries). But obviously I have the luxury of having a patio, wok burner, and fabulous weather, and lack the luxury of decent interior ventilation. Yeah, I'm with Sam on this one. I do not like those smooth tops at all and much prefer my gas top. Maybe it's a partially a romantic aesthetic notion but I love the look of the flame in addition to the pros that Sam mentioned. Ditto. I had a smooth one years ago and I couldn't even can on it--burners wouldn't get hot enough to bring the huge pot to a boil. Love my gas stove But, Chris, I'm glad you like yours. Maybe mine just sucked.

Love the pepper masks Dcarch! I hope everyone had a great Fat Tuesday! In honor, I made muffulettas and fried boudin balls with a spicy tarter sauce. The bread turned out really good. I was worried....I didn't have a back-up meal lol. Bread rising Baked Cut Fillings Boudin balls--I took the skin off, rolled them up, dipped in flour, egg and Italian bread crumbs and fried Oh and I made cinnamon rolls with Mardi Gras sprinkles

My husband is building a green house right now on to the back of our garage. So, I hope to get more in to growing from seed. Every year we (and I say we very loosely...I mostly mean Mr. Shelby lol) start tomatoes from seed and every year it seems like, no matter what we try, they don't "harden" enough and when we plant them in the garden, they die asap. I do the planting so I'm very gentle with them etc. Kansas sun and wind are so hard on the young'uns, as is the weather in Oklahoma. My garden is not protected on any side from wind/sun.

Good Lord, Chris, those chocolates are breath taking! We don't have any weeds going on here, yet. I wish we did! You getting any storms right now? We had some hail a bit ago...seems a bit tornado-ish....

Yes, last summer was very hot and dry here: my tomatoes and peppers did not do well at all. I've just planted my pepper seeds last night, and the tomatoes and tomatillos are coming along nicely, so we better get a break this year! It's actually overcast today, which is quite unusual... how about some rain! I didn't eat at the restaurant this weekend (we ate at Mutts): are you talking about the food counter in the store, or the attached Mr. Pho? I was meaning the Mr. Pho.