blue_dolphin

I have to blame graciously thank both @MelissaH & @Anna N for enabling me. I'd been going back and forth on the Israeli baking book and seeing it mentioned again and again pushed me over the edge. Of course, while I was navigating to that book, I also had to add Back Pocket Pasta: Inspired Dinners to Cook on the Fly @ $2.99 to my collection.

I gotta try those Arnold Palmer pops one of these days but my little next door neighbor requested strawberries so I remade 2 favorites from the People's Pops cookbook. Top Row: Strawberries & balsamic vinegar Bottom Row: Strawberries & cream

A day late for the official holiday but still funny: Pig Out On 10 Delicious Bacon Day Comics

Yay - I'm so glad that you liked it! I thought the texture of the watermelon was so interesting. I would have expected it to almost fall apart in that long braise but it actually sort of firmed up. I gotta make it again - the flavor payoff is pretty great for such a simple dish.

Welcome to eGullet, @Tropicalsenior! There's a lot of information on making condiments here on eGullet and a lot of eG members make their own. Are there particular condiments that you want to make or ingredients you need to find good substitutes for? Here are a few previous discussions you may want to check out: Making Your Own Condiments: Mustard & Others What condiments do you make? Basic Condiments (Mayo, catsup & mustard) and Basic Condiments Q&A The search function may help you find past discussions on various individual condiments, herbs and spices. If you can't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to ask. There are a LOT of very knowledgable and helpful people here!

This was my breakfast again today and will continue until there is a significant change in the weather.

Interesting, @rotuts, that your labels have the words "sell by" typed into the "packed on" field. Must be different state labeling requirements as mine all just have the "packed on" date, same with cheeses I buy at Whole Foods Amazon.

I really liked that pork with red curry braised watermelon when I made it last year - posted here. I used country-style pork ribs because all the pork steaks I found were too thin but I think any shoulder/butt cut suitable for a long braise could be made to work. Do keep it on your list!

No Melissa's. Per the cookbook, the slaw was dressed with 2 tsp lime juice, 2 T EVOO , scallions, jalapeño, S & P. I'd dial back the EVOO and use a more neutral oil to make up the difference. The "crema" was sour cream or Greek yogurt + lime zest, microplaned fresh garlic and salt. The recipe does not call for salsa, although the header notes say one can use purchased salsa and raw cabbage instead of making the slaw. I think salsa would have been a good addition but I hadn't made any ahead so I added some of Rancho Gordo's Paloma chile sauce to add some extra flavor.

Thank you, @JoNorvelleWalker, for mentioning this. I received a gift of locally caught rock cod and various other fishies. They'd been gutted and frozen whole. I used the general guidelines from that branzino recipe (steam bake, 425°F) a couple of times now and the fish have been lovely - well cooked and flaky but still very moist. Mine were smaller so I didn't need to tie them up and just tucked in some lemon slices and herbs or rubbed on some spices. After about an 8 minute cook, they were ~ 155 - 160°F, higher than I would normally go, but there was no sign of dryness at all. Thanks!

I did the same as @Anna N: Departments -> Kindle e-Readers & Books -> Kindle Store -> Kindle Books From there, I found several links that took me to the "Today only: 50+ sizzling cookbooks on Kindle, $1.99 & up" deals

Mine is really no better. My popsicle-freezing space had recently been occupied by slow-roasted tomatoes, stewed tomatoes and chicken broth. I managed to clear enough space but it now requires a very firm touch to close the door and an advanced-level game of Tetris to find anything!

Squash Noodles with Crab (I used rock cod) and Jalapeño from Deep Run Roots p 348 The squash noodles are made with a vegetable peeler. It's a bit of a balancing act to get them cooked but not too limp - my green zucchini cooked faster than the yellow ones. I used both red & green jalapeños and garnished with lemon zest and grated salted egg yolk. I actually bought crab meat to use in this but I had an extra rock cod that I thawed yesterday for fish tacos so I cooked it in the CSO, flaked it up and subbed it in for the crab. I think this will be a fun recipe to play around with. Edited to add that even the more "cooked" green zucchini were pleasantly "toothsome" and the whole thing is really lemony, buttery and delicious with a pleasant bit of heat from the jalapeños . In addition to the crab, I can see nestling seared scallops or shrimp on this.

Yesterday, the high temp was 108°F here. Today's breakfast was a Vietnamese Coffee popsicle from the recipe on David Lebovitz's site. Plenty of caffeine and sugar to start the morning!

@rotuts, I've been enjoying that cheese, mostly just with crackers or melted on little toasts. I don't usually go for flavored cheeses but I always try their featured cheese and this one is very nice. Another site describes it here: My TJ's still had quite a bit of it in the case yesterday but I didn't check dates.

Fish tacos from Melissa Clark's Dinner. I used Trader Joe's kohlrabi & kale salad mix for the lime & jalapeño slaw. I thought the olive oil dressing made the slaw seem heavy and greasy. The fish was local rock cod caught by friends of mine. It was cooked in the CSO on steam-bake and came out perfectly.

Wow - some very good books on that list!

That's got to be one of the best things I've seen pulled out of a freezer in this thread - what a treat!

Leftovers from the other night's dinner, served on pasta. Grilled zucchini, tossed with pesto and served over spaghetti dressed with stewed tomatoes and a sprinkle of Parmesan. All from Deep Run Roots, where the squash was served on a pool of stewed tomatoes - no spaghetti involved in the original.

Olive Oil-Braised Chickpeas and Swiss Chard with Cumin from Melissa Clark's Dinner The recipe says to serve the beans & greens in a bowl, spooned over the toast. I thought this was easier to eat!

I have an 11" diameter pizza screen that fits easily on the wire rack/shelf inside the oven. My 12" diameter screen is a smidge too large to sit on the rack, it can slide into the grooves in the oven wall that support the shelves and I have used it that way but it's really not stable and can tip from the front or back. The inside dimensions of the baking tray are ~ 9" x 9.75" so baking an average sized batch of cookies will take multiple batches. On the other hand, if you keep some frozen cookie dough on hand, you can have a few freshly baked cookies in a jiffy. The other thing to be aware of with respect to the baking tray that comes with the CSO - it's only ~ 1" deep, so not really suitable for something like brownies but they can certainly be baked in 8" or 9" square pans or round cake pans up to 10"

Using the Stewed Tomatoes (p 270) I mentioned in my last post, I made the Grilled Squash, Basil Pesto and Stewed Tomatoes (p 346) This is thick slices (1") of summer squash, grilled and tossed with basil pesto, served on stewed tomatoes, topped with shaved Parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I had this plate for my dinner with a crusty roll. As written, it's more of a very flavorful side dish but put this on top of grits or polenta and it would make a solid main course.

Following @kayb's recommendation, I made the Stewed Tomatoes (p 270) and used them in the Stewed Tomato Shirred Eggs with Ham Chips (p 55) I completely concur with her recommendation. I also used the recommended substitution of prosciutto instead of country ham. Aside from my usual difficulty of overcooked yolks in baked eggs, this was excellent! My prosciutto took about 20 min to reach that shatteringly crisp stage vs the 12-15 min in the book. And the eggs were more cooked than I wanted when I checked them at 7 min into the 10-12 min cooking time, maybe because I used steam-bake in the CSO instead of a regular oven. The stewed tomatoes taste great. This recipe absolutely shows off the flavors of good summertime tomatoes. I peeled the tomatoes (not mentioned in the recipe) and diced them (per the recipe) and since I had lovely ripe tomatoes, they pretty much disintegrated into a chunky sauce. Next time, I may dice a few and leave some in larger chunks. Or not - it's a nice sauce, just not exactly what I expected. You can tell in the jar that I used a mix of yellow and red tomatoes: I'm tempted to try a batch with just yellow tomatoes although yellow tomato stuff sometimes looks insipid instead of special!

Here's my 2 cents on the watermelon rind pickles. I liked them and will make them again. I liked the combination of ginger, star anise and citrus peel. Just used up the last of them on a sandwich: leftover Day-at-the-Beach pork roast, grainy mustard and watermelon rind pickle on a crusty roll. Yum! However, they are a sweet condiment and I recall your mentioning that you don't care for sweet pickles so it may not be your thing. Me, I like something like that with cured meats or spicy sausages. If you decide to try them, consider just a small batch....maybe just enough to try those bacon-wrapped watermelon rind pickles over on the next page ? When I make them again, I'll probably also do a small batch. Instead of peeling the melon, I'll cut it into good sized (3-4 inch thick) slices, cut out the flesh and then use a sharp knife to trim the green rind off the outside. I might not end up with the same sized pieces shown in the book, but I'm sure they'll be fine. When I made my first batch, I had a really thin rind (1/2" or less from the outer rind to the flesh) on my baby watermelon so I had to cut it into little flat slabs, maybe around 2" square and ~ 1/4" or so thick. They ended up being good to put on a sandwich just no good for wrapping in bacon!

What a great gift! Vivian says it's as much a storybook as a cookbook so I hope you'll enjoy both aspects. When I first got the book last fall, I was drawn to the summer chapters and used late season produce to make a bunch of corn, tomato and peach recipes. I was delighted with them but thought I'd put the book aside until summer came around again. Then, in March, I delved into the cool weather ingredients when the book was chosen for a cookbook club I'm in. Once again, I was delighted, this time with her use of things like rutabaga, sweet potatoes, turnips and collards. I look forward to your reports!