Darienne

Tostitos Kakimochi, a North American twist on a Japanese snack. We used to teach hardshell gourd workshops in our large garage going back some years (my avatar photo is a hardshell gourd). The most wonderful workshop we ever held was for a church group of immigrant Japanese folk...in fact we held a second one a couple of months later...and one of the ladies brought this incredible snack. Delicious. You can't eat just one. The maker generously gave me the recipe and since then I've made them many times when attending gourd workshops in the USA as our contribution. I always print out slips with the recipe on them and it's not long each time before the Tostitos are gone and so are the recipe slips. Of course, now you can find all sorts of variations of this recipe online...but this was pre-online days. And the garage is no longer clean enough for such goings-on. And we no longer teach. And our traveling days are behind us.

I've been giving this a lot of thought and can't come up with anything. Ed does all the short order cooking and I do all the batch cooking. Therefore at any time, the freezer is full of a large variety of cooked dishes, some of which can be defrosted quite quickly. And supper is always either soup...again lots of frozen ones...or a salad or steamed vegetables. Actually if Ed is out and won't be home in time to eat, my go-to meal is usually a can of chickpeas heated with a simple lemon juice, olive oil and garlic dressing. I have no idea why. Just is...

Gave my pasta machine to a potter who uses it. And I have two coffee grinders, one for spices and the other for dog supplements.

And are they not very expensive? Plus you can't stack them when they are not in use. Just thoughts...

I use both the breadmaker and the ice cream churner regularly. So to me they are very useful. However, we also have a lot of storage in our house, not conveniently in the kitchen, alas, and so this makes a huge difference in our ability to keep single use items. We also have a lot of freezer space so that is a great help. The article is like most articles. The writer needs to make a living.

My Mother wasn't much of a cook, but then she had no interest in food at all. She was a vegetarian (sort of) and supper for her was usually a soft boiled egg (yuck) and consommé. She also ate canned asparagus. I didn't know that it came fresh. My dinner was a steak, every single night....EVERY SINGLE *&^%$#$$ NIGHT...well, not really every night....broiled to tough shoe leather. The paediatrician said he would not take care of me unless my Mother fed me meat. And, oh she did. I haven't deliberately eaten steak since I was 18 and left home. In the 50s, we got a freezer plan and that was pretty horrible. Frozen peas and carrots. Horrible. Cheap ice cream. Still don't really like ice cream...not even my own rich and creamy stuff. Fish fingers. What an abomination they were. Little pork sausages burned so that the casings were thick and tough but the innards still had little bits in them. My face still screws up as I type remembering about those horrible little rubbery bits. Oh, haven't eaten pork sausages either. Or fish fingers. Biscuits like hockey pucks made from Bisquik. Pineapple upside down cake she made. Hate it. Horribly sweet. Why am I doing this? I'll quit now.

I love, love, love Brussels Sprouts and will try your recipe next. Ed? Not so much, but he will eat them. I have a funny Brussels Sprouts story. (Don't often hear that line in a conversation.) I once thanked my now departed Mother for introducing me to Brussels Sprouts when I was a child. Well...she drew herself up and looked down on me and said: "You never ate Brussels Sprouts in MY house" ...as if I had just suggested something vulgar. I guess not. I must just just bought them and tried them one day quite out of the blue.

I know it's available. I haven't really looked for it.

Welcome to the forum, Henri. My husband Ed loves ice cream and so I make quite a lot of it. Nothing sophisticated but still good. Found a recipe for Pannukakku a few years ago and it's become a household favorite. Except we use maple syrup instead of birch syrup.

What a wonderful story, full of family and traditions to celebrate.

Have a great vacation and I hope your Sweetie's pain levels stay as low as possible. It's lovely to see someone is on vacation...

I've never 'cooked' anything mixed in my rice cooker. So far just rice or quinoa. This looks like a good start.

They did.

That is indeed the question...

Could you not just cut out a portion of the sugar and make sure you use natural unsweetened peanut butter. (Not advice from an expert...I am the world's worst cookie baker.)

YES!!! And I love it. Mine is turquoise and looks more like this one. A friend gave it to me years ago and I ignored it for years, although Ed used it regularly. Then I tried it and was sold on it immediately.

A year of Covid 19 would be like the first year of a husband's retirement. A friend told me that the first year for her was heck on earth. And when Ed retired...it was the same thing. Mr. Kim will no doubt just get bored with the entire thing and leave you alone. .....I hope.....

I laughed at some parts. Smiled at others. Lovely story.

A friend gave me a recipe for a similar dish and I eat it for breakfast on toast with mustard. We have decided to call it lentilwurst. David Lebowitz' recipe sounds very nice...although a lot more work than the one I have been making.

About that 'earlier-waking' thingy...No...I wake him every morning to get up and get it. Sad to say, I am still in recovery (I hope) mode from the Lumbar Spinal Stenosis attack. I have always been an early riser...but now I don't rise...I just wake early. For decades, I was the coffee bringer. Still, I am thrilled that he has taken over and is also feeding the dogs their morning meal and bringing me my breakfast in bed. I am still living in hope. And I am one of those "a place for everything, and everything in its place" types because unless someone in the group is, sheer and permanent chaos will reign.

Sure you will. You are either one of those kind of folks...or you are OCD, like me. That's why Ed always knows where to find things, (assuming he wasn't the last to use it), and I never do (assuming he was the last to use it.) This very morning, half an hour ago, being a prime example.... Still...he brings me coffee at 6:30 am now so much is forgiven and forgotten.

Oooh...I hate to tell you. I stand caught with my calzoncillos showing. The whole dish (and not traditionally made as it's in a casserole format) was made some time ago and we are eating them defrosted from frozen storage. Please don't pass it on. This is so embarrassing. There's only two of us these Covid 19 days and whatever I make, much of it ends up being frozen for future use. Enchiladas Suizas in my gringo world are pretty much enchiladas with a bechamel sauce topping them. Or it is in my method. My recipe just about predates my life in eGullet. It certainly predates my acquisition of Kennedy and Bayless cookbooks. It comes from Better Homes and Gardens Special "Ultimate Mexican" publication, 2010 and doesn't contain all the prescribed ingredients. We still can't buy tomatillos where we live in East Central Ontario, nor fire-roasted tomatoes until very recently, no Mexican crema and I've yet to even taste Chihuahua cheese. And I use a recipe for a Chile Verde given to me by andiesenji many years ago But we do our best....

Upgrade it all by one year. Kyra, our longest living Spoiled-Rotten Weiler, turns 12 which is really quite old for a Rottie, and it's 10 years since I split open my head. I think it will be Enchiladas Suizas this year with commercial corn chips and salsa (oh, how lazy) but homemade sour cream and guacamole. Black beans cooked from scratch this year. Not exciting...but I'm glad to be up and cooking again.

What's your plan to accomplish this noble task? Certainly growing older won't work.

Do tell....