Darienne

Just in: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/how-spam-became-an-asian-staple-180982347/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&spMailingID=48388575&spUserID=ODcyNjc0Njc2NTI0S0&spJobID=2481137752&spReportId=MjQ4MTEzNzc1MgS2

I know we can get Mutti canned tomatoes. Ed once brought home a flat of them.

Yes, but we don't have Trader Joes in Ontario.

Don't know how I could have missed this topic. Love, love, love beans and pulses. Eat them every day almost. Life without beans. I don't know if I could do it. Breakfast is usually Mujadara (or one of the dozens of different ways you can say and spell that): lentils, brown rice and caramelized onions. Yummm.

Taste-wise... not exciting...but stunning presentation. As ever with @RWood

It's been years since I have planted anything edible. (And I don't do flowers anyway.) We once planted gourds for a few years...not a good crop for the far frozen north. Then we planted the field in food things. Went well for a while but then life intervened and other things had to take precedence. Then I planted tomatoes in containers for a while. And tomatillos (which we can't buy ever in our nearby city). The problem was (Angel) Carson, our male. He would pee on anything that stuck up more than 2" and watering the stuff outside the fenced backyard became overload for me. Yes, I know. I was lazy. Well, and old. So now. This year. I'm back. Sort of. Our old picnic table on the patio is no longer safe for sitting or much of anything. So I've planted in 3 large bags of potting soil...a first for me. Three kinds of eggplant (courtesy of a neighbor's leftovers), and Poblanos and both Cherry and Beefsteak tomatoes. And I can just use a big watering can. And they are inside the fenced yard. And too high for any dogs to pee on. And all is well. Really I think it's all I can manage now.

I offered to make our IT guy some homemade ice cream because he's been so good to me for years now...above and beyond the call of duty by far. So he picks strawberry. And I agree. Not realizing that there are so few recipes for strawberry ice for a good reason. So I settled finally on David Lebovitz's Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream (The Perfect Scoop) ...and was completely blown away with the sheer deliciousness of the result. We loved it. Even I loved it...and I am not a big ice cream fan. Followed it exactly as printed...not my norm...and lo! and behold! I am sold on this one. It goes to him this very afternoon...

Well, I did it. 3 oz of about 60% chocolate and they were delicious. Absolutely delicious.

Having reviewed it all once more, I think I'll go with plan B. Mandy will love having the stuff over the next few days and we won't buy it again. Thanks so much for all the information and help. This forum is really the tops! ❤️

What I don't like most about ham is that to me it is basically sort of 'smushy'...except that spiral ham is not. The only large piece of meat my Mother ever cooked was a ham and for reasons unknown to me when we ate out I always ordered ham. I think I had no idea what anything else was and I didn't like steak, having to eat it almost every night, broiled to shoe leather. Left home...and never ate ham again until a friend in Moab pretty much forced me into trying spiral ham. Now that I liked. I AM going to marinate the stuff and fry it and try it once. On rice. I'll report back. (Sorry...I feel as if I am whining.....)

Problem here, heidi. I don't actually like ham. Spiral ham yes...but otherwise...no. I think I"ll marinate it and we'll eat it on a bed of rice. With ...I don't know yet... I could fry the rice.

How important is the Nori? I have everything else. Could I wrap it in Romaine perhaps?

Burst out laughing at this one. Thanks. I needed that.

Probably for the same reason that folks finish reading books once they start them. Yes, it is horrible but I never used the word 'disgust'.

Well, OK. Fried it might just work. Maybe covered in ketchup also? And as far as 20 years too late...I can believe it. I remember pumpernickel, sour cream, Kraft Dinner, Grape Nuts, and no doubt many others before they became so changed as to be almost unrecognisable.

Finally, after wondering for Lo! these many years, I asked Ed to buy Spam today. We just opened it. My curiosity is satisfied. It's horrible. The taste is horrible and the texture is horrible. Our dog liked it. But then she likes deer poop also. Now we have to eat it. Maybe buried in Dijon mustard or horseradish or chipotle sauce. We could give it to the dog, but it's probably not good for her. Never again. 😖

Thanks for the information, FauxPas. I guess our taste in canned tomatoes is not all that sophisticated. No, I am not being sarcastic. I've never been aware of that rubbery texture you speak of. Somethings we are aware of...others not. Chocolate yes (restricted here by snack brackets). Canned tomatoes no. Then I think we are all pretty much like that. I have a family member who has travelled the world and eaten with the best of them and yet she loves Cheese Whiz (gah!) and birthday cakes from Loblaws with the icing containing well...other than butter for sure (Gag!).

Of course, I always have a flat of diced tomatoes for our cooking use. This isn't a case of trying to use only one can...it's a case of not paying out of our normal price range for something that we end up feeling is not worth the money...TO US...not that it's not worth the money...but it's not going to be something we do. Just as we don't use Valrhona chocolate either. It's out of our comfortable spending regime...but we do eat the best salmon because we've decided it's worth it to us.

You are correct. I just opened a can of Unico diced tomatoes and was stunned at how salty they were to taste. It's fine for spaghetti sauce...but not for tasting. Ed bought some speciality tomatoes last week when he couldn't find the San Marzano...sorry the name is gone forever...and they didn't taste this salty at all.

Me too.

Nope. $20.,00 to begin with...

OK. Thanks. I'll send Ed there...but he won't like it. He already doesn't like the store...

I just want to try them once. If they are worth in my humble estimation...then I'll make the jump, after convincing Mr. Ed that it is necessary. If not...then that's it and we are back to Unico as always. Thanks.

Keeping in mind that we shop in Peterborough and not Toronto and we don't have Farm Boy, Longo's or any of the other speciality grocery stores...where do you suppose Ed should look for San Marzano or San Marzano type tomatoes? Costco is supposed to carry them, but in multiple quantities and this is out of our normal snack bracket. We do buy Lindt couverture (admittedly not the best) and the best salmon, but probably that's about it for more costly ingredients. He's already looked at Super Store and they don't seem to carry them. Thanks.

Like a dog and a cheese wrapper....