snowangel

We head north in a week to our cabin (to celebrate my b-day!), so naturally, I'm always on the look-out for new meat markets. And, once again, I'm thinking meat of the smoked and cured variety, not just a good steak (although I'm always on the look out for those). We regularly stop at F & D in Virginia and Zups in Cook, but two others are on my radar -- Makinen Market in Makinen, MN and the Koshar Sausage Kitchen in Gilbert. Anyone have experience with either of these places? I'm thinking we'll hit both of them. Also, if it's rainy, a trip to The Falls (International Falls) will be in the works. Anything worth reporting on in Da Falls (food-wise)?

Way back when, Bugles used to packaged in a foiley thingee in a box. DH had a hankering for them, so I bought them. Never mind that I had to search, because they are no longer in a box. They taste as good as ever, but there's a major difference from Way Back Then. They are narrower. Way Back When, one of the thrills of bugles was that you could put them on all of your fingers (the wide end was "round" enough) and you could eat them off your fingers. Like I said, they taste as good as ever, but the fact that I can't eat them off my fingertips is disappointing. Although we haven't made it to the bottom of the bag, I'd have to think there's more broker in the bag than in the foiley thingee in the box.

Mark, I'd think you need to research what cooking facilities will be available. And I'm with Heidi on planning to oven roast the pork the day before. I'd be leery of storing them on ice for several days, and if cooked then frozen, they will dry out.

Never having done this, I am curious. Eggs are delicate things. How then does one flip the bread and the egg together without breaking the egg? ← Believe it or not, they do stay together. I usually put the butter in the pan instead of on the bread (especially if the butter is cold and not spreadable).

I was at a S. MN family reunion this past weekend, and the ladies and I gathered to talk about deviled eggs (of which here were several platters, first of the potluck food to be eaten ). It appears that there are folks who want a smooth and creamy and dreamy filling for the white halves. Then, there is the camp of us (primarily me, given that this was a group of elderly S. MN women) who will accept chunks, and something other than may (or Miracle Whip), a tidge (the word of the day), and another tidge of mustard. My go to non-preferred chunky ingredients include capers, shallots and scallions.

And, just how do you mash up the yolks? Do you want them silky smooth, or are you willing to accept some lumps? Further, if you add stuff, how to account for the extra stuffing in terms of the numbers of white halves?

This topic reminds me of the recipe from Barbara Tropp's masterful "Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking" in which the "Pearl Balls" (basically meatballs coated in sticky rice). The only binder is an egg, the meat mixture of very loose, and they are steamed. Along the same vein is the meatloaf (which I have successfully morphed into meatballs -- roasted not fried). The latter has bread crumbs, but no egg. I'd have to say I prefer either steamed or roasted. Oh, and with egg OR bread crumbs, but not both.

A bit bump. Deviled eggs. They are always the first thing gone at a party or at a potluck. Have any of you ever had a leftover deviled egg? So, what's new and exciting? Having just made a killer batch of larb, I'm inspired to make a Thai-style deviled egg, but here in the Midwest, folks are just plain happy with regular old deviled eggs. Yes, I own Debbie Moose's book, but the idea of using a recipe for such a basic food goes against every grain of my body. A bit of this and that, and a good fork and spoon (washing out a sieve after mashing the yolks is such a pain, some mayo, mustard; perhaps some chives or shallots and vinegar is such a good combo...

MN gardening report. This summer, we, although the USDA says we're zone 5, seem to be zone 4a or maybe 3B. I'm thinking its going to be a month before we're going to see a ripe tomato. Our "perfect sleeping weather" (think mid-50's), I think is the culprit. A trip to S. MN today reveals that while they are ahead of us, the peas still look good, and there's maybe a thread of a bean to be found. My beloved sweet corn (hands down, my favorite food) -- well, I'm just hoping we see it for my August 2 birthday. It's disappointing. I've done everything right, but just can account for the spring that won't end.

The larb at the family reunion was a big hit. Not with the old-timers, but with the young folks. They gobbled it up, and were glad to see something without mayo!

If you look here, you will see another example of a tomato pizza (albeit, made with phyllo rather than regular pizza dough). A link to a recipe similar or exact to what I originally got from an old issue of Gourmet can be found here. We here in MN (cold nights, not very warm days, and very dry conditions) are a while from fresh home-growns, but this is always on our summer menu. Add some sweet corn, and a meal to behold!

Are you talking fried carnitas, or the carnitas of the pulled pork variety?

Based on the Betty Crocker's Boys and Girls Cookbook that my grandmother gave me back in the very early 60's, we always called them "Eggs in a Frame."

We are headed to S. MN tomorrow for a family reunion. Potluck. I'm bringing larb. Something a bit different from the pork, jello salads, layered salads and veggie and dip trays.

What does "artisnal" mean in a supermarket or at Target or at Costco? Does "Home-Style" mean like your grandmother made -- just with a whole mess of ingredients that you can't pronounce and add an entire day's worth of sodium?

We actually liked a screwdriver better. Craftsman, of the short (short shaft with a nice wide in diameter handle) with a flat wide blade better (best of all, we owned it so no extra purchase; think multi-tasking).

I'm of the thin camp. Allows one to "ribbon" slices.

I think another advantage of using an electric skillet is that in the dead heat of summer, one doesn't need to heat up or grease up the entire kitchen. Heck, run an extension cord out on the patio, or in the yard on a cement block, and voila! The house is cool, and you have fried food. Always a good thing.

We had a great weekend, and ate well. One of my tips for success is bringing almost nothing home. Eat what you have, and make sure you don't take too much. Tightly wrapping meat (ground beef and brats; in separate packages) and freezing them made for no need for ice packs. If you pack coolers under things, they don't get hit by sun and are even more insulated. The only things I brought home were two limes and one half-full small squeeze thingee of mayo. The rest of the cooler was filled with some brats and bacon we bought at a meat market on the way home. Instead of ice or freezer packs, I just stuck the wet bathing suits into the freezer in plastic bags. Oh, and two cans of coke and one can of beer! And, if you have leftovers to bring home, and you do have freezer space where you are, take empty milk jugs, add water and freeze them. The greens, wrapped in paper towels and stuck into plastic bags with all of the air sucked out really worked well. Much better than that hard plastic tub.

The three times Paul and I have shucked oysters, it has been glove less, and using tools from the tool box (but remember, we must have about 100 screwdrivers of all sorts of widths and thickness of all sorts of lengths, as well as all sorts of power tools (which we didn't use) at our disposal, and it was no big deal. We opened and slurped, and it sure was fun!

In the back of my mind, I'm remembering Julia Child talking and/or writing about an electric skillet as being a very good thing. I think I'll look for one at Goodwill next time I drop stuff off.

Packing: I'm a big fan of ziplock-type bags. You can squish the air out. All meat should be frozen, that way you don't need to put a mess of ice in the cooler. I've found that you can in most circumstances buy bags of ice close to destination for beverages. Ditto with milk. Milk takes up way too much space in the cooler. I've removed the brats and burger (custom ground) from their brown paper wrappers and they are very tightly wrapped in cling wrap. If you want juice, forget fresh fruit and go for frozen concentrate. Less cooler space and less trash. Eggs make a trip in a carton just fine under a car seat. Make sure you have fridge space for everything that needs to be fridged. Pack the frozen stuff on the very bottom of coolers, and place a layer of newspaper on top of them so the stuff that shouldn't freeze won't freeze. If you don't want to make your own mayo, buy a new jar/squeeze bottle which won't require cooler space. Meals: Although you have a grill available you can't count on being able to grill. Last weekend at our cabin, the wind on Saturday was running about 40 MPH, and there was a driving rain. I'm glad I stuck in a package of smoked butt, buns and sauce, as well as pre-shredded cabbage. So, this weekend, I'm taking brats and burger, figuring that if the weather isn't appropriate for grilling one night, I can dry out the burger buns and make meatloaf. Don't forget onions and/or shallots nor do you dare forget garlic. One other thing is trash. Will you have to haul it home? If so, plan that into your packing. I'm ignoring above advice and precooking bacon. Bacon grease, the butcher paper, etc. all amount to a lot of trash that we have to find space for -- and smell the whole way home. Crush every empty can to within an inch of its life. Empty toilet paper/paper towel rolls make great fodder for the Kettle chimney. Finally, a bag of dried beans is never a bad thing, especially if you have extra bacon, and some mustard, bourbon and hot sauce. Baked beans!

I think if you are going for skins, russets (bakers) are the key. Their skins are much more fibrous and take to crisping much nicer, although getting reds/yukons sort of hot in the nuker before setting them into a really hot oven does not wreck the skins. I think the reds/yukons skins need more oil to get them really crisp than do the russets.

Cabin food. Fortunately, we can leave stuff up there -- it is well stocked with spices, and all sorts of condiments (think fish sauce, curry paste, sambal, flour, sugar, the normal leavening agents, salt, pepper, etc). But, the fridge, being an old propane Servel, is small. We're also traveling this weekend with seven in a mini-van with a Thule on top. Trust m;e, a mini-van with seven, and a Thule, on a weekend when we need shorts and t-shirts as well as jeans and sweatshirts is not very it. We also need a tool box and an 8-gallon jug of water. So, I need small /compact food. One cooler. I already packaged the meat (brats and hamburger -- as minimally as possible, as as it will be frozen, it will serve as the ice in the cooler). How do I make fruit and veg smaller, and how do all of you pack as minimally as possibly and still feed nine folks (two are already up there)? (I am going to precock the bacon and pack the slices in foil to be reheated in the oven; why haul up bacon fat since I'm not planning to roast potatoes?) Note: I don't waste cooler space on milk or ice. We can get those items within 35 miles of destination.

I'll be damned if I'm going to pay the going rate for ring molds, if I can find them. So, whatever happened to cans so you can use the can opener to open both sides of the can? Now a days, it seems that every can, except those of canned food from Mexico or Italy has that "formed" bottom. What gives? Strikes me that the can-makers are in cahoots with the ring mold folks.