snowangel

What a wonderful story. One of the things I've remembered from family and friends' funeral and tragedy sadness is the lack of anything fresh. The most precious gifts came in the form of fresh stuff; the perishables we didn't have the time nor energy to shop for. Don't forget the veg and fruit.

As I prepare to make a Cold Noodle Salad, I'm reminded of a problem I have when tossing these long skinny noodles with stuff that may have bits 'o stuff in the sauce (chunks). When I do it, even if I use my hands, I have a terrible time getting the chunks evenly distributed instead of in a pile on the bottom of the bowl. I don't have a similar problem when the sauce is as "sticky" as carbonara, but for most everything else... Help!

While lasagne is a great idea...we have some friends who just went through a similar crisis, and they received not one, not two, but four pans of lasagne. I showed up with a roast chicken, and loaf of great sourdough, bagged salad, a green bean salad, cut up fruit, some decadent wedges of brie and a quiche (and ice cream sandwiches), and it was very much appreciated. Oh, and for the dad who adores spicy food, a couple of containers of pre-cooked rice topped with a very spicy Thai curry. And everything was in those cheap Rubbermaid containers so no need to return any of them. Think, too, about the weather. Here, the heat has been hovering in the 90's, and the idea of lasagne makes me, well, go urp.

What varieties of tomatoes? Had any ripe ones yet? I've had one "stray" ripe one up here, but the rest are green. I'm hoping that this heat wave will bring on the red!

Klary, did you dress the noodles while warm or did you give them a cold water bath first?

It's hot here. Really really hot. When the air conditioning is on, I have a hard time justifying bringing a pot of water to boil on the stove... I've never grilled corn. Expertise wanted, please!

In addition to some of the things that Steven said, I know that none of the Asian supermarkets here advertise -- other than something in the yellow pages, which really isn't an ad, just a listing. And, no weekly sales on certain items. And, I'm pretty darned sure that they are not employing union employees -- in many cases, grandma is working the meat counter and the teens are working the registers. They are not buying cryovaced pieces of meat; rather they are getting whole halves and butchering them themselves, and I'll bet that they use every single piece of that side. But, what floors me is the price of some of the imported sauces. My bottle of Kwong Heng Hung Sauce (complete with florid label) cost $.99. The thing, full, weighed about 2 pounds. For $.99 they are able to manufacture, ship (from Thailand to a the West Coast and truck to Minnesota) and still make something on it? And, I've always wondered how many of them are selling lottery tickets (from Thailand) under the table?

How large is your Weber? It is a Kettle?

Our next blog starts on Monday, July 23 and takes us just a little bit north, to America's breadbasket: Looks like we'll see either a garden or a CSA box!

Instead of freezing the cobs (takes valuable venison space in the freezer comes hunting season ) I usually just make "corn stock" which can be frozen flat in ziplocks.

My dad and I have been ordering from them for years. I've not done veggies from them as I'm a farmer's market fanatic. Their chickens are wonderful, and put anything you can get in any market (smart or organic or whatever) to shame. And, their breakfast sausage (either the patties or the links). From Miltona Meats, a place that regularly receives blue ribbons at the State Fair, is the stuff of which dreams are made. I can't recall a single dud, unless you consider the time my hubby was going to surprise me with a roast chicken and roasted a stewing chicken (the other stewing chicken in the freezer made a fabulous soup).

No pictures, but dinner last night was a Thai green curry with chicken thighs, jasmine rice and Stir-Fried Water Spinach, Nyonya Style. I had picked up a beautiful big bunch of water spinach on Tuesday at the Farmer's Market, and as I got a late start on prepping dinner, noted this recipe. Since I'd forgotten my mini Cuiz at a friend's house the other day, and had no energy to pound a paste in the mortar, I just finely minced the aromatics. What a wonderful dish -- brightened with tamarind. What, what a pretty dish with the green, bits of red pepper, purple shallots. This was my first time buying or cooking water spinach, and it will be a regular feature on my dinner table, as there is a ton at the farmer's market all summer, and it is readily available the rest of the year at my local Asian market.

Kids (even little ones that can read the number 2 on a measuring cup, and hoist a 1/2 gallon of milk, can make them with Jello instant pudding. Hanging head in shame, I'll admit that they have greatly increased the number of flavours, and they have that creaminess that people of my age remember well.

What's so puzzling to me is why I have such a plethora of great meat markets here in Minnesota, most of them breaking down the carcasses by hand, and doing their own version of charcuterie (more on the order of smoked and raw sausages which are not cured, but all them with their own bacon). I drive the 258 miles to our cabin up north, or go 100 miles south, and if I wanted slight detours, I could visit more butcher shops than one could count on the digits on my hands and toes, plus the digits on my family's hands and toew. So, what's going on up here that isn't going on elsewhere? Oh, and everyone of these butcher shops are lively and bustling with customers.

Jamie, keep asking questions! Do you have any Thai cookbooks? For sticky rice, click on the link Bruce provided above. I use a steamer just like the one she uses (the two tiered one), and follow those directions. I have a friend whose pasta pot has two inserts -- one a deep one and one shallower -- and she uses the smaller insert. I use the cilantro roots when I make curry paste (although I do always have tubs of Mae Ploy or cans of Maesri on hand!). They have a stronger, more concentrated flavour. While I can't get cilantro with roots at my local supermarket, it's often available at the Asian market, and all of the Hmong vendors sell the cilantro with the roots on.

Bruce, I think that cucumber relish is one of my very favorite things, but I do prefer it sans ginger. It also makes a great topping for scrambled eggs, on top of a burger, or with smoked pork on a tortilla! And, Jamie, if I have leftover jasmine rice, and larb, I'll often eat them together, although sticky rice is more traditional (and probably my favorite). But, sticky rice requires some advance planning! Now, check out these cilantro roots:

One thought is since your guest is off to basic training think about what his favorite dishes are.

This was a problem in our house, so we retrofitted the too-deep closet with drawers and wow, what a difference. While we were at it, we did drawers in the under-counter cabinets, too. It was an inexpensive and easy fix (yes, did we the work ourselves) and just wondered why we didn't do it when we first moved in.

For all about making yogurt at home, check this.

Check here for more than you might want to know about larb! Percy, how did you cook your "larb balls?" Fry or poach?

You could also drop by the library and check out as many as you can and see what strikes your fancy!

I think it also really helps to develop a relationship with the purveyor, be it a butcher shop or the supermarket. I am very lucky in that I have a great local supermarket, and more local butcher shops close by than I can count on one hand. We had lived in our new neighborhood but for a week, and I wanted to smoke a butt so I went up to the local supermarket and procured one. The following Monday, I dropped off a plate of smoked butt for the guys in the meat department. I get wonderful service! I did the same thing with the local butcher shop after my first batch of smoked brisket here.

Starting Monday, the 16th, we stay in North America, but work our way south and west, y'all. Perhaps we'll see some BBQ. Waiter, is that a fly in his/her soup?

Jessica, how do you make decisions on what to carry in the store?

I'm in heaven. I wait all fall, winter and spring for this meal, my favorite of all times. Although none of the produce was from my garden (the tomatoes will be ready soon!), it is all fresh from the afternoon farmer's market and picked this morning. BLT's and sweet corn! Now, I'm picky. The corn must be ubber fresh, the butter cold. The toast very toasted, and the bacon good. While I normally make my own bacon, Heidi's friend brought us some bacon (raspberry chipotle) from my favorite bacon market. I have extra already cooked bacon and more corn for breakfast tomorrow. If I had one final request, it would be for sweet corn, and to add bacon, good bread and fab tomatoes to the menu is just guilding the lily (can you tell I LOVE corn?).