kayb

Well, you only cost me 4 bucks this time. Now, can you gin me up some time to get in the kitchen and actually COOK from some of these???

So, are stolen grapes like stolen watermelon -- MUCH better than those not illicitly gotten?

One of my favorite lunch places has moved. Went to the new location today. Much has not changed: one now orders at the walk-up counter, gets a number, gets one's drink, and finds a spot to sit, putting the number in a holder. They bring you your food in pretty short order. Menu has been shortened (it used to be several pages in a loose-leaf binder!) and some additions made. They still have their hot sellers -- the quiche, the salads, a few sandwiches, and the killer rolls. And they still have their "Monday special," one of the best meat loafs I've ever eaten. I toyed with the ham palascinta crepes -- haven't had palascintas in approximately forever -- but Monday won out, and I had the meat loaf, with cream cheese corn (about nine million calories, but SO good) and fruit salad. The mashed potatoes, while good, went mostly untouched.

Maybe I'm an aspirational handle person. I do have to admit my Brussels sprout kimchee is pretty awesome.

Picked 10 pounds of pears this weekend up home. There will be pear preserves this week.

That's good looking stuff.

You people have made me buy another damn book.

Oh, hadn't thought of using mind to store dried tomatoes. Good idea! They're also good for preserving lemons, if you're using big grocery store lemons. I've fermented kimchee in mine; a half-gallon of kimchee lasts a LONG time.

I picked this one up on sale on Kindle a few weeks back, and note it's stll 2.99. Das German Cookbook: Schnitzel, Bratwurst, Strudel and other German Classics. Looks pretty good, certainly worth $2.99.

"Honey, you ain't gonna eat a whole order of them onion rings." -- Waitress at the late and much lamented Marty's Diner in Bentonville, which was known far and wide for its rings. She was right. A whole order was a dinner plate piled about six inches high. I tried. Truly, I did.

Love it when you go out there. Thanks for sharing.

A while back, I bought Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, With Recipes, based on @Toliver's alert that it was sale for $1.99. I read it this week. It's not on sale any more, but it's worth the $16.99 it's going for now. I'm not from Appalachia, but all "my people" came to West Tennessee from there, albeit a century before I showed up. And they brought recipes with them. This book was like going home, for me. I've bookmarked recipes for a dozen dishes I remember from childhood, and could probably make from muscle memory alone, but the bookmarks will remind me to do it. It's also an interesting look at the resurgence of local food culture in the area, with its epicenter, of course, in Asheville, NC. It talks a lot about Early Girl restaurant there, and if you ever visit, do NOT miss breakfast there, and also mentions the Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro in Townsend, TN, whose recipe for blueberry pie is not to be dismissed. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and was sad to see it end.

There's a burger/lunch place downtown in an old service station/auto repair place called The U Joint that makes a fine burger. Been ages since I had dinner in Chattanooga. When are you there? I'll be passing through about that time.

Gorgeous. The food and the scenery.

Oooohhh. Hadn't thought of that. Bought a new bottle of Pickapeppa the other day.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Didn't get to it. Ran around like the proverbial beheaded chicken all day, and accomplished very little. I did managed to not go into a favorite farm stand when I had to make an unexpected run to the next town up the road to rescue my daughter, whose battery had died on her car.

Three, two in Highland Park and one a local chain all over town. 1. Al Biernat's. Damn fine steak. 2. Cafe Pacific. Have only eaten there once, but I had sea bass over roasted corn risotto with ancho cream sauce that may have been the best non-shellfish seafood I ever ate in my life. I got through as much as I could put away, but when the waiter came to take my plate, I wouldn't let him...kept hoping I could eat just one...more...bite. 3. Cafe Brazil. Good breakfasts and decent lunch if you're in a hurry, and the best coffee in the world. I order my beans from there.

Going further afield, but in the realm of sweet-spicy stuff over cream cheese, one of my favorites is what's known around here as Jezebel sauce, which is some kind of jelly with copious quantities of horseradish. It should be some kind of "blonde" jelly -- pear, apricot, apple, etc., as opposed to a red or purple one. I love it with apricot.

I will, likely fortunately, be out of town next weekend when Bama plays our hometown and, I'm afraid, sadly overmatched Arkansas State. I hope some of our players are left alive.

I was intrigued, when in Japan, at the extensive gardening use of every scrap of land. Lawns landscaped for looks were the province of the wealthy. All else was fruits and veggies.

The pork steaks were quite good, less the step of flooding the laundry room floor (see the I Will Never Again thread). Very simple prep -- sprinkled down in Penzey's Greek seasoning, bagged and cooked at 145 for 16 hours. Took them out and coated them down with a sauce made from fig jam, balsamic vinegar and smoked pimenton. Stuck some brats in the smoker alongside them, as we had room. Had it with mac and cheese and baked beans. I may cook a steak today. Feeling the urge.

...fail to completely turn off the tap to the laundry room sink, thus overflowing the SV bucket in which today's pork steaks were burbling away, thus spilling into said sink, whose stopper somehow magically had defaulted to the closed position, and thus have to sop up water and mop the laundry room floor at 3 a.m. It has not been an auspicious day, though the pork steaks did not suffer. I did. Still am.

Wasabi potato chips don't sound bad.

Those are lovely!

Exactly what I use mine for, as well as the occasional storage of juices.