kayb

Welcome! Happy to hear any tips regarding small backyard gardens. I'm gardenless this year (moving this weekend!) but will be laying out and preparing a series of raised beds this fall for next year!

There is a German restaurant in the Forest Park area where I ate last time I was up there. It was marvelous. If anyone has an interest, I'll try to remember/look up where it is. Rigazzi's, on The Hill, is a wonderful old-school Italian. Nothing fancy, just your basic red-sauce place, good homemade pasta. Been there for centuries.

5:45 -- 2 6:15 -- 3 6:45 -- 5 7:45 -- 4 8:15 -- 2 8:45 -- 2

FWIW, I've had good luck SVing a couple of hours at 125, then CHILLING in the bag, then searing on the grill. Seems when I go straight from the bath to the grill, I get my steak too done before I get a good sear. I'm a big fan of chilling first.

Welcome! Please jump right in and share some of your baking recipes with us!

Tonight's edition of delivery dinner was from the local Cajun joint. Boiled shrimp, new potatoes, corn on the cob. They did not send cocktail sauce (you have to ask??). Fortunately, I had ketchup, horseradish, Worcestershire, lemons and hot sauce on hand. Problem solved. Kid had a fried bologna and cheese sandwich, with bread pudding for dessert. Pricy for a delivery dinner, but it was good. Shrimp hit the spot. Moving in nine days. If I live.

Absolutely beautiful! I love the backsplash, and I wish I had the wine fridge!

I love Nero Wolfe, in large part due to how much the plots work in dining scenes. I, however, would likely be an Archie, always on the wrong side of Inspector Cramer.

I could load them up with them and send them home, I guess. Serve their mamas right.

I'm intrigued. Thanks for the link; I read it and chased some of the links. If I were to put a raised, subdivided bed around the base of an oak tree, would that be an appropriate place to try growing mushrooms? I live in Zone 7, so we have a lengthy growing season and relatively warm winter; we'll get below freezing a dozen times or more a winter, but we won't stay there more than a couple of days, typically. What kind of soil medium is best for growing mushrooms? Typically in raised beds, I use a combo of garden soil with horse manure worked in during the fall and left to percolate over the winter under straw. Then I turn the straw under before planting. Will that work? Fertilizer or no? If so, what kind? I love picking herbs and tomatoes and fresh veggies in the morning for dinner that night. Mushrooms would be an added plus!

Glad to have you here! Tell us what you like to cook!

Welcome, Aretha. You share a name with one of my very favorite singers.

Some marinara to dip that arancini in does not go amiss....

Sigh. I'll cook again, someday, I guess. I hate moving. The thought of the new kitchen is sustaining me. On the other hand, today all the books got finished packing and loaded into the trailer that is living in our driveway. Now I have room to pack other stuff.

God forbid my six-year-old grandsons every discover gummie Legos!

Thanks. I'll look for that one, as well.

You will not regret Early Girl, I promise. It's marvelous. I have not been to Dancing Bear, but it gets good reviews, and I've made the blueberry-goat cheese pie from there (recipe is online somewhere). I find it too goat cheesy -- so I use half goat cheese and half cream cheese, and it's outstanding. If you are a fan of sweet tea, a chain of hot dog joints called Pal's up in that part of the world (well, in East TN) has what people say is marvelous. I don't drink sweet tea (take away my Southerner credentials!) so I don't know. And if you're looking for a place to stay the night, the General Morgan Inn in Greeneville is a nice, old-and-redone hotel downtown. Would be maybe an hour from Asheville.

They aren't black, but let me put in a word for two of my favorite heirlooms: Arkansas Traveler, a sweet, red slicing tomato that's relatively low-acid and makes a marvelous BLT, and Carolina Gold, a yellow tomato that grows BIG and thus makes excellent sandwiches, or anything else you want to do with it. It is VERY low acid.

You can, of course, get EVERYTHING at Amazon. I have not tried this particular product from there, but I have had domestic hackleback sturgeon caviar from the same region (White River vs. Miss. River, a difference of maybe 75 miles), and it's pretty doggoned good. Of course, bear in mind I have not had the premium ossetra stuff, either. I have also ordered this capelin caviar from Amazon. It's only fair, compared to the fresh sturgeon.

My daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease about 10 years ago, and I have had spells of gluten intolerance, though not full-blown ceiliac, from time to time. After an extended period of GI issues, a blood test has now come back positive that indicates either Crohn's or celiac. In an attempt at narrowing it down, I am presently eliminating wheat gluten from the diet. Fortunately, it's coming on the time of year when fresh veggies are in season, and I can make cornbread without flour, and fruit crisps instead of cobblers. Still, I'm hoping it comes down on the side of Crohn's vs. celiac. I think. I'd hate to have to give up ALL the bread. And there's nothing that makes you want a sandwich or a bagel or an English muffin like not being able to eat one. I've ordered the ATK's gluten free cookbook, and will hope there are some good options there. Meanwhile, the Sunday morning muffin-baking for the Sunday school class is a real pain. If anyone has any good recommendations for GF breads/sweets cookbooks, I'd be pleased to hear them.

Lord have mercy, but that looks wonderful!

Throw in some caramelized onions with that blue cheese, and I'm all over it!

Bumping this ooooooollllllddddd thread up because it's the weekend for the Memphis in May International Barbecue Cooking Championship. Being of the school of thought that Memphis barbecue is THE gold standard for barbecue (sorry, Kansas City, and Texas, and besides, where do you get off calling any kind of cooked beef, "barbecue"? Barbecue is PORK!) Anyway, I was entertained, as always, by the names of some of the teams. There's Cackle and Oink, Swine and Dine, the Swinetastics, the Swinos, Grill and Grind, and Pigs Gone Wild. And there's my personal favorite in the name category, Aporkalypse Now. Last night there was a Ms. Piggie Idol talent contest, and teams competed yesterday in the "Anything But...", which is anything but pork, and the entries range from game meats and birds to fish to rattlesnake, and the sauce competition. Today is the serious business, with competition in whole hog, shoulder and ribs. All of downtown Memphis smells heavenly, and I promise you last night was the most people you would have ever seen drunk in one location. It's been a long time since I've made the pilgrimage over there, having grown less fond of mob scenes in my advancing years, but it's sure a helluva party.

My children were not tremendously picky, but I have one six-year-old grandson who is on the autism spectrum, which tends to exacerbate food choosiness, particularly when it comes to texture. He will not eat ANY vegetables. He used to eat sweet potato, mashed potatoes, and green peas, but won't touch them any more. The only meat he will eat is chicken nuggets. He will eat breads -- loves pancakes and waffles, oddly enough, without syrup -- and eats grilled cheese sandwiches. Won't touch a hamburger or any other kind of sandwich featuring meat. Used to eat fish sticks, but won't do that any more. Mac and cheese is also on the used-to-eat list; won't touch that now. Won't eat eggs in any form. Won't drink milk. He does, at least, love every kind of fruit, except for strawberries and avocados. I suspect his mother will eventually have to go to the point of not allowing him to have any of his "will eat" foods until he tries a forkful of something else. Hard for me to do that on the once-a-week basis I usually have him here overnight. By contrast, my other six-year-old grandson's favorite snack is raw bell pepper strips. Kid is weird.

They were, in fact, fresh-cut fries. I do love me a nice crispy crinkle-cut frozen fry, but these were cooked VERY well. Right ratio of crisp to creamy. And yes, it was very good pig. Not the best I've ever had, but very good.