kayb

I miss our Indian place. I would SO eat Indian tonight. As it was, I snacked on Froot Loops, dry, from the box after I got home from grocery shopping. Because I've wanted them since I posted about them yesterday and, well, I got them today. Tomorrow is supposed to be nasty and cold. I plan to stay home and start my holiday baking. Cranberry bread and date-maple-walnut bread.

God bless those who do something, rather than just wringing their hands. A good nomination.

Dark meat smoked after an 18-hour sous vide at 150 was pretty awesome.

I love Froot Loops. Dry, out of the box, while reading or watching TV at night.

I have sworn more times than I can count that I will never again turn on the garbage disposal without first checking to see if a piece of stainless flatware has slipped down into it. I did it twice in 20 minutes while rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher yesterday.

When I was in college, there was a relatively upscale grocery chain in Memphis called Seesel's. They had what was, to me at that time (the late 70s), a fairly extensive cheese collection -- that is to say, beyond the red rind hoop cheese and the packaged Kraft varieties we got in smalltown Tennessee. I discovered Gruyere cheese, which to this day, I love to eat with a sliced apple and some sweet gherkins.

One of my treasured cookbooks is from Marion United Methodist Church ( @Smithy, that's about four blocks on down the street from where we ate lunch). It has two pages which are so grease-stained I can barely read them any more. One is my go-to dinner roll recipe. The other is curried chicken salad. Both are absolutely outstanding. That church had more wonderful cooks than I've ever known congregated in one place!

@Anna N -- I dearly love a coconut macaroon. I make them periodically, but generally only when Child B, the one with celiac, is here, as she loves them too. Otherwise, well, I'm inclined to eat the whole pan. I use a little almond flour in mine to help them hold their shape. Otherwise, just eggs, coconut and sugar. A little almond extract. Low oven (325F) for 20 minutes, maybe. That sound close to yours? Ages and ages ago, I used to work in downtown Memphis, around the corner from the late lamented Federal Bake Shop. They made coconut macaroons about the size of both my fists put together. Many's the time I made lunch off of one. I miss that wonderful old bakery.

Glad we're hunting and blogging again! I can sit here on the couch, in the warm, and enjoy it! Give Chum a big hug from me.

Any kind of basic sharp cheddar will do just fine.

Always proud to be of assistance. And y'all come on down to Water Valley, MS. (where you have to be intending to go to get there, as it is not on the way to anywhere).

I have come to the conclusion the best part of smoked dark-meat turkey is use of the leftovers in smoked turkey posole. Made with Rancho Gordo hominy. It'll make you change your mind about turkey, if you're not a turkey fan.

This is one of the coolest books, and one of the coolest places, I've ever seen. If you're ever in the vicinity of Water Valley, Miss., I highly encourage you to stop by.

Thanks. Buying the five-pound chunk next time I'm in Sam's.

Do you do anything to keep the cheese from clumping together? Do you freeze it in the quantities you expect to use, or is it fairly easy to scoop out how much you want? I'd LOVE to have the convenience of pre- shredded cheese that wasn't...pre-shredded cheese.

I actually had a very good biscuit in PA -- some little diner in Lancaster County, if I recall correctly. Have had some awful ones in the South, up to and including at a restaurant I love, where everything else they make is good but the biscuits are leaden. There are only three tricks to biscuits -- well, four: a soft flour, cold fat, a soft dough, and working it the bare minimum to make it come together. I do prefer buttermilk biscuits to those made with sweet milk, but will turn down neither. The buttermilk reacts with the baking powder to give a higher rise. Same thing can be accomplished by stirring in a little yogurt or sour cream. (As proof of my biscuit credentials I submit the fact I won the biscuit contest in sixth grade 4H.)

No Martha White devotees in this bunch? I didn't know you could make biscuits with anything other than Martha White Self-Rising flour until well after I was grown.

I have yet to find a cheese I do not like. I may have been a rat in a previous life. Cheddars probably top the list, followed closely by Gouda, Idiazabal, Edam, Gruyere, Tallegio, Manchego, Fontina, Butterkase, Brie, all the blues....Must have American for mac and cheese and pimiento cheese.

A Dutch baby with dehydrated tomatoes, shredded Serrano ham, and crumbled blue cheese. Next time I'll double up on the tomatoes and forego the cheese.

The best sushi and sashimi I had in Japan was in a tiny little place, about six tables, that sat on the side of a mountain (literally; the parking lot was level with the roof, and you walked down stairs down the mountainside to get to it) overlooking the ocean, just outside of Kamakura. We ordered platter after platter, and pitcher after pitcher of cold Sapporo. One of the best things I had was what looked like little tadpoles, white, less than 3/4 inch long, which you ate whole. They had been marinated in something. We asked the waiter, who in turn asked the chef, who told us they were "tiny white fish." That ranks as one of the best meals I've ever eaten.

FWIW, you'll get over it. In about six months or a year.

It is not difficult at all to get along in the big cities if you know no Japanese. As noted, much signage is in English, and most stores/restaurants have at least someone who's somewhat conversant with English. Picture menus are the grandest thing ever, too; just point. Visiting Japan damn near ruined me for sushi in America. Especially mid-America.

As we ate early and the kids have taken out Black Friday-on-Thursday shopping (I abhor stores that open on Thursday, other than groceries being open early for "oh, God, I forgot X"), leaving me with the grandchild and the TV, I'll kick off the after action reports. Turkey was excellent. I broke him (my daughter picked him up from my farmer source last Saturday, and named him "Herbie") down into leg quarters, wings and the whole breast. The legs and wings got the sous vide treatment for about 18 hours at 150, and then went into the smoker. The breast got rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with a dry brine of salt, brown sugar and sage, and I roasted it this morning. I had already cut out the backbone to roast for stock. Sides included cornbread dressing and mac and cheese (not pictured), sweet potato casserole, and brussels sprouts. A trio of salads (grape, cranberry and broccoli) with deviled eggs. And rolls. As usual, no one wanted dessert, although I had apple-cranberry-walnut crisp and lemon icebox pie. Very little cooking the rest of the weekend!

I've done it as @heidih suggests with leftover roast chicken. Worked like a charm.

My tastes align with yours, particularly on that love seat you loved but decided against for price reasons. Why is it we have such expensive tastes? Love the glassware.