kayb

Dove season is huge a couple of counties south of us, but not so much here. Long as I have someone to clean them for me, I love to cook the little babies. Grilled breasts wrapped in bacon, or breaded like chicken-fried steak and quickly browned, then simmered in red wine (also one of my favorite treatments for duck breasts).

Oysters. Oh, dear sweet Baby Jesus. I'm jonesing for oysters. End of this month. Myrtle Beach. There will be oysters, I trust.

Don't know why we didn't talk about Labor Day cooking last year. What's everyone planning? Me, not much on the day itself; going to somke some pork steaks tomorrow for pre-Labor Day dinner with the kids. I'm thinking I'll throw on some brats and chicken-apple sausage links, while I've got the smoker going, to have Monday, when we have no big plans.

Just put some pork shoulder steaks in to SV, sprinkled with a bit of Penzey's Greek seasoning. Tomorrow, I'll take them out and smoke them for pre-Labor Day Sunday dinner with the kids. Thinking in terms of potatoes in cheese sauce, baked beans and fried okra on the side. Planning to make a banana pudding if I get up early enough, or get ambitious enough tonight. Steaks, which are doggoned near a pound apiece, farm-raised, will go 12-16 hours at 145 and then get coated with a glaze of fig jam and balsamic vinegar to go in the smoker for 30-40 minutes or so. Should be primo. These people raise good pork.

Amazon's offering a September sale on the IP Duo 9-in-1. Instant Pot DUO Plus 60, 6 Qt 9-in-1 Multi- Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Yogurt Maker, Egg Cooker, Sauté, Steamer, Warmer, and Sterilizer

Did it mention tamales, particularly Delta tamales? Their origin, as 100 years ago, the Latino population in the Delta was minimal, is shrouded in mystery, and they taste different from TexMex tamales, but Lord, I love 'em. They're first noted as a portable lunch for sharecroppers.

I refer to those as "tomato candy." I'll get out a bag to cook with, use what I need, and eat the rest as a munchy. I bought tomatoes at the Farmers' Market today and am planning on making the "tomato parmesan chips" referenced somewhere on eG yesterday. Couldn't stop thinking about them.

Treated myself to breakfast after the farmers' market this morning. Bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, orange juice, coffee. Finally got hungry again about 3. Nothing noteworthy, but awfully good. This little diner is Da Bomb.

Oh...my...God. I am SO trying this.

Cubanos. Some of your pulled pork, sliced ham, mustard, Swiss, dill pickles. Make them, then right before service, grill them just enough to melt the cheese a little and warm them up. I like to grill mine in a skillet with another skillet on top. You can have "Moros y Cristianos" (black beans and rice) made and warm to go with it, or just serve chips.

As well as the fig jam, honey is a great condiment with hard cheeses. I often make a light meal out of cheese, fruit, and whatever kind of cured meat I have on hand. And one of my very favorites is pears and blue cheese; you might start with a fairly mild blue, and graduate to the sharper ones. I love Gouda cheese. Some over my other favorite hard and semi-hard cheeses are Gruyere and manchego. Monterey Jack is another easy entry-level cheese; some of the cheddars are, and some are sharper and stronger. In the softer cheeses, I'm fond of all the bries. Rcotta is really easy to make at home, and lends a new dimension to your lasagna, as well as being wonderful in cheesecake and a good sub for cottage cheese. Fresh mozzarella is a revelation. In the in-betweens, I like havarti, fontina, butterkase, either just sliced on a cheese board or in a sandwich. I am, in fact, just like a big rat when it comes to cheese. Love the stuff.

Spectacular.

I fully intend to email the manager. At least the two-block walk to the nearby coffee shop got me a little exercise this week.

I'm about to decide that when we move, my gardening is going to be cut back to a few raised beds -- herbs, tomatoes, an asparagus bed, and one for maybe a few hills of cucumbers and a few hills of squash. Between my work/travel schedule and screwy weather (late frosts, early heat wave that really hurt the tomatoes), mine's been less than successful this year. I'm about to decide it's about as easy, and as cheap, to buy produce to put up at the local market or produce stand. That said, I do plan to plant a fig tree or two as soon as we get relocated. And depending on how big a property we settle on, maybe a couple of other fruit trees as well.

It obviously means it's produced by a lactating female almond. No boy almonds need apply.

Wonderful breakfast this morning at my favorite breakfast place in Fayetteville, AR, Arsaga's at the Depot. I had already walked down there once this week in desperation, looking for an alternative to the horrible hotel coffee, and just had to go back for breakfast. I opted for a simple bacon and fried egg sandwich, elevated above the ordinary by the fact it was a farm egg, locally raised farm bacon, and an English muffin from a nearby bakery, with cilantro mayo. It was pretty marvelous. Had a fruit salad on the side. And copious amounts of GOOD coffee, with orange juice.

While i am not a massive pizza fan -- I don't dislike it, but there are many things I'd rather eat -- two stand out as the "best I ever had" in the category. One was at Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton, NJ, which alleges itself to be the oldest family-run pizza joint in the country outside NYC. The pizza was thin, dough brushed with olive oil, topped with THIN slices of fresh tomato, grated parmigiano, dollops of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves. It was heavenly. Three of us ate an 18-incher, and I contemplated ordering another. The other was at Memphis Pizza cafe. Sausage, bacon, sauce, cheese. Bacon cut up in lardons and fried crisp. Sausage was breakfast sausage (sage, but not heavily so), browned. It was pretty damn fine. They make a good sauce; light hand with the spices, but they're good. Good cheese. Again, a thin crust. Don't like Chicago style deep-dish pizzas. Don't want it so crisp it's like a cracker. I like traditional NY style crust. On the other hand, I'm also real fond of flatbreads. My personal favorite to make at home, when fresh figs are in season, is fig, peach and ricotta, with balsatmic glaze drizzled over and a few basil leaves scattered about.

Must say, mine has worked like a charm all its life, which has been maybe two years? I forget. It's well-used. If it quit tomorrow, I'd order another without hesitation.

Much as I like Bittman's How to Cook Everything, none of the rest of these spoke to me. I feel virtuous.

I have some spices from before when I moved from Hot Springs in 2013. I think most everything else has been recycled through.

I don't know that I'm a coffee snob, though I have definite likes and dislikes. I have been at a conference in a hotel the past three days and the coffee has been the absolute worst I have ever attempted to drink in my life. Sludgy, bitter, an "off" taste behind the bitterness. Just nasty. A question for those of you in the food services business. Just how hard is it to consistently provide decent coffee in a vacuum pot for a conference break table or in the lobby?

Pulled pork barbecue and pineapple on pizza is a thing in the Memphis area. Of course, we also do barbecue spaghetti.

The crust on that meatloaf has my mouth watering.

Because sometimes you need a greasy cheeseburger and rings from the local diner.

Spectacular! Thank you!