kayb

@liamsaunt, do you have a recipe you can share for the shawarma? I have saved several, but have never tried to make it.

Welcome!

FWIW, more of the cattle killed for beef are male, albeit steers. Heifers are kept for breeding. At least in my part of the world.

Sigh. It was 99 here, with about 100 percent humidity. And it's not July yet.

FWIW...I have been told you can can green tomatoes for later frying. You slice them, layer them in a jar, cover with a salt and water brine, and process. Then they have to sit very still on the counter until, apparently, the tomatoes recover some sort of structural integrity. Allegedly you can then take out, and then bread and fry them. I have not tried this.

We grew potatoes when I was a kid; I have not done them myself. I seem to remember Daddy digging them up from the side of the plant, with a pitchfork, which left the vines in place to continue bearing. I am certain we did not wait until the vines were dead.

Here's the link I saved: clickety Haven't tried 'em yet.

Having unearthed the bag of frozen tamales from Miss Rhoda's in Lake City, AR, in the freezer, I had tamales and chili.

My current daytime drink of choice is a half-and-half mix of diet CranCherry and sparkling water. Crancherry's too sweet and strong to drink straight; cut about half and half with sparkling water, it's just about perfect. It's sweetened with Sucralose.

Thanks, y'all. Will definintely focus on soaking the little sweethearts. And mushrooms in cream over steak sounds pretty glorious.

FWIW, I have read, somewhere, that women tend to gain more from fat than do men, and men tend to gain more from carbs. All I can figure is I must have a very masculine metabolism, as I tend to lose weight in the summer, when my carb intake naturally goes down because I'm eating more fresh garden veggies and fruit. But, God help me, I DO love a potato. In any form.

h'mmm. You reckon you might have little tiny CSO's one of these days?

@Thanks for the Crepes, I agree on grocery store short ribs. The best ones I've cooked come with my quarter-steer share each year. My farmers, bless them, know I like a lot of cuts many people don't care for, so I get lots of beef shank, soup bones, short ribs, etc, and less ground beef. I love my farmers! I think my favorite short rib is to cook it much like I would a pot roast, with lots of onion and red wine and garlic, without the potatoes and carrots. It's one of those I'd just rather braise than SV or IP.

Found a recipe for pickled cherries I'd like to try.

If it just weren't so cold....I think I could very easily become a Canadian.

My birthday dinner, because it was what I has a notion for. A variety of sausages from Aldi (chicken apple, bacon cheddar brats, sweet Italian) I brought home and smoked and sprinkled with bbq rub. Four different cheeses clockwise, Havarti, cacio do Roma, Wensleydale with cranberries, Parrano. Copious red wine.

I had not a clue. Love Ranier cherries. Haven't seen any in markets here.

Wonder if you could accomplish the same thing by putting food scraps in the food processor and then drying in either a dehydrator or the oven? More trouble than I'd care to go to, but then, I do love my detached house and yard/garden.

I ordered some Forest Glory dried morels, as I'm in a part of the world where we never seem to get, and certainly don't find, fresh morels. Any tips on how to use them?

Or you could wait until July 18 and see if it gets any lower on Prime Day.

@rarerollingobject -- I always get excited when I see you've posted in this thread. I know I'm going to be astounded and envious. Once more, I'm astounded and envious.

My compost bin is a collection of four pallets slipped over reinforcing rods driven into the ground. One pallet is left loose so it can be moved to allow the compost to be turned or moved. I haven't used any yet. It gets all my veggie scraps and trimmings, as well as the clippings from the yard. I turn it once a year, in the fall, and next year, I think it'll be ready to use. I may go to the wire cyinlinder within the garden next year; would be easier. Or move the pallets there.

I would have to do some serious conditioning to do the food justice. I'm spending a week at the beach next month, and I plan to eat seafood six nights out of seven, at least. Love traveling with you and all the other eGulleters. I will try to take you along when we go to Fort Morgan next month.

@ProfessionalHobbit, that looks absolutely amazing. The smoked sturgeon with caviar really got my attention. Was it as wonderful as my imagination makes it?

Oh, you're talking my language, here. I grew up on blackberries, the wild ones. I've graduated to the cultivated kind -- MUCH easier to pick, although not as sweet. Not to mention you don't look like you've been in a fight with a horde of angry cats. Two things, particularly: First, blackberry jam. I'll put up at least two gallons of blackberries, made into jam, every summer, and enjoy it on toast and biscuits and English muffins all year long. I'm never without an opened jar in the fridge. I cook blackberries with sugar and a little lemon juice, add pectin, bring to a boil, and then jar it and water bath process it. Easiest recipe in the Ball Big Book of Canning and Preserving. Then there's blackberry cobbler. Make up enough pie crust for a two-crust pie (or, if you're me, get the Pillsbury rolled up variety from the dairy case). Cut enough out of one rolled crust to make a top crust for your chosen two-quart baking dish. Cut the rest of that one, and the other one, up into strips and pile them in the casserole. Set the top crust aside. Cook the berries until they start to break down with a little sugar (or agave, or honey). Sweeten it to your taste. For a two-quart dish, you want about a quart of berries. Pour the resultant berries and syrup over the dumplings. Don't bother to stir. Gently lay the top crust on the pie. Cut some steam vents, then brush the crust with melted butter and sprinkle on some raw sugar or sanding sugar. Bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown. Eat while hot, or at least warm, with the best vanilla ice cream you can procure.