kayb

There are fads, and there are fads. I eat probably 75-85 percent unprocessed (or at least relatively so) foods; very little fast food (the occasional Taco Bell taco notwithstanding), and am working hard to cut back on sweets and chips. I don't eat, necessarily, organic, though it's nice when it's available. I do cook LOTS of fresh veggies and non-processed meats, just because, well, that's what I like. I do fry stuff (though I rarely deep-fry, because it's just too damn messy). I cook with a lot of butter and bacon fat (I'm a Southerner). I'm blessed with good cholesterol. But I've also learned to roast a lot of veggies, and to love olive oil. Health isn't the main reason, although it's certainly a consideration; taste is.

Potassium. I'm not a big banana eater, so that's never been a big option for me. However, frozen orange juice from concentrate (and who knows, maybe fresh-squeezed OJ as well) is high in potassium. So I tank up on OJ.

Any Southerner will tell you: An original 6 1/2 oz glass-bottle Co'Cola. With a bag of salted peanuts poured in it.

Will y'all adopt me? Will bring zucchini.

I guess I'm a plebian; whatever blend my butcher sends me as part of my beef quarter (trimmings from steaks, roasts, etc., no pink slime, no organs/internals/assorted other not-nice stuff) is fine with me. What makes it into a perfect burger, to me, is: -- Cooking on the grill to a nice medium, good outside crust, just a little pink in the middle. -- Good buns, preferably ones I've made. -- Topping that suits my taste of the day; currently, I'm crushing on caramelized onions and blue cheese and good mayo. -- Lots of cold beer.

There's a little Gulf seafood place about halfway between home and Little Rock that is a regular stop for me when I travel between the two and am coming back at a decent hour. They travel to the Gulf Coast (an eight-hour run) three times a week and bring back fresh shrimp, oysters, whatever else is in season, along with seafood for their Cajun restaurant (which is marvelous!). I can get good jumbo shrimp at a much better than grocery store price; ditto oysters, crab, grouper, etc. Most of it has been frozen, but most Gulf seafood is flash frozen before it ever comes off the boat any more. Been a while since I've been down that way. Need to make a run. They're also a good place to get crawfish, and it's prime crawfish boil season now.

When my father's health was declining, near the end of his life, I would go up home every weekend. One weekend, he said, out of the blue, "I wish I had a good Reuben." I thought, "I can handle that." The next weekend, I stopped off by a Jewish deli in East Memphis, picked up corned beef, baby Swiss, a jar of sauerkraut, some rye and some Thousand Island, and we had Reubens that weekend, and I repeated it for several weekends, until he had his fill of Reubens. It was a pleasure to find something he enjoyed.

Lord, how I envy you your seafood! We get so little here that isn't frozen...

There are things in my kitchen that are green that should not be. (Time to clean out the fridge.)

Smoked pork loin, Cole slaw I brought home from the holiday weekend, new potato salad, ham-and-cheese deviled eggs. Got the pork loin just about perfect, very moist. All good, but unfortunately, none of it was what I wanted. I also smoked sausages, and we had that and cheese. Not sure exactly what I wanted, but none of that was it.

Must be brisket day. I have one I'm about to coat in pastrami rub and smoke, then SV. Got sliced tomatoes and cole slaw. Probably will make some potato salad. Done and done.

As @Anna N posted immediately after this one, it beats hell out of the alternative. I don't like getting old worth a damn. However, I like it a great deal better than not getting old.

New potatoes roasted in duck fat. That worked. That did it. Glass of wine, too.

I am starving. Fixed Thai peanut noodles for lunch. That wasn't want I wanted. Ditto yogurt and fruit. Ditto cheese and crackers. I am distraught. And hungry. And it's storming and I don't want to get out. And I think I'll whine.

I've been looking at our Kroger since someone reported that, particularly as we have one of the big, amusement-park-for-food ones. Nothing as of yet. Somewhat odd, as you and I are not all THAT far apart.

Hmmm. I make a bacon barbecue meatloaf that I haven't made since I got the smoker. Believe I may have to try it on the smoker....I'm due that pork loin I never smoked, anyway...

Looks like Kroger is going to get into the game. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/kroger-buys-home-chef-maker-of-meal-kits-2018-05-23

I first read this as "shooting and eating in RAW...."

Much longer than a week. Think pickles.

Here's my recipe for the infamous "jail slaw," which I learned to make while a rookie reporter covering courts and cops in Crittenden County, Arknsas, and often being invited to eat lunch at the jail. It's a great, crisp accompaniment to burgers or pulled pork barbecue or fried fish, It goes well in place of lettuce on a bacon and tomato sandwich, and keeps in hte fridge approximately forever. 1 large head cabbage, shredded 4-6 carrots, shredded one large onion, shredded one large bell pepper, shredded (the latter two are optional) Dressing: 1 cup vinegar 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp dry mustard 1/4 tsp white pepper 1/4 tsp turmeric 1 tsp celery seed Heat dressing ingredients until almost boiling. Pour over vegetables. Let sit on counter for three or four hours to marinate, stirring and tossing occasionally. Refrigerate at least overnight before serving. 4-

Sure. And no, no oil.

American is fine. Also sharp Cheddar, or Swiss, or Monterey Jack. If I have grilled/caramelized onions, some crumbled blue. Have also used butterkase, Gouda, fontina or Havarti. Whatever comes to hand. With you on that one.

I don't. Nor do I have room in the garden. Will plan for them next year.

And I've decided, since I bought one of somebody's fundraiser Boston butts and pulled it and put it in the freezer last weekend, I'll just take that rather than smoking a pork loin. Easy, and already done. That just leaves beans and slaw to prep. Slaw before I go, beans once I get there. They're easy.

I will freely admit this does not come up to the standard of work in this thread as far as looks goes, but I'll put it up against anyone's as far as taste is concerned. I have contended for ages I have the best cheesecake recipe in the world (it came from Southern Living, about 20-odd years ago, I think). Today, I took two quarts of fresh local strawberries; pureed one of them, and added the puree to the batter. That makes enough batter for my nine-inch pan and my six-inch pan, which is NOT a bad thing. While it was baking, I made a heavy simple syrup (1.5:1 sugar-water) infused with about half a cup of loosely packed mint leaves that I'd rolled between my palms to bruise them. Strained that, and capped and halved the other quart and let them sit in the fridge until the cheesecakes were done. Used the halves, along with some mint leaves I'd let sit in the same syrup, to decorate the tops. The big one is in the freezer for this weekend's pot luck. The little one is in the fridge, having already had a wedge cut out of it.... Damn, it's good.