kayb

A whole shoulder, to cook properly to the point of easy pulling, takes 18 hours if cooked "right," i.e., Memphis style. We did it with no dry rub but with a regular mop with a vinegar based barbecue sauce. A butt, of course, being, what, a third of the size of a shoulder? A quarter? Should take correspondingly less time. We used to start cooking at 150F, and increase it by 25-degree increments until we finished up at 250 for a couple of hours to set the bark. A good bark takes two hours at that heat to really mature. I need to cook a couple of shoulders this summer. Been a long time. My father could cook the best ones in the world.

My garden plots are now broken up, and I have the material for four raised beds, at least one of which will go inside the fenced plot away from the predatory bunnies. That's destined for asparagus; I don't guess I'm moving, so I'll go ahead and start an asparagus bed. Not sure what the rest will be. I'm thinking one at one end of the tomato garden for peppers, and one at the other end for onions and potatoes. The grandlittles demanded sunflower seeds, so I shall plant sunflowers for them. I've never grown sunflowers before. Also got zinnias and marigolds for a border, as one of those is good to ward off pests, but I forget which it is, so I bought both. Will till in some additional compost when we dry out after tomorrow's predicted rain, and then plant near mid-month. Supposed to be down in the upper 30s tonight. I think we're past last-frost danger, but who knows? I've seen snow in May, too.

My God. Pineapple sticky buns. The yeast dough I'd put in the freezer for kolaches may have just found a different use. Those are gorgeous.

After the grandson decided at 3 a.m. it was morning, I was not at my best for Easter lunch. Fortunately, I had mostly cooked yesterday, so today was a matter of warming up and cooking the green things. Which I managed to screw up. Forgot about the green peas (I love to cook a mixture of shelled and sugar snaps in the shell) and steamed them too long. The asparagus, just pan-sauteed with some asiago grated over it, was pretty much perfect, though. The Aldi Appleton Farms ham was predictably good (and on sale for 99 cents a pound! I bought two and stashed one in the freezer), as was the old standby corn casserole. Deviled eggs, in a trick I think I learned on here, were boiled and the filling prepped last night. Whites went in one plastic bag, filling in another. Set the whites out on the plate, snipped the corner off the filling bag, and piped them full. Easy peasy. First candied sweet potatoes I've made in eons. I found my mother's recipe, which is simplicity in and of itself. Boil six small potatoes (I steamed them in the IP); peel and cut in half. Heat in a saucepan 1 cup white Karo syrup, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 stick butter. Pour over potatoes in baking dish, and baste occasionally when baking. Bake 1 hour in 325-degree oven. Thought about adding cinnamon, nutmeg, etc., but declined.

I figure John Wesley was methodical enough for me and him both.

@Duvel -- good looking corned beef. I saw Peter Rabbit with the grands last week. Cute movie.

Me either. Probably use mine 1x or 2x a week.

This Methodist has never eaten a matzah ball. I should remedy that. I make a fine latke, though.

I picked up a pair of Calphalon non-sticks on sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond, oh, must have been 15 years ago. They're only now starting to break down, and they've seen a LOT Of use. I may chunk them and buy two more just like them.

My poor, misbegotten chicken. I got him out of the brine whenever I did it, and let him dry in the fridge for what wound up being two days. I spatchcocked him today and roasted him at 425 for 40 minutes and set him aside, while I was in the throes of cooking ahead for Easter dinner. Now I'm sick of the kitchen and don't want anything to eat. So I guess he'll go in a big plastic bag and decamp back to the fridge. He'll be good next week.

Mayonnaise. On white bread. I wanted to cry.

OK. I don't do a lot of sweet stuff. And I particularly don't do "cute." But doggone it, this is cute, if I did make it myownself. I've wanted for years to fold some traditional Passover dishes into the family's Easter celebration. This year, I made a start at it. The little coconut-covered critters are Haroseth Truffles, recipe on the NYT cooking site. They were quite easy to make, and seemed amenable to substitutions (Plums for the apricots I Could Not Find in the pantry, walnuts for pistachios, orange juice for pomegranate). And then in keeping with the Easter side of things, I shaped some coconut macaroons into bird nests, and filled them with tiny Whoppers robin egg malted milk balls and Starburst jellybeans. It's an ecumenical Easter/Passover dessert.

Does it count that I got out two packages of corn for the corn casserole for Easter dinner?

I used to keep a spare cylinder on hand for that very purpose. Aggravating-est thing there is.

$1.89 at Aldi, $2.49 at Kroger.

I brought home three pounds of crawfish from a boil once; sat and tediously picked out the tails, put them aside, netting, what, 2/3 of a pound of tail meat, max? I was going to make crawfish pies. Until my daughter came in late that night and used them to make herself a sandwich. I let her live. Barely. It was a struggle.

I like the local honey idea, or if there's anything else for which the local area is particularly known. If it were a larger group, I might bring a bottle of wine, particularly if that's the custom in your 'hood. But if they're new, and this is a one-on-one get-to-know-you, I'd bring something that doesn't have to have anything done with it at the moment.

Thought I'd already bought Taste of Persia, but turns out I hadn't, or Amazon doesn't recall that I have. So now I have.

That looks good. I had to save that recipe. It reminds me a bit of the crabmeat cheesecake from Palace Cafe, which was my first encounter with savory cheesecake (and I very nearly, as my grandmother would have said, "foundered myself." Recipe here.

Re: The table with the hole in the middle. For many years, I was one of the organizers/worker bees who staged a barbecue and crawfish festival in Marion, AR. We'd cook 500 to 800 pounds of crawfish to sell, and our teams competing would cook and give away probably a thousand pounds of pork (and assorted other stuff). The first year, we got from the electrical utility a few dozen of the big wooden spools they wind cable on; they're about the right size to stand on one end, and use for a stand-up dinner table. Except that the hole in the middle was way too easy to throw crawfish remains into. And not nearly so easy to get crawfish remains OUT of. I cannot tell you how bad those damn tables smelled when we went out on Sunday morning (after they'd been used since Wednesday night) to clean up the grounds and break everything down. The next year, we nailed screen wire over the holes. Lots easier to just rake up crawfish remains off the ground.

You know...a storage solution has just occurred to me. If you could find, or have someone make, the right size wire grid that you could slip a straight-sided 4-oz (or 8 oz) jar through, that would catch on the rim where the lid screws down...one could put a series of them on sliders in a wooden cabinet. Canning jars are relatively inexpensive; less than a buck apiece.

Well, the cold frames didn't happen, and the garden isn't getting tilled until tomorrow. Then I'll spread umpty bags of compost on it, till that in with my new little tiller, and be ready to plant. Got the materials today to make four 4 x 4 beds; I think I'm going to take the plunge and start an asparagus bed. Other beds can go for onions, leeks and....something. Going to cut back on tomatoes this year, add some additional peppers (all I planted last year were cubanelles, think I'll add pimientos and Thai hot peppers). Will get herb garden ready to go this week as well; am off on the annual hunt for tarragon (WHY does no one in this town know wtf tarragon is?) My oregano, sage, thyme and savory overwintered and are coming back nicely. Must plant cilantro, basil and parsley, along with chives and dill. The damn mint is trying to take over; should never have planted it in the ground. Also going to plant sunflowers this year, at the grandurchins' request. A little late getting started, but it's been a cool spring and the ground's still fairly cold. I think I'll be good to go next week.

How could I resisit? I ordered it.

Fun! I love cookbooks that have a story to them. One reason I like Deep Run Roots so well.

My nickel's worth is that the texture is a little better in pressure cooking, but the flavor is better in some preparations (i.e., in a stock or sauce with added flavor elements) in a braise. Or, what you gain on the pretzels you lose on the potato chips.