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@HungryChris -- I pickle green beans frequently. I blanch them, pack in jars, and then do them pretty much like you do your asparagus. If I'm going to water-bath process them, I'll skip the blanching.

Easter is one of the two holidays where my menu is traditional (the other is Thanksgiving), Glazed ham. Corn casserole. Asparagus. Green peas. Deviled eggs. Possibly potato salad, if I have a notion. Rolls. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. On my list is an Appleton Farms ham from Aldi. My "glaze" is merely rubbing it down with ballpark mustard, and then liberally coating it in brown sugar, patting it down well so it adheres in a thick coat. Into the oven at 20 minutes per pound, 325. I've been baking hams this way for 30 years, and you just can't beat the glaze. The glaze packet that comes with the ham, btw, makes great seasoning for baked beans.

Thai massaman beef curry, from a recipe on the Spruce website. I even went almost exactly by the recipe but for adding some peas and carrots, as a forage into the pantry yielded only two usable potatoes and there was no other usable produce in the house. Grocery shopping is a priority tomorrow.

I got Poole's last year. Good cookbook, at least from the reading perspective. I have yet to cook anything from it.

Then perhaps there IS no one worse than me. I CAN"T find stuff about half the time.

My God. There's someone worse than me. @Okanagancook, we were obviously separated at birth

I buy a lot of my spices from a local bulk store that packages them in half-cup and cup plastic containers similar to what you'd get soup in from the Chinese takeout place. They seal nicely, so I stack them in plastic bins from the dollar store and keep them in cabinets. I try to keep them generally categorized -- baking spices here, different chiles here, Indian spices here, Asian spices here....but I wind up thinking I'm out of something, buying more, and then finding a container of the first. I think I have three containers of ground sage, and my Szechuan peppercorns keep hiding from me. Thinking about Anna's card catalog idea...I'd like to have something like one of those pill containers, but a dozen spaces wide by six deep or so, the containers big enough to hold a half-cup of spices. In a rack so you could stack them.

Chicken's about the easiest thing you can do. Equal parts chili powder and brown sugar. Plastic bag. Shake 'em up. Wrap each tender in a strip of bacon. Bake at 350 some 20-25 minutes. Turn on the broiler to crisp the bacon if it's not quite there. I quartered and parboiled (maybe 4-5 minutes) some small Yukon golds and put them underneath the chicken tenders, which were on a rack. Drippings from the bacon and chicken flavor them marvelously. You want to line your pan with foil for this, or just throw it away. It's pretty horrible to clean up. Mac and cheese -- I boil a pound of elbow macaroni in salted water and mix it with 3-4 tbsp of butter, 4 oz grated sharp cheddar, 4 oz Velveeta in small cubes, a splash of heavy cream and some whole milk. I don't measure. I will sometimes stick it in a baking dish and top with Parmigiano and breadcrumbs, and sometimes not. Guaranteed to do nasty things to your arteries and your cholesterol.

Forgot to take pictures, but... A favorite the son-in-law requested. Chicken tenders, tossed in a combo of chili powder and brown sugar, wrapped in bacon and roasted. I always roast halved, or quartered, small unpeeled potatoes underneath them to take advantage of the drippings. With baked beans and homemade mac and cheese, which son-in-law contends is a Class IV narcotic. But he went and picked up a chair I'd bought, and carried around the rearranged furniture to accommodate it, so I was happy to cook his choices for him.

Amazon didn't offer the preview option in the US, either.

Anyone looked into Saladish, by Ilene Rosen? City Kitchen cooked from it in the NYT today. Looks interesting. I may have to get it. Clickety

I'm with @Anna N here. My "old country" is the American south, and when I go to a "down home" cooking establishment, I want my green beans cooked to death, my corn cream style with butter, salt and pepper, my peas stewed a long time and seasoned with cured pork, my pork chop fried, my cornbread light, not sweet, and devoid of additives. And my okra breaded and fried properly (as opposed to the battered frozen stuff suitable only for loading in a cannon as a substitute for grapeshot). Which is not to say I don't enjoy Nouvelle South cuisine, with its influences from French, Latino and Asian cultures; I do. But not at a down-home, country cooking restaurant. If there were a Nouvelle German and a Traditional German restaurant sitting side by side, I'd go with the traditional German, because that's what I know and love. The next night, I'd try the Nouvelle German to see what it was like.

@rotuts -- I am confused (which is not uncommon). You say you are cold smoking, yet the wood chips emitting the smoke are on the grill rack with your meat. What is the heat source that sets them alight and keeps them smouldering? I have been unsuccessful in keeping chips smouldering w/o an external heat source (they just go out). I thought the only way to achieve cold smoke was to have fire and chips in a separate chamber and pipe the smoke into the cold smoker. Enlighten me, please!

Never tried that one. This is the one I used when I used a powdered starter. Now I just pick up a single serve tub of Fage at the grocery and use that.

I am happy to report my favorite burger diner has reopened under new ownership, with the same menu, and the burgers appear to be just as good. I didn't think the onion rings quite came up to the original standard, but perhaps I was just not in a real onion ring mood. Will try fries next time.

From the freezer, leftover roast pork with gravy from a few weeks ago, over mashed potatoes.

I am mortally irritated at Taco Bell. I got my every-six-months urge for crunchy tacos yesterday. Grabbed my bag at the drive-up, got home, and dammit, they had left the lettuce off the tacos. And I had no lettuce at the house, as wasn't getting back out.

Glad this came to my attention. I think I shall try these.

Damn. That'd just about put you off eating out.

The occasional searing. My broiler is anaemia. https://www.bernzomatic.com/Products/Hand-Torches/Instant-On-Off/BZ4500HS @mgaretz. thanks.

Along that line, what's the best torch to buy for what will be at most, occasional use?

@gfweb -- in the Philly environs, I commend to you the Austrian Village, in Huntingdon Valley. Nowhere near a fine dining restaurant, but damn, it's good. There's also a place called Otto's, out somewhere in that general part of the world, that was good. The Blue Ox, I think, has closed. But the AV has marvelous red cabbage, potato salad, housemade bratwurst, good sauerbraten and good schweinbraten. In Memphis, for many years, there was ONE German restaurant, Erika's. It was good, but it, too, was not a fine dining establishment. Good solid workingclass German food. I wept when it closed, not due to lack of business, but because the owner wanted to retire. A couple of places tried to take its spot -- one was downtown, and was pretty awful. The other was quite good, but went overboard on the beer hall atmosphere -- all communal tables with benches, very loud. I'd prefer a separate table and the ability to carry on a conversation. I think the first one has closed, and the second decided to switch over and become a barbecue restaurant (like Memphis needed another one of THOSE), and I'm not sure whether there's a German restaurant left in town or not. Little Rock offers a couple of good ones -- The Pantry and its sister restaurant, Pantry Crest, which are both excellent. My pick of the litter, though, when I'm over there is Steinhauskeller in Hot Springs. Just absolutely marvelous. Mid-range, but you can go above or below that level; very nice atmosphere, although I really miss the tuba and accordion duo who used to play there (you have not lived until you have heard Van Halen's "Jump" on tuba and accordion). Fortunately, in self-defense I have been forced to become a fair hand at cooking German food.

OK. Trying that next time. Will see what it does.

Happy anniversary!

OK. I'll bite. My big "sticking" issue is, as I mentioned, with potatoes. My technique is to saute' onions over medium to medium high heat first, stirring to keep them from burning, and then adding potatoes when they've softened. I spread them out, leave them still until they should have had time to develop some browning, then I attempt to turn. And they HAVE, in fact, developed some browning, which sticks to the bottom of the pan. What am I doing wrong? I will concede my Lodge carbon steel pans may not yet be adequately seasoned, but my cast iron is smoother than a baby's bottom, and I can fry eggs in it with no problems. But potatoes stick. How should I be doing it? Specifically, for hash browns or home fries? Does not seem to matter if I am using par-cooked (for hash browns) or raw (for home fries). I typcially use Yukon Golds.