kayb

Some farmers from whom I bought a lot of chicken and pork when I lived in southwestern Arkansas also grew mushrooms. They held a seminar every year where people prepped, took home and grew their own mushroom logs. Always thought I ought to do that, and never did.

When I was a kid and the only mushrooms available in rural West Tennessee were the sliced ones in a can, I'd badger Mama into buying a can and I'd sit down and eat the whole thing. The first time I bought and sauteed in wine my own white mushrooms from the grocery, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I discovered portobellos; mushroom deliciousness x two or three. I love any kind of mushroom. Buy them often at Aldi and saute them for a side dish, to put over a steak, or to top pizza. I will be eternally grateful to @HungryChris for the marinated mushrooms recipe; when my quart jar gets low, more mushrooms go on the grocery list and go right back in the same brine with a bit of topping-off. I am never without them, and eat them with a sandwich or cheese and crackers for lunch. Confession: I have never yet had a morel. That's on my bucket list. That, and to learn how to identify the "good kind" vs. the "bad kind" in the wild, and forage my own.

A collard green toastie. Saints preserve me. Sue me. Can't abide greens, either collard, turnip, or otherwise.

I think my favorite recipe in the entire book -- certainly one of the most versatile -- is for Stewed Tomatoes. As my neighbor's tomatoes stubbornly continue producing, and she keeps gifting me with them, I decided I'd make a big batch of stewed tomatoes today and can them. These 10 pints represent about a triple batch of the recipe. I cooked up to the point of adding bread crumbs, then canned and water-bath processed. When I'm ready to eat them, I can just open a jar, add the crumbs, and simmer a bit to thicken. I think these, on top of grits with eggs baked in them, are just about my favorite breakfast in the world.

Very possibly the last of the tomatoes. I made Vivian Howard's Stewed Tomatoes from Deep Run Roots, through the stage where one adds the bread crumbs. Theoretically, one could open a jar, add the crumbs, and simmer for a few minutes to thicken. I purely love eggs baked in these. 10 quart mixing bowl full of tomatoes from my 85-year-old neighbor across the street. She can grow tomatoes much more successfully than I. 10 pints of crumbless Stewed Tomatoes. A few of the tomatoes went into bolognese sauce I made Sunday and never ate, as I had to cut those plans short due to a medical issue that put a good friend in SICU. Today, I fetched it out of the fridge and froze three quarts, leaving a bit for dinner. Then we ordered Chinese, so I guess it'll be dinner tomorrow. It's the IP bolognese recipe from Serious Eats. Will be picking up some Arkansas Black apples and making apple butter week after next.

It's the time of the year for state fairs, and the Arkansas State Fair, opening this week in Little Rock, is no exception. Food writer Kat Robinson always does a detailed run-down of the assorted culinary treats available at the state fair: Here's this year's. I have fond memories of going to the old Mid-South Fair, a four- or five-state affair held annually in Memphis each fall, and eating my way across the fairgrounds. That was back in the day the fair was about the only place you could get a gyro, and I looked forward to them anxiously every year, along with roasted corn, funnel cakes, and multitudes of other wonderful stuff. Reading Kat's piece made me want to go to Little Rock and try eating my way across the state fairgrounds. Deep-fried bacon-wrapped Oreos? Yes, please!

@Nicolai -- I would cheerfully join you and the Missus for breakfast!

Just FYI, though this is probably suited better to the "snacking while eGulleting" thread, I am eating candy corn and drinking a significantly spicy Bloody Mary. They go astoundingly well together.

Had to do that too. Although if I shared the author's name...I'd change it. To do the clicky link: Highlight and copy (control+c on my Windows laptop, your mileage may vary) the URL of hte page you want to link to. Go back to your post, and type whatever text you want ("Here," "Clickety," or the name of the book, whatever). Highlight it with the cursor. Go up and click the little chain looking thingy at the top of the post. A window will open. In the top one of the two spaces that appear, paste the link you copied. Then either hit Enter or there may be a button to click to post it, I forget which. It should show your typed text word or words, in a different color or highlighted, and underlined. Then submit your post as usual.

Le Bernardin. I had to.

Just FYI. you can line up four slices on a couple of slices of bread and make a fine grilled cheese and proscuitto sandwich. I added a slice of butterkase to mine for good measure.

Interesting. Thank you all.

I understand the Joule, which I've never seen in the flesh, is significantly smaller than the Anova. If anyone has both, I'd love to see a side by side pic for comparison purposes.

Oh dear, @rotuts. Have you gone over to the Dark Side??? I've got one of those rounds of Brie, as well.

I buy all my milk, half-and-half, heavy cream and butter at Aldi; 25 percent or more cheaper than Kroger. I also buy a fair number of sausages (got the beer brats @HungryChris and @rotuts were discussing, last time I was in, but haven't cooked them yet), and they often have proscuitto at a good price. Also, Chris, I picked up one of the panino (paninos?) you mentioned with the proscuitto and mozzarella; it makes a fine grilled cheese sandwich! I've also bought frozen ahi tuna and frozen salmon there. Produce is often less expensive than other groceries, and there's a decent variety.

No frost yet down here, but my herbs usually overwinter fine four years out of five. And I've never had rosemary die from a cold winter. My sage, oregano and thyme are still thriving. Parsley bolted and gave up the ghost when it got hot.

Yeah, the Circus Peanuts were pretty awful. I'm still fond of candy corn, as long as it's the Brach's brand. And I love a Tootsie Roll. My favorite when I was a kid was the Hersheys or Mars miniatures. My kids would shoot you and trample your cooling body for a miniature Reeses cup, though. Mama always gave out homemade popcorn balls. We lived out the country and people would drive out from town to trick or treat at our house. My job was to wrap the finished balls, individually, in plastic wrap and tie them with black and orange ribbon. I usually get a couple of big bags of the mixed candy to give out -- either the Hersheys or the Mars. Have a couple of families down the street whose small goblins are acquainted with Lucy the pug, who barks ferociously at all doorbell ringers, and not freaked out by her, and they're usually the only trick-or-treaters we have.

One rare example of a time the food would make no difference -- if I had that view. Gorgeous. Fruit doesn't look half bad, either.

Well, she's still amongst us, anyway. I can testify that hospital food is no better here than @liuzhou experienced in China, but for the meatball sub I had for lunch which was at least edible. Bolognese is still in the fridge.

After having an instant pot for two years, I've come to the conclusion it definitely has a place in my kitchen. I love it for dry beans, which I cook a lot. I've learned how to do a lot of the braises that initially I much preferred stovetop at a slow simmer, or in the oven; I get that same development of flavor with a long saute of the aromatics and wine or beer before the lid goes and pressure cooking starts, and perhaps more sauteeing after the pressure cooking is completed. I like it for rice (I had only an el cheapo rice cooker previously), and I like doing the pot-in-pot dishes with a meat and sauce in one pan, rice in the other. Its greatest attraction to me is certainly convenience. Well, and it's the only way I've ever made yogurt, to which I'm now addicted, and I appreciate the way hard-boiled eggs peel so easily. I will make cheesecake in the IP, mostly because cheesecake ties up the oven for so long. Other bread-ish, cake-ish things, no. Have not yet tried the lasagna. Prefer sous vide for ribs. IP also does a fine job cooking apples for applesauce or apple butter, as I will be doing in a couple of weeks.

Well, I had gotten up early and made a pot of Instant Pot bolognese sauce. Got home from church, was simmering the sauce with added cream and parm, and boiling the water for the linguini, when I got a call to come to the hospital where a dear friend had just had a heart attack. Turned everything off and flew out the door. Put Bolognese in fridge when I got home last night. Water is still on stove. Perhaps will have pasta tonight. Sauce tasted good. I used the Serious Eats recipe.

So are the schupfelgnuden a potato dumpling of sorts? Or more like spatzele? They look luscious. You had me at the eggs in tomato sauce until you mentioned bell pepper.

Not a huge fan of the hard-boiled egg because the white seems to have no taste. I have toyed with the idea of deviling eggs in a two-step process that involves pickling the whites overnight first, before taking them out, drying them, and filling them. Going to try that one day. Deviled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar. Or just deviled eggs with caviar. I'm good.

Yes, by all means, please do. I see "German" and my eyes light up.

I love his show.