kayb

You can learn plenty about most anything here! Welcome!

Hesser’s NYT book is excellent.

I will go and photograph when I het back home.

Errr…that should be SUN, sand and…

I’m on Day Two of sunning myself on the Redneck Riviera, on the Gulf Coast of western Florida, and it occurred to me I should at least document some of the seafood. Apologies for the two meals I’ve failed to photograph so far; I will do better. Trip down Tuesday was about 2 1/2 hours longer than expected, as we acquired a 3/8 inch bolt through the sidewall of a tire. The delay impacted our lunch plans at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House in Biloxi, MS, one of my favorite destinations for Creole cuisine. We got there about 3, discovered they’d changed from the lunch to the dinner menu, so we had a late lunch/early dinner. My traveling companion is a connoisseur of gumbo, and contends MM’s is the best she’s had. We both had a cup, a rich brown, with plenteous portions of shrimp and lump crabmeat, spicy but not hot. I guess there was trinity cooked in the roux, but none survived in noticeable bits. She had fried shrimp, which looked awfully tasty with a crispy batter, almost tempura-ish but a little heavier. I had an appetizer-sized portion of shrimp and crab au gratin, the seafood in an extremely rich Mornay sauce, topped with cheese and broiled. It’ll make a liar of anyone who says one shouldn’t cook seafood with cheese. Thus fortified, we made it the final 200 miles to our destination, where we enjoyed a late glass of wine on the deck while watching the sunset over the gulf, and I took one of the few photos I’ve taken so far: Yesterday, we lounged on the beach and by the pool, and headed out for dinner to another favorite, Acme Oyster House, a western outpost of the NOLA classic. In a new building on the Intercoastal Waterway, the room is uncommonly pleasant: high ceilings, dark wood, lots of windows. I was, sadly, a little disappointed in the food. Sue had a half a fried shrimp po’boy and a cup of butter beans, sausage and Tasso, and pronounced it good. I was less impressed with my grilled marinated shrimp, which had a Godawfully sweet taste to them. They were somewhat redeemed, though, by the excellent sweet potato fries, which were twice-fried to achieve a crispy outer shell and a creamy inside. Today is more lounging on the beach and at the pool, and debating where we’ll eat tonight. High in the running are Cobalt, a newish place on Perdido Bay where we ate lunch last year; Wolf Bay Lodge, which came highly recommended; and DeSoto’s Seafood House, a classic that’s been dishing up local seafood for 50 years. Or maybe one of a half-dozen other attractive looking places. I promise food photos!

Interesting looking dish. Can you elaborate on it? And welcome.

I have a five-year-old, hundred-dollar Masterbilt similar to yours. The thermometer has long since disappeared, but my recollection is the temp fluctuates much like an oven’s does. That said, I get great results from it. Not sure results quality goes up in comparison to price. @gfweb, do find it preferable to smoke first and then SV? I get excellent results using the opposite order. What am I missing?

Are the animals all thrilled to get home every year?

Back home in Minnesota! Good trip, as always.

It’s lavender. Don’t use it much but it smells SO good! The rosemary and thyMe seem to coexist pretty well with the rest of the folks. I let everything dry out until the basil starts to wilt, then soak everything. Have never seen deer in this neighborhood. Neighbor has hostas that are bigger than me, so perhaps mine are safe. I had excellent help from my son-in-law, who built the herb planters and cold frame, filled them with dirt, and tilled up my beds for me! He will be back if it ever stops raining, to plant the hostas. Those will require digging legitimate holes with a shovel, and I don’t think the knee is up to that!

Liquid whey, when yogurt making and breadbaking coincide.

Well...the garden beds and brand new herb planters are done Tomatoes. More tomatoes. Yellow squash, cucumbers and zucchini. The new cold frame, which will be put to use this fall. Herb planter 1. Herb planter 2. Also petunias, some other flowering annual, and, still to be planted, eight hostas.

Helluva price.

Come visit me. We will share a tres leches cake from the Mexican bakery. Sinfully good.

I can do the compass directions. Left and right, not so much.

Also worthwhile, if you’re a yogurt or cheese maker, to sub whey for the liquid in your recipe.

My girls are completely used to my directions re: turns in the car. “Your way” and “my way.”

Absolutely beautiful, @FauxPas!

I got an inadvertent bag of pre-breaded, par cooked chicken tenders t’other day when Instacart subbed them for grandson’s chicken nuggets. Seems a tender cut into three or four pieces will not sub worth a flip for a similar number of chicken nuggets (who knew?). So I’m gradually using the rest of the bag in different meals. Perhaps the most successful was quasi chicken parm, with tenders and fresh mozzarella doused in marinara sauce, dusted heavily with parmigiana, and briefly baked. Have also done chicken and biscuit with gravy, and cut some up after air frying to go on chicken salad. about to finally get through them. Won’t try them again.

Worst thing that ever hit mine was a 3.5 pound chicken. I lost that toenail.

Zenyatta, the gorgeous mare whose trademark last-to-first move coming out of the final turn was the most thrilling thing I’ve ever watched, has a couple of colts of racing age. I’ve heard nothing of their performance. Had hoped they’d show out like their mama did. Smarty Jones, on the other hand, has a number of children and grandchildren performing well on the tracks. Right prolific stud he was.

Oh, agreed. I was astounded, when I taught these, how many people had no clue what to do with a bag of dry beans. That, of course, brings up the issue of what can be cooked healthily, cheaply and QUICKLY. Often a concern for the working poor, who don’t have that hour to prepare a meal.

Arkansas also has a branch of a national program similar to this: Cooking Matters, which comes with a cookbook, $20 worth of groceries a week, and provides instruction on how to make tasty, healthy meals on a SNAP budget. There are classes aimed specifically at latchkey kids that focus on healthy snacks, too. But I submit this kind of thing is of little use to someone like Martin, who likely knows more about cooking than I do. Martin's problem appears to be the oft-repeated, "too much month atthe end of the money," which is a pitiful comment on the state of society and public assistance. Hang in, friend. Let me know what I can do to help.

I bought lemon cremes last week. Ate five. The rest are still there.

Mark me down with the people who (a) don't have counter space to hold a chamber vac, and (b) are happy enough with their seal-a-meal.