kayb

I dropped into Aldi today, to pick up a couple of things I always go there for, and glanced at the meat counter (hoping they will have eye of round on sale again, so I can get one and corn it). No such, but I actually thought I spotted chuck eye steaks. Until I looked more closely and saw they were, in fact, eye of round steaks. Sigh.

What @Jacksoup said. Best wishes for safe travels and a good outcome. Will say a prayer.

That looks just excellent. I've been wanting to make a more brioche-y loaf, and this looks like a great one to try. Hopefully next week. (I am, btw, loving that I can bake all summer without heating up my kitchen by using the CSO!)

Bless you. Hope you recover quickly. Before you starve.

Ohhhh....my. I have never had the opportunity to go to Eataly. It will be on my agenda the next trip to Chicago.

Different one from when you were here, I think, though in the same location. New ownership, much better food. Will report.

I am at a conference in Hot Springs, where I used to live, so I have been visiting old favorite haunts. Food has, unfortunately, not lived up to memory. Sunday night pasta. Tried an old favorite, penne in vodka cream sauce, at an old standby favorite. Vodka sauce was so garlicky as to be almost inedible. Monday noon, Mexican, again at a favorite. Again, disappointing. Monday night, dinner at a friend's craft brewery. Beer was marvelous, but she's changed her menu and taken many of my favorites away. Different chef, too.Today, Greek. Meh. Tonight, however, I will eat at my second favorite German restaurant in the world. I have faith it will be marvelous. Headed home right after lunch tomorrow. Breakfast this morning was at a new coffee shop which, in addition to excellent coffee, had a marvelous breakfast bowl with yogurt, granola and fruit. I may return tomorrow. Yesterday's breakfast was at a 60-year-old pancake shop -- eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Probably why yesterday's Mexican lunch didn't hit the spot; the spot was still full.

Pickage! Cherry tomatoes, a couple of Romas, an Arkansas traveler or two, a banana pepper and cucumbers. Headed out of town so will take them as a hostess gift.

Well, I have two more cookbooks than I did yesterday. My copies of Feasts od Eden, a book of recipes from the regionally renowned Red Apple Inn on Eden Isle at Greers Ferry Lake, and my Unforgettable Paula Wolfert both came in. And my duck confit and saucisses de Toulouse for her cassoulet are due in today. Cassoulet in the summertime? Why not? I have RG tarbais beans in the fridge...

And Paul Newman, his gorgeous blue eyes firing icicles like 30.06 slugs, is doing double back flips in his grave. "God? I know I might be what you might call a hard case. But you got to admit, you ain't dealt me no cards in a long, long time."

Still haven't used it yet. It's been a rather hectic month to this point, and promises to be so for the remainder of the month. Perhaps I will get to it, not next week, when I'm going to be gone most of the week, but the following. I'm thinking butter chicken with rice; would you put the rice in the bottom pan, or the top?

This looks like an absolutely glorious idea. How long does the Rx specify one should boil quail eggs for soft-boiled? (My local Asian market has them; I have just laid in eight, count them eight, pounds of mortadella from Aldi against the next time I want pickled quail eggs and sausage, and it would be simple enough to do some of this as well. They have gotten used, bless their hearts, to the crazy gaijin woman coming in and buying them out of quail eggs periodically...)

My Weck jars came in today. A half-dozen each 1-liter tall cylinders (pickles, asparagus, etc.); 1/2 liter mold jars (oh, who knows what these might hold?) and 1/2 liter tulip jars (SO pretty -- will hold such pretty pickles!). Think I will try the mushrooms in them, water-bath processing instead of boiling the mushrooms first. Will now be haunting Aldi until they put mushrooms on sale. My mother is laughing at me from her grave. I do love to can.

Wonderful!

My first thought was what the impact of Amazon's pricing, which is generally quite good, might have on WF's prices. Disclaimer: As there is not a WF in town, but there are three other quite good natural markets, I don't go there much. When I do, I generally peruse the "sample cheese" basket, the small pieces for less than three bucks, that will let me sample something I might otherwise be reluctant to purchase. Will be interested to see how it develops.

Well, they have two of my all-time faves on there -- Cool Hand Luke and Pulp Fiction.

I'm very fond of Pick-A-Peppa. It's not as hot as Tabasco, Crystal, Louisiana, etc., but it's a much more complex flavor.

Cool! Thanks!

I am working on my flexibility so you can fold me up and stash me in your suitcase.

The vegetables, although good, did not hit the spot tonight. This, however, did. Both Child A and I agreed I did good on the jam.

How can you tell when they're sealed? Thinking seriously about ordering some.

Well, I have made a dent in the produce I was planning to "put up." Two gallons of blackberries are now 12 pints of blackberry jam. And I have a supply of pickled asparagus for a while, along with some marinated/pickled mushroom, recipe/method also courtesy of @HungryChris. If I wanted to make it an all-Chris day, I guess I could fry some zucchini for dinner, but I'm jonesing for some yellow squash and onions to go with the green beans and new potatoes that have been simmering for a couple of hours. (I'm from the South. We cook our green beans to death. YMMV.) I may throw together some stewed tomatoes from Deep Run Roots, or not; I'm hoping for enough energy to at least use up the leftover mashed potatoes and make mashed potato pancakes. Love these tall, skinny Weck canning jars with the glass lids and rubber rings. Anyone have any experience in water-bath or pressure canning with them? I'd be tempted to order some more for pickles, just because they're so pretty.

@BonVivant -- would you share how one Scotch-cures salmon? I would love to try that, having had some minor success with curing salmon with sugar and salt....

FWIW -- to me, the absolute best way to showcase bacon jam is on a cheddar cheese biscuit. I add a significant dose of white cheddar and black pepper to my regular biscuits, and bake as usual. It also does very well as an addition to eggs en cocotte; I will make cheese grits, put a layer in the bottom of ramekins, create a little divot, add an egg, dollop some bacon jam around the edges, top with a couple tablespoons of cream and a few sprinkles of grated cheese for good measure, and bake for 15 minutes for a lovely runny yolk. Easy to make the grits/bottom layers the night before, then build the rest in the a.m. and bake! With muffins and fruit, it's a lovely breakfast.

Must look for these. I'm presently obsessed with the sea-salt, caramel, chocolate covered almonds one can buy at Aldi. They're addictive.