kayb

Stopped by Aldi today to pick up a few things. They had packages of flat cut brisket, already corned, ready to cook. I started to buy one or two, but a quick read of the list of ingredients gave me pause. There were way too many things I couldn't pronounce. Including whatever it was that @rotuts mentioned that was the tenderizing agent (it started with a "p."). I may change my mind and go back. Or not.

I'm sorry. It puts me too much in mind of "souse meat," or "head cheese," both of which were made from the leftover pieces of pig when we would kill hogs. Not up there on my list of must-try's.

Got a notice from Pinetree Garden Seeds my order has shipped. Got to get it in gear to get the garden plots prepped so they can be simmering along pending planting time. I'll be starting seeds indoors about March 1 or so.

Fascinating travelogue. Thank you for this!

Y'all go ahead and shoot me, but I raised my kids on tuna noodle casserole. Cook egg noodles; can of drained tuna, can of cream of mushroom soup, handful of grated cheese out of the bag, 12-oz bag of frozen green peas. Stir it all up together, stick it in a casserole dish, bake until bubbly. It was far from wonderful, but it was certainly edible, and the kids loved it. And it was quick, which was a requirement when I was shuttling between band practice, softball practice and a volleyball game. I'd eat it today. If I were hungry, and it was all that was handy.

@shain, I have no familiarity with burekas, but those look absolutely amazing. One day, perhaps I will get brave enough to attempt puff pastry. @robirdstx, that looks like a fine spread. I am still in mourning that my go-to order-in Chinese restaurant has moved its next-door Japanese restaurant to a different location. One could previously order from both the Chinese and Japanese menus, and delivery sushi was a fine, fine thing. Alas, the last time I ordered online from there and included sushi in my order, they called me and apologized profusely at being unable to fill it because they had "remoted the kitchen." Sigh. Still good Chinese delivery. Last night, I cooked dinner for the first time in maybe two weeks. Nothing exceptional -- a tenderized round steak in onion gravy, mashed potatoes, mushrooms Berkeley without the peppers. First time I've made those; very good, but I'd go with less brown sugar the next time.

What a wonderful tour! I've never been to India; have a friend who's been several times, proclaims it her favorite place in the world. I'll get there, one day, maybe.

I am, by George, highly impressed. Go, @rotuts Look atcha! At least double alliteration points there! (We are going to have to eventually have a serious scorekeeper as more people get involved in this thing.) I have managed to convert Freezer Clean Out (FCO) to Refrigerator Clean Out (RCO), as I have in the past week moved from chilled space 1 to chilled space 2 the aforementioned package of tenderized round steaks, which either get cooked tomorrow or they get chunked, and a package of beef stew meat, taken out a day or two ago to thaw in the fridge for IP vegetable beef soup. However, I have had about a solid week of Mondays, not including the time I have been away from home, so cooking has been delayed. This weekend! Though we are hampered by a kitchen disaster of sorts tonight. My top refrigerator shelf (it's a Kenmore side-by-side, if that makes a difference) apparently shattered under the weight of all I had stacked on it. I am not certain whether I am more ashamed of the fact that happened, or the fact that I chunked enough stuff that was old enough to vote that I was able to put everything back into the fridge, sans one shelf, but for a half-gallon of reduced chicken broth I really need to freeze anyway. I am promising my "day job" a half-day of my time tomorrow. From noon on, I'm in the kitchen, before it gets completely out of control!

I had liquid fruit for dinner tonight. In a glass. In point of fact, it was liquid grapes. Zinfandel. It has been Monday for at least three weeks.

I cannot imagine how wonderful it must be to have an olive tree.

Kinda what I thought. Soup delayed until tomorrow night because, doggone it, I'm tired. Or taa-aahd, in the vernacular.

Saute a diced onion. Add garlic (to your taste 1-12 cloves). Add a half-cup sherry, reduce. Add a cup of chicken stock.Bring to a boil. Add a 14-oz can/pint of homecanned tomatoes. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat, spice to your tastes. Blitz with an immersion blender. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream. Make a grilled cheese sandwich. Turn off the phone, ignore the doorbell, enjoy lunch.

Starving for Indian food now! Thanks for this wonderful travelogue!

My current public radio station doesn't carry her, but I periodically will stream the Memphis station, which does. I love her shows; unfortunately, I've never been impressed with her recipes. I never cooked one that I didn't think needed more spice.

I pulled a quart and a pint of tomatoes out of the pantry today with an eye toward putting vegetable beef soup in the Instant Pot after dinner tonight to have tomorrow. I don't know if the tomatoes are this past summer's or the previous summers. The seal is intact, but the tomatoes have turned a bit dark on top. I haven't opened them yet, but I can't see any obvious mold or anything of that nature. If they pass the smell test when opened, should I use them? Toss them? Haven't run across this problem before.

Thank you for this. You make me feel much better about myself. I think we might be related.

I suspect the dominant reason for the sale, beyond the previously-mentioned good quality and popular product that's beginning to gain name recognition, is what I've highlighted above. Retail is moving increasingly to direct sales -- if you have any investments in real estate that involve commercial property, I'd be looking to unload them. Latest figures I've seen show direct (read: online) sales growth to be about 10 times the growth rate of on-site sales. Anova has a proven track record in direct, online sales. Being able to add to that platform any new devices they may develop, or marketing their existing products, is easier than building your own platform from scratch. Personally, I do not give a rat for connectivity in my Anova. My model has bluetooth capability, but I've never used it, and cannot imagine I'd have any use for the wifi function. As someone mentioned upthread, if they upgrade it to the point it can get the package out of the fridge or put it back in the fridge or freezer, I might feel differently.

It is a successful day. I have learned something new. Thanks! (making a note to buy sweet potatoes if I ever have time to get to the grocery this week...)

Got in from a day on the road shortly before kickoff. Unpacked and repacked to leave at 6 tomorrow morning for a two-day trip. Expect I will be in bed by the time the fourth quarter starts. Given a late lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet on the road, all of which was excellent save the banana pudding, which, sadly, was not, I let a single Dark and Stormy do it for me. The planned snacks can stay in the pantry, freezer and fridge, and I'll get to 'em when I get back later this week. Go, Falcons. Pitchers and catchers report in two weeks, by the way, and the REAL season can begin.

Just read through this thread, after following a link from the "air waffles" thread. My very favorite waffle recipe, which happens to be a yeasted waffle, is this one. I will halve the recipe if it's just two of us (but go ahead and use a whole egg). Had them first at a B&B in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Maryland, fell in love and begged for the recipe. The host laughed, and pulled a copy out of a stack she had in a file folder. Apparently requests are frequent. I also like to put cornbread batter in the waffle iron, a trick I learned from @Kim Shook. A cornbread waffle with a healthy serving of beans atop it...now that's some good stuff.

Useful information, as I am likely to be traveling to Shandong province on business later this year! Fortunately, I am right-handed.

I use capers a lot, most recently chopped in a sauce with anchovy filets and olive oil, seasoned with Aleppo pepper, that I used on cauliflower I roasted (see recent post in Dinner thread). The vinegar ones are generally easier to find than the salted ones, but I agree with the above assessments on difference in taste. I like both. The vinegar ones, particularly used in a tuna salad, remind me of the taste of cornichons. @teonzo, thank you for the description/method of the cantaloupe risotto. I dearly love cantaloupe, so I will be trying this!

@rarerollingobject, I always love to see your breakfasts.

Never been a huge prune fan, but I will eat my weight in dates.

I don't know that my input will be of much help, as I don't NOW frequent Whole Foods, since there's not one nearby while there ARE two other natural grocers in town. But when I did, I often found bargains in two areas: the seafood, which was at worst no more expensive, and often quite a bit less expensive, than other grocery specialty seafood counters (particularly for shellfish, which was what I generally bought). I could routinely buy large shrimp for $12.99 a pound at Whole Foods when they were $14.99 at Kroger. Tuna and salmon were also about $1 to $2 a pound cheaper. The other bargain area was cheese. This was at a point when I was first beginning to explore the world of cheese outside the packaged and deli-sliced varieties, and Whole Foods always had a basket of small pieces of cheese priced at $3 or less. It was a wonderful way to sample all kinds of cheeses without sinking a lot of money into a cheese you might not like (not that there are many of those for me!), and they were just the right size to put two or three kinds on a cheese board for two and have no leftovers. I still head for the cheese basket when I visit a Whole Foods.