kayb

@gfweb -- gorgeous!

I do four pounds of garlic cloves (the big peeled bag at Sam's) in confit at a time. That lasts me close to six months. I portion it into two quart plastic containers with screw-on lids, and they live in the refrigerator. I put enough oil over to be sure they're covered, but once I start scooping garlic out of one, some cloves are exposed. I just use the oil I poached in, and pour off any unused oil into a container that goes in the pantry, to be used next time I do confit (it's some POTENT garlic oil at this point), though I always need to add fresh oil to it. I probably poach for at least 90 minutes. I have not died, nor has anyone to whom I've served a meal that used the confit.

Got a baguette squirreled away? Meatball sandwiches! Since they're in barbecue sauce, add some tangy vinegar-based slaw instead of the traditional cheese.

The last batch I cooked SV, I let it sit on the counter and cool for about an hour. The bacon "jus" absorbed back into the bacon, leaving just the fat for me to drain off; I opened the packages in the sink, grabbed the bacon out, laid it on a plate en masse, poured the fat up into a container, then put the bacon back in its original bag, which is equipped with its own zipper seal (I use Wright's). I thought the slices separated more easily, and when seared, had a better texture, with the soft, almost creamy inside and the crispy exterior. I bought four more packages of Wright's when I went to the grocery Saturday, as Kroger had them on sale for $4.99 for the 24-oz package. Can't pass that up. I know that cost me points in the FCO challenge.

Just an amazing trip, and amazing food! Thank you!

I recall Mama breaking off little squares of paraffin to add to the chocolate -- likely chocolate chips, or maybe the big squares of chocolate -- but I have no recollection of how many. Seems like paraffin was a relatively minor component -- maybe an 80-20 ratio?

I picked up my Belgian waffle iron at Big Lots for, I think, $12.50. Granted, it only makes one at a time, but then, I can only eat one at a time...

A poor attempt, beside all those posted here, but I dipped some strawberries in honor of Valentine's Day coming up. Actually, I dipped them myself because I looked at them at Kroger, which was charging $16.95 a dozen for them. I got a quart of berries for $2.50, and a package of chocolate coating for something under $3.50. (Yes, it's grocery store quality chocolate, but I have no doubt it was the same thing Kroger was using to dip theirs.) Mine are not as pretty, but I feel relatively certain they're just as good, and I made 30 of them for roughly $6. There are five left in the refrigerator now, 24 hours later. A question. Back in the dark ages when I was a child, my mother made lots of candies, including dipped sweets. I recall her melting chocolate with paraffin; it made a thinner chocolate, didn't tend to seize up, and hardened to a less brittle coating. Anyone familiar with the proportions, etc., or is this technique totally out of favor? My mother would have used grocery store chocolate as well. In rural West Tennessee, we had no concept that higher-quality chocolate than Nestles chips existed.

Vegetable soup and pimiento cheese on wheat Ritz crackers. Details on the soup topic. Pork roast marinated in a Cajun spice dry rub and braised in beer (Abita Amber, since it was Cajun spice!) in the IP. Steam-baked sweet potato wedges. Crowder peas, frozen last summer. Mac and cheese. I had homemade rolls, but ate mine hot, while waiting for the kids to get her for dinner.

Vegetable beef soup. 1 pound stew beef, a diced onion, three pints of home-canned tomatoes, a cup of beef broth, two bags of frozen mixed vegetables, seasoned with a little thyme and some marjoram, along with salt and pepper and a healthy shot of Worcestershire sauce. Served with pimiento cheese on wheat Ritz crackers. So, it was 75 degrees in the middle of February. When you want vegetable soup, you want vegetable soup.

Do I get points from a pork butt roast I brought home from Aldi and cooked, instead of putting in the freezer and taking out the one just like it that was already in the freezer? They're $1.79 a pound, and small enough to not have a half-dozen meals' worth of pork left over. I paired it with crowder peas, frozen from the farmers' market this summer, steam-baked sweet potato wedges, and macaroni and cheese, because the kids were all here.

OK. I'm pretty much in love.

That's pretty! Looks like it would taste good, too! @Thanks for the Crepes, I live about three blocks from a supermarket I don't patronize much, because it's pricy, and about 10 blocks from one where I do most of my shopping. I can't imagine how I'd manage walking to either and toting my purchases home. I admire your perseverance.

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.