kayb

Largest farm owner in the Arkansas Delta is Prudential.

Re: The fridge. When we bought this house, one of our conditions in the offer was that they leave the fridge, since they had redone the kitchen and all the appliances matched. I didn’t want to plunk my 15-year-old side by side into an almost new kitchen whose appliances were otherwise stainless. The old fridge went into the garage, where it holds drinks and “extra” stuff. A godsend for Thanksgiving/Easter dinners. Might think about keeping it for such a purpose if you have space. Love your plans (and details!) Please keep ‘em coming.

That is gorgeous. My mother used to cook rump roast like that, slice thin, then marinate the slices in an oil and vinegar dressing with spices. Took sandwiches to a new level.

If you live near an Aldi, they carry boxed macarons in the freezer case. They’re not bakery quality, but at $4.99 a dozen, they’re not bad. I love ‘em. Have had homemade ones (made by a friend); the flavor/texture was there, but they were a bit flat. Also, he filled his with jam. I prefer buttercream.

In awe of all these gorgeous pix.

Thanks!

I would have surely unless the trigger at that price.

Oh, no…there goes my chicken liver pate recipe!

Takeout barbecue while watching Arkansas confound the NCAA CBS announcers. (Dumbasses, if we weren’t good we wouldn’t be there. Guess we have to beat Duke Saturday to convince you.) I made a road trip earlier this week to a little town up the road which sports a new BBQ food truck. He offers ribs, pulled pork and chicken daily, and some other item that changes every day or so. He had advertised smoked pork loin, which tickled my taste buds. I asked for a pound of tenderloin; he looked puzzled and allowed as he didn’t have a scale, and how many slices did I want. I thought for a minute and said 8. I was a bit taken aback when he charged me $48, but then he handed me a takeout tray that must have weighed four pounds. Got it home and it was two-inch-thick slabs of pork loin, not tenderloin. Nevertheless, it was delicious, which is good, because we’ve eaten two meals from it and have at least one left. Stopped by another bbq place on the way home and picked up beans and slaw. I MIGHT cook tonight. I have ground beef thawed in the fridge, with an eye toward making picadillo empanadas. We shall see.

“Currently unavailable.” But I’ll keep watch. Thanks.

I dehydrate lots of cherry tomatoes every summer. Freeze them, once dehydrated to the “barely damp” stage, and bag them up in half-cup portions. I use them in quiches, blend up for sauces, and eat them out of hand — tomato candy! on the dehydrator topic, I plan to buy a new one before garden season. I looked on Amazon, and saw that Cosori and Magic Mill and several other “off-brands” undercut Excalibur’s price by $200 or better. Anybody have any reviews on the other brands?

Damn, that’s pretty. Someday, I will cook again. Last night was cottage cheese and pears.

In at least the same continent, when my DNA test showed up 1.6 percent Nigerian, I immediately went to Google for Nigerian recipes, many of which center around chicken, peanuts and sweet potatoes. I apparently did not inherit my taste buds from my Nigerian forebearer. Those people measure cayenne in TABLESPOONS!

I have a notion Daddy would have taken right up with Ronnie.

I’ll put in a word for Rozark Hills, a small roaster in Central Arkansas where I get my coffee. They’ll usually have a dozen varietals and about that many blends. Right now, I’m drinking Sumatran Mandheling.

Sounds like you should fit in well here. Welcome!

I’ve done both ways. I think freezing pre-bake or par-baked is better, but I’ve successfully frozen leftover lasagna, too. Tends to dry it out a bit.

Lasagna freezes well. I’ve done potatoes and ham with cream sauce that do ok. Eggplant parm or moussaka. Since you have a toaster oven, don’t underestimate the value of flatbread “pizza” topped with stuff from the deli.

That sort of wood stove is also the best place to “burn off” an old cast iron skillet or Dutch oven before reseasoning it. We had such a stove in the basement when I was a kid. Daddy was also taking in copious quantities of cast iron to burn off for folks every winter. Leave it in there 6-8 hours, pull it out with tongs onto the concrete, and attack it the next day with a wire brush. Smooth and clean as could be. Daddy, always the frustrated engineer, eventually added to the stove, building an insulated skin around it and hooking it to ductwork beneath the entire house. Then he hooked a damper to a thermostat so one could easily control the temp. Wound up building probably 50 of those stoves for people who wanted them in their houses. He never made charcoal, though. When he’d barbecue, he’d start with wood, let it burn down to coals, and add coals to the pit a half shovelful at the time.

I’m fond of Shirley Corriher’s Cookwise.

I bought some cauliflower crackers at Aldi. Don’t remember the brand, because the box was hurled into the trash as soon as I tasted the first cracker. Imagine you have boiled cauliflower past the point of mushy, drained it, mashed it and spread it on a cookie sheet with no seasonings whatsoever. Ick. I tend to go for the brown rice crisps.

Welcome! Would love to hear more about your international culinary adventures.

when I go see my daughter, I generally stop by the International Market and stock up on cheap produce. also a good place yup get (relatively) cheap frozen duck.

I can give you a quick primer: Equal portions ground beef, pork, veal. Panade. My preference is four slices white grocery store loaf bread, crusts removed, torn into pieces, put in a bowl and covered with just enough milk you can see it; push bread down into milk and let it sit a bit. Squeeze excess milk out of bread, and add bread to meat in a big bowl. Two eggs. Just crack them into the bowl. Seasonings. Here folks differ. I go with a seasoned salt blend, freshly ground black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika (the Hungarian variety) and a shot of Worcestershire, and a good dose of ketchup. Many people prefer minced garlic, chopped onion, and even the dreaded Green Bell Peppers. I don’t. Add the seasonings you prefer. Mix. Here, again, people differ. I dive into it with clean hands, sans rings, and massage everything together well, about five minutes’ worth. This will result in a fairly dense loaf, the best kind for sandwiches, which is the highest and best use of meat loaf. Others prefer a looser loaf, so they may just combine ingredients gently with a couple of forks. Put into a loaf pan — I pack mine in, because again, I want a dense loaf. YMMV. Top with a thin coat of ketchup. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, then crank up to 450 for the final 15 minutes. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. A variation I like a lot involves going up to the putting in the pan step. Then, on a sheet of parchment paper, line up strips of raw bacon side by side to the length of your loaf pan. Cut the rest of the bacon up and brown and drain it. Dump the ground beef mix onto the bacon, and pat it out into a rectangle the size of the bacon. Coat it thinly with your favorite barbecue sauce, and sprinkle the browned bacon over. Using the parchment, roll it up into a loaf shape and ease it into your pan. Top with more bbq sauce. Either bake as above, or, preferably, chill it for two or three hours and then turn it out onto a foil-lined grate on your grill or smoker. Ahhhh! The meat loaf sandwich involves a hefty slab or yesterday’s meat loaf, a thick spread of mayo on sturdy bread, and some sort of good melty cheese (Brie is wonderful). Toast the meat and bread on one slice, slather the other slice with more mayo, and gather half a roll of paper towels.

as I plan to stop by the farmers market (which isn't yet open but a few farmers meet people there off season) and pick up two dozen.