kayb

I have a big, heavy Chinese one. Problem is, I don’t have enough hand/arm strength to guide/use it and cleave it in one blow, or land repeated blows in the same place.

y’all searching for cream cheese, come to Jonesboro. Will trade for access to olives.

Wonder how they’d work in the air fryer?

I am toying with the notion of going to the local diner and ordering a plate of corned beef hash and over easy eggs, and calling it done. May my Irish forebearers forgive me!

Fascinating idea on the vinaigrette. I have some black lentils and am going to try it. Thanks for the recipe, too.

I’ll look for that. I thoroughly enjoyed Julie and Julia, and loved watching her shows.

Ummm. I think it’s something like fudgy coconut cookies. Hang on, lemme look. well, I don’t see it on the website.

Aldi has a good copycat.

I cannot think of many things Parm won’t improve. as an aside, I had a great panini which had been buttered, dredged in grated parm, and then grilled. Delicious!

I once made a most popular bruschetta bu slicing tamales diagonally, and topping with a bit of salsa, cilantro and grated cotija. Quite good.

Those peppers look like they'd be good candied.

L*P is my choice too, though I'll take French's in a pinch. I use it in lots of soups and stews and sauces. Bloody Mary's, of course. Meat loaf, meatballs, hamburgers.

@shain -- do you candy your own walnuts? If so, can you share a recipe? At what stage are they picked? I discovered preserved walnuts a few years ago at the Murray's counter in Kroger. Murray's was discontinuing them, so I bought the 5 jars they had. I use them on cheese boards, and they're superb in banana walnuts muffins.

I’ve corned rump roast before. Corn, SV as @rotuts describes, chill and then smoke. A local place uses rump roast, cooked quite rare, for something they call Greek beef, which tastes like it was sliced and then marinated in an oil and vinegar dressing. Tasty sandwiches, and fine on a salad.

I use a paring knife to peel potatoes, and a vegetable peeler for carrots, because Mama did.

Are you trying to preserve the skin and make something like a twice-baked potato? I always cut I half and scoop out, leaving between a quarter and a half-inch of flesh in the skin to retain its shape.

I usually SV without seasoning, then chill, dry, season and sear. Because my beef comes vac sealed, and I can just take it out of the freezer and chunk it in the bath.

Kroger used to sell shaved (uncooked) beef, and I would periodically buy it and make homemade cheesesteaks. Couldn’t do Cheese Whiz…subbed Provolone. They didn’t come up to whatever the one was on South Street, but they weren’t bad. My favorite Philly area restaurant remains the Austrian Village in Huntington Valley. Red cabbage to die for.

I made wings last night for the Super Bowl. Had ordered some aji amarillo paste, so tried the Peruvian wings again. I’m in love with that stuff! The whole chicken in the freezer may be destined for that treatment. Am also thinking it might be really good on pork tenderloin…

Damn. It. All. I was going to make Key lime pie, as I had bought Key Limes at the international market this week. Juiced 32 of the little bastards to net a half-cup of juice. Made a vanilla wafer crumb crust. Went to the pantry to get condensed milk…and found I had none. WTAF? Juice is in the fridge. Crust is par-baked. We will have Key Lime pie tomorrow.

when you buy grouper, do you find it fresh and just flown in? I’ve tried bringing it back from the Gulf Coast, on ice in a cooler, and find if I don’t cook it the night I get home, it’s just not good. And I’ve never been successful freezing it.

I’ll have it on, but I won’t be paying it much attention. I figure I’ll have chili left over from last night, wings, cheese and crackers, and I have an urge for sausage balls.

Assuredly the cutest critic. I love grits. I’m good with them just boiled and seasoned with salt, pepper and butter with breakfast, but they’re also good with cheese, and even with some browned sausage stirred in. Vivian Howard has a grits dish in Deep Run Roots that I like that has pimiento cheese and sausage in it. My standard cheese grits are made with half whole milk, half water, cream cheese and smoked Gouda. I always make about twice as many as I think we’ll eat, and pat the rest out evenly in a 9-inch baking dish and stick them in the fridge; when they’re cold and set up well, I cut into squares, dredge in flour, and fry (medium high, one side for about three minutes before you flip, else it’ll disintegrate). Grit cakes! A Memphis restaurant, the Half Shell, does grits this way for its shrimp and grits, which are in a spicy tomato cream sauce. I love them for any saucy dish. Another of my favorites is to take that baking dish of grits, top the grits with a shakshuka type sauce, make divots in it and crack eggs in the divots, and top the whole thing with crumbled bacon, chopped ham or browned sausage, and a little grated cheese. 15 minutes at 350, and boom, there you are. Great brunch entree, and makes a great lunch or light dinner with a side salad.

Does he know how we all look for the stealth toe?

When Child A was about 2 1/2, the Rotary Club in town had an “all you can eat” shrimp boil for, I think, $20 a ticket. Helluva deal even in mid-80s dollars, as I had no problem eating my money’s worth at 20 bucks. Husband and I walked up to the door and asked for two adults and a child’s ticket. Fellow at the door looked at Child A, opined that she wouldn’t eat much, and just charged us for the two of us. It was her first experience with peel-and-eat shrimp, and the kid kept three adults busy peeling them for her. I think she ate as many as I did. Several years later, Children B and C had come along and were elementary age. We went to a buffet that featured boiled shrimp. We all loaded up, along with an extra plate to hold the shells. Had to go back for another plate to hold all the shells. I would regularly buy a five pound box of shrimp to cook for the four of us. Invariably, we fought over the last shrimp.