kayb

@huiray, that looks absolutely lovely. One day, I will cook morels. You just never see them this far south.

Welcome! Anxious to share some of your cuisine ideas!

Oooh. I have the makings for that. May be on the menu for dinner tonight!

Will happily step back from the barricades to enjoy cake for breakfast, @Anna N, if that is not entirely too thin-stretched a literary metaphor...

@Okanagancook, would you post for us an address where we can send donations to add to the fundraiser's total?

Beautiful, Tere. A few of my bunny-butchered green beans sprouted some more leaves, but the damn rabbits ate them, too. Going tomorrow to get some "liquid fence" rabbit repellent and some more seed; I still have plenty of time to plant a later crop of beans when it dries up from the 5 inches of rain we got today. Hoping the garden hasn't washed completely away (it was still raining a little while ago). Before the deluge, I was up to 10 small Romas on my plants, as well as the two Park Whopper hybrids and four or five yellow cherry tomatoes. Nothing yet on the Bradleys, the other hybrid (I forget its name), or the red grape tomato. Yellow squash, zucchini and cucumbers are growing vigorously, but no blooms yet. Herb garden is thriving. Pictures when it dries out.

Welcome, Craig, from another home cook. You'll learn a lot here -- I surely have!

I was going to say, I'm not sure, as you can't see from the drive-through....

That's gorgeous. No pics, but I was on a road trip this weekend that included barbecue for lunch Friday; stewed pork neckbones over rice, greens and sweet potatoes (soul food!) on Saturday, and a fried oyster po'boy with spinach instead of the lettuce or cabbage on Sunday. (That does not even speak to the Delta hot tamales on Friday night, or the kibbie and grape leaves on Saturday. I may not eat for a week.)

I will testify that there is NOTHING any better in the donut world than a hot Krispy Creme fresh from glazing (they turn the light on in the window to signify when there are fresh, hot donuts). However, Dunkin has the best coffee going.

Two words: Grill Grates. Best thing EVER to prevent flare-ups. Will do. This week, sometime.

Oh...dear...sweet...baby...Jesus. I am SO doing this. On the grill. As a side to a perfectly medium rare ribeye. Kill me now.

Looks balanced to me. Green, yellow and white, with some red for good measure.

Waffle with homemade ricotta and apple butter canned last fall. Unfortunately, no indigo bunting. But I did have a five-year-old, who's been my breakfast, lunch and dinner guest for the past three days, and has been helping in the kitchen. She makes a mean meatball.

I noticed when I cooked yellow eye beans for the first time how quickly they cooked, and how quickly they got to the mush point when I cooked them in the IP and then added my sauce ingredients and simmered them there. Will definitely cut down on the time next time.

Chicken korma at the local Indian establishment. Their naan is always good, but tonight it was exceptional. We eat at this restaurant fairly regularly; they also have wonderful mango kulfi and lassi.

Dear God. I hope they don't have these anywhere near me. I would weigh 300 pounds.

Pancakes and eggs, the princess granddaughter wanted, and pancakes and eggs she got. New pancake recipe made with cottage cheese and cooked oatmeal; I had to add 1/3 cup a/p flour to be able to flip them. Her egg was over easy and she had three pancakes with maple syrup. I went with scrambled and two pancakes with apple butter.

Zucchini parmigiano with fresh ricotta, meatballs, and roasted tomato-garlic sauce I canned last summer.

I had a strange thing happen tonight with two loaves of Rose Levy Berenbaum's potato sandwich bread. I thought the dough was a bit sluggish in rising, through both the first and second rises. But it shaped OK and looked like about the right volume in the loaf pans. Didn't get a real great rise out of the loaves, either, though they did just peep above the sides of the pan...barely. But when I put them in the oven, they not only got NO oven spring at all, but they actually FELL a little bit! My oven wasn't as hot as it should have been -- I had turned it down to cook something else, and hadn't turned it back up long before I put the loaves in, so it may not have been the 475 she calls for. Oddly, the loaves TASTE fine. And the crumb is decent. They're not heavy or leaden the way I'd expected, at least the one I've cut is not. They're just squatty looking things. Any idea what happened? Did the too-low oven temp to start do me in?

Damn rabbits ate my green beans. All of 'em. I can replant, but I have to figure out how to keep the rabbits away, first. A shotgun in the middle of town just isn't practical. On the positive side of things, the tomato crop is up to 10 so far: two Park Whopper hybrids, two cherry tomatoes, six Romas. The Romas:

Salad lunch: Clockwise from 12 o'clock: Caprese with the tomatoes and mozz diced up, basil olive oil, balsamic glaze, sea salt. Jail slaw and spring pickles that have been residing in the fridge since last week. Pea, asparagus and hearts of palm salad, in a viniagrette with grated parm tossed in. Now I need a nap.

I wish it could work like that for me. Could be useful! You need some SLAW on that sammich! Looks like a baked beans recipe that's similar to mine. But 6 tablespoons of dry mustard? That's a LOT of mustard...

Mine are always just the opposite -- I tend to stretch the holes TOO big. No matter; the taste is wonderful. I really enjoy bagels. I made some flavored with onion and garlic powder that were pretty excellent. H'mmm. May have to put bagels on the menu plan for the week. First priority, though is a sandwich loaf tomorrow. I have a grandchild for the week, so sandwiches are in order.

Strawberry shortcake. Because I could.