kayb

A few years ago, I got on a kick of champorado, Filipino chocolate rice porridge; not a pudding, I suppose, since it does not have eggs. This thread brings it to mind. Have to hunt up the recipe.

I had a houseful of grandchildren last weekend, so I ran by Aldi to pick up snack stuff for them. Besides goldfish and dried fruit, I picked up a few other bargains. Fresh pineapples were 99 cents each, so I got two; bananas, organic, for $1.19; milk, almond milk and cream, all cheaper than Kroger. Best selection of produce I've seen there in all my trips.

I got on a kick of making kefir a few years ago, but stopped for some reason...probably because I was traveling and not able to feed it regularly. I do like it, though, particularly when blended with fresh or frozen fruit. I think it tastes a great deal like yogurt.

Fried rice and ahi tuna poke with pineapple. No photos.

Mine's the old one. I get past the coming-to-temp- issue by using hot tap water to start with. Generally no more than 15 minutes to raise it to cooking temps I use for most things.

Was going to ask about the thickness, and I see ElsieD beat me to it. Jail slaw is a vinegar/sugar-based slaw seasoned with turmeric, dry mustard and white pepper. I love it, it keeps in the fridge forever, and it's great in place of lettuce on a BLT or with barbecue or other meat that tends toward greasy. If you want the recipe, PM me and I'll be happy to send it. So named because I learned to make it when I was a reporter covering criminal court cases, and we'd frequently eat lunch at the jail due to a lack of other options, and time constraints. And I'm sure the bean issue was the molasses. I'd never thought about it either. I'll know better next time. I'm fine with the tang of 8-hour yogurt, but the time factor is occasionally an issue for me. Think I'll try the four-hour tomorrow. I drain mine anyway, so if it'll not be any thinner than 8-hour -- and I couldn't stand a spoon up in mine, I don't think -- so I shouldn't lose as much volume to whey. I generally wind up with about a quart of yogurt from a half-gallon of milk after I drain for two or three hours. I use the same culture Shelby does.

I grew up using self-rising cornmeal mix (which I believe is about a 1:1 corn meal/flour ratio, plus baking powder), so that's what I still lean toward. Fat is generally bacon fat, if I have that around; if not, corn oil or vegetable or canola oil, whatever I have, and I have from time to time used olive oil. I never measure anything in cornbread; dump some cornmeal mix in a bowl, add an egg, the fat (which I have never added hot), and enough milk or buttermilk, whatever I have on hand (I have used half and half in a pinch) until it's thin enough. I can eyeball the right amounts for my 8-inch skillet, which makes plenty for two with enough left over for small recipe of chicken and dressing. Definitely yes on the hot skillet. Add-ins: All the aforementioned, with the exception that I don't like jalapenos, but have used chipotle; for corn I usually use frozen corn, make the batter thicker, and fry it in patties/fritters for an arepa-type side, great with chili or posole. Love grated cheddar in it, or cotija. Another add-in I like is chopped broccoli. I also used to make, when the kids were little, a "tamale pie," which had ground beef cooked with "Mexican"-ish seasonings, a healthy layer of cheese, and cornbread batter with corn poured over the top. The only instance in which I make a sweetened cornbread is rosemary cornbread that's more cakey (higher ratio of flour to meal) and designed to go with brunch-type dishes. A sweet taste ought not go with rosemary, but it does, somehow. Recipe here. Oh, and cracklings. I've never had it with anything but pork cracklings, but I see no reason it shouldn't work with duck or chicken. There is NOTHING like a big pan of crackling cornbread with "new sorghum," i.e., sorghum molasses during the first couple of weeks after it's made, before it ages. With country style bacon or country ham, and stewed tomatoes. Feed me that and just go ahead and kill me now.

Y'all, don't laugh at my sad little tomato garden. My father, whose gardens were always immaculate, would be horrified. But this garden spot was a Bermuda lawn of some 60 years' tenure, this time last week. It needed to be turned with a turning plow, then disked, then tilled. It got tilled. I pulled out the biggest of the clumps of Bermuda and chunked them over against the fence. As I am newly back in the gardening business after many years, my collection of garden tools is minimal; a hand fork/mattock and a hand spade, both of which I've used for planting herbs in pots, and a cheap hoe I bought Sunday at Lowe's. So the planting of the tomatoes was accomplished by me sitting on the wet ground (we had had a light rain this morning and are supposed to have more tonight) breaking up clods and working in compost with a hand fork, and carefully planting and hilling up around each tomato plant by hand. I have 2 each of 2 different hybrids; about 8 Bradley heirlooms; a yellow cherry tomato, a red grape tomato, and eight Romas in this bed and the one next to it. A friend who no longer gardens offered to let me pillage her shed for hand tools I needed. Be assured I'll be doing so. Growing up with them, I didn't think about how hard it is to garden without them. Next to come: cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini and pole beans. The pole beans need to wait until it's a bit warmer. I ran out of time and energy to plant the squash and cucumbers.

Can't testify to the Vac-Star, but I purely LOVE my Anova. Not a bit of problem in a year of use.

@Shelby, I love using the whey from yogurt in my next bread. As I don't make bread but every couple of weeks or so, and the timing does not always coincide with yogurt-making, I generally freeze the whey in a plastic carton.

I've been reading this thread with fascination, amazed that people will actually try to pull off things like that. I hate to think I'm that gullible, because usually I am not, but I tend to take a restaurant or grocer at their word unless it's obviously not so. A few experiences, both pro and con, I've had: Any number of restaurants advertising "crab-stuffed" anything, or any sort of crab in a sauce preparation, using imitation crabmeat instead. A vendor at the farmers' market who got tossed out on his ear after his "locally grown" peaches were found to have been brought in from the Rio Grande valley, which isn't very local, by about 800 or so miles. A purveyor of "farm-raised" pork, beef and lamb who apparently was selling more than he grew, and supplementing it with purchased meat. He's actually doing fed time on a related offense. On the other side of the equation, a restaurant in a town where I once lived advertised wagyu beef. I went to dinner there one night, and was cautioned by the waiter that they wagyu steak wasn't wagyu, as the chef/owner had looked at the shipment and rejected it, going with Kobe that night instead. And on the butter/margarine issue -- I used to belong to an organization that sold Maine lobsters, either live, cooked on-site, or the frozen tails. For the cooked on-site, we included corn, potatoes and melted butter. One year, whoever bought the groceries for the event bought margarine instead. I came unglued when some of the cooks suggested to me it didn't make any difference, and went to the store myself and got butter. Margarine is nasty stuff. I'll use it when I'm eating at my favorite local greasy spoon meat-and-three, because they don't offer butter, but that's about it.

Sigh. I want one SO badly. But I cannot squeeze another appliance into my budget this month...or my kitchen in this lifetime!

Good to meet you! I look forward to learning about Vietnamese cuisine as well, as it is something I enjoy. You will find many members here with skills in many different areas, and all of them are happy to answer questions for you. Welcome!

Well, it's begun. Today I bought tomato plants, and herbs, and seeds for yellow squash, zucchini, pole beans and cucumbers, along with the plants for my annual herb garden. Yesterday, I'd gotten the garden plots tilled up, so I was anxious to get moving. I was stymied by the fact Lowe's is out of manure-based compost, so I will likely delay the planting of seeds and tomatoes a day or two, to let them get some in or let me get some elsewhere. I have to go in search of tarragon, anyway; had problems finding that last year, too. But at least the herbs are in, and the front flower bed is ready for the squashes and cucumbers (hey, I'm calling it ground cover and letting it go; besides, if it's good enough in Japan, it's good enough here). I'm late enough as it is it won't hurt to be a little later. I'm hoping the pole beans do well. I hadn't planned on them, but they had Kentucky Wonder seeds, and I just had to. If this year goes well, I may expand things next year. Garden plot 1, with another just to the left of it. Front flower bed, aka squash and cucumber bed. Herb garden, planted. Basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, parsley, sage; mint, chives and rosemary overwintered/reseeded from last year. Waiting on tarragon. Tomatoes awaiting planting. Better Boys and Fuji hybrids; Bradley heirlooms; two kinds of cherry tomatoes, red and yellow; and Romas.

Replenished my chicken supply, so roasted one with ground beef stuffing, surrounded by potatoes, carrots and onions today. Served with purple hulled peas and sweet corn from the freezer. No photos because, with three grandchildren in the house, I forgot. Something I cooked the other day and failed to either photograph or note, were country-style ribs braised in hard cider with onions, caraway and juniper berries. Served over egg noodles, with a side of sauerkraut. Very good.

Got the garden plots tilled up today. Will be off to Lowe's tomorrow to pick up compost and a hoe, as well as some kind of edging to keep it from migrating over into the yard. Plus herbs and tomatoes, and seeds for yellow squash, zucchini and cucumbers. If this goes well, we may add larger plots next summer.

Well, I'm sorry it was such a disappointing experience. Sounds like they need some significant culinary advice to help turn what is a good, on the face of it, idea into something that would be enjoyed by more people. I grew up eating thin pork chops that were cooked within an inch of their lives, and I still don't like pork as rare as I see it cooked here, but I agree about the tendency of the thin "breakfast chops" to be tough. But, @Anna N, I am thoroughly in your corner on kale. Nasty stuff.

Beat me to it. So you were underwhelmed? I think I would like it; bland is ok for breakfast, sometimes.

I need to pick up some CS ribs; I do love them, particularly braised in apple cider and then shredded and served with sauerkraut and fried apples and onions. I see that meal in my IP's future.

I tend to side with those who dislike owning single-purpose devices, although I do own a few. That said, a combo spice toaster-grinder that could also toast nuts would seem to me to have some potential. I have a distressing tendency to over-toast nuts, in particular. My concern would be how to allow for the different volumes. Spice toasting is typically in small quantities, measured in tablespoons, while when I toast nuts, it is often a cup or two or three at a time. Spices need to be ground; nuts typically do not, at least in the applications for which I toast them. Also, I often like to coat nuts with spices and oils, or sugars, and toast them, so the device would need to accommodate that. Separate, interchangeable chambers? It's an intriguing prospect.

Lord have mercy. I am on my way to your house. Wait....where do you live?

I've never used a SVS, but I can tell you I purely LOVE my Anova circulator. I don't have any trouble with it holding temp in an open container; I do mine in the laundry room sink, so it's no problem to add water to make up for evap during a long cook, either. I can avoid the evap problem if I cover the container (I usually use my big waterbath canner) with plastic wrap or foil. If I were worried about maintaining heat -- say, if I were using it in an unheated environment on a cold day -- I might drape a folded towel over the top, and wrap the container in another couple of towels. I have a medium range Foodsaver, but it's something of a pain in the butt to drag out and use. For bigger things, or for convenience, I use a gallon or two-gallon ZipLoc freezer bag and suspend it from kitchen twine tied across the top of the canner, using a chip clip.

I had a granola bar. One should never have a granola bar for dinner and then read the dinner thread. Take it from me.

society donor 3,975 posts Posted 12 hours ago · Report post Bingo. Well, now I know! Thanks!

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I love the stuff.