kayb

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the need in a specialized brewer for cold-brew coffee. I used a pair of quart soup containers from the Chinese carryout place -- one to brew in, the other to strain the cold coffee into. I brew the quart one full, which results in, obviously about 3/4 quart strained brew. Works for me, and you can't beat the price for the system.

I do love some Hatch chiles. I brought back a huge bag of them from Arizona when I was out there a few years ago in the late fall. Didn't realize you could order the fresh ones. Getting ready to make a trip to N. Georgia; will come back with, hopefully, lots of Silver Queen corn and some peaches. Going to try that tip of jelly from the peach skins. Strikes me that if one made wine, it would make a good juice from which to make wine. I will also be looking for some Kentucky Wonder pole beans -- another variety from my childhood that you just don't see much any more. When cooked long and slow with some cured meat, they take on a wonderful smoky-sweet taste -- love them! Do you find there are some things that need to be canned, vs. others that do fine if frozen? Seems to me that tomatoes, green beans, and of course, jams and jellies must be canned, while corn, purple hulled peas, squash, and most fruit can be frozen. As I'm expanding into putting up more vegetables, I'm wishing I'd bought a larger deep freeze. May have to make a change next year. ETA: It also occurs to me you could use those peach skins to make some FINE infused vodka.....

One of these days, I want to come to Kansas and spend a week in the kitchen with you. When we're not cooking, we can watch horse racing, and gamble.

Because sometimes you just want a burger: Grass-fed beef with homemade spicy mustard, mayo, kosher dill chips and tomato on a whole wheat bun. Baked beans and oven roasted potato wedges with cotija cheese.

Saving this post; will be making this sauce. Soon. No, I cut it off. Takes less freezer room, and we generally like it better that way.

With you. I learned the same way, and I don't add acid.

Re: cornmeal mix -- it's actually a mix of cornmeal and self-rising flour, or flour with baking soda, baking powder and salt added. I keep regular cornmeal around for a number of purposes, as well as masa harina and masarepa, or precooked masa, for making arepas. But i use cornmeal mix to bread my okra; seems like the flour helps it stick. Shelby, will you be working up corn this week? Do you freeze your Silver Queen on the cob, or cut it off?

Newbie here as well -- 2010, I think. Love it, and have learned SO much.

I recently bought a Bitoni, this one, It was on sale for 40 bucks and I figured it was worth a try. I enjoy the spiralized veggies in a salad, and am working my way through assorted different kinds of "zoodles." (I can testify zoodles do not play well with white wine sauce and lobster, but are pretty decent with an alfredo sauce.) I like raw cucumber noodles and slices (mine slices as well, and it's easier that the food processor) for salads. Looking forward to trying potato, sweet potato and butternut squash noodles.

Meat loaf sandwich with smoked gouda cheese. Leftover potato salad.

Yay! Maybe next year will be garden year for me, albeit not nearly on the scale of yours. Will follow with interest! Coincidentally, I have at present a meatloaf sandwich (beef, not venison) toasting. Lots of mayo. Smoked gouda, because I didn't have any brie. You had asked, and I had missed it until just now, how I froze the okra. I get it ready like I'm about to fry it -- cut up, dusted in cornmeal/flour/salt/pepper -- then spread it out one layer thick on a cookie sheet and into the freezer it goes. Then I take it out and transfer it to a big plastic bag. That way I can take out what I want to fry. Fry it straight from frozen, just like it was fresh, just takes a bit longer. Problems with tomatoes here; late, cool, wet spring kept them from getting a good start, and then they wthere at the wrong stage when farmers sprayed rice and anything planted in the neighborhood of rice was toast. Finally found some to can. Will be on that myself later this week.

All-time favorite summer cooler has to be a watermelon mojito. Whiz up 1-2 cups watermelon in the blender, strain through a doubled cheesecloth. 3 oz juice, 1/2 oz lime juice, 1 1/2 oz rum, 3/4 oz simple syrup, shake with ice, top with sparkling water, garnish with mint. I also keep cucumber-lime agua fresca in the fridge all summer long. Have found it makes a nice cocktail base as well. 4 oz agua fresca 1 1/2 oz rum 1/2 oz Pimms No. 2 stir with ice

Weekend "splurge" breakfast: baked eggs atop smoked gouda cheese grits, topped with bacon, a drizzle of cream, and a sprinkling of queso fresco. With toast made from Wisconsin beer cheese bread, as shown on the Bread forum, from The New Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day.

Wisconsin beer-cheese bread from the New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day. I thought it wanted more salt. Good, moist bread, though.

Lobster and white wine sauce over zucchini noodles. Tomato, watermelon and feta salad. Sam's had 8-to-10 ounce tails on sale for $19.99 a pound, so I bought a couple.Boiled, taken from the shell, cut in chunks. Observation: Zucchini noodles do not play well with white wine sauce. Lobster, however, plays very well with it indeed. Salad had a honey-citrus-balsamic dressing I make by the pint and keep in the fridge. It was the last of my current jar. Must make some more.

Tomatoes, raspberry rolls (!) (like cinnamon rolls, except with raspberry jam instead of butter/sugar/cinnamon), a weird sort of squash that has a firmer texture than zucchini or yellow squash, that I thought would be good to spiralize, purple hulled peas (in the basket, barely visible) that I'll shell and freeze, eggs, sausage, yellow squash to blanch and freeze.

Such great meals. Baselerd, that ramen is a thing of beauty; and Liuzhou, I would love to sample that spaghetti with Jinhua ham. I presume the ham is similar to jamon Iberico, or proscuitto? Another traditional Southern dinner here; Meat loaf, purple hulled peas, potato salad, squash sauteed with onions. No photo. I was lazy.

Interesting. I have a recipe for fish cakes, using fish poached in white wine and made in the style of crab cakes, that I want to try. The corn is a natural, but I would never have thought of hearts of palm, either. Filing that away for future reference....

Short ribs, which will go in for a 48-hour cook with a marinade of gochujang, brown sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil. Think I'll finish them on the grill Saturday night. Edited to correct typo.

I commend to any of you list-makers who don't do a pre-printed one, the smartphone app "Out of Milk." it will divide your list into sections (dairy, produce, etc.), keep up with things you frequently buy, and allow several family members to log in so the kids can put ice cream and Twinkies on Mom or Dad's list. It'll also calculate per-unit price (ounce or serving). Handy little free app, as long as I'm certain my battery-gobbling phone is charged when I go to the store.

My first "zoodles," my spiralizer having arrived earlier this week. (I love Amazon Prime.). These were in a lemon cream sauce with some corn and a handfull of roasted, frozen cherry tomatoes, and topped with a lemon-butter tilapia filet. Daughter and I agreed we could have done without the lemon either in the sauce or on the fish, but in general, highly approved of the zoodles. I foresee many zoodles in our future.

Hard to beat! (although some bacon would not go amiss....)

It was actually supposed to be a squash casserole, but I got too much liquid in it. I cut the squash in chunks and steamed it soft; mashed it with a potato masher. Added half-and-half, grated cheese, cracker crumbs and an egg. Stirred it up and baked it. Too much half and half or not enough cracker crumbs, but it turned out creamier than usual. What I get for not measuring anything. Shelby, you got to be envious of my early tomatoes....now I'm envious of your Silver Queen corn. Fingers crossed I can buy some when I'm in North GA later this month.

Nothing exceptional, but a good, old-fashioned Southern dinner. Chicken and dressing (shredded chicken baked into dressing), canned cranberry sauce, braised green beans, creamed squash.

Enjoyed the stay on the Island. Safe travels to y'all!