kayb

Curious. Where in TN?

You'll not do better than Cajun Grocers, whatever they offer. I looked at what I have in the freezer and it just has the weight and price label of the grocery, so I guess it was made in house in Thibodeaux, LA. I have a friend whose hubby is from there, so when she goes, I send money with her and she brings me back tasso and andouille.

--@Kerry Beal -- What does it incubate?

I have two. Girl Scout lemon cremes -- which they don't make any more, and I mourn. They had a taste that was just above and beyond. And Archway oatmeal cookies. Love 'em.

@Chris Hennes -- I love that building. I'm going to go back there and stay one day. Is the little FLW museum still on the bottom floor? Here's the aforementioned Bota Box dry rose: Mea culpa, @weinoo, for the stemless wineglass. Stemmed ones seem to get knocked over and broken 'round these parts. Bota Box says this has grapefruit and raspberry notes. I don't taste raspberry, but I most assuredly taste grapefruit zest, and I get a note of peaches at the first sip. It has a minerally finish and a tartness that sits well on my tongue. And at less than $5 a bottle at my local discount liquor store, you can't beat the price. Jeff Siegel at the Wine Curmudgeon called it "the best cheap rose there is," here. It's not the best rose' I've ever had; La Crema is better, but it's three times the price, too. I did find the pic of the label of the rose I loved so much that I had in Lexington, VA, last year. My local liquor stores, both the discount one and the "good wine and beer" one, tell me they can't get it here. Sigh. My recollection is that it was absolutely astounding with Coquille St. Jacques, still one of my favorite seafood dishes. * If you find it, get it. It's wonderful.

Brunch quickie hash brown casserole. Hash brown patties in the bottom of a baking dish, chopped bacon, grated cheese, and eggs beaten with half and half over all. Baked 25 minutes at 350F on steam bake in the CSO. Diced garden tomatoes on the side.

Not quite Orlando, but Tampa is certainly in the neighborhood -- my very favorite restaurant there is Columbia. Spanish/Cuban/Latin in general. Spicy, not hot. Voluminous menu. And flamenco shows.

I have made Kentucky Hot Browns and served to a houseful back when I lived in Hot Springs, where everybody was seriously into racing. And I'll drink a mint julep, though that's not a good thing to do to bourbon. Milk punch is much better. I also have, somewhere, a Kentucky friend's recipe for Derby Pie. My favorite Derby winner was Smarty Jones in '04.

You're a better woman than I.

If they mess with my crunchy tacos I'm gone.

Is your house built on a slab foundation? Mine is, and I find flinging the bag down on the kitchen floor two or three times serves to break the ice up mildly well.

Since the topic does not say exclusively kitchen stuff, I'll note the only fun stuff I've gotten lately is two new, sorely needed bookshelves. Which had to be put together with an (included) Allen wrench. I hate an Allen wrench worse than God hates sin.

I cannot help but be reminded of an evening when I took a Japanese delegation to a local rib joint. After some initial hesitation, they fell into holding rib bones and gnawing. It was fun. Not to mention the final bill included 27 pitchers of beer. (I think there were 18 of us, all told.)

I've mentioned before I'm involved with a local soup kitchen. Our numbers are way up because of the pandemic, even though we're just handing out bag lunches, not cooking and serving buffet style with a chance to sit down, relax and eat. Sadly, our budget is NOT up. Kroger stepped in to rescue us. I now pick up every Friday morning, the donations of bakery and deli foods that are about to go out of date. This always includes a full shopping cart of breads, cookies, and other desserts; at least 30 pounds of sliced deli lunch meat and cheeses; probably 30-40 pounds of fried and rotisserie chicken; and a couple of dozen of their "home chef" meals, both the meal kits for two and the heat-and-serves for one. It's made the difference. We haven't missed a beat in serving the hungry folks. And as well as our soup kitchen, some of the other food goes to a couple of halfway houses and the Salvation Army homeless shelter, and some gets given away by the food pantry. Here's this week's donation, a typical one: Just wanted to take an opportunity to give a shout-out to Kroger.

Take away my southerner credentials. I despise moon pies.

Welcome to the forum. Stick around and you'll learn lots. And we'll learn from you!

I wish I could find the shot of the label I took of the wonderful rose we drank with dinner in Lexington, VA, a couple of years ago. That was also a phone ago, so I don't think it's still around. But it was my return to roses. Last Thanksgiving, I bought a La Crema rose to go with dinner. It was wonderful. I will also note the Bota Box rose is respectable. I don't have one one hand right now so can't tell you the particulars.

A good grilling sauce is simply oil, vinegar, and spices/peppers to your taste. If you want smokey, chipotle or pimenton or ancho or a combination of all of them should give you what you want. I always find it good to add a little cumin to that spice mix.

Do calzones count? A pizza place here makes an astonishing calzone. Sadly, they do not make a GF version of it. I have found a recipe for GF pie crust, but haven't tried it yet.

Only way, short of pickling, that I've ever preserved squash successfully is to blanch it and freeze it. It does OK in squash casseroles, breads, etc., then.

@chefmd -- Love the wineglass.

Living in the Delta (albeit the Arkansas side of it, which is every bit as Delta as is the Mississippi side, Southern Foodways Alliance notwithstanding), I'm a connoisseur of the Delta tamale. I have never seen one cooked in parchment paper; sometimes aluminum foil, but never in parchment. Usually, they're in corn husks. Some are spicy; some are less so. They don't have the variety of peppers and cumin and the general complexity of flavor that Mexican ones do. I prefer them with chili, hold the chopped onions, hold the jalapenos, add grated cheese, please, and bring me a stack of Saltines to go with it. I can get good Delta tamales at the pizza joint here (the chain, Lost Pizza, is headquartered in Greenville, MS, and their tamales are made there), or I can go two hours south and get them in Helena at the Pasquale's food truck Thursday-Saturday; or I can cross the river at Helena, go another 20 minutes south and get them at Abe's in Clarksdale, Ms., at the same corner where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil in the 1920s, or go on down to Greenville and get them at any number of places. But my very favorite are the ones from Rhoda's World Famous Hot Tamales just across the river from Greenville, in Lake City. We have a host of tacquerias here in town, so I can get respectable Mexican tamales lots of places. And I frequently do. Back when I lived in Hot Springs, there was a couple that made "gourmet" tamales. Along with the assorted preparations of chicken, pork and beef, they made a pumpkin and goat cheese one that I loved dearly. Never have made my own. One day, maybe.

Girl, you got skills!

I think you just planned my dinner.

Oh, Lord, yes. All the bars and restaurants used to have them. I had a big brandy snifter filled with ones I'd picked up here and there. And of course, if you were going to give your number to someone (pre texting them your contact info), the inside of a matchbook made a great place to write it.