kayb

It's Coke. The full-sugar, full-caffiene model is Co-Cola. Anything else is Coke. "What kind of Coke you want?" "Let me have a Sprite." (Or, in the alternative, "I'll take a Pepsi.")

My big grill is two steps outside my back door. I'll stick to that. Plus, I have no more room for any other kitchen thingies. And I have yet to use the Paragon I bought.

I don't frequent fine-dining establishments a lot. Good restaurants, yes, but not Alinea-level restaurants. When I do, I'm putting myself in the chef's hands, save mentioning that I have celiac disease. When @cyalexa and I dined at the Catbird Seat in Nashville, we had no idea what each of the courses in the 10-course tasting menu was going to be, nor what it was going to have in it, until they brought it to us. (They gave us a copy of the menu to take with us afterward, so we could remember what we had.) I would not have dreamed of asking them to change the prep of anything to fit my tastes, even had I known what it was going to be. They did ask at the time we made reservations whether we had any allergies, etc., that needed to be taken into account. As that was before I was diagnosed, we did not. It was, btw, a stunningly marvelous meal. I have no problem asking the local steakhouse to leave the pepper-heavy seasoning off my steak. They seem to have no problem doing so.

I will never again leave things in the zip-top bags in which they come from the bulk store. You have no idea how big a mess tapioca starch will make when the bag isn't closed....

I commend to any of you, and especially those who make apple butter, the Arkansas Black apple. It's a very late-ripening apple with firm, tart flesh and an almost black (thus the name) skin, and it makes absolutely the best apple butter I have ever made. Didn't get any this year, but I'm low on apple butter, so will have to remedy that next year. I had several Jazz apples on the counter that needed using, and I'd pulled a recipe for Fresh Apple Cake from the 12 Tomatoes site, so those two combined today. It's a very heavy, pound-cakeish batter (has cream cheese in it, no other liquid other than eggs), and produces a moist, dense and quite tasty cake, even for having been adapted to gluten-free. It would benefit from some cinnamon and other apple-friendly spices, and I might think about swapping the white sugar for brown sugar next time, but I'll call it a success. The recipe called for dusting it with powdered sugar (I didn't), but I think it'd benefit from some good caramel sauce.

Restaurants and food destinations can certainly become tourism generators; see New Orleans or the Napa Valley for a classic example. Asheville, NC, is on its way in that direction, But on a smaller scale, many small towns have restaurants that serve as regional tourist destinations. I can think of a couple of restaurants in my area which have traditionally served as destinations for diners from Memphis, Jonesboro, and other spots an hour or two-hour drive away. Ditto other food-related attractions; I have driven an hour or two to buy farm-raised meat, or vegetables, or to pick apples or berries, or to buy bread. I think the emphasis on locally-raised, or rather regionally-raised, small farm and kitchen produced artisan (to use a horribly overworked term) food will become a growing economic driver in the next 20 years.

Good read. There is a magic about good knives. I bought my Misonos when I was in Tokyo. A young American who lived in Tokyo was escorting us about, and I told him I wanted to go knife shopping. He didn't have time to take me to "kitchen street," but he wrote the name of the street on a card for me to give to a cab driver. I could have spent hours there -- every kind of kitchen implement imaginable, not to mention the ubiquitous molded plastic food for displays in restaurants. I had it in mind to buy Shuns, but when I picked up the Misono, it just melded into my hand. I bought a 10-inch and 8-inch chef and a 6-inch utility knife. They go with me when I go anywhere else to cook. They faithfully go to the knife sharpener once a year, and in between, get touched up on my EdgePro. They are the one piece of kitchen equipment I would not do without.

29 for the low tonight. I didn't turn the porch light on. Haven't heard any activity on the street; don't see a lot of kids in this 'hood, anyway. Didn't even buy candy because I wasn't planning on being home. All Grinchy and stuff.

I have been buying local farm-raised beef and chicken for the past several years. While I prefer (a) critters which were raised humanely, and (b) which were not dosed with antibiotics and hormones, the big reason is I find a significant taste difference in local farm-raised beef and chicken. Oddly, I do not see the same taste difference in most farm-raised pork, with the exception of one farmer I bought from in Hot Springs whose pork was almost like red meat. I don't know if that was a function of the breed of pig, its forage, or what. But I will buy grocery store pork (and not think about how it was raised and handled at slaughter).

Have to confess to loving cottage cheese; standard 70s-issue pineapple tidbits and CC, pears or peaches with CC, sliced tomatoes with lots of salt and black pepper and CC. I have used it as a sub for ricotta in lasagna in pinch, but I prefer ricotta in that application. I have to pay particular attention to eating enough protein every day, so cottage cheese is a good option for me. I love yogurt and sour cream, too.

I miss the days when you could hand out homemade treats. Mama always made popcorn balls. People came out from town (we lived out in the country) for those popcorn balls. My job was to wrap them in Saran Wrap and tie an orange and black ribbon around them.

There is much to be said for clerks who know you and whom you know. The clerk at the drive-up window at my preferred liquor store just hands me my usual wine. I, in turn, hand her the exact change. I guess that could be seen as kinda sad.

I buy the Aldi brand butter to bake/cook with, and Kerrygold to spread on breads, etc.

How does the proposed gift recipient cook? If they're meat-centric, and use a grill often, SV might be the better option. If they're more prone to soups and stews and veggies, I'd go IP.

The very same! I found where she'd sent me the link in a email. I was not remembering the sage, but she said she didn't use it, so I don't expect I did.

What does one DO with a Pacojet? I read the link. What would I want to micropuree frozen veggies? Seriously. I don't understand.

About all I do in pint jars is pickles. Spreads, etc., as well as jams and jellies, are all half-pints. And generally, I just take a main dish and a couple of sides, or a side and a dessert, to a pot luck. Or, if the main is being provided, I will just bring one side and dessert, or either-or, depending on what it is. I always err on the side of too much at church potlucks, because you never want anyone who forgot about it or a visitor to feel like there's not enough food. Yes, I err on the side of excess. It's hereditary. My late mother-in-law, God rest her soul, was the queen of goodie gift-giving. She either prepared or made cakes (usually angel food; she made a killer angel food cake) for dozens of folks, including her former maid, who was in a care home with advanced diabetes. And she always left a homemade treat/gift (a cake, or a box of goodies) atop the trash can for the sanitation workers. Me, I do well to manage three sets of my kids in-laws, staff at one client's office, staff at my daughter's office, and one or two really good friends. Plus I will make "favorites" for certain other friends; one friend always gets a loaf of "birdseed bread" (King Arthur multigrain), and a container of pimiento cheese. Another gets a quart or two of homemade vegetable beef soup. One gets a pot roast. A new one on the list this year got Rice Krispy treats, because she loves them and contends she can't make them (how can you NOT be able to make Rice Krispy treats???). In today's Memphis newspaper, the food writer posted recipes for a couple of what appear to be easy candy treats. I am not a chocolatier, and have no aspirations to become a chocolatier. But these peanut butter cups and "Betterfingers" looked marvelous. I'm going to try both. Will post recipes if anyone's interested.

I will occasionally ask for very minor modifications; i.e., I don't care for raw onions (cooked are fine), so if they're scattered over something as a garnish, I'll ask for them to be left off. But to be fair, I'm not doing that at a fine dining establishment, either. I don't like green bell pepper, either, but I don't usually ask for it to be left out, except at my favorite Thai place, which notes on the menu it will leave out or add in peppers on request. Otherwise I just eat around it.

Auggghhhh.

Looking back at this thread (because I've enjoyed it, as creating and giving Christmas gift baskets is one of my favorite things), I see one of your original questions is one none of us really addressed -- how much of everything? I can only tell you what I usually do. Spiced or candied nuts, about a cup per small bag, one bag per basket Cookies or crackers, about a dozen per treat bag, one bag each of maybe two or three kinds per basket, except meringue cookies, which I'll for some reason package in larger bags, maybe 18 cookies, and I'm not sure why. Canned goods -- half-pint or pint jars Eggnog -- quart bottles Quick breads -- I usually use my 8 x 4 pans Chex mix or other snack mix -- bags I use hold a bit more than a quart, one bag per basket Pralines or other candy -- 6-8 per bag, one bag per basket, one or two (if more than one kind of candy) per basket Fudge -- a dozen pieces in a container, one container per basket You mentioned truffles -- I've never made those, beyond the basic Martha Washington candy, but I've found about six-eight pieces of candy per bag is about right. I shoot for maybe 8-10 different items per basket, bearing in mind the centerpiece (the quick bread, in my case) is the largest item and takes up a good bit of space. I can usually put three things on each side and two on each end. Oh, one I forgot was canned pickled quail eggs and chunks of knockwurst sausage. I do those in pint jars, a mix of eggs and sausage in each. Most people have never seen them, and it's a big fascination factor. I have also done what @Kim Shook calls "cheater" pickles, where you get a gallon of hamburger dill chips, pour off all the brine, and then repack them in the jar with sugar and hot sauce and let them sit for a couple of weeks, then re-can in smaller jars. Damn good sweet-hot pickles! I'll usually put a pint of pickles, a pint of eggs/sausage, and then maybe a half-pint of jam or jelly in a basket with the other items. I have done all-canned-stuff baskets, when I had a surplus of that and not enough time to bake.

I use the IP more. I tend to use SV more in the summer, as I love to SV meat that then gets smoked or seared on the grill. Like @rotuts, I will often SV in bulk. It's a little more trouble to set up the SV rig (get out the Cambro, fill it in the laundry room sink, seal the protein in a bag, etc.). IP gets more use in the winter when I'm making lots of soup, chili, and so on. I'll also do bulk rice in it and freeze packages for later.

@Anna N a few years ago posted a recipe for a beer cheese quick bread that was just about the best thing I ever ate. (I will note adding ground ham or crumbled bacon to it kicks it up another notch, too.)

With you on that, although I do cook mine in the IP. I made a big pot of white bean and sausage soup t'other day (I dearly love Rancho Gordo's Marcella beans for it). As it's in the 50s and raining, I expect I'll see that for lunch or dinner, as I had a tremendous amount of it left. In the summer, I like bean salad. I'll cook two or three kinds of RGs -- bits of bags I have left over -- and steam some green beans, a good viniagrette, and some canned tuna in oil on the side....m'mmm. But this time of year, yes, little beats beans simmered with some pork or sausage.

Oh, how sad! I've recently been diagnosed with celiac disease, and other than bidding farewell to good homemade bread, I'm coping OK with that. If I couldn't have any dairy, I guess I'd just die. I don't drink a lot of milk, but I do use it to cook with, and as my daddy used to contend, I'm like a rat when it comes to cheese. And we won't even talk about butter.

Goodwill silver trays -- great idea! And speaking of Chinese restaurants, Hobby Lobby also has really cute cardboard take-out containers in Christmas patterns.