kayb

When I buy a quarter steer, it nets out about 100 to 125 pounds of beef. That would put a whole steer netting out 400-500 pounds, which would mean the whole critter on the hoof weighing maybe, what, 900 pounds? And as it's a small-farm, grass finished steer, he's smaller than most mass-produced ones. So let's say 650 net pounds of beef per steer. Maybe 1/3 of the net is ground. Say 220 pounds. So what is that, 100,000 head of cattle? (I dont do math well....)

I have fallen into a habit. I run the dishwasher just before I go to bed at night. In the morning, I empty it while the coffee is brewing. Thus, I have a routine of when dishes are clean or not.

Got to jump in here for a Philly recommendation: The Austrian Village, in Huntingdon Valley. Wonderful German food; the absolute best red cabbage I have EVER had, and the homemade bratwurst is not to be missed. Not fine dining, by a long shot. Good, solid, German workingman fare.

... Oh...my. I have no words. But I do have a question. You cook the apples in the caramel in the oven for 1.5 hours at 400F? I'd'a never thunk it. Looks like the sugar would burn. But obviously you have it down to a science. Saving this one.

Much as I love my pug Lucy, she ain't getting the remains of the runny yolk. She does love eggs, though; periodically I'll boil her one for a treat.

I never thought about their being such a thing as pork brisket. I'd corn it, SV it, then coat it in coriander and black pepper and smoke it. Pork pastrami! Anything that's a frozen food that I want crispy, I do on convection. Just comes out crispier, to my mind.

I won't buy groceries at WalMart, but Sam's rotisserie chicken is respectable. We do not have a Costco here in the heart of WalMartian country.

I'm not sure how widespread a chain Shipleys Donuts is, but they do a heck of a breakfast sandwich.

I'm contemplating smoking my turkey this year; guess it will depend on how big the turkey is, as my little Masterbilt won't handle a big one. I might just buy an extra turkey breast and smoke that. Say, @rotuts, have you posted the procedure for smoking your turkey breasts in recipe gullet, or do I have to go hunt it down?

I can honestly say this is something that would have never occurred to me.

That's either a very small box, or those are the biggest jalapenos I've ever seen!

I LOVE Inspector Bruno! And his basset hound!

@Franci -- Just spectacular! Happy birthday to Victor (I like Mr. Franci, too!) @Kim -- your baked eggs put me in mind of a couple of recipes I cobbled together from some different ones in Deep Run Roots Take individual ramekins, put an inch-thick layer of cheese grits in the bottom. I have some three-inch ones, about two and a half inches deep, that are perfect.This can be done the night before so they'll set up. Top with Vivian's stewed tomatoes (I canned a bunch of these, sans bread crumbs, which I add when preparing to serve). Crack an egg on top. Sprinkle with diced meat of your choice -- bacon, ham, sausage of some sort. Top with cheese. Bake. Marvelous!

It's the iconic casserole using Jiffy cornbread mix, the sweet kind. I box Jiffy 1package frozen whole kernel corn 1 package frozen cream style corn 4 eggs 1 stick melted butter 8 oz sour cream Mix all together and pour in casserole dish. Top with crumbled Ritz crackers drizzled with aittle more melted butter. 350F for 40 minutes or so.

@Toliver -- Come east. We'll pull up another chair to the table for you. The one problem I have with my fresh turkey is that I have no say in how big it is; it is however big it gets by the week before T'giving. One year, there were just four of us eating, and the damn turkey was 23 pounds. Kids left with turkey, I froze turkey, and I made an huge vat of stock. And I froze half the breast whole, and thawed/warmed/sliced it for Christmas. I have been reminded that corn casserole is requested, as well. Sigh.

I usually make a double recipe of cranberry salad, because I'll go to the fridge and get a bowl of it like you'd get a bowl of ice cream. And I'll eat it for breakfast, too. It keeps a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Your community and your country will be in my prayers. I'd offer to ship you some dried beans and whatever else could travel easily, but I don't expect the mail would get through, either...

It's early, but I ordered my turkey (farm-raised, to be delivered never-frozen after processing the weekend before T'giving), and it got me started thinking. I have a long list of traditional dishes which MUST be served at Thanksgiving, else the children would revolt, but I do have a little latitude with a side or two and dessert. Staples on the menu: Turkey Cornbread dressing (which I buy, uncooked, from a local diner that makes to-die-for dressing, and, unlike mine, it's foolproof) Gravy Cranberry salad (my family recipe, the recipe for which I posted in Food 52 years ago and apparently they're going to write about it this year for their holiday edition, so watch for it!) Sweet potato casserole -- boiled sweet potatoes mashed with egg and butter, topped with a streusel of flour, brown sugar, butter and pecans Homemade yeast rolls (which I really should not eat this year, but likely will anyway) From there, I have some leeway. Daughter No. 2 always requests "a green thing." It may be broccoli, may be Brussels sprouts, may be green beans, may be peas. Son-in-law 1 will be mortally hacked off should I not have homemade mac and cheese, so I guess there'll be that. Dessert ideas? I usually bounce between coconut cake with ambrosia, cheesecake, or lemon icebox pie. Appetizers are light, usually Prosecco, cheese and nuts. I'll generally go with a pinot noir or a dry rose for dinner. A rose I had this summer that I liked a lot was this one: What's on y'all's menus?

I'm always surprised that one of the favorite Christmas cookies is a simple meringue. I color them red and green, and sprinkle with sanding sugar before baking. Because one has a ton of egg whites after making eggnog from @BonVivant's recipe (or was it @ninagluck?). I will say that this year I'm going to cut back on the proportion of PGA. That stuff was potent. And I'm still chuckling about the look I got at the liquor store when I went in asking for Everclear.

I have an apple tree in the back yard that had a bountiful crop this year. Not sure the variety, but a tart green apple. I've cooked a lot of apple crisps and just plain old apples fried in butter and finished with a sprinkle of brown sugar and cinnamon. Still a few out there I should bring in. And I gave apples to everyone I knew.

@fug -- Those crab cakes look marvelous, and after reading (and saving!) the recipe, they are now on my list for the next fancy dinner party or brunch I do. Actually, I think they'd be marvelous for brunch as part of a crab cake benedict, with the mustard sauce instead of hollandaise..... Off to Sam's, where one can get relatively decent lump crab, vac-packed and frozen...at least, the best I'll get here in the landlocked middle of the country.

Lovely trip, both scenery and food. Thank you for taking us along.

It's really good on roasted carrots. I know this because I used it by mistake one time.

May God rest her soul and comfort her family. She will be greatly missed.

I found a recipe years ago somewhere that I still love (may have been Food52). Just mix equal portions honey and miso; cut eggplant into 1 1/2-inch cubes, salt and drain for 30 minutes or so, then toss in the honey-miso mixture and roast; best of my recollection, 400 for 20-25 minutes. I also like to just roast big thick slices, then dip in egg wash and bread in a panko-Parmesan mixture, fry in about 1/4 inch of oil, and then cover with marinara and bake briefly. I always peel my big globe eggplants; don't peel the long, slender lighter purple ones. I have also had, somewhere, a different sort of eggplant parmesan, where the eggplant was sliced thin, maybe 1/8 inch, and layered (uncooked?) with lots of cheese and meat sauce, then baked. That's good, too. And there's an eggplant casserole featuring little more than eggplant, eggs, cheese and cracker crumbs that my favorite meat-and-three in Memphis serves. Which I've tried to make (with THEIR recipe, in THEIR recipe book) and can't get close to. So I keep going there, which is likely their entire plan.