kayb

My sympathies on the dental woes. I am psyching myself and my bank account up for some major work, myself. Try confiting wild duck. I promise you will not regret it. I need to get in touch with my friend the duck hunter and put in a word for some this winter; I'm down to one duck half in the freezer right now. I also have the winning duck gumbo recipe from the World Championship Duck Gumbo cooking contest at the Wings over the Prairie festival in Stuttgart, AR, if you're interested. Happy to send or post on recipe gullet. I always enjoy your blogs, because they're so familiar. And you write so well! Adding my vote to @Toliver for some Chum pix.

Market Basket's generic version will work just fine (or at least Kroger's does!) I'm not Kim, but: 1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix 1 can condensed milk 1 12-oz package frozen whipped topping, thawed 2 cups milk 4-5 bananas, sliced a bag of vanilla wafers or PF Chessmen cookies (I have used graham crackers in a pinch; any shortbreadish cookie will work) Mix the milk and pudding; stir in the condensed milk and whipped topping. Layer cookies, bananas, half of pudding in a 9 x 13 dish; repeat (Paula doesn't layer the extra time, but I prefer it). If you want to be fancy, crush some cookies and top with the crumbs. Chill for a couple of hours. Having had a big dish of same yesterday morning for breakfast, I can confirm @Katie Meadow's supposition it improves overnight.

Outstanding photos, scenery. Thank you.

I don't eat a lot of fast food (I will admit to Taco Bell once every couple of months), but I'm really bad to snack on processed snack foods. Just finished munching a handful of candy corn (is there a higher sugar food on the planet?), and at Sam's today, yielded to temptation and bought a box of Rice Krispy treats (they're gluten-free, I reasoned...). I have two bags of potato chips in the pantry (unopened, at least). I'm not big on sugary cereals, unless I'm eating them dry out of the box as a snack (Froot Loops, anyone?), but I haven't done that in a while. I've been contemplating taking part in the October Unprocessed challenge, which as I understand it involves you limiting your intake for the month to what you cook from raw ingredients, with a minimum of additives. (Unfortunately, I was NOT thinking about that when I bought the Rice Krispy treats!). I could do that easily enough if I stretched the definition of unprocessed to include cheese (ain't giving up cheese, period) and cured meats (a normal lunch, with an apple). H'mm. I have the weekend to consider it.

Fellow soap here. I can eat small quantities of the fresh stuff in combo with other things. Cooked, it doesn't bother me, but it's more that I just can't taste it, so why bother putting it in?

Gorgeous photos (and delectable food). Yet another on the list of "places I'd like to go."

You can juice the berries and the extract works quite well for dyeing Prince Albert tobacco sacks, which are in turn pieced into quilt tops. I have a quilt top made just exactly this way. One of these days, I'll get it quilted (but not by me; my quilting days are long over).

Just give me huevos rancheros and go 'head on.

Will be on the lookout for Arkansas sorghum. Got to go to Hardy in a few days, so I'll check up there, as well.

You ever try confiting any wild duck? I did that with some wood ducks, and since the leg quarters were so small, I just did entire halves, breast and all. Made some of the best cassoulet I ever had in my life! Confit via sous vide is a fine thing. Going to fire up some of my duck hunting buddies this winter to restock.

Had to spring for Southern Cooking for Company. I have the dead tree edition of the Hesser book. It's a good one.

Here's you a quick CSO lunch or dinner. Three corn tortillas. Take one tortilla, top with some seasoned ground beef (I season and brown a pound at a time and use it for assorted applications) and drizzle with enchilada sauce.Add a second tortilla, top with a half-cup of grated cheese, sprinkle with whatever taco seasoning you like. Third tortilla, brush with a thick coat of enchilada sauce, a sprinkle of grated cheese. Steam bake @400 for about 20 minutes. Top with shredded lettuce diced tomatoes, sour cream. I like to add Pancho's dressing (recipe here; Pancho's is a regional only-vaguely-Mexican place that I dearly love). If you're hungry and have them on hand, add another tortilla in the middle with a healthy spread of refried beans on top. This is a much improved version of Taco Bell's Mexican pizza. You could likely use flour tortillas, but I prefer corn ones, plus, that gluten free thing.

Has anyone tried the horseradish dip powder that comes from Penzey's? I had some come as a bonus with an order. Had some "lightly salted" potato chips which had little flavor at all, and cried out for a dip. Didn't have anything, and remembered this was in the cupboard. It mixes with water, sour cream and mayo, and makes a quite creditable dip. I think it would make a decent horseradish sauce, mixed with just creme fraiche or sour cream. Wouldn't be a bad spread for a roast beef sandwich, either.

They have a different-from-tomato-but-you-can-still-tell-it's-tomato taste, is the best way I can describe it. I love them in combo with ripe ones in a BLT or caprese. They also make an excellent base for eggs benedict, should you be looking to cut carbs. For me, it's about the combo in flavoring.

Interesting. Way outside the realm of anything I've tried (I have cured and smoked fish) but I'll be intrigued to see what others' experiences have been. Thanks.

Do NOT neglect the final step, to brush the chicken (or pork) with the sauce after taking it off the grill. It's important.

I think I'm going to make a big batch of Vivian Howard's Blue Q blueberry barbecue sauce and can it, and put it in Christmas baskets. I do love that stuff.

I tend to stick to just salt and pepper. I'd say use any spice you like. One trick for gluten-free breading, which I have not used for FGT but should work, is crushed Rice Chex cereal. I've also seen people bread them in crushed Corn Flakes or potato chips.

Can't beat it.

Thanks. I'll file that away, against the day it ever gets cool enough to bake again....

Depends. If I'm cooking rice by itself, I do 1:1.25 of rice to water; rinse rice first, and use the "rice" setting, which I think is 12 minutes on low pressure, then npr until I'm ready for it. I do a lot of pot-in-pot rice in a stackable tin, with protein/sauce in the bottom tin for part of the time it needs, then add the rinsed rice and water, same proportion, in the second tin on top, and do 12 minutes, HP, and 10-minute npr. Has worked well for me. I had a cheapie Rival rice cooker which I stuck in the garage sale box when I got my IP.

Definitely aliens. Keep an eye on Ronnie and Chum.

Mine arrived today. Have not tried it yet. If you've ordered one, be sure you get the sensor and charger cord out of the box. They're not readily apparent. I had to go out in the garage and retrieve mine. Hope to try it out tomorrow.

FYI: I have found Aldi to be a great source for medjool dates. Sam's has them, too, but Aldi has smaller quantities, and I think they're actually cheaper. I make a spread with chopped dates, chopped olives, capers, olive oil and balsamic vinegar that's marvelous on top of soft cheeses. Sort of a tapenade, I guess. I started out using figs, but was out one day and used dates. They're pretty much interchangeable.

Patina. I'm stealing that. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.