pastameshugana

Holy crow that sounds amazing! Guess what I'm making next?

Judiu, gloves are the best bet. I was sore for hours afterward! Except plastic gloves make it difficult to peel and seed the roasted chiles. --- - From iPhone using Tapatalk

Today I noticed with great delight that the big cases if hatch chiles are back. They will roast them for you in the big drum roasters outside for free with the purchase of a case (23.99 here). After two hours cleaning and seeding, my hands are on fire (what a dope), but I've got about 15 one pound bags, and can't wait to start cooking with them. Here's some pictures: And this is the 'juice' left in the bottom of the bag from the chiles after roasting, I think it'll be a good lube (in place of water) when I start blending these for green sauce: --- - From iPhone using Tapatalk

So now what? I've used most of one jar, what can I do with these pods? Can I just add more vodka, reuse the pods, or ?? Ideas appreciated! --- - From iPhone using Tapatalk

That looks and sounds amazing - I had to look up melted onion, sounds wonderful! For dinner we grilled some ribeyes that I sliced over fettuccine with a roasted sweet pepper alfredo. Very yummy!

Resurrecting an old thread to ask about Saitama prefecture. My wife and I have been thinking about moving our family to Japan next year, and Saitama is rising to the top of our list of possibilities. It's close to Tokyo so we can hop on the train to get the city experience, but far enough out to have some quiet (and cheaper!) living. Recently looked at some flats in Fujimino. Anyone with experience care to weigh in? Is there a street-food culture in this region? Any other places we should be looking at?

Scott - I don't think I'd ever get inked, but if I did, you're wearing the only tattoo I could ever get. ...and beautiful piggy skin.

Haven't hard-cooked an egg in years, but now I'm going to have to try just so I can try to 'blow' the egg out of the shell!

Ok, considering the Bradley and adding a PID, where do I look for directions/etc for doing this right?

That's a gem!

Bud, we're in Hobbs, NM.

heidih - that pasta (and those shrimp!) looks wonderful!

My grandfather (also a minister) is known to interrupt particularly long-winded prayers with "Amen!" and digging in. And - to the question: free form for our family. It's entertaining to see what the kids come up with, sometimes.

Of course. And our kids take turns doing it, the three older ones each have an 'assigned' meal (breakfast/lunch/dinner) so they don't fight over it (the irony!). I don't know what we'll do now that #4 is getting older and #5 is on the way. I guess we'll just have to eat more meals.

Sylvia - I need a vendor that will ship the meat, as I'm in the Southwest US.

I've been to the (one) local butcher, and there's some decent stuff, but I'm looking to buy something special. Where would you recommend I go online for a reliably excellent pair of steaks to be shipped to me? I just need enough for two people, and I'm not picky about the cut, as long as it's truly excellent. Any recommendations of vendors you've had a good experience with? Any specific products?

We have a friend whose kids are veeery picky, and we have to pull tricks like that when they come over. A few weeks back we had some adults over that refused to eat vegetables. I ended up wrapping asparagus in bacon to get them to eat it!

My pleasure, that soup is a great one to make and freeze in the chest freezer for quick meals.

Percyn, We were there 2.5 years. It was a lot of fun! From iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm hoping to do some deep-frying in mine outside this summer, have fun experimenting!

The three older ones are really wanting to help, so we've been finding them jobs to do. The 10 year old was slicing strawberries for breakfast the other day, which gave me heartburn, but I guess that's why they invented emergency rooms, right? The kids were all raised to eat what we eat, but they have their picky moments. For instance, in the veggie pasta above, the 5 year old (the two older ones are at a friends house, Bhuwhahahahaa!) decided today she wanted no veggies at all. We told her she could take one of the ingredients out, her choice. She picked out the mushrooms. On occasion, if we're going to eat something 'out there' we'll make something else, usually just a version of the dish. With pasta they will very often want it plain, with no sauce/etc. In those cases they have to have one helping with sauce, and then as much as they want without. We've been very blessed to have good (albeit very active!) kids.

Ok, I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to wrap up the blog with one final meal. I've been balancing 15hrs/day at my 'real' job (thankfully I work at home), plus an annual project while cooking this week. I must say I've had a blast, and have really enjoyed having you along for the ride! I've been a bit of a lurker here, and I'm glad to be able to 'give back' a little bit. Here is last night's dinner that got postponed to today's lunch: Steamed Veggie Pasta. This is really one of my absolute favorite dishes, it taste's so much better than you can imagine by reading the ingredients or looking at the pictures. Veggies chopped up (onion, zucchini, tomato, portobello, serrano and red jalapeno): The little ramekins hold the secret ingredients: Coconut milk with about 7 cloves of diced garlic & black pepper in one, long serrano slices in the other. These heat up while steaming and are the sauce when it's done. Trust me, this dish demands coconut milk. I made it once with regular milk and I almost cried it was so sad. I do the ramekins first to let the garlic & chili macerate it. Put the 'hard' veggies in the bottom tray, salt & pepper, soft ones in the top, salt & pepper again. Now, the 'romantic' way is to use the bamboo steamers and steam the veggies on the pot you're boiling the pasta in, and it works, it's just a pain b/c the pot has a tendency to boil over this way. You're also limited in the quantity you can make. I would recommend just getting a steamer for the veggies. When the pasta is ready, strain it and toss the veggies with the 'sauce' and grated Parmesan in the noodles, and you're golden! Super healthy, colorful, really tasty. What more could you ask for? I've made this with spaghetti, angel hair, bowties and penne - they're all wonderful. Thanks so much again for reading. Till next time, Jonathan

It would be a full house, for sure. There's already 4 mini-meshugana's running around, with another 'in the oven'. It's a big happy family at our house.

We went out and stumbled on an outdoor concert and stayed too long. Now I'm out if time to cook the pasta dish I've already prepped for. The good news is tomorrow's lunch is ready to go! From iPhone using Tapatalk

When we were still in India and could buy it fresh and cheap: 5 teaspoons each darjeeling and assam black, steeped 5 minutes. Into 1 gallon of water with 1/2 cup sugar, 1tsp local honey and a dash of salt. It was the best I've ever had.