pastameshugana

Somewhere my Italian grandmother is rolling over in her grave. 😆

What - you think I live in Yorktown Heights?! Or Princeton?! Seriously. Yikes. I've never considered them, but of course you see them on 'all the cool cooking shows' so I just went and looked at prices. I'd have to sell a kid. Or a kidney. Or both.

That's makes at least two of us. I don't know if I can state that they are 'good' but Kraft M&C and cheap Ramen packets are something I occasionally crave. They kept me alive through my bachelor and early marriage years, and we make sure to keep them in stock (Ramen more so than Kraft, but still).

The 'finger licking braised pork' looks more like chocolate cake to me...

I must confess, when I saw the thread title I was secretly hoping nobody had replied so I could be first with "The sea". Oh well. Ba-dum-tish.

Yesterday Mr's M requested bread, and not being very busy at the moment I was happy to oblige - cracked out a couple of basic baguettes: With which she made what appeared to be a delicious alfredo which was humorously (in light of a recent pasta shapes thread) paired with farfalle. We had a spirited family discussion on the merits of the shape, and consensus is about 50/50. They turned one of my loaves into garlic bread: And yesterday a gift arrived that my wife ordered some time last week:

How have I lived this long and never heard of gingersnap gravy? Have I been under a rock? That sounds amazing! Can you share your recipe or link to it if it's elsewhere? Thanks!

Angel hair is great with something super simple: Like browned butter & sage, or just butter & garlic. Or if you're my kids, just OO or butter. But I agree anything meaty or chunky just kills it. And farfalle is a pain in the butt. Even eating it. It just slides around your plate like you're trying to grab the last sliver of a bar of soap with wet hands.

It's been a crazy week at home, myself and one of my sons tested positive for COVID, and a couple others in the house have symptoms. Thankfully it's been VERY minor for us: Just an irritating fever and tiredness. Anyhoo - that means we're all at home for the duration, still waiting on test results on the rest of the clan. We did get out yesterday and the whole family went hiking on a deserted ridge to break the quarantine blues. I had a boneless leg of lamb from Costco I defrosted to smoke. I've never cooked lamb at home, but love eating it. Especially in the 'before times' when we used to travel non-stop. Dry rub, smoked for about 3 hours. My lovely wife made some incredible looking sides of peas and pilaf but alas, last night I discovered I had developed the other symptoms of loss of taste and smell. I can taste sweet and salt, and that's about it. Daughter #1 made some lovely pumpkin pie empanada's for dessert.

Everything about this is perfect: The tomatoes, the crispy bacon, and the photography!

Good times indeed! Your bread looks fantastic, and that schmaltz...oh my. For the 'dolomiti' ice cream - what is the flavor?

Well, son #2 (17) just bought a small home and is preparing to move out in December. Suddenly he has realized that he needs some cooking skills! Tonight our oldest daughter took him under her wing and they made pizza and salad. One was a like a margherita but with a balsamic reduction sauce, and the other had a basic tomato sauce, with salami. They did great at everything except the cleanup...which is par for the course I guess.

Some incredible meals here lately. We've had a hectic schedule so a lot less cooking and pictures lately. @Ann_T I too would like to know your process and ingredients for those stuffed ribs - they sound and look amazing! Last night we had a get together for son and DIL's gender reveal party (don't worry, no forest fires were started in the process). Mr's M was in charge of the food but got behind, so I was tasked with the ground beef taco meat. As usual, I just started a witches brew of spices, including but not limited to: Salt, pepper, freshly ground chiltepin, curry powder, cinnamon, cardamom, a can of El Pato hot sauce, and a stick of butter for some creaminess. It turned out better than it ought've, but sadly I forgot to get any pictures as we were caught up in the moment. And the big news is that our first grandchild will be a boy, and they told us last night they're naming him after me! So - a good time was had by all.

I’m probably imagining it, but it seems like for a pour over, this device would allow the brew to cool more than a ceramic pour over would. Which could be good or bad depending on how you like it.

There are a few places in San Luis, Mexico that marlin tacos with cheese are a specialty. Very nice.

This looks ridiculously good. Food I'd be willing to get fat for. By 'hot honey' are you talking temperature or is it chili-infused? Both sound amazing.

Blake's is an institution around here. People who leave NM will come back just to get one. A friend in town from Tennessee this week is lamenting that he has to leave Blake's again. And rumor has it that one of our 'alumni' living in Rochester, NY will have her parents bring her green chile burgers on the plane when they go to visit.

After thoroughly enjoying tacos al pastor across Mexico (my favorite was in a family owned place in Mexico City - in a pretty bad part of town), and all things gyro, I think that the vertical rotisserie has a number of things going for it. And not the least of which is the fact that on a BIG one, that meat is on that skewer for a long time - and all the intermingling of juices, bacteria, and who-knows-what-else conspires together to make the flavor what it is. All that to say I'm tempted by the little Amazon unit, but it would be missing that 'fungal je nais se quois'. As for tacos al pastor, #2 on my list is a little place in Nogales Mexico that is an open air car wash by day (about 7 bays) and restaurant by night. They tie up the hoses and pull tables out. Truly an incredible meal - it's become an annual tradition.

These last couple of dishes look amazing. Melty cheese, buttery bread, bacon - what's not to love?

Well, as I was scrolling through catching up on this thread, my cat who is on my lap kept trying to bite my iPad. I think that means he approves of your cooking! Last night Mrs M made tomato veggie soup (roasted all the veg and blended) with open faced grilled cheese. This was an outstanding meal for the creeping chill that’s in the evening air around these parts.

This is a thing of beauty.

Well my baking adventures have been getting better, so I ended up with these basic french loaves Tuesday: One went to son & DIL, one seemed to have just vanished ? too much 'testing' I presume, and the other turned into toast and sandwiches: And last week while in Amarillo, TX, I had one of the best bowls of Pho since I was in Ho Chi Minh in February, with oxtail: This was really good, very aromatic, the oxtail was cooked perfect, each little 'nub' of meat popped out clean, and I ate far too much.

If that doesn't describe parenting then I don't know what does. I always tell people "Who needs TV when you've got kids?"

Or the tacos fresco...

So last night I was working on another sourdough (baking it often to try to improve it) and it was looking good, and in final proof, when I heard hair-raising screams outside and my youngest came through the front door yelling "dad come quick!"... So, daughter #2 fell off a little ledge, about 4 feet, into a big nasty patch of cactus, hitting it with sufficient force to drop her onto her bottom and then forward onto her arms... And of course in summer kids are never dressed appropriately to handle stuff like this. I had to cut her clothes off and carry her back to the house, and it took 3 of us 2 hours to get the 'big' needles out. A long soak and ministrations from mom-meshugana and she's doing much better today, thankfully. Parts of her looked like she had fur they were so thick. Needless to say, the sourdough proof was forgotten about, and it collapsed. But after the drama I rediscovered it and tossed it in the oven anyway, and it turned into a ridiculously good french toast in my wife's hands. She paired it with a spinach omelette, and blueberry syrup that the (formerly poky) daughter made a couple days ago.