dcarch

How many pawpaw trees do you have? Years ago, I planted two pawpaw trees because pawpaws are not self-fertile. Just when they were about old enough to set fruit, one tree died!😒 So I am planting four more. I am not taking any chances.😋 dcarch

A friend gives me mooncakes every year because she and her family don't like them. I give her mooncakes to someone else because I don't like them either. This year I decided to make my own with my own recipe. Not bad results. Main idea was to use pistachio nut paste instead of lotus seed paste. The pictures show progress of my skill in the making. the 3rd and 4th one look like mooncakes. dcarch

Time for some BLT. My 2024 version, YMMV🙂 Bad year for home grown tomatoes due to weather, but there is always a need for BLTs. My BLTs: B - Bacon is what BLT all about. You need a massive amount of B. But we know what B can do to your waist line and arteries. So lots of fat is rendered off or cut off, leaving lots of guilt-free lean crispy meat which has the most B flavor. L - Pick the best leaves from your lettuce garden. Make sure there is not one drop of water on the leaves. T - You will have more than one BLT, right? So you need Green, yellow, red, pink, black --- tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes could mean soggy BLTs. 1/2 dehydrated tomatoes slices to make them less watery and concentrated flavor. B - Bread is obviously important. Toasted white bread is not the right texture and flavor for me. Naan bread is what I prefer. Lets see your versions 😊😋 dcarch

Squash greens are delicious. Pick them young. After cooking the fussy hair will all get very soft. dcarch

This is a beauty, according to it's mother. There are "Beauty Contests" for this kind of extraordinary beauties. I am sure this one will win a few contests. dcarch

I had the luck and pleasure of having been invited to enjoy some truly rare authentic old school Italian cuisines at these unique NYC establishments: Il Vagabondo, now closed. It had an indoor bocce court in the dining room. Tiro a Segno: Still in operation. Known as the “Privatest of all private clubs”. It actually has an indoor shooting range. A typical lunch or dinner takes at least four hours, not because they have slow workers. https://nypost.com/2024/05/17/us-news/inside-tiro-a-segno-the-private-nyc-club-with-a-gun-range/ dcarch

Thanks! Finally I now have a mental view of where they come from, each time as I enjoy the unique flavor imparted by black beans. Speaking of fermented black beans, another interesting and delicious seasoning ingredient I enjoy is fermented black olives. Are they made by the same people ? dcarch

Interesting. I am surprised that no one has done this? You can make sous vide bags practically any size and any shape, using sous vide plastic material. I have been doing this for very big items, like a turkey. I use an electric heat gun to weld sous vide sheets together to make bags. The bags come out leak-proof. dcarch

I am sure many of you can remember, a famous chef sous vided a whole pig, in a plastic garbage bag. dcarch

Death Valley, 132F air temperature a few days ago. How hot is 132F? I sous vide'd salmon at 132F. Too well done for me. Veggies from my garden. dcarch

I am not sure why gasohol makers do not add those stabilizers if they work. The 10 gallon gas tank I have has phase separated into gasoline and 1/4 water/ethanol. I am still trying to find out how I can properly dispose of them. dcarch

Gardening has been a disaster this past spring. 🥶 All machines to prepare the garden in spring were not working. The rototiller, the mower, the chainsaws, the tractor ---------!. Have you heard of "Phase Separation"? Gasohol, if the supplier is not careful in handling, or if your gas tanks are not that good, phase separation can happen and can ruin your engine operated tools. Anyone have advice to deal with this situation? My Honda rototiller manual says, "if you use gasohol, your warranty is voided". Here in NY, you can't buy regular gasoline. dcarch

A tiny knife sharpener? Shown upside down in the picture. dcarch

Garlic scapes from the garden. squid on Garlic scapes dcarch

Yes, Hosta shoots and Hosta blossom scapes are vegetables in some Asian countries. dcarch

Not very funny for whoever did this. After the picture taken, he/she had to eat scones for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday for a few weeks. dcarch 🙂 🙂

Hosta shoots are delicious, and free. Chicken with mushroom sauce on Hosta shoots. dcarch

Garlic scapes time. More to come. dcarch

I don't think Florida gets snow. dcarch 🙂

1. Develop a plan for summer outage and a plan for winter outage. 2. Develop a menu for power outage cooking. 3. If the restaurant has a parking lot, solar panels are nice. They keep the customer's cars cool in summer and your need to remove snow less in the winter. 4. If you have a truck, the truck generator with an invertor can give you some additional emergency power with a long extension cord. 5. You need to check your generator's specifications and see if it can work well with gasohol and the possible problem with "phase separation" with gasohol for all generators. 6. Review safety for dry ice use in enclosed areas. dcarch

Hosta! Hosta! in NY they come before asparagus. I have been told a few times, " DC, how can you be so cruel?! Eating beautiful baby hosta?!" Well, hosta is a vegetable in some parts of the world. A trick for you to try: Just before the shoots break ground, cover them with black plastic. You get these incredible blanched shoots. crispy and tender. Delicious for cooking or in salads. They taste like a blend of endive and asparagus. A real delicacy from Mother Nature. Yes, hostas can be expensive to buy from a nursery, but its easy to start from their seeds. I have a few hundred clumps in my garden. You can't kill them. dcarch

Although we were only in 90% eclipse path, it was still a very amazing event. Even dogs in the area were barking when the sky was getting darken. It's been known that some animals (humans? 😊) behave strangely during a solar eclipse. When eggs were on sale, I bought a few dozens. They are taking too much room in the fridge. Have been trying to find ways to use them up. So made this dish for a quick dinner. Sunny Side Up Eggclipse Fried sunny-side-up eggs on squid ink pasta, painted with home made black garlic sauce. dcarch

I have a laptop in the kitchen on news most of the time, in case WWIII starts. Other times the laptop is on YouTube. So if I am cooking French (food), it will be playing French music, if I am cooking Indian, it will be Indian music, so on and so forth. You can find music in any culture on YouTube. dcarch

A belated Easter dinner. SV roasted prime rib steak. I had a bone to pick with the butcher. The way he cuts the steaks. The rib bones are not parallel to the face of the meat, which makes it difficult to have a steak with uniform thickness. So I use my reciprocating multitool to slice the bone lengthwise. Not messy and quick. dcarch

Shelby, sorry that you have to go thru this not very pleasant situation. Plenty of folks here will give you food and eating ideas to minimize discomfort. Someone I know had gone thru the same thing during the pandemic. The dental office shut down in the middle of her procedure because the dentist died and a few of the assistants got infected. Hope everything will go smooth for you. Let us know your progress, all information are very much on-topic food/eating that would be beneficial for everyone here. dcarch 😒