thatchairlady

Part of my brain REALLY wants to know what this stock will be used for in the end? If it something that ABSOLUTELY has to be clear? If no, WHY bother with this stuff?

Not much into HEAT but once had a messa jalapenos left over from pot of chili. Think 2-3 lb bag, REALLY cheap, but proved to be really HOT... at least on my scale!?! Knew they would just go bad before I got around to wanting a little heat. Knew I could chop & freeze, but space is at a real premium. I hauled out my cheap-o dehydrator. I cut off stems and split length-wise. I juat let dehydrator do its thing until peppers were "crispy". Then ground in "coffee" grinder that I use for spices to get coarse jalapeno powder. Nce substitute for black pepper or cayenne.

It has been several years since local Super Fresh went out of business. Was favorite place to shop... close, clean, good prices/selection and BIG areas of what I called "less than perfect" produce. First section I'd come into was produce... but guess that's how all supermarkets work, huh?? They always had a bunch of produce (veggies & fruit) that were just no longer picture perfect, imo?!? One day bought a BIG bag of small artichokes... had a few outside leaves that I was gonna THROW OUT anyway... t least a dozen for maybe $2. One day bought 3-4 bags of assorted tomatoes for next to nothing. Nothing GROSS though a few that had gotten a bit squished by larger ones. I peeled, chunked and canned for next to nothing. In the meat section, they's often have stuff reduced. NEVER with yesterday's or even today's date... usually 2-3 days from sell-by date. Stopped at Acme today for a few things. They had 2 packages of sirloin chunks... like for soup/stew r grinding for burgers. Sell-by date was tomorrow, each was marked 50% off and they were BOGO!?! HOW could I possibly NOT buy them both!?! I really can't remember last time I checked date on something that I'd sorta consider non-perishable for a LONG time... canned, jarred, packaged, dry stuff. I try not to get to crazy with my "pantry" items and periodically do a reorganization to make sure things get a bit of a rotation.

I'm a big yard sale & thrift shop fan. Have a growing collection of cast iron and haven't paid more than $5 for any piece. I look for a "name"... Lodge is good, but Griswold or Wagner is better, imo... NEVER any "made in CH... stuff! Unknown CRUD is NOT an issue. A trip thru the self-clean cycle of oven or quick/dirty clean up with oven cleaner will get pieces ready to reseason and get to cooking with. Found a Lodge, 2-burner, grill/griddle for $5 at a yard sale where people were also selling a lot of camping gear. After I cleaned up the very minor schmutz, it kinda lived on my stove top. Found that if lowest burner just wasn't low enough, I could put pot right on top of griddle and use it as a flame "tamer". When I realized I was RARELY gonna use all that cooking surface, I gave it to my sister. Later found a BIG round Griswold griddle that's slick as glass to take its place. I think people pretty much GIVE cast iron away... donation or yard sale... cuz they 1) don't like the weight, 2) THINK they need non-stick or 3) don't know what a great thing they have.

Don't think I've ever even considered eating the SKINS?? Way to tough & rough?!? I like beets roasted... S&P, olive oil and into foil in oven. Since I PEEL them, thought what a waste of the seasoning and olive oil?? Now I boil them for maybe 10 minutes, then let cool enough to handle and peel. THEN into foil with seasonings and oil. I think beets are one of those rare veggies that almost CAN'T be over-cooked... might have different degrees of doneness but never seem to get mooshy.

Haven't actually bought/cookd beef bacon, but have done beef spare ribs... not short ribs. Tasty. As for Gwaltny... I like their bacon.

Bought a set of silicon bakeware at a yard sale... had never been used or even fully out of packaging?? Think there was a round & square (brownie) pan and a cupcake pan. Didn't dawn on me to fill cups ON a baking sheet, so was a bit tricky getting off counter and onto pan. And EVERYTHING stuck?? Used once, clean up thoroughly and donated to thrift store. I use paper liners in metal pan for cupcakes. Overlapping pieces of parchment for things like lemon bars and brownies. And parchment off a roll for cookies.

At one, found an unopened package of 8" wide bags and an almost full roll of 11" wide bags to be. Didn't need the food saver or attachments, since already have one that works fine... another yard sale find from past. Seller said what would you like to pay? I KNEW what the bags cost and threw out $5 offer which was eagerly taken. At another sale, I see a much more advanced FS... with buttons for speed of vac & dry/moist foods... and a few others. Had most of a roll of wide bag material sitting inside & a box (unopened) marked "Super Value Pack" of rolls of bag stuff. It had a $10 price tag on it & I was willing to pay that, as long as that box-o-bags came with it. I walked over to seller and might have said something as simple as "that foodsaver on the table?" and she says $5... WITH the bags! It's an "older" model... horizontal instead of vertical, so couldn't find a price/value other than on Ebay... $40-80 being asked. At FS site, the unopened box-o-bags costs about $40 and package of maybe 40 bags costs over $20. Thinking my $10 purchases would probably be at least $100... I'm a happy camper! I REALLY like this thing since cooking for one. A regular sized package of bone-less chicken breasts (usually 4 pieces) is easily 2 meals (plus left-overs for lunch), so I just repackage and freeze. Any thing rock hard frozen is ready to cook after less than half hour in container of room temp water... and I never find any "mystery" items in bottom/back of freezer that are burnt beyond use.

MANY years ago, former neighbor (RIP) planted bamboo in low corner of his yard. Eventually, it started RUNNING. It's TOTALLY invasive, but could stp on sprouts and they didn't come back... just kept running underground. I was teaching ESL/ABE classes at a community college and mentioned it was bamboo "season" in NJ. Asian ladies PERKED up... said fresh bamboo shoots were something like $20/lb in CHinatowns. I brought in bags full for hem and got some interesting/tasty lunches in the process.

Crab cakes are a bit of a splurge ($$), but when meat is at a good price... I'm making CCs the way my grandmother did. She'd add some VERY finely diced onion & bell pepper, a little mayo, an egg, and just a little bread crumbs or crushed saltines. Don't think she EVER had hot sauce in her kitchen, but I like a few good shakes from the bottle in mine. Shape cakes and stick in fridge to firm up a bit. Into beaten egg and then seasoned crumbs. Shallow fried in BACON GREASE. I like homemade cocktail sauce with mine... enough horseradish to make it PINK.

When I was a kid, had an "old" couple living nextdoor. Couldn;t have been THAT old since their 14-15 yo daughter baby sat from time to time. Mrs. Bledsoe mad FRIED cabbage!! She's start with a few strips of bacon... rendered and crispy... and retrieved till end. Chunked upcabbage in bacon fat, a slsh of vinegar and bacon added at the end. YUMMY!!

I learned kitchen/cooking basics from my Grandmother. Don't even have to THINK to put together her veggie, navy bean or split pea soup "recipes"... pretty much DUMP recipes. She always said a bay leaf (or 2) was ABSOLUTELY required... so you added them. Had NO idea they even had a flavor until I bought my own after getting married?? God only knows how OLD hers were, but they NEVER had the flavor or even ones that came in jar off supermarket shelf.

I found a big old cast iron Dutch oven at a yard sale several years ago. It was CHEAP, relatively clean, but had no lid or handle (bale??). It's all CI (no enamel surfaces) cleaned up nicely and reseasoned. I discovered a glass lid from a casserole I already had fit perfectly. I would measure diameter of pot and head to a thrift store!?! I see lots of LIDS with no pot/casserole. WOuld even buy a set and just give the container back!?!

Like to use a baked potato as a base for lunch/dinner. Topped with home-made chili or sloppy joe... easy lunch. Have ya ever had one EXPLODE in oven?? Can't remember ever poking potatoes when I was growing up... never had one explode. Since I've had my own kitchen for MANY years, always stab a few times with a fork. Over past year have had THREE explode?? Opened oven door to check and insides of potato all over inside of oven! Another time reached in to give a squeeze to test for doneness and EVERYTHING inside came FLYING out all over the oven... just skin left in oven mitt?!?

No plans for a party at my house. BUT planning to make something for GREAT nextdoor neighbor who ALWAYS rescues me when we get snow! He NICELY yells at me to go back inside when I come out with snow shovel & flat out refuses any monetary payment... even for his boys who he puts to work! Have made pepperoni bread in past... a HIT! Made a riff on that with "taco" bread. Maybe a big fat muffaletta sandwich... for the sports fans!?!