gulfporter

This NY Times article from a few days ago on the decline in Craft Brewers. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/27/dining/drinks/craft-beer.html I agree with @mgaretz. It's the overcharging by restaurants that's causing the fewer glasses sold at this SF restaurant. While the article indicates this restauranteur reports their sales of reds are down 27%, whites are also down 13% Why the disparity? I looked at this restaurant's website and while it only shows samples of its offerings, many of its mains showcase wagyu beef, duck, oxtail; items that most would order with a red wine. Yes it sells meals that are vegetarian or fish/lobster, IMO it's the sort of place you go for a splurge meal and you may want The Big Meal. Personally when we are in the US I limit myself to 1 glass of wine when eating out since even in the Tucson area they average $12 and up. When we are in Mexico I don't always, but won't hesitate to order 2 glasses as they average 60 to 90 pesos ($3.90 to $4.30 USD equivalent).

@Tropicalsenior No natural sea salt in Costa Rica with all your coastlines? Here in Jalisco we get natural salt from small producers on the west coast, often from the state of Colima (just to our south). Sold at local stores and even our Walmart, and Amazon Mexico. Cheap, no added iodine or fluoride.

Growing up poor, my parents would buy super thin pork chops. My mother worked evening shift so my Dad would make dinner. He'd fast-fry the pork chops in an iron skillet, slap them between two pieces of white bread with ketchup. We'd eat around the bone.

Grilled Black Forest Ham, Imported Swiss Cheese, Dijon mustard, locally made mango chutney on a local bakery's black olive and thyme sourdough. Mi esposo's fave sandwich, he earned it as his reward for unboxing and setting up our Christmas tree.

The water is bottled by Coca Cola (in Monterrey)...have seen it in US too, Topo Chico. The beer is Heineken 00 (non alcoholic). My fridge always has a supply of both and has for at least 5 years.

Only in Mexico is the 🚰 more than the 🍺

Those are beauties! This is the pan I used, (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

When I moved to Virginia in 1971 I was surprised that in Southside Virginia, a cold sauerkraut salad was always on the Thanksgiving menu. It was simple, with a sweet and sour dressing and finely diced red bell pepper and celery. I also learned that in the African American communities, macaroni and cheese was de rigueur. On our ethnic (Lithuanian) table in northeast Pennsylvania there was always my Uncle's homemade fresh kielbasa )not smoked). And our stuffing was ground beef and ground pork combined with crushed saltine crackers for most of my youth. Then my Aunt decided we'd be a little more Americanized and we switched over to a typical bread stuffing. I enjoy hearing about local TDay food traditions.

Just the 2 of us. Mi esposo made Jamaican chicken; my side was sweet potato mash with sauteed apple/onions/ and chipotle. He made a weird 2 ingredient pumpkin creme brulee (it worked, mostly) and I did an Apple Cardamom Walnut Crumble Pie that is 90% crumble.

Apple-Cardamom-Walnut Crumble Pie. Far more crumble topping than pie, but that's the way we like it!

I like the meatball idea to preserve the flavor of it; make a richer than normal panade?? You could also go the burger route, either top with or incorporate bacon?? Sounds exciting whichever way you go!

Still good grilling weather here in Tucson. And another Costco lamb rack.

Yes, that's how we are mostly using it. I did some research and there are some dispensers that won't work with certain colors of sponges, though this one wasn't listed or mentioned. I buy my kitchen sponges at Dollar Stores in multi-colored packs. We are using a blue sponge now and working fine. When I toss it out I will try to remember to try a yellow sponge.

Yes. The ad said dish soap would work and so far Dawn is working well. I also like that the battery is a rechargeable via USB cord. Says 1 charge will last 3 months. Also you can set the amount of soap dispensed.

Mi esposo has decided on this recipe which is a Jerk Chicken by Ottolenghi. I will make a side of smashed sweet potatoes with sauteed onions and apples. I normally add chipotle to this side, but will instead add some of the warm Jamaican spices from the chicken recipe. https://ottolenghi.co.uk/pages/recipes/chicken-stephs-spice

Here's a link to the soap dispenser at Amazon, (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

Hesitated to post this as it's not a cooking gadget. But the end result of cooking is clean-up. We have a d/w but we often hand wash items either because it isn't dishwasher-safe or it's too bulky (sheet pans). Hand-washing we use Dawn liquid; we've had it in a pump bottle as well as just the squeeze bottle it comes in. Either way, when you need a bit more of soap on the sponge, you have to put down either the item being washed or the sponge to pump or squeeze the soap. So an early Xmas gift from Amazon was this. It's great! Works perfectly, no after-use drips.

This recipe is identical to the one I use with the exception that I substitute VANILLA extract for the ALMOND extract (family preference). I also squeeze a bit of lemon juice into the blueberry mixture, not a lot, maybe a tablespoon?? I use a pre-rolled store-bought pie crust because I am lazy. https://pieofthebeholder.com/2011/02/14/pie-12-blueberry-sour-cream-pie/

I used to add black pepper to most dishes. But nowadays we make a lot of Asian or Mexican dishes and I find that black pepper doesn't "go" with those dishes. If a dish has chipotle paste or gojuchang pr chili-garlic sauce in it, black pepper doesn't seem necessary, at least to me. YMMV I'll stick with my first choice of spice, Smoked Spanish Paprika (pimenton). I buy the picante ones.

Salt is not considered a spice according to my google searches.

I stole this topic from a NY Times story last week. What spice would you pick? Mine would be Smoked Spanish Paprika

Blueberry Sour Cream Pie. My go to for blueberries. I think the recipe was in Gourmet many many years ago. These days I cheat with a pre-rolled pie crust.

Gojuchang Sheet Pan Dinner.

My last 2 sets of mixing bowls came from Amazon and both have non-skid bases, which I absolutely love! No more chasing a bowl around the kitchen counter. The ones at our MX house are plastic; my newer purchase this year I opted for metal and with lids. These, and it's showing a half-off sale price today. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)