Thanks for the Crepes

They do, indeed look wonderful to me. Lightly breaded, with my most coveted part, the tentacles! Not to rub it in or anything but I have access to fresh squid at my nearby fish monger. That one is my "to make" list along with head-on shrimp next time my husband gets a craving for their shop-fried fin fish.

Barbie's hula skirt is made from daikon? I'm looking forward to seeing what you will make out of these unfamiliar ingredients, and No. 4. This thread has been a lot of fun!

@rotuts, I would go the cheapest route that worked, but I'm kind of a cheapass. I had one infestation years ago, so I can sympathize. The eggs or larvae come in from things you bring into your home from suppliers. I don't consider it a reflection on my cleanliness and housekeeping, but I certainly had a hard time until I figured out that those lure traps seem to be the only thing that works effectively, having had no previous experience at all with the little buggers anywhere I have lived. I might be battling them still if it weren't for the internet. My traps were ordered online from someplace I can't remember after all these years, but I don't remember them being as expensive as either of your examples. Even after I learned about and got the traps, it took months to completely eliminate them from my home. As you say, once they sprout wings, they will migrate all over your house, probably laying more eggs, every time they get a chance. The cheap traps I bought did work, and I haven't had another problem with them. I hope I never do again. Good luck getting rid of yours.

I had to Google "arvo". According to the results, it's an Australian slang expression for "afternoon" and is pronounced ah-vo. Is that correct, sartoric? I just love getting glimpses into cultures from around our country and the world, that we get here on eG. I'll look forward to your challenge list and the dishes you create with them.

Great sounding cheeseburger, suzi! I had never had and did not know what kettle corn was until someone mentioned it on here (maybe you?). I had to make this salty/sweet delicacy, and I wound up making this version. It results in a messy to clean pan, but worth it for the results.

Eew! They would have to be from little animals like birds or something. Looks like plant material to me though.

This is some kind of aquatic plant. The locals called it "seaweed" but Hunan is landlocked and hundreds of miles from the sea so I am sceptical. It was good though. Above is a quote from @liuzhou, the rest are my words: Is the No. 3 image some sort of preserved form of what you posted about in this dish from Hunan? You do realize you're driving me craz/y(ier) right?

Excellent extrapolation! I am learning so much here about things I have never heard of before. I also am dying to know what the Barbie hula skirt (No. 3) is, and also the No. 1 image that is so much like dried lily buds, as weinoo said.

suzi, We got the same Associated Press update here, and I had read nothing except the headline until you mentioned it too. It's not something I think would be worth the calories. More power to those who like this new product though, I can't really believe it would be as good as the freshly fried product one can get at the fair. That might? be worth the empty calories? Apparently the brand has cleaned up the trans fat, so that is very good.

@liuzhou, you must be magic. Now, when I popped the link back up, Google Translate offered me the opportunity for translation to English. It was pretty bad, but intelligible. Thanks.

@robirdstx, Not in the running for the competition, but a small suggestion for whenever you use the snowpeas. I love them in a stirfry, and we had them Thursday and tonight as leftovers. Note: snowpeas are not as good as reheated leftovers, but the dish was still very tasty. Top/tail and throw into some cold water with ice if you have it and store in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. It will make them extra crispy/snappy. Drain and dry very well. Only put them in your stir fry at the last minute or so of cooking. They are extra good with fresh mushrooms, but I did not have any for the dish I made. I hope you enjoy whatever you end up making, and I'll be eagerly anticipating your report.

I think this is the kind of peppers he grew that allowed me to recognize yours as tiny hot peppers. I thought of "Facing Heaven" peppers, because they did grow upright from the plant, but that was not right. I do not even recognize the language in the linked page, and my best guess from lame attempts at translation is Thai? Perhaps @liuzhou, the linguistics master may assist?

@JoNorvelleWalker, Well your dish looked quite pretty. As did the homemade baguette you showed earlier somewhere on here. Herbs were basil and/or parsley?

Normally, I'd agree, pastrygirl. It would hurt me to do it, too. But fresh, live scallops are not even allowed to be brought in to shore here in that form because of their extreme perishability. Perhaps, as you say, that diminishes once you separate the abductors from the roe. I have never seen frozen scallop roe on offer here anywhere, and if it were a viable product, I'm confident it would be. Also, @Dennis1404's plan is to keep them intact in the shells. Prevailing wisdom says no. Also, perhaps the prevailing wisdom to separate the abductor from the roe immediately on the boat might affect the fridge shelf life of said abductors and make it longer than those that have been out of the water for three (or more?) days and not shucked/separated. Here is what our member @johnnyd, who has a licence to harvest scallops in the cold waters of Maine has to say on the matter, and here's another and another. I would love to be convinced that this is another example of government overreach and anyone who knows me is aware that I am certain the government is not our friend. Still, I must err of the side of caution when it comes to food safety. The consequences are too high for me, and I see no possible ulterior motive in this instance on the govt's part.

No. 3 image almost looks like it's doubled over, so it might be twice as long as your measurement. Is it a kind of dried seaweed/aquatic plant? It looks like it might not be able to support itself under its own weight otherwise, but most dried seaweed I've seen is greener in color. And by the way, if someone thinks I cheated on image No. 2, here is what Google's image comparison software thinks it is.

On image No. 2: I know you are very capsaicin tolerant, but for the love of Pete! If they are anything like the ones the boyfriend grew in our garden, be advised that even he only used them for too-much-testosterone-fueled dares to his buddies to "just eat one". Only a sadist could be amused at the aftermath of a grown man's reaction to one of these tiny raw peppers. I'd try to warn them, but you know young men gotta do the macho thing. I hope you enjoy, but I'm a little worried. I tried the tiniest tip of one once, and it was incapacitating for a while. Beautiful plant though. It could be grown as an ornamental indoors if you had enough sunlight. It's a little bush pepper with small, bright green glossy leaves and deceptively small fruits that pack the hardest punch I ever personally experienced. I have tried habanero pepper. I have no clue on No. 1 or No. 3. I recognized No. 2 legitimately, but did ask for help from Mr. Google on the other images. If I had agreed with his results, I would have divulged my cheat. Google thinks, No. 1 is Chinese noodles, and No. 3 is a bird's nest. Sheesh, a hula skirt for a Barbie doll would be closer. I think they need to spend a bit more time at the drawing board on the image comparison part of the software.

All points taken, huiray. Especially the one about being able to cook excellent food yourself should not keep one from dining out. I cook most nights, and I do love it, but if I knew that I wouldn't have some break from it occasionally I am pretty sure, I'd lose my love for cooking and slowly go insane(r). My comment about cooking skills and quality ingredients was sincerely meant as a compliment to you. I am in awe of some of the stuff you can and do lay your hands on at the various markets available to you and the dishes you create and share with us here. I just like feeling I get my money's worth when I eat out, and my standards are pretty high. My budget being not as high as my standards makes it difficult, but I manage to do pretty well anyway. However, you did say that after one bite, you did not consume the rest of that shrimp. That is where I got the "inedible". I suppose if it truly were inedible, you would have had to spit it out, a la Gordon Ramsey.

As I said, I have no experience with the live version of scallops. I am definitely not the one to ask whether what you plan is safe. The consequences, as you probably already know, can be very high with spoiled shellfish. I do know your procedure is not recommended and that I, personally, always err on the side of caution and safety when handling, cooking and serving shellfish, especially to guests. I would freeze the abductors immediately, save the shells, wash them well. You can run them through a dishwasher if you have one. Thaw scallops in cold water the day of, cook and serve on the shells for a festive look. Good luck, be safe and have fun! Please report back on whatever you decide to do.

@liuzhou, Like weinoo, I also thought your first mystery ingredient was dried lily buds, but that theory did not pan out. Is the second ingredient a tiny hot pepper? An old boyfriend grew something similarly colored and they were WAY too hot for me. Our dinner was just the leftover stir fry from last night with a lettuce, tomato, cucumber and cheddar salad, more cantaloupe, Thompson seedless grapes and black muscadines from right here in NC. Food Lion has finally come up with a marketing scheme I can get behind and is offering locally produced products in its mainstream grocery stores here in the Southeast. The last marketing scheme I remember was "We are lowering prices!". If you were familiar with their prices, they actually raised many of them.

Thanks @cyalexa!

Gah! After reading only this part of your post, I forgot I was on the Food Funnies thread, and took you seriously. I was so excited that you would be venturing into the Mexican arena. Well, I read a tiny bit further, and realized where I was.

I have never been lucky enough to be able to purchase live scallops in the shell. It's illegal in most places in the USA to even bring them in on the boats that way because they are so perishable once out of the sea. I keep live oysters, clams or mussels in the fridge for a few days, but that seems not to be the advice for scallops. "How to tell if a scallop is still alive… Live scallops will have their shell at least slightly opened. They should close at least slightly when pinched or tapped on the counter. Scallops really should be cleaned as soon as possible, as opposed to keeping them alive until just before you cook them. If you must keep them in the shell for a day, put them on a tray in your refrigerator and cover them with a damp cloth." Above quote is from the SaltChef website here. There is also information on this website on storing live scallops in the shell. If you do wind up shucking and freezing them, that reddish-orange stuff in there (if any) is roe, and should be either frozen (I have no idea if it freezes well) or what I would do is cook it up fresh in butter for cook's treat and freeze the abductor muscles for your dinner on Saturday. If you do not mind saying, @Dennis1404, where are you that you can mail order this delicacy, and where can others of us get some?

@Darienne and @JoNorvelleWalker, Don't you hate those new fangled one-piece spice shaker tops!? They have gotten me more than once too. I have to use a metal tool to flip up the flap to the shaker because it hurts my fingers and nails to try to do it by hand. I have saved some of the old-style spice containers with the removable plastic shaker lids with holes and a screw-off solid top. Wash them out and save the jars for when I buy one of the new-style and transfer the contents to the old-style ones. That is how badly I despise the new design, which probably saves the manufacturer .000000000001 cent per unit.

cyalexa, Do you slice the avocado or mash it up into a creamy dressing? Seasoning, onion, vinaigrette? I still have a bunch of that delicious but huge cucumber my brother grew and an avocado. We have eaten on it twice, but there is still a lot left. I swear it reminded me of a small baseball bat, and was amazed it was not only edible, but much, much better than the store ones I've reluctantly become accustomed to.

Are those very realistic starfish also edible? If so, very cool, and very nice work either way. Glad your beautiful creation survived the 90 mile drive in the heat.