SLB

I love the look of wood, too. What I don't love is the look of aged, crazed, discolored "book-matched veneer", which is what I'm working with. Trust me, I'd replace this table with a lovely long rectangle of wood if it made any money sense at all.

My guess is machine-made; the pattern of the holes is so consistent and orderly. There's no label; how would I be able to tell??

This is not a great photo -- it's a gray day, and just plain dark: I don't know how old the tablecloth is, but I am very confident in my presumption that she did not have a tablecloth until well after WWII, when enough of her 20 children had done well enough for themselves to move her into the kind of house that had an indoor bathroom. I don't even know if it's particularly special; it just was the "fancy" tablecloth in my mother's home. In my child's eye and memory, it is very *pretty*. My adult self prefers block printing, geometrics, etc. Other kinds of visual stimulation.

Also, in my obsession I learned a new term: "Tablescape".

I hunted up this thread because my current obsession is tablecloths. I love textiles, and textile-art, and the whole thing where utility combines with pretty. I've tossed most of my mother's old tablecloths, which were all 1970s polyester. But I have one lace wonder that was my paternal grandmother's, a woman born not long after the end of US slavery. Actually, it's not lace, more like a weave or loose crotchet or something. I have no memory of it having stains during my mother's custody, but when I pulled it out yesterday, it featured several large yellowed areas. Now I want some new ones. Or at least one new one.

I enjoyed it too, although I wanted to hear more from McFadden. Dave can be a bit of a steamroller.

Me too, I'm definitely interested. And, I'm wishing you a nourishing holiday.

Patti-baby. This food you're throwing down on these neighbors in need? It's *sending* them down memory lane, in the very best way. I keep thinking, what must a person feel when they reach into a community fridge and get a meal like one of these??? I said it before, I like everything about this. It's invigorating and humbling and all the things for the season of thanks.

FWIW, I didn't read the detour to food-safety customs as hateration, I saw it as more of a reflex from the professionals who've had the rules branded onto them. Meanwhile, I've been meaning to say, I see all that shiny magnalite in effect! And I see it with my head hanging low in shame, as my own custody of my mother's magnalite has been so derelict that I can't even remember it being shiny, although it sure was shiny when my mother passed it to me back in 1996. It had been my Louisiana grandmothers before (not Lafayette, way over in Terrebone parish). C'est dommage. I'm looking forward to seeing the sammiches.

My first thought was, supply-chain issues.

As always, you and these photos are making the book basically irresistible. In the meantime, if I heard Dave Arnold correctly, McFadden is the guest on next week's episode of the "Cooking Issues" podcast.

First was pureeing tomatoes and chilies for the salsa picante to go with posole. Next was pureeing more tomates and chiles to go into Mexican picadillo de carne molida. [I seem to have Mexican food on the brain these days . . . .]

My neighbor gave me an immersion blender several months ago -- she is purging and turned out to have two of them -- and I only just now pulled it out to finally use. Man are these things useful! I don't know why I haven't BEEN had one!!!

@patti, nah. All I see being revealed is your extraordinary cooking triumphs. This project is such a blessing, and it's also an inspiration. Not just the service aspect, but also the fact that the food looks so good; to echo @Maison Rustique, there's another layer of feeling cared for when the item looks all nice, like restaurant food! Also? You sound like you are having a lot of fun, I'm enjoying everything about this thread.

Oh, I've never done this at the butcher! This is what I put on the cut sheet when I buy the whole side -- butt cut into smaller roasts.

My butts come divided into 3 smaller roasts, too. I mean, that's how I request them. I had pulled one out and had it seasoning hte last few days, and decided to do it a la Smithy's onion soup mix idea. Except instead of potatoes, I have put green plaintains in the bottom. The reason for this is, I bought these little mini-looking bananas the other day thinking that they were a sweet banana; I was coming from the gym and out of my mind with hunger for something sweet, and I saw the banana, and paid zero attention to the fact that they were plainly sitting next to the the plaintain bin, and not over by the sweet fruit. I just bought em. And nearly choked when I tried to shove one in my mouth outside the store, immediately after purchasing. So, I had a few mini VERYSTARCHY plaintains left. They are now providing a bit of a bed bed for 2 pounds of pork butt that has been sprinkled with lipton onion soup mix. I figured, I like mofongo with pork chunks in it, so . . . . I'll report back. NB: This butt looks like it's been brutalized because I cut out about a pound of it to separately confit for tacos. I wasn't ravenous when I did that, but I must've been mad or something. It looks like that butt got murdered, I realize.

Hostess at Marie Callender's Denver (that's how we answered the phone). My mother had directed me to get a job there as a Strawberry Girl, which was the job where you cut strawberries all day for pies. At the interview, I was informed that the hostess job paid a little more, so I took that one. I was 12. Later, after I got my driver's license, I took a second job with a catering company on weekend nights. I liked that job a little better because the workers ate for free. Mostly I was a server but sometimes I worked in the kitchen prepping, which I liked better -- both the labor that was entailed as well as the coworkers on that side -- but no tips. I wanted money. I wanted to go farfaraway to college, and I wanted money. At least that's what I remember thinking at the time. In reflection, though, I think I just wanted to get me some of the kind of food that was served in restaurants. I wanted to work around food so that I could eat more restaurant food.

Whoops! Sigh. My first ferment fail just had to be in the year of our LORDHAVEMERCY food prices. Sigh.

Well, I was just thinking more limited to home-preserved food in jars. But that was an enjoyable re-visit. And I caught my breath sharply to see @heidih. Thank you.

Testify. I'm heading down there this evening for respect. And vinegars.

You know what I would like to see? Peoples storage facilities for their canned stuff. I don't know why I find those photos so much fun. And I for sure don't know if they belong in this thread. But I like seeing the goodies amassed and organized. And I like seeing the creating shelving/structural solutions. Don't even get me started on root cellars. Just sayin' . . . .

Very little preserving happened the last couple of years, I mean none. But this year, I got my act together to freeze corn when it was cheap at a random farmstand I passed on Long Island a few weeks ago. And I took advantage of the last of the green beans to go dilly, with Kevin West's "recipe".

Thanks so much for giving us what you could, Shelby! I admit I was thinking, isn't it Huntin' Time again??? It's always wonderful to read this thread, and I've come to rely on the regular hits of inspiration. Now all I want is giblets.

That's what I'm calling it now, too. And those Sasso birds look incredible. Mmmm.

Queries for the Bluestar owners here, about the knobs. First, have you found that the markings on the knobs to endure? Asking because mine are almost entirely rubbed out, including the one that was new in January 2023 when I had to replace the entire oven thermostat assembly: Second, have your knobs remained capable of snug attachment to the post? Because mine fall off if you barely touch them.