SLB

Well. I was trying to get like 30 pounds. Not sure it makes any kind of sense to pay NYC greenmarket prices at that volume, you know?

I'm coming from NYC, but will be able to travel into Central Jersey if necessary. Sigh, late.

Can you PM me too? I have too many chicken livers in my freezer, milked.

Also? For blanching, I now basically only ever want to steam-blanch. **Admittedly -- you DO have to, uh, actually be more thorough when washing your vegetable, which I've been known to slack on when boiling-blanching. But not having to deal with all that boiling water.

I've been ordering vegetables from a NYC service called "Chef's Collective," which thus far has been sending really high quality vegetables; it's one of these services that sprung up to redirect product that would've gone to restaurants to individual homes. Well, the shishitos are, apparently, dominating the garden right now because I got two quarts. I have no idea how a person eats two quarts of shishito pepper, so . . . I pickled them. Actually, the recipe entailed blistering them first, and them vinegar-pickling them. Meanwhile, I recently watched a webinar on "atmospheric steam canning" from the UMaine extension school. I may be a complete convert. It just seems like so much less hassle. Also? The kitchen is going to get WAY less hot.

Thank you. I eat a lot of meat, so I'm on it. On the bacon query, from the next-oldest-generation in my very-frequent- bacon-eating family: Cook it in oil as if you were sauteeing. Then -- and this is the money quote, with emphasis on daily-cooking-fatigue -- "you don't have to watch it!". In my kitchen, you still have to watch it. But you get, like, an extra 10 second window to get it off the fire.

Y'all. What is this??? It came in my vegetable delivery today. Farm fresh and everything. But the tininess of the amount made me think . . . herb??? Surely I'm not supposed to cook these five little lone stalks??

<deepbreath> What is the difference between a steak pounded flat and a steak cut thin? ETA: I mean, what is the difference in outcome.

The whole thing is *baffling*.

Where?

Oatmeal stewed in pork stock; topped with sausage, onions & parsley. Not my usual ugly:

NYC. I'll pay shipping!

Anybody have any idea where I can find unripe mangoes???

This.

I've had mine for awhile. I discovered that, it turns out, by the time I get to the salad, it seems that I am Done Cooking. So while I've look at this book a lot, I haven't made a single solitary salad out of it. I think maybe I need to start the meal-planning with the salad portion. If I did that, when I ran out of energy, this failing would arise with the meat. \ Because meat can just, you know, go under the broiler or in the oven, and be totally great. Especially alongside a salad. [Not having cooked from it], "Lettuce in Your Kitchen" is a fabulous book. I enjoyed reading it. I bought one good other salad book which I gave away, I think it was the Williams-Sonoma book. And at the home of a neighbor, I came across a third book which I would buy if there was any indication that I was going to actually bring some game to salad: https://www.amazon.com/Salad-Dinner-Complete-Meals-Seasons/dp/0847838250/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=salad+dinner&qid=1591912215&sr=8-1

Oh wow. You dehydrate them oiled. That's interesting -- my worry is about oil going rancid over time in regular room-temp air. It's on my mind because I'm trying to approximate (with improvements) a version of dehydrated hummus. [Again -- this is for the trial; there's a commercial version of dehydrated hummus to which you just add regular-temp water. We do that, and slather it on pita, it's a really good lunch that even a vegetarian can enjoy. But of course I'm certain that I can do it tastier, and more cheaply.]. What I'd like to try is, make a fully-hooked-up bean puree with garlic and seasoning and -- ahem, oil; and the dehydrate that. But I haven't come across a notion of dehydrating stuff finished and fatty. In fact, the warning for meats is: use the lean cuts because the fats are going to go rancid. Which is where I got the worry of rancidity. We're not going anywhere until autumn at the earliest, so I have some time to experiment. But I had actually been leaning toward -- dehydrate cooked beans, then pulverize it into a dry good. Add dry seasoning (carefully, and obvs no tahine), and consider carrying any oil for last minute flourish. @kayb, your experience of dehydrating oiled produce suggests that something else might be possible, tho. I might just go on and try to dehydrate a finished product (seasoned and even oiled).

THanks for the spotlight, I look forward to checking it out.

Doing a backpacking trip on mostly beef jerky and raman noodles was, um, a mistake.🤢 Hmm. I thought that with enough walking, one did not need dietary fiber . . . .

So, I got me a dehydrator in February. Although I have exactly zero room anywhere in my kitchen for any more stuff, I felt I needed it because I have a group of friends I camp/backpack with, and we're trying to take on longer trips -- this plan emerged before the pandemic sat us all down inside -- and carrying a week-plus of non-dehydrated food is . . . well, I'm not into it. I am the meal planner for this group, and am a real believer in real food on the trail. Oh.My.God. The weight that comes off in this process! Nothing takes up any space once you're done!! I am LOSING MY MIND with the possibilities!! I should've BEEN had a dehydrator. It's glorious. I'm now dehydrating everything in sight, to assess results and to experiment with reconstituted meals. The cookbook that I'm using (it has a whole chapter just on camp food) is "The Dehydrator Bible". Some of what's in this book seems strange (there's a suggestion for a five-minute blanch for rhubarb, which seems . . . disastrous). Anyway -- I'm pretty sure that nobody here except possibly me needs this, but a number of the state extension departments are running preserving courses right now, in part because so many people have resumed eating at home and bulk-buying. UMaine is actually offering to pair you with a Master Preserver for the duration of the growing season. You do have to be a Maine resident for that service. I thought this was such a wonderful, wonderful response to this crisis.

@TdeV Thank you so much.

Where do you guys get internet nuts? I am familiar with Nuts.com. I've gotten poor product from them more often than makes sense, and I'd like to try someone else. Any suggestions?

Check out Whetstone. Its focus is not solely US food, and it trends dense; but Stephen Satterfield, et al are doing good work there. MFK Fisher's work helped me through some very difficult years.

Fair point on the shipping; the truth is, all of the shippers are drastically stressed; I get that now just is not the time to be ordering things that don't admit much flexibility. On the halibut, I suggested an adjustment as an alternative; the packaging/shipping yaddayaddayadda for 12 measly ounces of fish is just not appropriate, not in these times or any other. So I think I'm getting a bit of a refund. I realize I went kinda Karen on this -- particularly when the customer service dialogue seemed to vanish -- but I am going to be fine.

My order from Wild Alaskan Salmon has arrived. Everything was rock-solid and the fish looks marvelous. But the order was missing the halibut portions, sigh. I'd say, they're not quite ready for prime time. If I decide to keep ordering non-local stuff -- the flash freezing is really an advantage over getting vaguely fresh stuff that I then freeze -- but if I do this again, I'll try the company weinoo has recommended.