MetsFan5

I put my boards— all of them— in the dishwasher. My wooden ones a lot less often. Is that heresay?

Yes. That’s the one. I’ll get it out but the pictures will be on a paper plate since I’m not eating it at this moment so apologies in advance! I lied the cutting board was closer. Heres my ham:

Yes. That’s the one. I’ll get it out but the pictures will be on a paper plate since I’m not eating it at this moment so apologies in advance!

The flavor isn’t strong at all to me. It’s very mellow. Like, Boars Head maple ham cold cuts have more flavor. I also loathe beans unfortunately. And hard boiled eggs. The pimento cheese idea is calling to me!

My ham does NOT look at all like that. It looks more like prosciutto. Is that something to legitimately complain about?

So either I’m missing something or I have a poor palate. The petite ham is... okay. A bit fatty for my taste although the fat has a melty mouthfeel the amount of fat still turns me off. And yes it is salty. Not offensively so but I’m the type who will pop Himalayaian salt crystals into my mouth as a snack. So, ok didn’t meet me expectations. But what do I DO with it? It’s not exactly sandwich meat. It’s hardly an Easter ham. And it’s just my husband and I. Southern cooking is foreign to me but I did pick up a sack of grits in Charleston. Maybe I can combine the two? I’m baking challenged so biscuits and ham just aren’t really going to happen (and even if I used the brand in the tube, it’s too much biscuit and not enough ham being used). I’ve yet to try the bacon.

@Anna N do you prefer sake warm or cold? I love the sensation of drinking warm sake. Those ebi shumai look good.

Since I’ve just purchased things from Edwards online o may make another purchase from goldbely. Has anyone else used them and if so what did you like or dislike!?

Can’t wait! Will report back!

Sunday I was hurting. A Belvedere dirty martini plus the Heitz cab and an after dinner drink... I was exhausted and hurting. Fortunately my husband was as exhausted as I was; we haven’t had more than 5 days in our home together in two months so we SLEPT hard. We ordered UberEats again. Shameful. Today we went to Poogan’s Smokehouse which is the sister restaurant of Poogan’s Porch. It was really good but insane amount of meat butter. We both zoned out, especially since my husband ordered the Four Porksmen which was pulled pork, pork belly, smoked bacon, cheese, bbq sauce and a rib on top. I had the smoked and grilled pork belly with cheesy grits. I didn’t do it justice. But damn I am a grits addict. We walked around the French Quater area for a bit, bought Tervises of all things and my husband bought me an estate sapphire and diamond ring from Croghan’s. A nice trip despite hustling to get home. I did cancel our Husk reservation (I KNOW!) but the menu for the day didn’t appeal strongly to either of us. I would go back, the city is charming and cute but I won’t rush back. Even when it’s 63 degrees it’s super muggy and I was too hot yet people were wearing down jackets! None of the restaurants or shops were using AC. Just a personal pet peeve.

So, my trip is a bit embarrassing, food-wise... after a very turbulent and hot (temperature wise) United shuttle flight I was on about an hour of sleep and really stressed out. We went to HoM ( http://www.homcharleston.com/ ) after leaving our bags at the apartment we rented which was still being cleaned. It was really good, we got the fancy tots, my husband had the Cowboy Killer and those “fried onions” were three onion rings that had to have been battered with a type of funnel cake. Really different in a good way. I had the backyard burger. I then passed out for 6 hours! We had already bought wine and beer and I was hungry and, for shame (although I enjoyed it) we had ihop delivered via UberEats. Saturday, my birthday, we went to Hall’s Chophouse. It wasn’t cheap but it was amazing. The hospitality was above and beyond— we received free champagne as it was my birthday. We had stone crab claws, my husband had the ribeye and I have a 4 oz Waygu A5 and couldn’t finish it— so rich. We had the pepper jack creamed corn, fried okra and sautéed mushrooms with a bottle of Heinz Cabernet. They offer half portions of the sides so you can try more. We took a pedicab home which I loved.

I didn’t cook it but cheesy Geechie boy grits. Where have grits been all my life? They are delicious and I could eat them for every meal.

Yay! I really enjoy this topic and look forward to your posts. Just be sure to take care of yourself first (whichbit seems like you are doing).

I think the tipping culture is different not only between countries but also regions of various countries. I tip the curb side check in baggage handlers 10-20$ depending on the weather. My husband and I cleaned our suite completely of garbage and washed all the dishes and utensils and pots and pans and left $50 as we never had them come in during our stay as it wasn’t practical with Maisey. She didn’t make a mess at all— I wiped her paws before we’d go back into the hotel and she definitely never had an accident. I feel like we probably should have left more. I generally abide by the $5 per day tip but in this instance with the dog, I still doubt myself. 20% for food delivery is basically our minimum. More if the weather conditions are awful. I figure if we can afford to splurge for someone else to bring us dinner then we should tip accordingly. I over tip on Uber. In part because 99% of my trips are cheap (less than $12) and also to keep my rating up. The difference between 15 and 20% as stated above doesn’t mean a lot to me but it means a lot to the person receiving it. And it pays off— the local, really good pizzeria had tons of yelp reviews that they take a long time to deliver. Same with the local sushi place. They always deliver well in advance of the expected delivery time. I guess I view tipping as this/- if I don’t want to do it my self (whether self parking, driving myself, picking up food, going grocery shopping, etc) and have the economic means to pay someone else to do so, I should tip accordingly.

Wow you guys go all out. My first generation Italian American mother’s recipe is stupidly simple in comparison!

You all are making this meal i despite look good! (Born on St. Patrick’s day and always balked at eating the traditional corned beef dinner as a kid— I got lobster tails instead).

A slice of ( very good) pizza delivered last night, reheated using the pan method.

I find cooking to be super frustrating unless I know I can make something on instinct. That’s no doubt a result of my working in the FOH for a while, getting a non practical BA in Hotel & Restaurant management. I think I really enjoy dining out after years of waiting on people dining out.

I am not confident in the kitchen at all. My husband works late so unless I use my slow cooker, a lot of nights result in hotdogs or take out. It literally makes me insane to waste food. So when recipes turn on me I get really down and won’t cook anything for a while. That said, I am comfortable making lasagna (with homemade sauce), plus a few other random things like beef and broccoli or Swedish meatballs. We do order a lot of take out and knthe summer fire up the BGE. But in general I stick to the tried and true. I’m a crappy housewife— my mom is a good home cook and I just never got into it after I stopped working. I love reading about others meals and reading cookbooks but I am never really comfortable in the kitchen unless I’m making lasagna.

Yes I always tip the housekeeping staff. Moreso when we have our dog with us.

Okay so... sorry to repeat myself but my husband and I are in an extending living hotel. We have a suite with a full kitchen and pots and pans, full sized refrigerator, separate bedroom, etc. due to not having power at home. We had reservations through Tuesday morning with a noon check out. We never thought we would even need that much time away. We were wrong, big time. So on Saturday I was talking with the overnight front desk agent? And asked if there was anyway to extend our stay until Saturday 3/10? Idk my days are messed up. She said she’d take my info and try her best. Her manager barked at both of us that “they don’t take waitlists”. She rolled her eyes and said “ignore her”. Because I am a smoker I went out again to smoke and the night front desk agent saw a cancellation come in as I was going back into the hotel. This saved our asses; we’ve accumulated more things the longer we are here. She looked out for me and I like to look give back in situations like this. I gave her $60 but am kinda feeling maybe that I should have given her $100? She was super appreciative and said I didn’t have to, etc. and yes she was doing her job but she did me a solid and looked out for me, personally. Thoughts?

Stop and Shop, which is where I get my groceries delivered (via Peapod) also offers meal kits. Lately their offering feed 6+ and unless it looking really good, I’m not buying it for a household of two adults. The photo below is the one ‘kit’ I have bought probably about 4 times because we really enjoy it. It was priced (I haven’t purchased in about 6 months or longer) at $12.99 I didn’t learn anything exceptional, although I will say the garlic roasted green beans were really delicious.

I prefer Prosseco too. But when champagne or drier sparking wines are traditionally served, I put a nice pour of Chambord into my champagne and enjoy it that way.

Kool-aid has a negative racial stereotype. So does watermelon. They’re fairly widely recognized, hence the backlash. Also, there is zero excuse for Ardamark to pay for such out of season things on a menu tinged with racism. It’s not so much that I, personally, feel strongly— they literally fed the students stereotypes and as a result, people are losing their jobs. The menu offended a lot of students. And at the cost of college tuition, I don’t think students deserve to be disrespected in the cafeterias. Hell, even if it was free, no one deserves to feeel disrespected.

IMO- as a college student in the early 2000s the meal plan prices were not only insane and obligatory, they had hours that didn’t work for most students. An issue here is serving out of season food. Which brings up the cost. The Kool-Aid is the biggest offender. I find that blatantly racist and beyond unnecessary— all college dining rooms have their own automatic drink systems and no one NEEDS kook aid on top of the obvious soda options. Plus imagine how much they spent on sugar? And watermelon is NOT in season in the tristate area. Hell, serve sweet tea and you’d bet better off. To me, they missed the point. African American cuisine to me, has roots in the Geechee culture, so even grits (easily made in large batches) should have been a no brainer, same with biscuits. That said I think companies like Aramark have NO business attempting to make “holiday” foods for the masses. They would never be able to properly prepare a Chinese New Years feast. I sincerely doubt that anyone at NYU was enlightened about African American cuisine as a result of this messy meal. ETA- I did not read the linked article to completion but the quality of food for death row inmates is probably one of the last things I could care about.