Tropicalsenior

I make my own spice blends and I use granulated garlic in them. My housemate cannot eat fresh garlic but it doesn't seem to bother him in the granulated form. To me, the trade-off is absolutely essential.

That's extremely interesting considering the rise in food prices. I doubt that they've ever done any study like that in Costa Rica but I would sure like to see it if they have. It is now considered the most expensive country to live in in Central America.

I remember hamburger being 4 lb for a dollar and turkey being 15 cents a pound at Thanksgiving. But I also remember wages being a whole heck of a lot lower then too. It all kind of balances out in the long run.

I usually used equal parts fat and flour. That's by volume, 1 cup to 1 cup. And then, you know me, I used the microwave. I used a heavy Pyrex bowl because that stuff gets hot, and just cooked it stirring it every minute until it reached a light brown color. Before I found the little ice cube trays, I would roll it into logs, wrap in plastic and store it in Ziploc bags. That way all I had to do was slice off a little bit when I needed it for gravy or stews. I can still buy them occasionally here in Costa Rica but like everywhere else the price has skyrocketed. It seems to be the same thing here as as it is up there. Whenever something gets popular, the price goes up astronomically. They used to practically give chicken wings away and now they cost as much as chicken breast. Hot wings aren't even a big thing down here but they see it on the US media so it must be a precious commodity.

@TdeV I no longer make oxtail soup but when I did I never threw away nor trimmed the fat. After the stock was defalted, I saved it, added flour to it and made roux. I had small ice cube trays with tablespoon sized cubes. I kept those in the freezer and used the roux to thicken soups and gravies. It's like liquid gold. It adds wonderful flavor to whatever you put it in. I also vote for covering the pot. And if it will fit in your oven I like the idea of doing it in the oven but I would do it at 300°.

Always an old favorite. It was one of the first things that I ever learned to cook and I haven't made one in ages. Thanks for reminding me I may just have to make one.

He also said that he was looking for quality online options and the ones suggested sound pretty good to me.

After your post in food funnies, I'm glad to see that it's vegetable stock.

No, the list was originally posted by Norm as a joke on the Food Funnies Topic. It was something that he found on his computer as a joke.

I Googled them and I sure wish I could find them because I found this recipe for pickles that sounds delicious.

From what I've seen, Latinos tend to name something after the first time that they have seen it done or used. My guess it is that it was probably some Chinese gentleman that rigged something similar to start selling meat to his neighbors. The one that always baffled me was papel Chino, their name for tissue wrapping paper until I found out that the first tissue paper that arrived here was made in China. Thanks for the directions for the DIY box. I read them faithfully and it is certainly doable but unfortunately I don't know 80 people that I want to invite over for pig. I wonder if it could be done on a much smaller scale or even in an oven.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/fromage-fort

@rotuts you might check to see if there are any Chinese restaurant suppliers in your area. The one that I used to go to had metal bowls from 4 in to 40 in and they were quite reasonable in price (in fact just plain cheap) and the quality was good. I also got some double-sided thermal metal bowls that were great for salads or anything that you wanted to mix that you wanted to keep cold. Just pop them in the freezer for 20 minutes and they were cold for almost 2 hours. That Chinese supplier was always my first go to for kitchenware because their prices were about half of what you would pay anywhere else.

Great minds think alike. We had chicken Caesar salad (sort of) last night with tomatoes, avocados, and boiled eggs. It had a creamy Caesar salad dressing which was good but kind of cheating.

Unfortunately, I can't get away from the plastic bags. Almost everything here comes in plastic. But I have figured out a little trick to get every last bit. I've got a little rolling pin that I use to roll the bag flat and squeeze it until it gives up every last drop.

I have to admit that there have been times that I've thrown out a container which has maybe a tablespoon or so left in it. Then, inevitably, I will need that thing and only need a tablespoon or so. I remember the little bit that I threw out. I go back to being a scraper. I just can't help it.

I'm in the scrape it all out camp and the ones that drive me crazy are mayonnaise jars. My preferred mayonnaise is Kraft mayonnaise which is kind of hard to find down here. I used to be able to buy it in the half gallon size in a square bottle. I would fight forever getting all the mayonnaise out of the corners. Now I can only buy it in the squeeze bottle and it never, ever all comes out. Most of the time I just wind up putting in vinegar and Seasonings and making a dressing in the bottle just to use up the mayonnaise. Finally I've given up the fight and started buying Hellman's in the squeeze plastic container. At least I can squeeze out all of that even if the mayonnaise isn't as good.

Here in Costa Rica they don't do much bulk buying. And I think the reason for that is they have no concept of planning ahead. Most people have lived a day-to-day existence just to survive and they haven't had the money to ever buy ahead. People used to buy their food in the Central Markets which is are equivalent of the Chinese wet markets and they would stock up with vegetables from the weekly Farmers markets. Now with a growth of the big supermarkets, the younger people are now going there and the markets have become a place for tourists filled with souvenir shops. As for pricing, a lot of that is set by the government. There's a minimum and a maximum that they can charge for products that are considered the very basic for existence. The idea of sales or bargains just didn't exist. For instance in the supermarket that I go to they often have the big yellow tags that will say two for a thousand colones when the regular price of the item is 500 Colones. One of the strangest that I have come across and I have not been able to figure out is that occasionally they will sell pineapples two for a thousand Colones or one for 1300 Colones. Go figure.

Possibly but I had a friend that was just that dumb. One time that I shared a recipe with her, she changed everything in it except the fact that she had gotten it from me and then claimed that I have given her a horrible recipe. It was the last time I ever gave her a recipe.

From the original recipe, the only thing that she didn't change was the salt and pepper.

I'm sure we've all seen them. People that don't follow the recipe and then blame the recipe for their failure. I read one this morning that I think kind of tops of chart. It was a review of a recipe called Sirloin Tips with Mushrooms. "This turned out badly. Instead of beef I used chicken. Instead of mushrooms I used canned artichokes. Instead of garlic I used minced onions and added celery. Instead of tomato sauce I used ketchup with a dash of soy sauce. Instead of red wine I used sweet rose. What a terrible recipe." Have you seen any reviews lately that tickled your funny bone?

Lettuce hope that they sell all of those in China.

I hope that you can get YouTube right now because I came across this and immediately thought of you.

Some of my favorites are Gambas al ajillo, calamari and albondigas. I also like patatas bravas but they rely heavily on smoked paprika so maybe you might not be interested in that. This site has some interesting ideas. And another good one would be the Spanish tortilla because it's something that you can make ahead of time and serve room temperature.

I got my inspiration for dinner last night entirely from EG. I made chicken with a creamy picata sauce (thanks @weinoo) and asparagus with hollandaise (recipe from @gulfporter). Not the most beautiful plating but it was delicious. I never ever thought of making microwave hollandaise but it was really good. Not quite as thick as I would have liked, but simple and delicious. Something that I will be making often.