MaryIsobel

My husband lives for the grilled octopus at one particular restaurant in Playa del Carmen. It is his gold standard for octopus and no other place has come close so far.

Thanks Elsie. We are pretty proud of them. One is an ER charge RN and the other is a musical theatre/drama/english highschool teacher. They beat the odds by being twin IVF babies on the first round. Back in the late 90's the odds of a successful IVF pregnancy was only 20 per cent and the odds of having succesful multiples was only 10 percent. Once they were old enough, we told them that they had already beat the odds by being here, so the world was their oyster and never to look at statistics!

Our two daughters didn't realize that most families don't peruse grocery store like museums when traveling until they started traveling on their own. they send me photos from grocery stores all over the world. I am much more interested in those photos than the ones of architecture or museums. Of course I appreciate architecture and museums but our girls know their momma!

Skipped breakfast this morning to get to the garden center in good time. Starving when I got home so a couple of Christmas tourtierre tarts from the freezer with some peach ginger chutney cuz we are out of HP sauce!

I have never seen such an amazing collections of jams! I love anything passion fruit but the fresh fruits and even the frozen puree are rare to non-existant where we live, which makes it all the more desireable.

I have a McGavin's bagel that I am currently monitoring. It is at least 2 months old. Wrapped in the original bag, sitting at room temperature. I have a weird and probably unhealthy obsession with it.

Me too since it is a salad that Ann actually likes. I love salad but for some reason, I hate making it.

Gladly. It was this one. Next time I think I would bump the temperature 25 degrees. They tasted great and even better split and toasted. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/hot-cross-buns/

I make a very similar recipe - the cost saving over buying the canned sauce is phenominal!

And on that note, I have found that good old, stinky Tiger Balm gives me fairly quick and long lasting relief, although it's not a smell that I want to permeate any kind of food and my dog hates the smell, so I usually just apply it at bed time.

Those look great. I often change my cooking/baking plans when I am having a "bad wrist day."

When I was a kid, we always had a yellow (Tupperware I believe) jug in the fridge with cut up celery and carrots with water on the bottom. That (and fruit) was a snack we could have any time without asking. Since this was mid-60's, I think my mom was a bit ahead of the curve. Of course I was envious of friends who had chips and cheesies on demand. One friend in particular, her mother kept a pot of oil on the stove for french fries on demand. Oh, how I wanted to live at their house!

I saw that recipe. Since I love a dirty martini, I'm sure I would like it. I'll have to make it next time I have company.

Adding my wishes for your husband's continued recovery. I know quite a few women who know absolutely nothing about the workings of the RV so good for you for having a handle on it all!

This Konic press from Ikea is my favourite so far: https://can.desertcart.com/products/253609566-ikea-koncis-garlic-press-stainless-steel-16-cm-000-891-63?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw_e2wBhAEEiwAyFFFo0SaWN27hJBy_fKHbLcS8X4sJrhgkuFJoQ9Ee10RwSNd_0lOPqhWyBoCY_YQAvD_BwE

An interesting combination - looks crunchy and fresh

What a great combination!

My sister and her husband were cleaning out an elderly relatives places and this was in a kitchen drawer with usual kitchen utensils

Sounds fantastic - have never looked for grape leaves in this little town - but one of our grocery stores does have a bit of a Greek section. I'll have to check it out. I too question my use of pistachios sometimes. Given their price, I wonder if cashews or almonds would work as well because I never get a real pistachio flavour when I use them in recipes.

I am really going to have to try grits one of these days. 64 years old and have never had them. Don't even know if they are available in these parts although almost everything is available online now...

They were a suprisingly big hit - kind of nostalgic I guess. Was probably one of the first things I ever made. The browned butter and sea salt is definitely an improvement over the original.

These will be part of dinner. Daughter and her fiancé just bought a townhouse and today is moving day. Since my husband and I are past the point of being useul for the actual move, we do what we can. Greek dip for an appy, ordered in pizza for the main and rice krispie squares (the Smitten kitchen recipe with browned butter and sea salt) for dessert. Disposable plates because it's a moving day and no one wants to do dishes,

Update on the HC buns. They were very good - not nearly as dense as other ones I've made and were enjoyed by all. I will use this recipe again but bake them hotter as was my initial instinct which I ignored as it was the first time making the recipe.

Depends on my mood of the moment. I like arias but I also love Creedence and Bob Seger and Rod Stewart. The Goo Good Dolls, Tragically Hip, Elle King, Nina Simone, Carol King, Kris Kristofferson, Willy Nelson... one might say I have eclectic taste in music.

I would gladly bid good riddance to self check-outs. In my area, it is rare to get through one without the machine beeping for some imagined problem. In our small town, I know most of the cashiers - a lot of them for 20+ years. I would hate to see them lose their jobs for a systems that has a lot of bugs. When I go to the neighbouring town and stop in the big grocery store there, I will use the self checkout if I have 3 or less items, only because they have about 10 self checkouts and only two or three cashiers working.