Toliver

Goodbye to the evil overlords of Rite Aid! My boss told me the Chevron Mini Mart down the street just put in Amazon Hub lockers. The even better news is that they are outside of the mini mart and can be accessed 24/7. See ya, Rite Aid! Spartacus! Spartacus! Spartacus!

Some finds from this afternoon...all "slightly more expensive..." Slightly more expensive... From the small Philadelphia pie shop of the same name, "Magpie: Sweets and Savories from Philadelphia's Favorite Pie Boutique" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature to see the list of recipes which includes savory pies. Measurements look to be both Metric and Imperial. Slightly more expensive... From the blogger of In Jennie's Kitchen, Jennifer Perillo's "Homemade with Love: Simple Scratch Cooking from In Jennie's Kitchen" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Slightly more expensive... From Anne Byrn, the Cake Mix Doctor, "Skillet Love: From Steak to Cake: More Than 150 Recipes in One Cast-Iron Pan" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature and scroll down to the green box to see the list of recipes for the first chapter and scroll a little bit further to see some recipes. I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

You think I'm going to serve the ubiquitous Blue Box version to my family? No, no, & no. Patti LaBelle did write a "Lite" cookbook (click) (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and in it I believe she made her mam & cheese more healthy, if you're into that sort of thing. In the original recipe she counts Velveeta as one of the 5 cheeses but I won't quibble with her. I grew up eating Velveeta cheese sandwiches (with Miracle Whip , to add insult to injury) in some of my school brown bag lunches. So it is a sort of "cheese" (to be used with the air quotes).

Sounds like what is known around here as a "California Burrito". Think of a Carne Asada burrito with French fries included inside.

It's served at all of my family gatherings, holiday or not. I started the ball rolling with Patti LaBelle's recipe "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Mac & Cheese" (originally from her cookbook). My family enjoyed it immensely. I emailed the recipe to my niece who called me on her cellphone crying at the grocery store, "Uncle Tim...I've got the 5 cheeses used in the recipe and it's already costing over $40!". I told her I would reimburse her for everything when I saw her next. She has now tweaked the recipe (not sure how, but I could guess) and it's even better. Pre-Pandemic we would get dinner guests who would bring their own plastic storage containers to take the mac & cheese leftovers home with them.

You need to submit this to an art gallery near you. Just beautiful!

Couldn't get the web link to load... Thought of waffle cones for ice cream. Or dice up the waffles and make sweet croutons for a sweet potato mash (so you won't have to make the mash too sweet since the croutons will be sweet).

I saw the same book and passed at posting it. Seemed like an odd idea.

Something I stumbled across this afternoon...a name from the Food Network: Bobby Flay's "Bobby at Home: Fearless Flavors from My Kitchen: A Cookbook" Kindle Edition $1.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature and scroll down to the chapter title "Breakfast & Brunch" to see a list of its recipes. Then scroll further down to see recipes. I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

Yes, went the French Toast route with mine. Works well for a holiday-themed breakfast.

You're not "cutting it close"...instead you're "extending the celebration of the holiday season". Don't worry about any sort of deadline. You're incapacitated due to your knee so just give yourself some slack and enjoy it for the holiday tradition that it is.

Some finds this afternoon... My Amazon still isn't working properly. I get one page of books to look over and that's it, compared to before when I got multiple pages. Odd to say the least. "Beirut to Boston: A Cookbook: Comfort Food Inspired by a Rags-to-Restaurants Story" Kindle Edition $2.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature and scroll down to see a few recipes. Two familiar names first and costing slightly more... An oldie from Melissa Clark "Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature to see the lengthy list of recipes and scroll down to see recipes. Nigella Lawson's "Nigella Express: Good Food, Fast" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Use the "Look Inside" feature and scroll down to see recipes. From James Beard Award-winning cookbook studio Canal House, "Canal House: Cook Something: Recipes to Rely On" Kindle Edition $3.99US (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) Three hundred recipes. Use the "Look Inside" feature to see the lengthy list of recipes. Scroll further down to see recipes. I am a US Prime member and the price you see may vary.

File this under be careful what you wish for... This past weekend I was able to try the DEE-Luxe (Jed Clampett is in my ear) version of the sandwich and it was a mess. It was a sandwich that didn't know what it wanted to be when it grew up. More on that later... The regular version (which I actually tried today thanks to a co-worker who was going there for lunch) is a simple crispy chicken sandwich with dill pickles and their "mystery" sauce. The sauce looks like Thousand Island Dressing without the pickle relish. All served in a hamburger bun. Yes, just a regular hamburger bun. C'mon, Jack! You're not even trying anymore. The regular version of the "Cluck" sandwich is a poor knockoff of the Popeye's Chicken Sandwich, which is the best crispy chicken sandwich on the market today. The Jack in the Box version is smaller, less crispy breaded chicken "breast" (I am going to assume that until I see otherwise), in a plain hamburger bun . It also copies Popeye's in that it's served in a foil-ish bag which, with the Popeye's version, helps to keep the bun steamy and soft to contrast to the very crispy chicken cutlet. Jack should be embarrassed to be serving their Cluck Chicken Sandwich. But wait, there's the DEE-luxe version of the sandwich. What differentiates the DEE-luxe version from the regular chicken sandwich is that the DEE-luxe version is dressed. It has lettuce and tomatoes in addition to the dill pickles. It has the "mystery" sauce, plus, it has a blob of "guacamole" on it, as well. The "guacamole" has a little kick to it. Which reminds me that a co-worker bemoaned the menu from Jack in the Box: "Does everything have to be spicy?" Apparently it does, if you're the DEE-luxe Chicken Cluck Sandwich. It also turns out that all those added condiments (lettuce and tomatoes and "guacamole") serve to make the crispy chicken sandwich less crispy! The you're just eating a regular chicken breast sandwich and why bother? Pass on both versions. Buh-bye, Jack.

I only vaguely remember these chips: "‘90s Kids Rejoice: 3D Doritos Are Finally Coming Back And They're Better Than Ever" I guess this should make someone happy somewhere.

"Nestlé Prepared Foods Recalls Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken Meal Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination" Product code/specifics are in the article.

Some say that after 4 hours, the meat has absorbed all of the smoke it's going to absorb. Which means the rest of the cooking time your smoker is just being used as an oven to finish the cooking of the meat. So why not, after 4 hours, remove the brisket, wrap it in foil/plastic wrap, put it in a pan (to catch any drippings) and finish cooking it in your kitchen oven? Low and slow and you should be good to go without wasting pellets. Just a thought...

I grew up with the Hormel Tamales, as well. Now I see Nally's brand on the store shelves at Walmart, too. As a child, we never went out to eat...it was for special occasions only. There was one Mexican restaurant in the Hillcrest area of San Diego called Consuelo's (which I've written about on these boards before). It was even before chips and salsa was the thing to give out to everyone dining in. Instead, we'd get a large flat deep fried flour tortilla with Mexican cheese melted on top of it. My three brothers and I would fight over breaking up the tortilla into pieces and making sure you got your fair share of it. Consuelo's likely had tamales on the menu but all I knew as a child was tacos which made me a fan of crispy shelled tacos for the rest of my life.

I remember some time back I was cooking at my mom's home and couldn't find her tenderizer mallet. Ended up smacking the hell out of the plastic-wrapped chicken breast with her cast iron skillet. Worked.

"Tesoros Trading Company Recalls Product Because of Possible Health Risk" Products codes are on the USDA web site linked to above.

Don't be scared! This is the tamale being sold by WeinerSchnitzel. As I previously mentioned, it's sold in a hot dog box. The ruler is there just to show it's about 5 inches long. Note that while it may look like their usual chili cheese sauce, I think it definitely has a tamale sauce flavor. It's mild, not spicy at all. The tamale itself isn't just dry masa. I think it's been either steamed or microwaved and has a nice meat filling interior (I am assuming it's pork). It is a limited time offering, to go along with the season of the Tamalada (traditional Hispanic tamale-making gatherings).

"Jack in the Box just announced 2 new chicken sandwiches as last year's biggest fast-food battle heats up again" It's funny but I can't see the word "Deluxe" without a "Beverly Hillbillies" translation of "DEE-lux". The DEElux version pictured in the article sure looks gussied up. The sandwich has debuted in my area Jack in the Box restaurants but there hasn't been any TV commercials for it (yet). I think that's a little odd in terms of marketing. Will give it a try next week...taking one for the team.

No...I think your description of what the writer meant by "slit" is accurate. Just not a good word choice on his part. I took it to mean something that had been julienned and just a small piece was wrapped inside the tamale. Would make sense if it was a pepper...not overwhelmingly spicy but enough to impart flavor.

If you compare the Cholula-sauced tamales to, say, the chili cheese-sauced tamales, the Cholula tamales are a little on the dry side because they're skimpy with the hot sauce. I don't mind the heat...just that overall, it wasn't enough to consider that they had been sauced adequately. Without any sauce? A little on the dry side. It's just the masa and the pork. At Del Taco if you order just the tamales (no sauce) you get two tamales wrapped in corn husks. Un-sauced would be ideal for someone who wants to add their own sauce at home (I am looking at you @Kim Shook ). Then you could put mild sauce on yours and those who like it spicier can do their own thing with the plain tamales.

Costco sells tamales, as well, both the in the refrigerated section and in the frozen section. But as far as fast food goes, I've only found them at the two chains mentioned. Just wondered if anyone else had tried them. I did attempt to purchase the Del Taco Red & Green sauces tamales but found out when I got home that they had given me the Cholula tamales instead.

Thanks for the suggestion. I also just discovered they sell bacon fat on Amazon. I love hash browns fried in bacon fat! Though that would open a Pandora's Box of possibilities...none of them good.