Toliver

I saw two recipes in the most recent Southern Living Magazine that might be a good way to use up zucchini, zoodles or otherwise. I have not made either recipe but they sound easy to make: "Cornbread Panzanella with Squash Recipe" This calls for dicing the zucchini, but I don't see why you couldn't use zoodles. And I would toss in some diced/sliced fresh tomatoes (homegrown if you got them) because it's summer...that's why. "Chicken Caprese Pasta Recipe" While the recipes calls for pasta, I think you could easily substitute zoodles.

The high cost isn't surprising to me. After all, dish sets are not something you buy frequently...sort of like a purchasing bed mattress. It's a once in a while thing. The cost is reflective of that. And due to the high cost, make sure it's a dish set you really, really like because you will be seeing it for a large chunk of your life.

Yes, I am guilty of not using certain gift cards I have received. For instance, I am perfectly willing to use my Cheesecake Factory gift card, just as soon as they build one in this town. (I am from San Diego where they have two Cheesecake Factory restaurants and was given the gift cards by well-meaning friends living there)

The last time I visited my family in San Diego we had a pot luck. My sister-in-law brought an antipasto salad that was topped with little cubes of TJ's "Unexpected Cheddar" (click). It was very good. Just like in the description in the link above, it starts out tasting like a normal creamy cheddar but at the end there's a slight tang to it. Two thumbs up!

Zero out-of-pocket for my Prime Day purchases. I had actually stumbled across an Amazon gift card at home that I received for Xmas and applied that to my account. And I still have some left over for future purchases. I'm going to have to remember to do this next year...hold back some Amazon gift cards that I may get for my birthday and Xmas and use them in July for Prime Day.

@Shelby So now visitors can leave their car doors unlocked when visiting you without fear of returning to a car full of squash?

Kitchen stuff I just bought: A 3-sieve combo where the sieves range in size A set of 3 different sized "spiders" A new kitchen timer (my old one just died)...nothing special but it was needed A plastic wrap dispenser with a slide "cutter" button...for my mom who is "plastic wrap challenged" I also bought, in a separate transaction, one of those spiky meat tenderizers, just because.

I am currently snacking on "Lovely"-brand Dark Chocolate Coconut Chips purchased from Costco. That the coconut chips still have some crispness to them while enrobed in dark chocolate is nice.

Today is July 11th (7/11) and this is the yearly reminder to get your free Slurpee today at 7-Eleven, while supplies last. "7-ELEVEN DAY"

I couldn't find a discussion about the Costco food courts so I thought I would start one. The Costco "food court" is the counter where you can buy their hot dogs & soda, pizza by the slice, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, etc. Sometimes the food court is inside the Costco (like here in Bakersfield, CA) and sometimes it's outside (like with the Santee, CA, Costco). Here's an article on a new Costco food court item that is being tested and is quickly becoming popular: "People are driving far and wide to try the new Costco food court cheeseburger" The smoked Thousand Island Dressing intrigues me. It makes me wonder which ingredient in the dressing carries the smoke, or if they just add liquid smoke to it. Has anyone is the testing areas tried this new cheeseburger? I'm a huge fan of their BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich (big enough for two people to share). My mom always stops by for their hot dog with sauerkraut (when she remembers to take the sauerkraut! She keeps forgetting it when she places it on the counter while she pours her soda to go. "Next time, put it in your cart, Ma, so you won't forget it!). Any other Costco food court favorites out there?

8 Qt. Instant Pot (click) Usually it's the 6 Qt. that's on sale for around $70 US. This price for the 8 Qt. version is about $40 off the regular price.

@Shelby Is that tomato from your garden? It looks especially "tomato-ey".

More Kindle eBook deals...The prices I see may be different than what you see as I am a US Prime member...sorry about that: The previously mentioned "The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition" Kindle Edition by Steven Raichlen has a lower price $1.13US, if you can believe it Also, "BBQ USA: 425 Fiery Recipes from All Across America" Kindle Edition by Steven Raichlen also $1.13US "Ruhlman's Twenty: 20 Techniques, 100 Recipes, A Cook's Manifesto" Kindle Edition by Michael Ruhlman $2.99US "Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London's Ottolenghi" Kindle Edition by Yotam Ottolenghi $2.99US "Lucky Peach Presents 101 Easy Asian Recipes" Kindle Edition by Peter Meehan $3.99US

Not related to the current tomato question up for discussion, but intriguing nonetheless: "Tomatoes can turn plant-eaters into cannibals, study shows" I had previously heard about the chemical release warning neighboring plants. But the cannibalism angle was new to me.

We used to slather butter on both pieces of bread before spreading on the peanut butter and jelly (peanut butter on one side and jelly* on the other). The butter added a layer of unctuousness that helped keep the sticky peanut butter from sticking in your throat. That and a nice cold glass of milk made for good eatin'. *Note that the jelly was replaced in later years by preserves in our PB & J's due to its spreadability. Jelly tended to stay in gobs on the bread which made for possible uneven ratios of peanut butter and jelly with each bite.Think these things through, people!

Regarding this from an older post: "Apparently it does slump over time." An apt description of me after a bad day at the office. Have there been any libations you've made that weren't successful (didn't taste very good)?

This year both of my older brothers have had to harvest their tomatoes once the fruit gets a blush on them. If they wait too long before harvesting, the night critters will get them. My oldest brother had to yank out his zucchini plants due to some sort of leaf disease and discovered some critter had stashed oodles of cherry tomatoes under the leaves. The fruit looked unscathed and he couldn't figure out what kind of critter could have transported so much fruit without piercing the fruit with their teeth. Raccoons, maybe? Very odd....

A large area surrounding the city of Bakersfield has been under quarantine for about two years now. The quarantine area keeps expanding over time, of course. I am guessing this means they're not winning the "war" against the bug, yet.

Excellent posting and reporting! Thank you for taking the time to post pictures. Adding the cocktails (like Kerry Beal and Anna N always post on their trip-blogs) rounds out the report. I am hungry from looking at all of the delicious food and I am looking forward to reading more about your trip!

It's funny you should mention madeleines... I was thinking about savory madeleines and just stumbled across an old eGullet discussion about garlic mashed potato madeleines. Here is the discussion (click here) with eGullet member maggiethecat's recipe in the first post. If you scroll down the page, another eGullet member, Marlene, posted pictures of her attempt at making them. They look like they'd be tasty. Not quite the recipe for the dessert forum, but intriguing nonetheless.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but IKEA seems to have a problem with their stainless steel bowls: "IKEA is investigating a claim that its stainless steel mixing bowls can light food on fire" There's a short video in the article showing paper being lit on fire inside the bowl. Hey, IKEA, it's called a "parabolic reflector". Just redesign the bowl with a matte finish inside the bowl and you should be good. Or if anyone wants to make some home-made solar reflectors, start in the kitchen goods department at IKEA.

Two cookbooks by Steven Raichlen: "The Barbecue! Bible 10th Anniversary Edition" Kindle Edition $1.99US "Man Made Meals: The Essential Cookbook for Guys" Kindle Edition $1.99US Usual Disclaimer: I am a US Prime member...the price you see in your browser may be different. edited to add: I don't think I posted this book before...my apologies if I have: "Martha Stewart's Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and to Share" Kindle Edition $2.99US

@Norm Matthews Your bacon weaving is totally awesome. Such bacon-inspiration!

I can't find it on their corporate web site, but my area Jack in the Box restaurants are promoting a new "Cheddar Jack" burger. It has the usual lettuce and tomato fixin's on it but also comes with a couple thick slices of cheddar cheese. One slice of cheddar cheese on the bottom bun, topped by the burger OR chicken patty (you have a choice) and then another slice of cheddar cheese on top of the burger. When you get the burger, I don't know if they use a salamander-type machine to melt the cheddar, but it looks quite melted when you get the sandwich. If you like real cheddar cheese on your burgers and not that fake "melty" cheese they use on everything these days, this burger is a winner. It's very cheese-y and I mean that in a good way. It also comes on a not-your-ordinary bun. Anyone else try it?

I've been going to a local Subway off and on for a while. I usually stop in on Fridays to get the Sub of the Day, which is Tuna on Fridays. When they make the sandwich, they use a disher to put the proper portions on the bread, then use a small spatula-ish knife to spread the tuna on the bread before adding anything else to the sandwich. For quite some time at this location, their disher has been broken. I asked the worker if management/the owner knew about the broken disher and they said "yes". The spring for the thumb button on the disher is shot and they have to manually move the button with their other hand in order for the disher to eject the scoop contents onto the bread. This past Friday, they had a new employee working the counter. When I ordered the Tuna sandwich, she bypassed the broken disher completely and used the spatula-ish knife to dip into the tuna and plop it on to the sandwich bread. She ended up putting enough Tuna on the bread for two sandwiches. It shocked the heck out of me. On the one hand, I'm thinking "Yeah me!" for getting a huge tuna-filled sandwich but I also thought if the owner wondered why their profits were down, all they had to do was look at this employee making this tuna sandwich. The finished sandwich was so big I could only eat half of the sandwich and saved the rest for the next day's lunch. A word to franchise owners: Fixing broken utensils/machinery sooner rather than later will save you money in the long run.