Maison Rustique

Pretty sure my Trader Joe's would never hold a case of wine for a customer. I called and asked them about something once a few years back and they said to hurry up and get there because there wasn't much left.

@Duvel, I'm gonna say try it. A local pizza place here used to have a dessert pizza that was delicious--had apples, cheese, caramel sauce and I can't recall what else. People would always look horrified until they tasted it and then there would be none left. I think what throws people off is that they think any pizza is going to have red sauce, garlic, etc. And it doesn't have to.

You are doing an amazing job of this and your list is already extensive! I've got to guess that no one would complain at your repeating any/all of those regularly! Due to health issues (mine and my husband's when he was still here) and other issues, I've had a lot of food gifted to me and meals delivered by my insurance provider while I was recovering from surgeries. Your food looks delicious and that's half the battle of doing this. Here is a short list of the things that made me not eat what I was given, if you're interested in knowing things like this: Food that might have been tasty, but was slopped into a container in such a way that it flat-out looked disgusting. Food that needed to be put into another container for heating/baking. When you are barely able to stand up, trying to do much in the kitchen is not feasible. Food that can't be frozen and cooked/used later. I often got so much at once and had little appetite so would end up tossing food because I couldn't use it before it went bad. Food that was either so bland that it didn't taste like anything OR food that was so highly spiced that one bite would have steam coming out my ears. There is a happy medium there--though a good solution might be to write a spiciness level on the lid of the container so the person knows what to expect. Or little packets of s/p to tape on top of the container for seasoning. That's all my caffeine-deprived brain can think of at the moment. Can't recall who said it above, but I, too, have an abundance of Rancho Gordo beans that I wish I could send you. I've already packed them for moving, so not happening right now. Thank you for what you are doing and for caring what you are giving to people!

Not sure. I thought of this when I saw the ginormous bags of pistachios, candies with them, etc. at Costco the other day.

I really wanted to like this but can't recommend it. Got at Costco 2 days ago. Best by date is tomorrow but I had to spend too much time picking out the black slimy lettuce. The dried apple is in such tiny pieces that you can't taste it. The dressing doesn't have enough Dijon. Way too sweet. Just a big disappointment.

And I haven't been there but from the videos and photos I've seen, it is a gorgeous place!

We have a new place near me. Aromatic Nepal is quite the step up for Liberty the home of restaurant chains/fast food. I hope they will make it because it is fantastic. I have a friend who is Nepali and had asked his advice on what to order for an authentic experience. He recommended starting with Momo and having the Special Thali platter, so I did. I failed to take a photo of the Momo. One of my friends ordered Chicken Biryani, which is shown below. It was huge! And my platter was just fantastic. I completely devoured the soup since I knew it wouldn't transport easily, but brought home a lot of other stuff, so will be eating Nepali for a couple of days. They have some fun Himalayan-themed cocktails/mocktails and a small but decent wine list. It is going to be a favorite place!

We need a "yuck" emoji.

@blue_dolphin is the preserved lemon paste something you make (like pureed preserved lemon) or is it something you purchase? And I need to investigate lemon agrumato oil because I'm not familiar with that either! Feeling ignorant this morning...

Grilled Brie and sugar-cured bacon (local provider) on fig and honey bread. Worked hard outside and needed easy.

Had my green beans/potatoes with a couple of rashers and toasty bread.

I have or had it--nothing sure I still do.

I actually did not eat this last night, but needed to cook the green beans. Will have tonight with some warm bread and butter. Or maybe garlic toast.

@weinoo, Now I'm craving twice-baked pots! Yum!

I recently bought frozen tamales. I want to say the brand is Texas Tamales. They are cryo packed but sold in a cloth bag. Pretty sure I bought them before and liked them. I'm not sure why but this time I could not easily separate the tamales to cook a small amount. I ended up with a mess. At any rate, they tasted fine. I had some vintage Trader Joe's refried beans with them and poured some vintage Trader Joe's enchilada sauce over all. Tasty but was not pretty and I would never have served it to anyone. Plus I ended up sloshing sauce on my sweater! Dang. Now I need to try to find something else warm that I haven't moved yet.