Maison Rustique

I wasn't really hungry. Started with some chips and salsa. Then had some sliced peach and half an almond croissant from my neighbor's daughter's bakery. Stuffed!

No recent pix from me either. Like @liuzhou, I simply don't feel like eating much when it is this hot. I eat a lot of fresh tomato with cottage cheese or just a small cheese sandwich. Weather is supposed to cool down a little next week so in anticipation, I bought some baking potatoes to eat with various toppings. I did pick up my first fresh peaches of the summer yesterday (only 2) which I will likely eat with some brie, either a cold plate or a grilled cheese. And one of our oldest Italian restaurants in the area are having a take-out special on Tuesday with around 20 entrees available for $15 each. I am planning to pre-order an eggplant Parm and go early to pick it up so I can sit in their friendly dark bar with a glass of wine to wait for it.

Imma do a sammie...

@rotuts, GBP??? Nevermind--green bell peppers--just figured it out.

In the US, it seems that most cutlery sets sell only tablespoons and not the true soup spoons, so most of us grow up not knowing the difference and considering them interchangeable.

I fear I'd starve to death if I lived in China. Do the Chinese never get debilitating arthritis in their hands? I could not eat with chopsticks--even if I tried to stab with them. I can't hold onto thin utensils/items. All my pens and pencils have soft rubbery grips on them and even that is difficult if I'm having a bad day.

My sis and BIL were here yesterday to help me with moving chores. Once again, they brought me a huge quantity of home-grown tomatoes. We went to a fairly new Cuban place for lunch. It was delicious and it is very near my new house, so I will definitely go back. They both had sandwiches and I had tacos that were delicious. Lots of leftovers. Anyway when I got home and it was normal supper time, I wasn't really hungry, but had gotten lectured about not eating right/enough, so I sliced up a little of the Wild Morel & Leek Jack Cheese I picked up at Costco last week ($6.97/lb.) and cut up one of the tomatoes. Had it with a glass of pinot grigio and it was more than enough.

I used to go to SLC every year for a business conference. I'm surprised I never heard about it--I'd have made a point of going, for sure! Mind you, I always drove there and back, so I wouldn't have been buying any of those things to transport back to KC.

I can recall years back finding blends of beef and pork--and often veal--sold for making meatloaf, meatballs and the like. Sometimes they were be separate types packaged together so you could mix it to your liking. Haven't seen it sold like this in years.

That's a lotta feta!!

OMG! I can't wait to see what you make. I am all about pastry. Anything in pastry! This is a book I just might need to get. Sigh.

Elsie, that looks wonderful. Oh, how envious I am that you have the deep pan!! Darn those Box people!!

Ditto!!

This reminds me...during the pandemic, when some restaurants first opened and partitioned off tables, sanitized everything, etc., one of the things was they put no salt/pepper or menus on the tables (you had to look online). So, my sister bought me the tiniest s/p grinders ever to carry in my purse. I did and I kept them in a ziplock bag, but somehow, pepper ended up getting out and into my purse. To this day, I will pull something out of my bag and it smells like pepper. Cracks me up!

I finally remembered to take this over to the new house since I don't have cookware there yet. A few days ago I bought a package of the pork egg rolls at Aldi that I really like. (I hadn't taken this yet.) I nuked one for lunch while I was there and it was soggy and horrid. So, I brought "The Box" and I had one today that I heated in it. Put it on med/med hi, egg roll in, covered. I turned it several times. It wasn't quite as hot as I wanted it to be, but it was at least crispy and I had with some Aldi Thai Chili Dipping Sauce. Much better than the soggy mess the other day. Sorry, didn't think of taking pix since I was in a hurry. Just wanted to report that it worked just as desired.

@Smithy Maybe you need to start traveling with some coffee packets. That's nuts!!

Thanks for asking that so I didn't have to. 😆

I ordered a rolling island yesterday and it will be here next week. Then I have to figure out how I'll wrangle the package 100+ lbs. into the garage until my sis and BIL are here and can put it together for me. I did have a 15% off coupon from Wayfair and used that which paid for their 5 year protection package which will cover replacing various things that might go wrong. So, if the rubber wood top splits or warps, they will replace it free.

I can't wait until I get time to go to TJs. I really wish they'd open one nearer me. I seldom go during the summer anyway--35-40 minutes each way and even with a cooler, I'm leery of buying anything frozen.

@blue_dolphin Thanks! I hadn't thought of Wayfair either. I've never shopped them, but I am pretty sure I got a discount card in the mail from them at the new place. I'll look to see if I kept it when I get over there today.

@Smithy, yes you are correct. The Boos islands are definitely out of my budget. Sorry I'm not terribly quick to respond lately--I am frantically packing and moving stuff all the time. Owning 2 homes during this heat wave is giving me major heartburn with the cost of a/c running in both places. I don't want to get off-track, but also been sending photos to the auction company who is coming to pick up my militaria/home front/sweetheart/childrens' toys and uniforms collections. Too many irons in the fire! @TdeV, your island is beautiful, but definitely not in my budget. @blue_dolphin, my needs are precisely like those of your Mom--extra storage and stretch the prep work if it is a larger dinner that my sis is here helping with. Two people trying to work in a tiny space can get dicey--have a rolling island that can be moved out far enough that the other person can still get into the oven/fridge will be a huge help.

Now I'm craving hot dogs!!

Yes, I'm beginning to think that I should look on it more as a countertop and just put a cutting board down on it if I want to use it that way. Probably safer and certainly cheaper than needing to replace the island every so often because the top is warped.

I am looking for a small rolling kitchen island for the new house in order to expand my storage/prep space. It needs to be small and fairly inexpensive. I find no stores in the area that have more than one style in the store to see, so I need to order online. I am going to show my ignorance here. I kept rejecting many that looked good because it said the cutting board top was rubber wood. I thought they meant it was some sort of manufactured fake wood-look thing. I finally Googled it and discovered that it actually is wood and is supposed to be sustainable, etc. My question is, do any of you have experience with a rubber wood cutting board? I don't want to buy it thinking I can use it as a cutting board, only to find that it isn't really a good choice for that purpose.

Saturday, my sis and BIL brought me more home-grown tomatoes. Sadly, they were already badly split and very soft. I had one Saturday night and there is another I can slice to eat if I use it quickly. The rest, I peeled and chopped the best I could (not easy when they are so soft). I put in a little EVOO, some shallot, garlic, seasonings and capers and had it over gemelli (because there was a little left in the package and I want it gone). I failed to keep up with photos after I added stuff but this is the beginning.