I will never again . . . (Part 4)

[Tropicalsenior]

15 minutes ago, heidih said:

Hint - embrace your creativity and stop the shop impulse

You've got it! I'm trying to creatively use up all that extra stuff I've got in the pantry. Does anybody have some creative recipes for spaghetti?

[Darienne]

38 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You've got it! I'm trying to creatively use up all that extra stuff I've got in the pantry. Does anybody have some creative recipes for spaghetti?

Sauce?  Noodles?  Cooked noodles?

[KennethT]

Only leave myself with 15g of tamarind pulp! How do I not have an extra block in the pantry?!?

[Darienne]

...not check the state of the frozen fresh ginger until I was ready to use it tonight in making Triple Ginger Ice  Cream (Dog Weekend next weekend) ?  Only to discover that it was totally shrivelled and completely unusable.  Well...maybe it has been about four years after all.  Probably haven't used it since I last made that ice cream.  

[JoNorvelleWalker]

48 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Only leave myself with 15g of tamarind pulp! How do I not have an extra block in the pantry?!?

 

Did you check the bedroom?

 

[Tropicalsenior]

34 minutes ago, Darienne said:

frozen fresh ginger

I've got a system that I've used for 20 years. When I see nice fresh ginger in the store, I buy about a pound of it. I grate it with a little bit of oil in the food processor and then store it in little jars in the freezer. To use it, I pop the jar in the microwave for 1 minute and just scrape enough off the top for the amount that I need. Then back into the freezer. I used some yesterday that had been in the freezer for about 3 months and it was still hot enough to fry your tonsils.

[Tropicalsenior]

52 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Only leave myself with 15g of tamarind pulp! How do I not have an extra block in the pantry?!?

Got some I can send you. When I did my inventory I found three blocks of it and I only use about a tablespoon a month.

[Tropicalsenior]

1 hour ago, Darienne said:

Sauce?  Noodles?  Cooked noodles?

Anything at all with spaghetti. I'm seriously thinking spaghetti pie tomorrow night. Maybe I can make something with spaghetti and Tamarind paste.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Anything at all with spaghetti. I'm seriously thinking spaghetti pie tomorrow night. Maybe I can make something with spaghetti and Tamarind paste.

It is just a carb so scrambled with eggs herbs dusted with cheese. Depending on my stooopid kitchen situation I often cook up several servings worth, rinse well and put in a storage bag or container to play with for several days. Freeze well too. I grew up keeping the homemade noodles cooked separate from soup so they would not swell and turn cloudy. Spaghetti cut up a bit is nice in soups. @shain often does sweets with noodles. Don't be rule bound,. Heck you moved to Costa Rica - the tethers have been untied

[DesertTinker]

4 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

You've got it! I'm trying to creatively use up all that extra stuff I've got in the pantry. Does anybody have some creative recipes for spaghetti?

Turn spaghetti into ramen from Serious Eats.

[Darienne]

10 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've got a system that I've used for 20 years. When I see nice fresh ginger in the store, I buy about a pound of it. I grate it with a little bit of oil in the food processor and then store it in little jars in the freezer. To use it, I pop the jar in the microwave for 1 minute and just scrape enough off the top for the amount that I need. Then back into the freezer. I used some yesterday that had been in the freezer for about 3 months and it was still hot enough to fry your tonsils.

Good idea.  I think that Covid plus encroaching old age with huge changes in my health really changed our lives for the last 3 years.  No more dinner parties.  No more cooking of certain foods, using certain ingredients.  

 

Oh, about the Triple Ginger Ice Cream...I've decided to make Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream instead.  Much easier.  Need nothing I don't have on hand.  It's not Ed's favorite, but trooper that he is, he'll force himself to eat the leftovers after the weekend is over along with the other 3 batches I've made.  

[heidih]

2 hours ago, Darienne said:

Oh, about the Triple Ginger Ice Cream...I've decided to make Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream instead.  Much easier.  Need nothing I don't have on hand.  It's not Ed's favorite, but trooper that he is, he'll force himself to eat the leftovers after the weekend is over along with the other 3 batches I've made.  

And yet he retains his youthful handsome figure!

[ElsieD]

13 hours ago, Tropicalsenior said:

I've got a system that I've used for 20 years. When I see nice fresh ginger in the store, I buy about a pound of it. I grate it with a little bit of oil in the food processor and then store it in little jars in the freezer. To use it, I pop the jar in the microwave for 1 minute and just scrape enough off the top for the amount that I need. Then back into the freezer. I used some yesterday that had been in the freezer for about 3 months and it was still hot enough to fry your tonsils.

 

I wonder if that would work for garlic?  How solid does the ginger freeze?

[Tropicalsenior]

15 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I wonder if that would work for garlic?  How solid does the ginger freeze?

The ginger freezes quite solid but I just pop it in the microwave for 1 minute and scrape enough off the top for what I need and then back in the freezer. Doesn't hurt it a bit. It also works great for garlic. With that, I do microwave the garlic for two or three minutes, depending on the amount before I freeze it. The cloves of garlic also freeze well. Just peel them and pop them in a jar. You always have fresh garlic when you need it and no more garlic sprouting away in storage.

Edited August 5, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[chromedome]

I freeze a whole piece of ginger in a Ziploc, and then microplane it as needed. I tend to use it sporadically - a lot for a short time, then none for a long time - so this makes sense for me. As for garlic, I typically puree most of my garden's harvest with a bit of oil and pack it flat (and thin) in Ziploc bags for the freezer. Once the held-back fresh portion of my harvest is past its prime I switch to the frozen, taking it out and breaking off a corner (or more often, a big ol' chunk) as needed.

 

 

[Tropicalsenior]

I will never again stupidly scare myself half to death while trying to boil eggs in my instant pot. I sat here for almost half an hour waiting for it to come to pressure and convincing myself that the heating element must have burned out. Then I realized that I hadn't set it. 20 minutes later, perfect boiled eggs, just a little too late to have deviled eggs for dinner. There's always tomorrow.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I shall never again cook Rancho Gordo beans.  Oh, no, no, that didn't come out right, that's not what I mean.  Let me begin again:  I am cooking Rancho Gordo beans.  But forgive me, I wanted to add a little onion.  I knew I had half an onion in the refrigerator.  I found it.  It was moldy.

 

In the bedroom the last of the last onions had liquified.  The visage was horrid, the smell was worse.  Fortunately I had a new unopened bag of organic onions.  Rotten, every one.

 

Gagging by this point, my instinct was to take out the trash sooner rather than later.  And since the heat here has been so unbearable I did not see need to pause to put on any pants.  Next to the dumpster in the dark parking lot I ran into, what best I could see, a coywolf.  It's silhouette appeared more substantial than a fox.  Either way, I lost it.

 

Worse, more Rancho Gordo beans are on the way.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Good grief.   You remind me of a shower cleaning product I saw the other day.   Front of label read: "Everyday shower wash.   No need to wear gloves.   Or pants for that matter."

[heidih]

20 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I shall never again cook Rancho Gordo beans.  Oh, no, no, that didn't come out right, that's not what I mean.  Let me begin again:  I am cooking Rancho Gordo beans.  But forgive me, I wanted to add a little onion.  I knew I had half an onion in the refrigerator.  I found it.  It was moldy.

 

In the bedroom the last of the last onions had liquified.  The visage was horrid, the smell was worse.  Fortunately I had a new unopened bag of organic onions.  Rotten, every one.

 

Gagging by this point, my instinct was to take out the trash sooner rather than later.  And since the heat here has been so unbearable I did not see need to pause to put on any pants.  Next to the dumpster in the dark parking lot I ran into, what best I could see, a coywolf.  It's silhouette appeared more substantial than a fox.  Either way, I lost it.

 

Worse, more Rancho Gordo beans are on the way.o

Your liquefication issues recently may require an eG "how to store" intervention. Sure the canid was as startled as you were.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

26 minutes ago, heidih said:

Your liquefication issues recently may require an eG "how to store" intervention. Sure the canid was as startled as you were.

 

Speaking seriously I think the recent problems are partially due to excessive storage temperatures.  It wasn't planned that my bedroom would be 90 degrees.

 

 

Edit:  and neither was the canid wearing pants.

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I shall never again cook Rancho Gordo beans.  Oh, no, no, that didn't come out right, that's not what I mean.  Let me begin again:  I am cooking Rancho Gordo beans.  But forgive me, I wanted to add a little onion.  I knew I had half an onion in the refrigerator.  I found it.  It was moldy.

 

In the bedroom the last of the last onions had liquified.  The visage was horrid, the smell was worse.  Fortunately I had a new unopened bag of organic onions.  Rotten, every one.

 

Gagging by this point, my instinct was to take out the trash sooner rather than later.  And since the heat here has been so unbearable I did not see need to pause to put on any pants.  Next to the dumpster in the dark parking lot I ran into, what best I could see, a coywolf.  It's silhouette appeared more substantial than a fox.  Either way, I lost it.

 

Worse, more Rancho Gordo beans are on the way.

 

A teaching moment for sure. The next time I take out the trash at night in my underwear I'll be sure I have some liquifying reeking onions in hand  in case I need to throw them at a midsize predator. Coyotes very rarely are seen in my suburban Oakland neighborhood. Most likely, at night, it would just be a black and white cat, which is rarely a cat, but in fact, a skunk. It's a toss-up whether or not I could hurl an onion in time. Which reminds me I should stock up on ketchup. I take so many valuable lessons away from eG. You don't have to tell me twice not to keep onions under the bed. I'd never remember where I put them.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Leave a liter glass bottle of Perrier in the freezer overnight.    Fortunately, the contents more or less maintained the shape of the bottle albeit larger.   Not too much broken glass scattered in the bin, which was possibly due for a thorough cleaning anyway,   

 

DUMB!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I shall never again stab myself in the cheek with a corn holder.

 

[ElsieD]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I shall never again stab myself in the cheek with a corn holder.

 

 

The most amazing things happen to you.  Had you had a second mai tai perhaps?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, ElsieD said:

 

The most amazing things happen to you.  Had you had a second mai tai perhaps?

 

I only wish.  Munching small buttery ears of corn I'm surprised cheek accidents don't occur more often.