Unexpected Food Gifts

[Kim Shook]

12 hours ago, Shelby said:

*scratching @Kim Shook off of the "leave zucchini on the porch" list*

 

Hell, she even grates it up for you!

LOL!  I managed to pass a bag to my MIL today.  She is one of those people who physically suffers at the idea of wasted food.  You just hint that you might just toss it and she agrees to give it a home. 🤣

[Kim Shook]

Jessica arrived with a bag of these last night.  A gift from a friend of hers who bought "too many" (how does that ever apply to blue crab?):

They are on a half sheet pan, BTW.  I am slightly steaming them in the CSO and picking them all today.  Hope to do something interesting for dinner tonight.  

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Jessica arrived with a bag of these last night.  A gift from a friend of hers who bought "too many" (how does that ever apply to blue crab?):

They are on a half sheet pan, BTW.  I am slightly steaming them in the CSO and picking them all today.  Hope to do something interesting for dinner tonight.  

Looks like maybe enough. Half to eat while picking, half for crab cakes.

[heidih]

22 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Looks like maybe enough. Half to eat while picking, half for crab cakes.

 

Oh heavens - first time I got blue crab at the Korean market that had super fresh stuff I was a novice. My only crab experience was Dungeness which are hefty kids. . I had NO idea how many it took to satisfy. Husband bit his tongue at the meager meal and  was just  tad  grumpy. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by heidih (log)

[liuzhou]

Just arrived. My favourite peaches from western Hunan. A gift from where I worked over twenty years ago. Thanks, 龙丽花 (lóng lì huā).

 

[BeeZee]

Went to the office today, got a bag of tomatoes from co-worker (large, grape, and tiny cherry types), he also gave me these cookies which his wife has been enjoying with tea.

 

 

[heidih]

Oh my - Saudi fig newtons sort of

[ElsieD]

My next door neighbour must have gone to Montreal today.   On my door hung some bagels she had brought for us with a note saying they had been baked at noon.

[kayb]

That's a good neighbor.

[Kim Shook]

On 8/7/2020 at 10:58 AM, BeeZee said:

Went to the office today, got a bag of tomatoes from co-worker (large, grape, and tiny cherry types), he also gave me these cookies which his wife has been enjoying with tea.

 

 

Funny thing.  We got a big box of these at Costco awhile back.  We've been eating them and noting that they were a little bland and not terribly figgy and that Fig Newtons are actually better...blah, blah, blah.  Just realized last week that they are filled with DATES.  Not figs.  Duh.

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Funny thing.  We got a big box of these at Costco awhile back.  We've been eating them and noting that they were a little bland and not terribly figgy and that Fig Newtons are actually better...blah, blah, blah.  Just realized last week that they are filled with DATES.  Not figs.  Duh.

 

Dates don't have the seedy edge that figs do but if they are good ones - flavorful for sure. Kinda famous for them in our desert area https://www.seriouseats.com/2008/05/best-date-shakes-in-southern-california.html

Edited August 10, 2020 by heidih (log)

[BeeZee]

2 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Funny thing.  We got a big box of these at Costco awhile back.  We've been eating them and noting that they were a little bland and not terribly figgy and that Fig Newtons are actually better...blah, blah, blah.  Just realized last week that they are filled with DATES.  Not figs.  Duh.

They are pretty dry and the cookie part wants to crumble, definitely better eaten with tea or coffee, I do like the date flavor but they definitely don’t have the same ratio of filling as Newtons.

[Kim Shook]

4 hours ago, heidih said:

 

Dates don't have the seedy edge that figs do but if they are good ones - flavorful for sure. Kinda famous for them in our desert area https://www.seriouseats.com/2008/05/best-date-shakes-in-southern-california.html

 

I've wanted to taste a date shake since reading about them in one of the Sterns books!

 

[Shelby]

49 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I've wanted to taste a date shake since reading about them in one of the Sterns books!

 

I've wanted to taste one too- @Smithy posted a while back about going to that place that sells dates .  I forget where it is, but I always drooled over her purchases and she always gets a date shake  

[Smithy]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I've wanted to taste one too- @Smithy posted a while back about going to that place that sells dates .  I forget where it is, but I always drooled over her purchases and she always gets a date shake  

 

We always go to the Oasis Date Gardens in Thermal. Here's my most recent visit.

[Shelby]

Just now, Smithy said:

 

We always go to the Oasis Date Gardens in Thermal. Here's my most recent visit.

Yeah!  Thank you!

 

I'm just now thinking a fig newton or date cookie roughly chopped and mixed in homemade ice cream might be worth exploring.

[Kim Shook]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I've wanted to taste one too- @Smithy posted a while back about going to that place that sells dates .  I forget where it is, but I always drooled over her purchases and she always gets a date shake  

I'm betting you have a big boy blender.  Why not give this a try and report back? 😁

[Shelby]

21 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

I'm betting you have a big boy blender.  Why not give this a try and report back? 😁

Now to get walnuts dates and ice cream lol.

[kayb]

The best treatment of dates I know: Stuff an almond in where that pit was. Wrap the date in 1/3 strip of bacon (the thin, supermarket kind). Sprinkle with a little brown sugar or drizzle a little maple syurp. Bake until bacon is done.

 

I can hurt myself on these.

 

I like them in oatmeal, and in bran muffins, too.

[heidih]

22 minutes ago, kayb said:

The best treatment of dates I know: Stuff an almond in where that pit was. Wrap the date in 1/3 strip of bacon (the thin, supermarket kind). Sprinkle with a little brown sugar or drizzle a little maple syurp. Bake until bacon is done.

 

I can hurt myself on these.

 

 

Classic 70's cocktail pass around at my mom's dinner parties  No added sugar though. And I think us kitchen helpers broiled them with the pan on a slightly lower rack. 

[Kim Shook]

Another date use that is SO good.

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

The best treatment of dates I know: Stuff an almond in where that pit was. Wrap the date in 1/3 strip of bacon (the thin, supermarket kind). Sprinkle with a little brown sugar or drizzle a little maple syurp. Bake until bacon is done.

 

My GF substitutes pecans, but the idea is the same. Sadly, she has to pass on the bacon now that her doctor has ordered her to cut processed and red meats (an anti-inflammatory diet to moderate her RA). Personally, I like 'em with a smidge of blue cheese in the middle.

[CantCookStillTry]

 

I gave a customer some Mandarines my Citrus Guy gave me as I have way more than I could ever use. She bought me these today! She lives alone with her horses and 2 bantam chooks that lay 2 each a day! I have passed on most as we're not eggy people and I had made a quiche the day before that'll do us for egg fancying for a month 🤦‍♀️. 

[Kerry Beal]

When the eG Heartland Gathering was in Cleveland we went to Lolita. Here's what I wrote down about the date appetizer after.

 

• dates
• bacon
• almond 
• garlic
• hot pepper
• butter
• white wine
• parsley

[shawarma_prince]

Does anyone know of some good mid priced chocolate I can buy on Amazon for a friends birthday?