Unexpected Food Gifts

[Tropicalsenior]

My housemate's girlfriend returned from Florida this week and brought me these. Just at random, she happened to choose my very favorite candy bar. They were a tiny bit melty but popping them in the refrigerator took care of that and as you see I already sampled them and they were wonderful.

This may seem a bit trivial to most of you but when you haven't had something in 15 years it is a little bit of Heaven.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Some British friends came to town last week, to see a few shows. They brought these for us...

 

 

Quite tasty.

We had those for a while in the 70s, when I was a kid, but in Canada it was called a WigWag.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Yesterday a patron of the library at which I work brought me a quick bread.  She is known to be an excellent and prolific baker.  I was not yet on desk when she dropped off the gift, and I reached only her voice mail when I called to thank her.  I assumed of course that it was zucchini bread.  I'm not a fan of banana or pumpkin bread.  I tried a piece of her bread after dinner for dessert.  It is made from carrots, nuts, and a lot of cinnamon.  The texture and sweetness level are perfect.  If there is any zucchini in there, it is well hidden.  Possibly the most enjoyable quick bread I have ever had.

 

[Anna N]

 

These these These showed up a week or so ago. I did not pay much attention assuming that they were simply dried shiitake mushrooms. Duh!  I suspect they may become seriously addictive. 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

My sister brought over some cherries from their tree. I guess sending them over sugar snap peas paid off 😇.

 

[JAZ]

For my birthday, my sister sent us a selection of savory hand pies from a place near us in Atlanta. This was the selection (not sure why the chicken and mushroom pie didn't get a fancy label):

 

 

We chose four to bake a few nights ago for dinner. They recommend basting with an egg wash, so we did that.

 

 

We only ended up sharing three that night, with one left over for lunch.

 

 

I liked them all; Dave was not a big fan of the spinach and feta. 

 

[Smithy]

@JAZ do you remember which others you tried (so far)? I'm intrigued by the steak and stout pie -- that sounds like a nice take on an English classic. The chicken tikka masala pie sounds like cognitive dissonance to me. I love the flavors, but in a flaky crust like a pot pie? I'm curious.

 

Oh, and how was the crust?

[liuzhou]

4 hours ago, Smithy said:

that sounds like a nice take on an English classic

 

Are you trying to start a war? 🤣 Most people would say an Irish classic. Beef and Guinness, to be precise in the choice of stout. But that is possibly incorrect. Stews have existed since the dawn of cookery. Guinness didn't exist untl 1759. More likely a few years later someone had the bright idea of combining it with beef in a stew. but whether anyone had used stout before I don't know for sure, but i guess not. Whatever, it gives me an excuse to post a beautiful portrait.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[JAZ]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

@JAZ do you remember which others you tried (so far)? I'm intrigued by the steak and stout pie -- that sounds like a nice take on an English classic. The chicken tikka masala pie sounds like cognitive dissonance to me. I love the flavors, but in a flaky crust like a pot pie? I'm curious.

 

Oh, and how was the crust?

 

In addition to the spinach and feta, we tried the steak and stout, chicken and bacon, and the chicken tikka masala. The steak and stout tasted great. The steak was cut into fairly big chunks so if you were truly trying to eat it out of hand, it would have been a mess. Since we were using forks and knives, it was fine. The chicken and bacon was a hit with both of us. We didn't make it to the chicken tikka masala for dinner (too full), so I had it for lunch the next day. The filling was excellent, but you're right, it was a little odd inside a crust. Although to be fair, since it was reheated, it probably wasn't at its best.

 

The crust was pretty good. The pies are made with puff on the top and short crust on the bottom. The bottom crust was a bit thick and would have been better, I think, if we'd taken the pies out of their foil pie tins halfway through cooking so they could have gotten more crisp and browned.

[Dave the Cook]

Quote

For my birthday, my sister sent us a selection of savory hand pies from a place near us in Atlanta.

 

Not to derail this topic, but at this point, it's worth remembering Margaret McArthur's article for the Daily Gullet, A Pocketful of Dough.

[Kim Shook]

@liuzhou - the chocolates and their packaging are the epitome of "exquisite".  I'm not a dark chocolate fan, so I was thrilled to see milk chocolate done with such care and artistry.  

 

@weinoo - Curlywurlys!!!!  Along with Flakes and Crunchies, my all-time favorite candy bars in the world.  We used to have the same bar in the US - it was called a Marathon bar.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Kim Shook (log)

[liuzhou]

13 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

We used to have the same bar in the US - it was called a Marathon bar.

 

We had a Marathon bar in the UK too. In 1990, they were renamed Snickers to fall in line with the rest of the world. In 2020, Mars Wrigley brought it back for a limited three month stretch. I even get Snickers here; it's the only western chocolate widely available in China.

 

 

 

[Smithy]

I ran into a friend of a friend a couple of days ago, checking out the produce at a small honor-system farmstand here. The stand didn't have lettuce (and the other offerings looked poor), but when I mentioned what I was after my friend's friend said "Come to our house! Our garden went crazy with it this year!" I came home from their place with a bag filled of 5 kinds of lettuce, harvested while we talked: butter lettuce, baby romaine, green leaf, and 2 others I can't identify. I've been working my way through these lovely greens with abandon: lavish salads and sandwiches, loaded up with sweet delicate greens. This isn't a gallon bag; it's more like 2.5 gallons. It was FULL when I first came home with it.

 

 

My best friend and her husband spent most of their professional years living in Tanzania or Malawi, with a garden and gardener. They have lamented the poor taste of grocery store lettuce here in the States (although they're no longer inclined to garden). Now I understand what they've been talking about.

[liuzhou]

In 2016, I visited Hunan for a 20-year anniversary reunion with some old colleagues. As I was leaving after a wonderful weekend, I was given a box of the wonderful local golden-yellow peaches.

 

2016

 

Fast forward an eventful seven years to 10:55 this morning when this box turned up at my door. Another box!

 

2023

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

This afternoon a patron of the library where I work brought in a large box of chocolates for the staff.  In celebration of the Indian moon landing.

 

I can't wait until they get to Mars.  (Pun possibly intended.)

 

 

[Darienne]

Our neighbors from across the road, the Jammie Guys...we call them that because when they moved in, they had a sign made and put up at the entrance to their long driveway "Jammies Till Noon Farm" ...dropped over.  They are not farmers.  She works for the building part of the university and he now works at home on contract from I have no idea where but he's an engineer by occupation.  So they dropped over and left us with this.  I am, not to put too fine a point on it, overwhelmed.

 

(Oh, that's our dining room table, a 4x8 plastic covered, plywood slab, normally hidden under a nice tablecloth.  The table actually belonged to a local artisan group and we stored it for them because they didn't have enough room and if you recall we have a gigantic Drive Shed.  Three times I suggested they might like it back and three times they refused and now it's ours by default.  Oh, there are two more tables just like it and all three have brass plates on them stating their official owners.  Please don't tell them I told you.)

[heidih]

Let the games begin ;

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Nice neighbors! 

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Nice neighbors! 

And am phoning two neighbors to come over and take some of this.  I've divided the tomatoes into ripe,  half-ripe and not really ripe yet and most of them are ripe and would be rotten in 5 days if not eaten.  But one neighbor has already responded that she's overwhelmed with tomatoes already but will take some cherry tomatoes and a couple of potatoes.  A couple of potatoes?  Fat lot of good that will do.  

 

 

[Maison Rustique]

For the tomatoes that need to be used right away, roast and freeze. Ditto eggplant and peppers. Potatoes should keep for quite a while if you've got a dark cool place to store them.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Maison Rustique
correct typo (log)

[Darienne]

3 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

For the tomatoes that need to be used right away, roast and freeze. Ditto eggplant and peppers. Potatoes should keep for quite a while if you've got a dark cook place to store them.

Thanks.  That is my plan for the tomatoes...except that Ed has the oven for a roast this morning.  A recipe for Tomato Basil soup which calls for roasted tomatoes.  Some of which will go to the produce donor of course.  

 

We've been caught with a number of projects which must be taken care of immediately before the processing can begin.  The eggplants are destined for cutlets for Moussaka.  Some of which will  go to the produce donor female.  And along with some Spanakopita.  Her husband will not touch the stuff.  The potatoes go into the cellar which is dark to begin with.  Our house is over 150 years old and the cellar is truly a 'cellar' and not a basement, although when we added on our living room about 10 years ago, Ed had a basement room built under the living room and it has a big window and is a 'basement' room.  

[liuzhou]

22 minutes ago, Darienne said:

except that Ed has the oven for a roast this morning.

 

You need 'his 'n her' ovens!

[Darienne]

56 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

You need 'his 'n her' ovens!

We have 'his' and 'her' tools...and he borrows mine whenever.  Sometimes he returns them...and often he doesn't.  I've never borrowed 'his'.  

 

I think that two sets of ovens is quite beyond our snack bracket.  But thanks for the idea.  I'm grateful that Ed cooks as much as he does.  He does most of the North American cooking and basically all the short order dishes...I do the rest.  

 

Added:  Good heavens, I think my halo is slipping...

Edited September 17, 2023 by Darienne (log)

[Darienne]

3 hours ago, Darienne said:

And am phoning two neighbors to come over and take some of this.  I've divided the tomatoes into ripe,  half-ripe and not really ripe yet and most of them are ripe and would be rotten in 5 days if not eaten.  But one neighbor has already responded that she's overwhelmed with tomatoes already but will take some cherry tomatoes and a couple of potatoes.  A couple of potatoes?  Fat lot of good that will do.  

 

 

Other neighbor works at our local university with graduate students and she came and took a share which she'll give to students.

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Another six pack of Nova Scotia craft brewery product as a thank you for four days of dog sitting.