Unexpected Food Gifts

[rotuts]

Oooooo !

 

Oooooooooooooo!

 

On-Line !

 

[Shelby]

Our hunter friend has a good friend that out of the blue, not even knowing us except for what our friend has told him, sent us his homemade BBQ sauce and pecans picked from his own pecan trees.  The sauce is excellent--vinegar based.  And I've never ever tasted a better pecan.

 

[liuzhou]

and again

 

10 am, someone knocked on my apartment door. Most unusual. A young lady was standing there with a box. I explained I wasn't expecting anything, but on examining the label, found it was definitely addressed to me. I'm not expecting any nasty surprises (I don't think I've upset anyone who knows my address!) so I accepted it.

 

 

Delving through the packaging I found an polystyrene insulation box with two ice packs and a vacuum sealed bag of unidentifiable something. Closer inspection revealed these.

 

 

Four beautiful, fat, blood sausages from Hunan! Happiness overflows! Dinner plans re-thought! Thanks Ms, Chen! (She of the okra and scissors.)

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[MaryIsobel]

Neighbours across the street who moved in last summer, have relatives who own mushroom farms. Mushroom farming is big business around here. Most are under contract to big companies (Money's for example) and are not allowed off sales or farm stands. Our new neighbours have been exceedingly generous and have probably given us over 50 pounds of mushrooms since August. They normally bring 10 pound flats at a time. 10 pounds is a lot of mushrooms for two people! My standard procedure is to slice and saute and freeze after eating our fill of fresh. I was introduced to creamed mushrooms on sourdough toast while visiting Ireland and that is a favourite, along with stroganoff, mushroom soup and just sauteed mushrooms. 

Anyway, last night they brought over 6 of these. I guess their size makes them portabellas, which apparently are just larger, older, cremini which are older white button mushrooms. Gave two to my daughter; she and her low carb boyfriend make "mushroom pizzas", we'll have some tonight and then I'll freeze a bag or two of sliced and sauteed. Next time I get smaller ones, I'd like to try pickling them.

[heidih]

10 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

Neighbours across the street who moved in last summer, have relatives who own mushroom farms. Mushroom farming is big business around here. Most are under contract to big companies (Money's for example) and are not allowed off sales or farm stands. Our new neighbours have been exceedingly generous and have probably given us over 50 pounds of mushrooms since August. They normally bring 10 pound flats at a time. 10 pounds is a lot of mushrooms for two people! My standard procedure is to slice and saute and freeze after eating our fill of fresh. I was introduced to creamed mushrooms on sourdough toast while visiting Ireland and that is a favourite, along with stroganoff, mushroom soup and just sauteed mushrooms. 

Anyway, last night they brought over 6 of these. I guess their size makes them portabellas, which apparently are just larger, older, cremini which are older white button mushrooms. Gave two to my daughter; she and her low carb boyfriend make "mushroom pizzas", we'll have some tonight and then I'll freeze a bag or two of sliced and sauteed. Next time I get smaller ones, I'd like to try pickling them.

My extreme envy is boundless. The ones in the market today were not pretty.  

[MaryIsobel]

23 minutes ago, heidih said:

My extreme envy is boundless. The ones in the market today were not pretty.  

If only you were closer (and this side of the 49th), I'd be more than happy to share. You can imagine the look on my face when the doorbell rang at 8 pm on Christmas Eve and there stood the neighbour with a 10 pound flat of mushrooms!

[TicTac]

3 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

Neighbours across the street who moved in last summer, have relatives who own mushroom farms. Mushroom farming is big business around here. Most are under contract to big companies (Money's for example) and are not allowed off sales or farm stands. Our new neighbours have been exceedingly generous and have probably given us over 50 pounds of mushrooms since August. They normally bring 10 pound flats at a time. 10 pounds is a lot of mushrooms for two people! My standard procedure is to slice and saute and freeze after eating our fill of fresh. I was introduced to creamed mushrooms on sourdough toast while visiting Ireland and that is a favourite, along with stroganoff, mushroom soup and just sauteed mushrooms. 

Anyway, last night they brought over 6 of these. I guess their size makes them portabellas, which apparently are just larger, older, cremini which are older white button mushrooms. Gave two to my daughter; she and her low carb boyfriend make "mushroom pizzas", we'll have some tonight and then I'll freeze a bag or two of sliced and sauteed. Next time I get smaller ones, I'd like to try pickling them.

What a fantastic problem to have!

 

What other varieties do they grow?  I will admit portobello's are not my favourite shroom, but I have found that if I remove the skin and gills (an old chef who I apprenticed under in a previous life when I thought I would take that career path taught me) they are quite nice, especially grilled with some ramp oil/butter inside the cap.

 

 

[heidih]

Ha I am the heathen whose stepmom cringes and nastily comments when. i I do not peel & gill remove. I want all the taste and I am not asking her to eat them. 

[BeeZee]

We had visitors from our other office today and they brought a fruit basket for us. First time I've gotten a fruit basket that included lemons with the other usual suspects...but timing was good, I need lemons for dinner tomorrow, so I claimed them.

[Anna N]

19 hours ago, TicTac said:

I will admit portobello's are not my favourite shroom, but I have found that if I remove the skin and gills (an old chef who I apprenticed under in a previous life when I thought I would take that career path taught me) they are quite nice

Aesthetically they might be better without their gills but I grew up with field mushrooms braised in milk. An uncle would forage for them on a Sunday morning and bring them to my grandma’s house.  The gills coloured the milk. Portobellos are similar although not as tasty as field mushrooms. Like so. Served over warm buttered toast, field mushrooms braised in milk was hard to beat.

[MaryIsobel]

An embarassment of riches, one might say. Neighbour just showed up with these. I had just finishing sauteeing and stashing in the freezer, the remainder of the mushrooms they gave us the other day. Since dinner tonight is halibut (in the style of LiamsAunt) with balsamic beets and sweet potatoes, I wasn't feeling that mushrooms would go well. Maybe creamed mushrooms on toast or mushroom risotto tomorrow night and then back to sauteeing and freezing. As far as gills go, it depends on what I'm making and how dark the gills are. I once made a mushroom, red pepper, asparagus stir fry where the gills turned the whole dish a rather unappetizing colour.

Edited March 26, 2021 by MaryIsobel (log)

[lemniscate]

16 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

 

 

When I see this picture, I think of mushroom confit.   It stores really well in fridge or freezer.

[MaryIsobel]

3 hours ago, lemniscate said:

 

When I see this picture, I think of mushroom confit.   It stores really well in fridge or freezer.

That's a new one to me - sounds well worth a try, thank you.

[TicTac]

Another one I learned from EG actually was pickled/marinated button mushrooms.  I think it was @Shelby who turned me onto them.  Addictive stuff.  I was the only one in my family who liked them, but they were quite good!

 

Mushroom patties/burgers would be another good application for an excessive bounty.

 

 

[heidih]

16 minutes ago, TicTac said:

Another one I learned from EG actually was pickled/marinated button mushrooms.  I think it was @Shelby who turned me onto them.  Addictive stuff.  I was the only one in my family who liked them, but they were quite good!

 

The trailblazer was HungryChris  

 

[CantCookStillTry]

It has started. First of the season. Perfectly ripe just unsuitable colours. Imperial Mandarins the first of the years citrus, skins very soft and kid friendly. We live in a citrus, strawberry, salad & sugar region - my customers often give me piles of stuff from the "waste" off their farms. I usually hand out to the Country Womens Association because it's too much.

He also gave me an abnormal one for fun. 

 

Big Boy. Won't be tasting. 

[Kim Shook]

6 hours ago, CantCookStillTry said:

It has started. First of the season. Perfectly ripe just unsuitable colours. Imperial Mandarins the first of the years citrus, skins very soft and kid friendly. We live in a citrus, strawberry, salad & sugar region - my customers often give me piles of stuff from the "waste" off their farms. I usually hand out to the Country Womens Association because it's too much.

He also gave me an abnormal one for fun. 

 

Big Boy. Won't be tasting. 

Wow!  What a great thing to get a share of.  

[heidih]

From a different vantage point how satisfying is it to have good stuff on hand to gift. Gardeners just blew roof inundated with  pine needles . They will get extra cash but giving them a packet of orange cake made for big smiles . 

[liuzhou]

Is this classified as a gift? Maybe; maybe not. I'm going with maybe.

 

I was recently approached by an old associate who asked if I would be wiling to join a (汾酒 - fén jiǔ) fenjiu tasting panel. Fenjiu is one type of the Chinese spirit, 白酒 (bái jiǔ). It is the only type I can drink - relatively mild and more subtle that other varieties.The deal is that they send me maybe two bottles of fenjiu a month, I taste it and send them my tasting notes. They pay me for tasting it and writing my notes and send me the bottles (and the contents) for free and gratis! So I call it a gift. The blue one is a 30-year old at 53% ABV, while the green is a mere lad of 20-years and 42%. I know the blue one sells for over $200 USD in the USA. Not so sure about the green but if it is available it will only be a little cheaper.

So, today at 11:32 am, the first two bottles turned up. Here they be.

 

 

 I won't be tasting them immediately as I'm on medication which doesn't agree with alcohol, but the course will be over in a day or three. I may post my thoughts somewhere in the appropriate section of the forums.

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[ElsieD]

Those look like beautiful bottles.

[liuzhou]

26 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Those look like beautiful bottles.

 

Indeed. A lot of Chinese liquor comes in exceptionally attractive bottles. The blue and white one, in particular, is a true work of art, I think.

Edited April 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

It must be my birthday or something (it isn't). Dropped in to visit a friend this evening and was presented with this.

荔枝蜜 (lì zhī mì), lychee honey from her family plot and apiary. 100% organic and 100% orgasmic!

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[Katie Meadow]

4 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

It must be my birthday or something (it isn't). Dropped in to visit a friend this evening and was presented with this.

荔枝蜜 (lì zhī mì), lychee honey from her family plot and apiary. 100% organic and 100% orgasmic!

 

 

Ooh, lovely. Happy Birthday (not).

[liuzhou]

I just received a large bag of potting compost which I ordered online. It will be home to some herbs, chilli plants and lemongrass.
 

Enclosed with the compost was a free packet of seeds. Thank you. Kale seeds. No thank you!

 

 

Apart from the fact that I'm not turning my balcony into a garden of greenery, it's kale for pete's sake! Still it could have been worse; it could have been c@rn!

 

[liuzhou]

Another of my friends, who has recently relocated to the southern, tropical island province of Hainan, has taken up a bizarre new hobby. She has taken to sending me mooncakes. Thirty minutes ago a delivery of 5 turned up.

 

 

These were to supplement the four she sent me two weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

 

The thing is mooncakes are traditionally sent to friends and eaten at the Mid-Autumn Festival which isn't until September 19th, this year. Oh well, I'm happy if she is happy!

Here are a couple of shots taken from her apartment.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by liuzhou (log)