Camping, Princess Style

[chromedome]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

I was joking. Why do they have to point out a jar of fish contains fish?

 

As Douglas Adams put it, "Have you ever read the instructions on a pack of toothpicks?"

Allergen-labeling law in the US (and Canada) boils down to "if it contains one of these major allergens,* it MUST be labeled accordingly." And sometimes you get these silly situations, like a jar of fish containing fish or Costco recalling butter because it's missing the "contains milk" statement. But there absolutely are people capable of not understanding that a "sprat" is a fish, or that anchovies in Worcestershire sauce or Caesar dressing mean you can't serve it to someone with a seafood allergy. It's not so much the people with allergies (because they'll usually know), it's the dim but well-meaning friends, neighbours, co-workers etc. Not to mention the idiots who think "I'm so tired of his 'allergy' bullshit, I'll feed him some deliberately so show him it's all in his head." And yes, sadly, that happens far too often (in my limited circle of acquaintance, I can think of three incidents just within the past few years).

Similarly, some chains won't accept a food product for sale unless it has a freshness date printed on it, hence the various wags on social media joking about their salt being past its date. That one, I'll grant you, is pretty silly.

*Eight in the US, ten in Canada

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Making the best use of the space you have can sometimes be a real dilemma. I have a drop leaf in my (teeny little) kitchen next to the sink, but the most important addition we did when we first bought the Pleasure-Way van was to put a plastic cutting board over the cooktop. We have a 2-burner cooktop, and my spouse found a cutting board that fit exactly (what are the odds of that?) and put little square blocks underneath to raise it over the actual burner. We remove it, obviously, when it's time to cook. It has greatly improved my ability to keep my temper while preparing a meal. The pull-out pantry has a finished top that I can use in a pinch.

 

However, cooking in such a confined space requires me to "sequence" the process. What order should I use to be the most efficient? So I have to think on it for a bit before I start. Any cutting-up of vegetables or meat, preparing any starch (rice, potatoes) and starting to cook (which occupies one of my 2 burners), where to put dirty pots and prep utensils when they're not needed (the floor) should of course be done first. With luck everything gets done at the right time, and then I turn over the dishwashing tasks to my spouse. (I have to say I covet your oven, that extra space, and most of all your refrigerator.)

[Porthos]

On 4/10/2025 at 3:47 AM, Maison Rustique said:

I'm also not a fan of sweet potato salads.

I fully understand you meant potato salads that are sweet. However your post reminded me of something that happened several years ago. I was visiting a Renaissance festival where I knew a lot of people. One of them offered me some potato salad but since I wasn't a participant, I declined.  Afterwards I discovered that it made from sweet potatoes,  which I really dislike. I'm glad I declined.

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I fully understand you meant potato salads that are sweet. However your post reminded me of something that happened several years ago. I was visiting a Renaissance festival where I knew a lot of people. One of them offered me some potato salad but since I wasn't a participant, I declined.  Afterwards I discovered that it made from sweet potatoes,  which I really dislike. I'm glad I declined.

 

I too dislike sweet potatoes in almost every possible circumstance. That salad sounds detestable!

 

When I was in San Diego last week Mr. BFF made a potato salad that I didn't photograph but did like very much. It had a touch of mayonnaise -- not much -- and chopped kimchi. Gave it a nice reddish color and a good kick.

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

That salad sounds detestable

You wouldn't be able to live very well in Montana. When I lived there, everywhere I went they served sweet potato salad made with sweet pickle relish and Durkee's sauce. I much preferred it over their ubiquitous sauerkraut salad.