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Camping, Princess Style


Marlene

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13 hours ago, Smithy said:

What do y'all think?

As hard as I try I cannot get my head around pork and cheese. But when I Google pork and cheese… Must be just me. Ham and cheese I get. Even cheddar  smokies  I get but pulled pork and cheese I can’t get to compute. 😂

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

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57 minutes ago, Anna N said:

As hard as I try I cannot get my head around pork and cheese. But when I Google pork and cheese… Must be just me. Ham and cheese I get. Even cheddar  smokies  I get but pulled pork and cheese I can’t get to compute. 😂

 

50 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Anna N 

 

I agree.  most non-meat labeled hot dogs have a lot of pork in then

 

HD's w cheese  is a sort of culinary disease.

 

I take it neither of you is a fan of bratwursts with cheddar in the mix? :D

 

Edited to add: never mind, I see Anna acknowledged the cheddar smokies. Probably the same thing.

 

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Anna and rotuts have convinced me. This pork is flavorful but bland (who knows about the chiles) and probably needs something other than cheese to offset it, either in texture or flavor. A drizzle of barbecue sauce, topped by seasoned, buttered bread crumbs? I don't want to overdo the sauce because that's more a table condiment for us, but a little might be good.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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7 hours ago, Smithy said:

Anna and rotuts have convinced me. This pork is flavorful but bland (who knows about the chiles) and probably needs something other than cheese to offset it, either in texture or flavor. A drizzle of barbecue sauce, topped by seasoned, buttered bread crumbs? I don't want to overdo the sauce because that's more a table condiment for us, but a little might be good.

 

Enchilada sauce and cheese? (I like cheese with pretty much everything.)

 

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I found a frozen container of cooked rice. It looked like a good bed for the stuffed chiles.

 

After careful consideration of the suggestions uptopic, and of what we had on hand, I went with this:

 

20210429_215945.jpg

 

1. Lay stuffed chiles on a bed of cooked rice

2. Drizzle with barbecue sauce from Cooper's (my favorite, and he wasn't cooking...so there!)

3. Drizzle with bread crumbs mixed with melted butter

3. Bake covered until chiles starting to soften and brown

4. Bake uncovered until bread crumbs properly browned

 

Serve at table with preferred barbecue sauces and, in his case, toast. 

 

20210429_215838.jpg

 

Pretty good. Worth repeating? Not unless the ingredients happen to be lying about in need of use. Not worth seeking out the ingredients to make it happen, but definitely a good use of things we needed to use. The leftovers will not be a problem. 

 

Incidentally, neither of us thought cheese was necessary. 🙂

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36 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

What were the chilies stuffed with, please?

 

Pulled pork, left over from a long-ago picnic. It had been frozen and vacuum-packed, then kept frozen until now. 

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6 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Pulled pork, left over from a long-ago picnic. It had been frozen and vacuum-packed, then kept frozen until now. 

 

Stuffed peppers also are common here but are filled with raw pork mince with the usual Chinese flavours - garlic, ginger etc. These can then be fried, grilled or my favourite - lay them on top of the uncooked rice in the rice cooker and steam them with the rice. They are never baked - no ovens. Often they are served with a chilli sauce.

 

381057000_stuffedgreenchillies.thumb.jpg.373372b2cbec1b24ae612b4ecb593a18.jpg

 

Every supermarket sells them pre-prepared, but I like to make my own - I prefer to know what's in that pork mince.

 

1223656658_stuffedgreenchilliesinsauce.thumb.JPG.0be1c30059f2d086be0100593d2d090a.JPG

 

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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

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On 4/28/2021 at 7:05 AM, rotuts said:

 

BTW   would like to hear what you think of those wines.

 

I opened the zinfandel tonight.  Nice for the price. Smooth. Not as brambly or spicy as my favorites, but very drinkable. 

 

20210429_233913.jpg

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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5 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Stuffed peppers also are common here but are filled with raw pork mince with the usual Chinese flavours - garlic, ginger etc. These can then be fried, grilled or my favourite - lay them on top of the uncooked rice in the rice cooker and steam them with the rice. They are never baked - no ovens. Often they are served with a chilli sauce.

 

381057000_stuffedgreenchillies.thumb.jpg.373372b2cbec1b24ae612b4ecb593a18.jpg

 

Every supermarket sells them pre-prepared, but I like to make my own - I prefer to know what's in that pork mince.

 

1223656658_stuffedgreenchilliesinsauce.thumb.JPG.0be1c30059f2d086be0100593d2d090a.JPG

 

 

Those look and sound delicious. How long would you steam them, given that it's all raw when you start?

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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On 4/28/2021 at 7:05 AM, rotuts said:

BTW   would like to hear what you think of those wines.

 

@rotuts, I opened the Cabernet Sauvignon last night. It was also quite nice: smooth, fruity without being too fruit-forward. I was surprised that it had no apparent alcohol burn as so many wines do with such a high alcohol content. I'm not sure it really had much Cabernet distinction, though. If I'd been tasting it blind, would I have recognized the grape? It didn't have much in the way of noticeable tannins, either. In other words, it didn't seem to need any breathing to be good.

 

I'll look for this wine when we get home. I'd curious to try the two varietals side by side, and others if they are available, to see how distinctive they are. They're both better than the Black Box Merlot that I had most recently.

 

 

20210501_104952.jpg

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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We got through Kansas City yesterday without any traffic mishaps. We could see southbound traffic horribly snarled from some accident, and were glad to be going the other way. Kansas City is another nerve-wracking traffic adventure for me, due to the convergence of multiple freeways that box the downtown area, but we've done it enough times that we know the way reasonably well. Still, the GPS warned us of a significant delay. It didn't materialize, but my darling started singing anyway: "I got to Kansas City on a Friday, by Saturday I hadn't gotten through..." (with apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein).

 

Ham sandwiches for road food, along with the vegetable snacks, coffee and water.

 

20210430_204217.jpg

 

The Lakeside Casino, formerly known as Terrible's, is a pretty good stopping spot for this leg of the trip. Like many other places, they've gone to a reservations-only system in their RV park. Fortunately there's a free parking area, first-come first-served, where truckers and a few intrepid RV'ers who don't need electrical service can park. If we were to spend a couple of days it might be worth paying the RV park fee and putting up with the aggravation of looking for a reservation WHEN THERE ARE OODLES OF OPEN SPACES but for an overnight it doesn't make sense. There seems to be a nationwide trend pushing everyone toward a reservation-only system, but we don't like it and prefer not to participate as long as we can avoid it.

 

The Casino business seems to be picking up again, though they're still a long way from being at full capacity. We could have cooked something in the trailer, or reheated some leftovers (we still have some) but we wanted to support the restaurant and casino operation, and we have historically liked the stuff. Besides, I could snoop while I waited for our food.

 

20210430_203038.jpg

 

They tried to insist on social distancing. The signs insisted that everyone wear masks that cover nose AND mouth except when actively eating or drinking. At least one bartender didn't have her nose covered. At least one patron had no mask at all. I considered going into the casino proper to see how much action there was, but I'd have had to go past a greeter and a sign that said STOP. LOWER YOUR MASK. I think it was just for an ID check, but decided not to wait around to see. There was a line.

 

The restaurant buffet was closed, but one could order from the usual menu. Unfortunately, to-go orders could not be placed or picked up between 6 and 9 p.m. because that's the restaurant's busiest time. That meant ordering around 5:30. His BBQ cheeseburger, my Awesome Chicken burger, and our fries suffered from languishing until he was actually ready to eat.  He even admitted it. That's about as close to an apology as he gets for holding up the show on food. 20210430_204035.jpg

 

 

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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1 hour ago, Smithy said:

 

I'll look for this wine when we get home. I'd curious to try the two varietals side by side, and others if they are available, to see how distinctive they are.

I checked my Total Wine online and they have both the Zin @ $10.97 and the Cab @ $12.59 and a red blend called Six Spot for $15.99.  They seem to be pretty widely available in the grocery stores, Costco, Target, etc. in this area. 
The ladybug/predator theme is cute branding.  I may check them out. 

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*Cue Logan's Run: "Last Day, Last Day..."*

 

God willing and the water don't rise, tomorrow will be the last day for this trip. I hesitate to proclaim this in advance, due to my Irish and Appalachian extraction. Still, that's the plan. i hope it works.

 

It was another long drive today. We learned upon leaving that the nearby Subway wouldn't open until 10 am! Much too late. They lost our business. We're sure this is a later start time than we've ever seen before. Is it because of a business downturn since the pandemic began? We don't know.

 

The adjacent business, which shares the building, had ready-made sandwiches. We looked askance at them. We always look askance at such offerings, but expedience is overtaking quality on this last gasp of the trip. We asked an attendant for her recommendations. She recommended against the BBQ Ribs sandwich we were both considering, and suggested the Sausage, Egg and Cheese sandwich as her personal favorite because of its fresh quality. I changed my mind; my darling didn't.

 

20210501_102346-1.jpg

 

My choice was quite good: basically as good a breakfast biscuit as we could have gotten at a big-name chain. Just as she said when she recommended it.

 

20210501_102513-1.jpg

 

His BBQ sandwich had good, tender, flavorful meat, but the bun was incredibly tough. Much of that bread went out the window. He marveled that bread could be soft and inedibly tough at the same time. I had no insights for him.

 

20210501_102542-1.jpg

 

He didn't get enough breakfast from that disappointing sandwich, so there was a lot of noshing on Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips that we had bought along with our "not-Subway" sandwiches.

 

20210501_102659-2.jpg

 

Later in the day, it was Burger King at an Iowa Welcome Center. Yes, I know we had plenty of food on our own. No, neither of us cared. My Whopper was excellent.

 

20210501_185415.jpg

 

I didn't take a picture, but he was as pleased with his BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger.

 

Tonight we're in a Walmart parking lot. I strolled their deli and learned that it closes at 7 pm. The counters behind glass that should have held cafeteria trays of stuff were all inactive and covered. Welcome to the world of the pandemic. The counters in front and below had packages of already-cooked food staying warm. The fried chicken looked unappetizing. The rotisserie chicken looked decent, but the 7 pm closing time was a problem.We decided to work on leftovers in the Princessmobile.

 

This is the view from our windows.

 

20210501_174146.jpg

 

 

This is our setup as viewed from the outside.

 

20210501_214904.jpg

 

Our idea of "working on leftovers" was more than plenty. Each of us ate a few spoonfuls from the potato salads we've been hoarding. He's already called it a night. I'll do so soon. In the morning I'll make one last set of ham and cheese sandwiches, so we won't need to call on Subway. We hope to be long gone before they open in the morning.

 

Thanks for coming along with us, folks. You've made the trip more fun. And yes...that wine glass could be cleaner. So could the two of us!

 

20210501_215040.jpg

 

 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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thank you for sharing w us your trip

 

esp under the current circumstances

 

I still can't get over MP's  outdoor travels

 

cheers

 

and thanks again

 

 

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Thank you for taking us along again!!!!  Safe travels today and just think!  Soon you'll be sleeping in your bed at home!

 

Seeing Marco Polo outside makes me marvel, too.  My cats would be off like a shot never to be seen again.  Not to mention that I'd be a nervous wreck!

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8 hours ago, Smithy said:

*C

8 hours ago, Smithy said:

*C

 

20210501_214904.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is our setup as viewed from the outside.

 

20210501_214904.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my!  That is one big-ass rig!  

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Love the fact that Marco Polo is in that shot!  He stays close?  Like @Kim Shook i always thought I'd like for us to buy an RV and travel around.  John wasn't so sure.  So we rented a trailer in an RV resort (if that's the right term) for a week to try it out.  We arrived on a Saturday and left before the week was up.  The final straw for him was when he had to sidle into the (half) bathroom sideways to shave.  He is tall, so also kept banging his head on stuff.   'Nuff said.  

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Thanks for sharing your interesting adventures. He who must be fed is angling for a road trip set up. We’re currently negotiating, he wants an off road caravan, I’m not so sure we’d get away that much. 

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15 hours ago, Smithy said:

And yes...that wine glass could be cleaner. So could the two of us!

 

20210501_215040.jpg

 

 

So true of road trips.

 

As always, thank you so much for "bringing us along."

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