Camping, Princess Style

[Katie Meadow]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Quintessential Southern snack in the US:

A sleeve of saltines and a stick of butter.  I adore saltines.  Of course there are ALL different kinds of crackers, but better???  I don't agree.  Just different.  For different applications.  Saltines (specifically Premium for me) are the perfect plain snack cracker - flaky, crisp, with a light wheat flavor and lightly salted.  You want salted - unsalted is like matzo or cream crackers.  Which are fine, but for other purposes.  Saltines with butter or peanut butter, with Braunschweiger or liverwurst or bologna.  With soup or sliced tomatoes and Dukes.  My granddaddy used to crumble them into his buttermilk if there wasn't any leftover cornbread in the morning.  And they absolutely SHINE in @racheld's incomparable Redneck Gazpacho!  They are an American classic - deservedly, I believe.  

Saltines. The perfect Covid food. I should remember to keep them on hand just in case. To say nothing of Hot and Sour soup. Get better soon, all of you.

[Porthos]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:59 PM, Anna N said:

I never ever understood saltines. I guess I’m missing that gene.

For me a stack, as in an entire stack,  of saltines and a glass of milk is a sublime treat.  I had to give it up when I found out what it did to my triglycerides(?). Now Wheat Thins and hummus serves that purpose.

[Porthos]

On 12/12/2022 at 9:51 PM, Kim Shook said:

I am completely able to make a whole meal of bread and gravy ...

Yes, ma'am.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Porthos said:

For me a stack, as in an entire stack,  of saltines and a glass of milk is a sublime treat.  I had to give it up when I found out what it did to my triglycerides(?). Now Wheat Thins and hummus serves that purpose.

à chacun ses goûts  
 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

19 hours ago, Shelby said:

Yup, I'll grab a Saltine and run it across the butter in the dish (it's just the two of us ...who cares if I leave cracker crumbs across the stick lol)

You've been watching!

 

My favorites were oyster crackers, kinda mini-saltines.    Grab a handful and drop them into soup.   Instant dumplings.

 

[blue_dolphin]

We actually have a whole Saltine topic over here - Saltines: Hopelessly Square - with some good comments. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

We actually have a whole Saltine topic over here - Saltines: Hopelessly Square - with some good comments. 

Thanks for this, b_d.    These names from the past bring back many memories as well as  moist eyes as I realize how many are no longer with us.

[Smithy]

I just had some belly-laughs reading through that topic, even as I too mourned the loss or disappearance of so many members. This story in particular cracked me up. I am pleased to see that there are many fellow butter-on-saltines and saltines-with-chili aficionados. I also see some pretty good suggestions for other ways to eat them.

 

Thanks for the link, @blue_dolphin!

[Smithy]

Now that one old topic has been revived, it's time to link to another. @Kerry Beal introduced us to the illness allgoneaphobia some years back, and oh boy am I a hoarder. Last spring, when I was near a grocery store that carried my favorite sausage, I bought something like 5 pounds of it, wrapped it carefully in smaller packages, and have been doling it out grudgingly. I don't know when or whether I'll be able to get more. This morning I decided that the final pound needs to be used. It's been kept frozen, in a plastic bag wrapped in the original butcher paper, and taking up a fair amount of space in the freezer. 

 

 

Alllgoneaphobia struck. Maybe I could use just half a pound of it and save the rest. I unwrapped the package to see how easily I'd be able to separate the sausages.

 

 

Well,  no. 

 

These are still usable, but judging by their juices and aroma it's time to cook them lest they truly reach the last results of allgoneaphobia: saved to the point of uselessness.

 

It'll be pasta tonight! Lots. With leftovers.

[lindag]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

Now that one old topic has been revived, it's time to link to another. @Kerry Beal introduced us to the illness allgoneaphobia some years back, and oh boy am I a hoarder. Last spring, when I was near a grocery store that carried my favorite sausage, I bought something like 5 pounds of it, wrapped it carefully in smaller packages, and have been doling it out grudgingly. I don't know when or whether I'll be able to get more. This morning I decided that the final pound needs to be used. It's been kept frozen, in a plastic bag wrapped in the original butcher paper, and taking up a fair amount of space in the freezer. 

 

 

Alllgoneaphobia struck. Maybe I could use just half a pound of it and save the rest. I unwrapped the package to see how easily I'd be able to separate the sausages.

 

 

 

 

 allgoneaphobia

 

LOVE that!

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Salt in my wound, my friend.    Because we enjoyed them so much and I found them so useful in constructing "what's to eat when there's nothing to eat" dinners, I picked up few to feed the freezer every time I came across them.    Then a week or so ago, dh announces that he's "getting kinda tired of dishes based on hot sausages."    Okay.   It'll take a couple of months to begin with them again.

[liuzhou]

On 12/13/2022 at 5:59 AM, Anna N said:

I never ever understood saltines. I guess I’m missing that gene.

 

I'm not sure what saltines even are. I've never knowingly eaten one. Some American invention? Should I try one? Or will that just be another entry for the Disappointing Discoveries topic?

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I'm not sure what saltines even are. I've never knowingly eaten one. Some American invention? Should I try one? Or will that just be another entry for the Disappointing Discoveries topic?

I'd say you should try, but you're almost out of the sardines that you would top them with so I can't advocate for that 😬

[Anna N]

13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

I'm not sure what saltines even are. I've never knowingly eaten one. Some American invention? Should I try one? Or will that just be another entry for the Disappointing Discoveries topic?

Take a small piece of thin styrofoam, perhaps 2” x 2”, sprinkle some salt on it, not too much, and devour. Or think of a very poor imitation of Jacob’s Cream Crackers.

[ElsieD]

I call them soda biscuits and they are not allowed through the front door.  Ever.

[TicTac]

35 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Take a small piece of thin styrofoam, perhaps 2” x 2”, sprinkle some salt on it, not too much, and devour. Or think of a very poor imitation of Jacob’s Cream Crackers.

Be nice to sytrofoam.  That's more akin to stale puffed rice crackers or shrimp chips.

 

Saltines - more like, thin toasted cardboard with salt.

 

😛

[Kim Shook]

20 hours ago, Anna N said:

Take a small piece of thin styrofoam, perhaps 2” x 2”, sprinkle some salt on it, not too much, and devour. Or think of a very poor imitation of Jacob’s Cream Crackers.

Funny, I would say exactly the opposite.  Cream crackers are a poor imitation of a Premium saltine.  Cream crackers are thick and leaden and heavy.  Fine for a big wedge of strong cheese, but very limited in scope.  A Carr's water cracker on the other hand is heavenly - crisp, light, with a truly delicate flavor.  

[Smithy]

I had no idea Saltines would strike such a nerve! The pro/con Saltine crowds may be even more polarized than the Miracle Whip vs. mayonnaise crowds!

 

Last night's dinner was therapy for an allgoneaphobe: several items finished off, an excellent meal out of it, and leftovers.

 

In the Allgoneaphobia topic, @Katie Meadow and @liamsaunt wrote about keeping lots of pasta around, and buying more than one package at a time. In particular, this comment from liamsaunt caught my eye:

 

Quote

 I have an entire shelf of pasta, and each shape must have at least two boxes, because you never know if you will need more than 1 lb. to feed the number of people who are eating.  Another large shelf consists entirely of tomato products, etc. 

 

Oh, that's my excuse at home, but it simply doesn't work in the Princessmobile. Well, I do have multiples of a lot of stuff here, but with so much of everything I have trouble finding anything. For that reason I have specifically been trying to reduce the variety of sizes and shapes of pasta. I had it pared down to 2 or 3, then @gfweb introduced me to cavatappi. Gotta have it. It's THE best thing, we think, for mac 'n' cheese. Last night I finally used the last of my penne by the simple expedient of mixing it with cavatappi, giving the penne a head start for cooking. It worked.

 

The last of my preserved tomato harvest went away in this dish: oven-roasted tomatoes (you can see the process) saved in olive oil. The lighting in the picture is lousy, but I can't re-shoot the photo.

 

 

I had to supplement it with a jar of sun-dried julienned tomatoes that I unearthed from the easiest cupboard. Somewhere hidden around here is an entire stash of items like that from Trader Joe's -- purchased last spring and forgotten as I hoarded them. I have to find them again.

 

I'm perilously close to finishing off the garlic that I bought at home and brought along. Last year I had a braid of garlic that lasted almost the entire season. I couldn't find those folks this summer, but I stumbled over this and immediately bought a bunch of packages:

 

 

There's a very sad but also inspiring story here. Paul was a great kid: quiet, pleasant, and the apple of his father's eye. They took an aviation ground school from me when Paul was about 15. When he was 17, he was murdered. (The details aren't relevant to this post.) His parents fell apart, understandably, but realized that his sister also needed love and support. Eventually they pulled themselves together. They planted an apple orchard in his memory and began selling the apples. As you see, now they're also growing garlic. I'm not sure of the variety, but it's good. I wish I'd bought still more. But garlic doesn't hold well, and I don't want to waste this.

 

I finished off a half-wedge of parmesan with the nifty Moulinex I bought thanks to this topic. I still have 2 more wedges, so this was a room-maker but not a clearing of the hoard.

 

 

 

The living herbs I bought came into play, although I didn't finish them -- nor do I want to. The basil especially needs trimming at times to keep it healthy. (The parsley isn't rooted, but this seems to be a good way to keep it.)

 

 

The cooking steps and finished bowls:

 

 

Ohh, it was good.

 

 

And we still have more, and we'll probably hoard the leftovers!

 

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, Kim Shook said:

Funny, I would say exactly the opposite.  Cream crackers are a poor imitation of a Premium saltine.  Cream crackers are thick and leaden and heavy.  Fine for a big wedge of strong cheese, but very limited in scope.  A Carr's water cracker on the other hand is heavenly - crisp, light, with a truly delicate flavor.  

We can only agree to disagree. 🙂

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I have been wondering how many people are thinking of stale saltines, which are, granted, a horrid thing.    While fresh, first out of the tube, are a totally different animal.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Funny, I would say exactly the opposite.  Cream crackers are a poor imitation of a Premium saltine.  Cream crackers are thick and leaden and heavy.  Fine for a big wedge of strong cheese, but very limited in scope.  A Carr's water cracker on the other hand is heavenly - crisp, light, with a truly delicate flavor.  

 

I love Carr's, but would you call Carr's a saltine?

 

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I love Carr's, but would you call Carr's a saltine?

 

I certainly wouldn't.

[Kim Shook]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I love Carr's, but would you call Carr's a saltine?

 

Not at all.  I was just referencing another plain cracker - like saltines, cream crackers, etc.  

[ElsieD]

Hello?  @Smithyyou out there?

[Smithy]

11 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

Hello?  @Smithyyou out there?

 

Sorry! Yes, we're well (a bit sniffly at the moment) but have been busy getting ready for holidays. Since you've asked, I'll restart this. Thanks for asking!