Camping, Princess Style

[Smithy]

13 minutes ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

I'm going to have to order that book--the table of contents convinced me. There's a kind of "cute-cute" quality that is annoying  (at least to me) but I can overlook that if the recipes are worth it. I have it on my wish list but I may jump the gun if friends can bring it when they come. Or I'll order it to be sent to our US address and tell my sister she can use it until we get there in June.

 

I enjoy the cheekiness of the book, but I can understand how it might rub someone else the wrong way. For example, the subtitle of the recipe I just cooked is "Scandal: Stew ingredients escape pot, flee for ripple of heat under broiler". I don't have the book any more (my library loan expired) but there were some others that made me laugh aloud.

[Anna N]

46 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

I enjoy the cheekiness of the book, but I can understand how it might rub someone else the wrong way. For example, the subtitle of the recipe I just cooked is "Scandal: Stew ingredients escape pot, flee for ripple of heat under broiler". I don't have the book any more (my library loan expired) but there were some others that made me laugh aloud.

She is a bit of an iconoclast too. Might really upset some of us:

"What’s in season tastes good, but what you want to eat tastes better."

[Porthos]

On 2/11/2023 at 4:56 PM, Smithy said:

 

I've not tried any of the Kinder's Sauces. You've inspired me to try one, but not the Hot BBQ.

[Smithy]

2 minutes ago, Porthos said:

I've not tried any of the Kinder's Sauces. You've inspired me to try one, but not the Hot BBQ.

 

FWIW, I didn't find it very hot. I'll do a more thorough test and description, if you'd like. (i can even do it with and without meat. We acquired Yet More Pork Ribs today. 🙄 )

[Smithy]

Requiem for a whisk(e)y glass

 

My darling loves a drink of scotch or bourbon, usually just before going to bed. He has very specific standards as to size: it must be of a certain narrowness so that when he puts in ONE ice cube, then pours just enough of the amber liquid to barely float that ice cube, he has the right amount of drink. I don't know what that quantity is. I don't think he does either. But it's his ritual, and then the objective is to drink at just the right pace so that the ice and the drink finish together.

 

One year we forgot to pack his preferred glass, so I had excuse reason to ramble the stores of Llano on our first stop that fall. I wrote about it here. I found a very nice set of 5 glasses that were just the right size for him. (The "Big Shot" glass I bought at Charley's Hardware and Gifts, for considerably more money, is cute...but too big.) I took this picture when the 5th glass was already in his hand.

 

 

Well, it turns out they're pretty fragile. By this fall we were down to a single glass. I've been watching a crack propagate along it. "It's still fine!" he said. "I'll be careful!" So he's continued to use it. A day or two ago, it finally succumbed.

 

 

Alas, poor glass, we loved you well.

 

Fortunately, we came prepared with an alternate from home.

 

 

Whether he'll decide it's Just the Right Size, or give me another excuse to go bargain hunting, remains to be seen.

[Smithy]

Seen on the highway yesterday:

 

[Smithy]

Goshalmighty, it's cold here. Not that it's cold by our standards at home, or most of the rest of the country, but it's been blowing hard and getting down toward freezing. Two nights ago (Valentine's Day) we closed the tailgate to keep the wind out and the heat in. The next morning, we saw that it had rained...and then frozen. That's ice on the side deck rail and chair cushions.

 

 

When we looked out the other window, we saw that the nearest tree, with our hummingbird feeder, had lost a couple of huge branches. There's more destruction up and down the wash from us.

 

 

Valentine's Day dinner was not at all the fancy affair I'd intended, between needing to batten down the hatches and both of us being sick. We had plenty of good leftovers. But last night! Last night, I got to play with fire!

 

I've had a bee in my bonnet about flaming things over the stove since a New York Times article came out about it, with recipes for Steak Diane, Cherries Jubilee, and one other recipe. I thought this Melissa Clark recipe for Creamy Pan-Roasted Scallops with Fresh Tomatoes was one of the recipes in question. It wasn't. That's all right, though: I had everything I needed, except the scallops, and had decided to substitute shrimp.

 

This is a great recipe. Start with thinly sliced shallots and chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and celery seeds, and cook in butter until the shallots are translucent and the tomatoes are cooking down to a jammy consistency.

 

 

 

She gives several options for liquid to add here: broth, wine, vermouth. I added VSOP brandy instead, then said "flame on!"

 

 

That is So. Much. Fun!

 

Add heavy cream and Worcestershire sauce.

 

 

Cook it down until it thickens properly, then add the scallops (or, in this case, shrimp that I'd cut into 2 or 3 pieces each).

 

 

Cook until the seafood is done. This step doesn't take long, so now is the time to put down the toast and do whatever else needs doing to have the table ready. Garnish with parsley or chives. I had neither; I used tarragon. Perfect!

 

 

There's a bit of rice under the concoction. It was a nice complement; you need something to soak up that sauce. Toast worked for him, of course.

 

By golly, I've found another do-it-again-and-again recipe!

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Smithy
Corrected broken link and misspelled word (log)

[heidih]

Wow those were fragile glasses or had inherent flaws. I thought you were going to relate an "oops" situation or tendency but the cracking and faiing - wierd. I've lost so many glasse to the clumsy me and always the ones I liked/loved. How does one  shatter heavy Waterford? I dropped and shattered the lovely champagne flutes my oldest friend gave me.along with every adorable Christmas glass I've owned. Apparentlyy congenital. I gave my sister a beautiful water glass when she first got pregnant to encourage hydration. Lasted the pregnancy but not the nursing.

 

Bunny Love is a common carrot brand here. The ones packaged in a  plastic bag.  

[blue_dolphin]

22 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Goshalmighty, it's cold here. Not that it's cold by our standards at home, or most of the rest of the country, but it's been blowing hard and getting down toward freezing.

Thanks for the weather report. It’s been chilly and windy here as well and I was wondering how you were faring. It was 35°F yesterday morning, one degree higher today. Since my last gas bill, which reflected a 300% increase in gas prices, I’ve been boycotting turning on the heat but lost my resolve when it was 52°F inside. Yesterday, I was pleased to have a lamb shoulder, followed by pita breads to keep the (electric) oven on for much of the day.  Might have to bake something else today!

[Shelby]

Aaaaaaand, now we know.  Our @Smithy is a pyromaniac.

[Smithy]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Aaaaaaand, now we know.  Our @Smithy is a pyromaniac.

 

In fact, I was all set to do a Flaming Spinach Salad tonight from the L.A. Times California Cookbook! But no, he wants pork ribs. They're seasoned and in the oven now.

 

This is a good opportunity to show off my extremely handy vacuum packing system. It's one of the best Amazon purchases I've ever made: it works, it didn't cost much, and it doesn't require electricity.

 

 

I'd include an Amazon link, but they say it's "currently unavailable" and nobody knows when it will be back in stock. I guard these bags carefully! 

 

Now that I'm looking, however, I can see quite a few similar sets -- with and without hand pumps. Like this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). or this set (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) or this set of replacement bags (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) or...well, I guess I won't worry right now about running out! I'm still taking care of these bags! 

[Anna N]

34 minutes ago, Smithy said:

This is a good opportunity to show off my extremely handy vacuum packing system. It's one of the best Amazon purchases I've ever made: it works, it didn't cost much, and it doesn't require electricity.

Wow a system similar to that was all the rage when we first started using SV. If memory serves me well the pump was battery operated. I don't recall why it went out of favour. I bet @Kerry Bealwill remember it.  

Edited February 17, 2023 by Anna N
Typos (log)

[blue_dolphin]

I had one of those gizmos but tossed it a while back when I couldn’t find the bags anymore. Shouldn’t have been so hasty!

[Kerry Beal]

32 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Wow a system similar to that was all the rage when we first started using SV. If memory serves me well the pump was battery operated. I don't recall why it went out of favour. I bet @Kerry Bealwill remember it.  

Think I've still got a couple of the pumps around somewhere - Reynolds wasn't it? 

 

They stopped making the bags I think.

[Smithy]

32 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Wow a system similar to that was all the rage when we first started using SV. If memory serves me well the pump was battery operated. I don't recall why it went out of favour. I bet @Kerry Bealwill remember it.  

 

I'll admit that the electric versions (Foodsaver, for example) are ridiculously fun and gratifying because they're so quick and make such interesting noises. Still, these bags are more easily reusable and the system is much more compact and easy compared to packing a Foodsaver in the Princessmobile.

 

1 minute ago, Kerry Beal said:

They stopped making the bags I think.

 

The patent probably expired. The bags in the links I posted above look suspiciously similar.

[Anna N]

6 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Think I've still got a couple of the pumps around somewhere - Reynolds wasn't it? 

 

They stopped making the bags I think.

Yes. That was it. We tried stockpiling them but eventually they ran out. Yes it was Reynolds. 

[heidih]

6 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks for the weather report. It’s been chilly and windy here as well and I was wondering how you were faring. It was 35°F yesterday morning, one degree higher today. Since my last gas bill, which reflected a 300% increase in gas prices, I’ve been boycotting turning on the heat but lost my resolve when it was 52°F inside. Yesterday, I was pleased to have a lamb shoulder, followed by pita breads to keep the (electric) oven on for much of the day.  Might have to bake something else today!

I too braced myself when I opened the SoCalGas bill. Shockingly there was an insert that said I had a credit of  I think $50. "California is fighting climate change and so can you. Your bill incliudes a Climate Credit from a state program to cut carbon pollution while reducoi  oiur energy costs."  Last bill approx $148., the recent one approx $36. We shall see next time.  Cold here too - low 50's daytime.

Edited February 17, 2023 by heidih (log)

[Smithy]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

I too braced myself when I opened the SoCalGas bill. Shockingly there was an insert that said I had a credit of  I think $50. "California is fighting climate change and so can you. Your bill incliudes a Climate Credit from a state program to cut carbon pollution while reducoi  oiur energy costs."  Last bill approx $148., the recent one approx $36. We shall see next time.  Cold here too - low 50's daytime.

 

That's an amazing credit! My best friend and her husband, in San Diego, had a terrible shock with their gas bill last month. The news is that next month's bill will be considerably lower (again) but in the meantime she's making a point of not using her (beautiful, envy-worthy) gas oven and range any more than absolutely necessary. I'm not convinced that the gas usage for their uncomplicated cooking is anywhere near enough to affect the household bill, but it's their house and their calculus...and if she can bully him into microwaving a can of beans rather than cooking it on stovetop, who am I to argue?

 

It's different in the Princessmobile, of course. We have a microwave oven as well as the propane-powered stove and oven, but we can't use the microwave without running the generator -- and the generator runs on gasoline. We haven't done a rigorous BTU analysis, but our sense is that we use less propane than gasoline in this rig in the normal course of operations. 

 

Besides, you can't flambé anything in the microwave! (Or if you do, it will be excitingly unfortunate. 😉)

[Smithy]

So, the barbecue sauce and the latest batch of ribs. I rubbed them with a different spice blend than I'd used before, from the same shop. 

 

 

It has brown sugar and a bunch of spices; I'm not sure it really made a difference tonight.

 

Remember this barbecue sauce?

 

 

It was the clear winner last week for both of us. Much better than the Jack Daniels. Well, my darling still loves it but I've changed my mind. It's still much better than the Jack Daniels, but I want to keep looking. I'd like to correct my comment to @Porthos, who noted here that he'd look for the Kinder's but not the Hot variety. I wrote in response that it isn't really all that hot. I was wrong. I took a spoonful of it straight up, and after a few seconds of tasting sweet and smoke and tomato I got hit with heavy pepper. And it stayed with me. And I noticed it on the cooked ribs, all through dinner.

 

 

While I was cooking, I took out my remaining small sample of Cooper's barbecue sauce. It quite definitely has a lot of vinegar in it. I tried drizzling just a touch of vinegar over a bite of ribs to see if that got me closer to what I want.

 

Note to self: don't use red wine vinegar for this!

[Smithy]

Quick! What's the first thing / creature you think of when you see this cup?

 

 

(I'll show the rest of it later, after some of you have answered. I amused myself this morning. I amuse easily.)

[Shelby]

An Owl Cat Bat

[Smithy]

Thanks, Shelby! I wanted to both "laugh" and "thank" on that post. You get the prize for first response!

 

This morning my darling rhapsodized over last night's ribs. "These were just as good as Cooper's!" Well, I respectfully disagreed, but then I don't like Cooper's pork ribs as well as their beef ribs. At any rate, the sticking point was the sauce: he thinks it's perfect; I think it's too hot and too sweet. (I do wonder whether the McCormick marinade I used the first time around with this sauce helped cut the heat and sweetness.) I'll keep messing with the sauce, and try some recipes for myself.

 

eta: but we are both delighted with the texture and flavor of the meat itself.

Edited February 17, 2023 by Smithy
Added comment (log)

[Smithy]

I see some of yez looking! Quick, it's a Rohrschach test! (I promise to tell my first thought later today.)

[ElsieD]

A winged cat?

[FauxPas]