eG Foodblog: torakris/snowangel - When Pocky meets pad thai....

[snowangel]

Brrr. The temp is dropping fast. 15 degrees since I got up this morning. Fall has arrived, I think.

Anyway, since it was nice out this morning, I sent Heidi off to school in jeans and a t-shirt, so I needed to run a sweatshirt up to her. And, we needed milk and eggs.

So, Costco was my next stop. I love Costco. I go frequently, because the savings are huge for me on staple items, and it is very close (my local supermarket is a mile and a half away, Costco barely another file further. So, I'm often one of those people in line with just milk and eggs!

So, today, I got

Tortilla chips for our party on Saturday, milk, eggs, some sharp cheddar cheese (for dinner prep tomorrow night), some grated "mexican cheese blend" and flour tortillas. The latter two items are for quesidillas for the kids. If I don't get the pre-grated cheese, there is cheese all over the counter when they are done, and for some reason, the grater never seems to make it into the dishwasher! I also got toilet paper.

As a point of comparison, a gallon of milk at the local supermarket is about $3.68, and a carton of 18 eggs is $1.50 something. At Costco, the milk is $2.24/gallon (up from $1.99/gallon a week ago; I think we can blame rising fuel costs). Regular butter at the supermarket is running about $2.50/pound on special; at Costco, 4 pounds is running about a $1.70/lb. The grated cheese is $5.40 for 2 pounds and about $2.50 for 1/2 a pound at the supermarket. Whole chickens are $.69/lb (I did notice that bone in-skin on breasts were $1.59/lb). The two pound block of Cabot cheese was just over $6.00, whereas a pound of it is about the same price at the supermarket. I also get gas at Costco as it is almost always cheaper. Today it was $2.69/gallon and at most of the gas stations in the area is running about $2.77/gallon. I should mention that the Hope Butter I got yesterday is $3.59/pound.

Kris, what are you paying for stuff like milk, butter and eggs?

The disappointment of my trip to Costco was that usually when I am there over that noon period, the are lots of people offering samples of food. Today, there were only three samples offered: grim turkey burgers, some sort of breakfast bar and some kind of yogurt juice.

So, when I got home, I had a chicken leg leftover from last night, a mess of those great pretzels and almost polished off the rest of the salsa and corn. Washed down with a glass of iced coffee and two glasses of water.

Then, I got busy with that sack of sorry tomatoes. I had quite a bit of trimming to do on some of them, but they are very tasty.

Garlic and olive oil. Rochelle, next time I'll try butter.

Don't they look pretty? They are currently sitting in a 250 degree (F) oven. I laid down parchment paper to make clean up easier.

Off to finish laundry and do some dinner prep. Yikes! Only an hour before the kids start rolling in!

[saskanuck]

Very nice blog, both of you. I really enjoy reading about and looking at what others here eat.

This month we are so busy that our meals aren't great at all. I hate eating in a rush and having to make things in a hurry.

This too shall pass (it damned well better).

[snowangel]

So, as I headed off to the store today (I also stopped at the grocery for some squishy white bread for Peter), I had what I thought was a full and complete list.

I bought everything on the list.

As I pull into the garage when I get home, smack hand on forehead. All the way to the grocery, after going to Costco, I repeated the mantra "buy parsley. buy parsley."

I came home with no parsley.

I also started my next list the minute I started putting things away.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this.

[Chris Amirault]

Guilty as charged -- but it's usually cilantro, not parsley.

[snowangel]

How "withered" should my roasted tomatoes be? They've been in a 250 oven for about 2 hours.

[snowangel]

Guilty as charged -- but it's usually cilantro, not parsley.

←

Oh. I always remember the cilantro, even if I have not intended purpose for it. But, I always forget the parsley. So, tonight's soup will NOT have a garnish. Did you check out the photos above of the cilantro roots at the farmer's market?

[Malawry]

I cook roasted tomatoes until they're completely and utterly pooped. Sometimes I let them go farther, until they're a little brown and wrinkly at the very edges. Both are terrific.

[Chris Amirault]

Did you check out the photos above of the cilantro roots at the farmer's market?

←

Yes, I have root envy.

[Genny]

Well Ladies (& Moms)~ I go away for a couple days and this is what happens! Your co-blog is fabulous.

Susan, I am always writing something on the grocery list as I'm putting away groceries. I try to ask my husband what he needs and when I get home he invariably asks, "Do we have any....." and of course we don't. Such is life! My last trip to the grocery store was accompanied by the "jalepenos, jalepenos" mantra. I remembered as I had about 1/2 my items on the counter for check out. Luckily there was no one behind me and the cashier let me run back to produce to grab jalepenos, and then I saw the bell peppers I forgot too

Your tomatoes look fabulous. I cook mine until they loose some of their shine and wet look. Of course, its always fun to pop one in your mouth to be doubly sure! Cook's priviledge!

[Sartain]

we eat dessert a couple nights a week, sometimes as simple as fruit or ice cream other times I actually prepare something

tonight we ate the last of the gifts from my FIL's trip to Beijing, I have no idea what this was...

←

They look like moon cakes for some reason...

I see that Tepee beat me to it.

←

Not just any mooncake either - the box said "Mooncakes of the Palace."

[torakris]

That bonito shaving was so cool....

←

Very cool! I've only used bonito flakes for making dashi. Is it commonplace to toast them and add them for crunch?

←

I have to admit I am not really sure what the toasting does...

It does not make them crunchy, maybe it just adds more of a smokey flavor? I have only seen it called for in simmered dishes like those bamboo shoots where it is added at the very end for flavoring.

[snowangel]

I have just waded through the back yard and picked the last of my ripe brandywine tomatoes

At least a couple of these will be cut up and featured at dinner.

The front two tomatoes have splits. I'm sure it's because of the 20 or so inches of rain we have had in the last two weeks (let's not even talk about the leaky basement or the trench I will dig next week to lay drain tile). The one top left I'm sure is hail damaged. The back center is a perfect specimin. Right back is typical, at least for me. Deep, creviced shoulders.

These seem easier to wedge than slice. They are so tasty they need no adornment, at least IMHO. Perhaps a bit of pepper, perhaps not.

It is supposed to get cold tonight, and there are a couple left that show promise, if we can avoid tomorrow nights freeze.

So, tomorrow, I should probably go and pick the rest of the tomatoes and contemplate something with green tomatoes.

[torakris]

That looks like mini mooncakes, Kristin. Mooncake Festival fell on Sep 18 this year. What was the filling? Red bean paste or lotus paste? Were there any yolks inside? They're very good eaten with tea.

Enjoying yours and Susan's blog.......

←

Cool! I have never had mooncakes before!

I had no idea what the filling was, it was a yellowish-brownish color not much different than the outside color. Could that be lotus paste?

Hide loved these, Mia hated them.

Hide woke up this morning and was very disappointed to learn his father had finished off the box.

[torakris]

Good morning!  It is yet another dreary day here in Minnesota.  We had about 7" of rain yesterday and last night, and it is raining again (or still).  So, it's coffee in the sun room again today.  Hopefully, we will have some sunny days so I can show you where I usually have my coffee.

←

Good morning!

Dreary day #3 over here in Japan....

I am never going to get laundry done....

I am drinking my iced coffee and I snuck a bite of the coconut bagel that I had been hiding since my co-op delivery. Major disappoinment, bland with almost no coconut flavor.. This will be best with jam, but alas I have none in the house, so i tossed it into the freezer to await my next trip to the grocery store.

Instead I am eating the last of the walnut raisin bread with the kids.

[torakris]

As a point of comparison, a gallon of milk at the local supermarket is about $3.68, and a carton of 18 eggs is $1.50 something.  At Costco, the milk is $2.24/gallon (up from $1.99/gallon a week ago; I think we can blame rising fuel costs).  Regular butter at the supermarket is running about $2.50/pound on special; at Costco, 4 pounds is running about a $1.70/lb.  The grated cheese is $5.40 for 2 pounds and about $2.50 for 1/2 a pound at the supermarket.  Whole chickens are $.69/lb (I did notice that bone in-skin on breasts were $1.59/lb).  The two pound block of Cabot cheese was just over $6.00, whereas a pound of it is about the same price at the supermarket.  I also get gas at Costco as it is almost always cheaper.  Today it was $2.69/gallon and at most of the gas stations in the area is running about $2.77/gallon.  I should mention that the Hope Butter I got yesterday is $3.59/pound.

Kris, what are you paying for stuff like milk, butter and eggs?

←

You really want to know?

Those 1 liter containers of milk cost me 118 yen each (a little over a dollar), so a gallon at theat price would be abot $4. However that is the cheapest price I have ever seen for milk in this country, it usually costs about 200 yen a liter, so more like $7 a gallon.

Eggs shot up in price about a year ago and are slowly coming back down, an average current price would be about 150 yen ($1.25) for 10 medium sized and over 200 yen ($1.90) for 10 large ones.

I can occasionally find butter on sale for 198 yen ($1.75)) for 200 grams, less than 1/2 lb, the price averages about 300 yen for 200g, so about $7 a pound and this is just for supermarket butter....

[zilla369]

some grated "mexican cheese blend"

Unfortunately, I bought some of that stuff last week. The unfortunate part was that it wasn't simply three shredded cheeses blended together - it also had a "spice mix" all over it. Consequently all three cheeses tasted the same and the blend of spices in the added mix clashed completely with the constellation of spices I was using in the dish. Blech.

But this blog is fantastic! I find myself wishing for more tag-team blogs (I know more are scheduled, but I mean more frequently!)

Thanks to both of you - as a former blogger, I know how much work it is and how much of your day it takes up. On the other hand, it's loads of fun. I'd reccomend it to anyone!

[zilla369]

Eggs shot up in price about a year ago and are slowly coming back down, an average current price would be about 150 yen ($1.25) for 10 medium sized and over 200 yen ($1.90) for 10 large ones.

←

Wait! Aren't eggs sold by the dozen in Japan? How fascinating!

[torakris]

Eggs shot up in price about a year ago and are slowly coming back down, an average current price would be about 150 yen ($1.25) for 10 medium sized and over 200 yen ($1.90) for 10 large ones.

←

Wait! Aren't eggs sold by the dozen in Japan? How fascinating!

←

nope, sold in packages of 10.

I have Japanese friends who have spent time in the US and they always ask why Americans have this fascination with 12....

[torakris]

I came home with no parsley.

I also started my next list the minute I started putting things away.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this.

←

I have some parsley in my garden, if you want to swing by..

I am a list maker, without my lists I would not remember to do anything. I keep a board on my fridge so I can jot down things I am almost out of, I have a list by the computer of things that I must buy now and a list in my menu planning notebook of the current contents of my refrigerator. I to do lists, lists of things the kids need to take to school this week, etc, etc

I used to keep all my lists together in this one little notebook that I could keep in my purse but one day I lost that notebook. I suffered from my first panic attack....

since then I keep my lists all over the house that way I can't lose them all at the same time.

My worst list story (besides the above one) is that one day I was making a cake and I needed flour. I only needed the one thing but I made a list (with just flour) on it to take to the store because I knew I might forget it. I got to the store and realized I forgot my list, I could not remember what I was at the store to buy. I wandered around thinking maybe it would pop out at me, it didn't. I bought some things, not on my list, and went home. Looked at the list, kicked myself and went back out....

to a different store...

with my list in hand...

the cake was finally made....

[petite tête de chou]

Hi Kristin, I, too, prefer iced coffee. Even in winter I'm looking for my tall glass of iced coffee. Maybe you've already mentioned it but do you add milk and sugar?

LISTS! Yes! Iced coffee and lists galore comprise a big part of my day. But, hey, it works.

[torakris]

Hi Kristin,  I, too, prefer iced coffee. Even in winter I'm looking for my tall glass of iced coffee.   Maybe you've already mentioned it but do you add milk and sugar?

LISTS! Yes! Iced coffee and lists galore comprise a big part of my day. But, hey, it works. 

←

Yes iced coffee for me 365 days a year! first thing in the morning.

I drink it with both milk and sugar, when I do drink hot coffee I only add milk.

[mizducky]

Another lovely and entertaining blog!

The disappointment of my trip to Costco was that usually when I am there over that noon period, the are lots of people offering samples of food.  Today, there were only three samples offered:  grim turkey burgers, some sort of breakfast bar and some kind of yogurt juice.

←

Heh. Many's the time, back when I had a Costco membership, that I made lunch out of a Costco food sample graze. I even had a circuit worked out in which I would scope bargains and snarf samples prior to actually getting on with putting items in my cart. And then after I made it through the check-out I'd hit up the cafe for a Polish sausage.

Next:

What do Pierre Franey, New England and produce from a CSA have in common? 

←

Dunno the answer to your question, but that's certainly an entertaining juxtapositioning of items on that plate. Looks like you've got a Vietnames rice-paper shrimp wrap; chili dog with onions; and a chocolate-chip cannoli. My kinda meal!

[snowangel]

Are my tomatoes pooped enough?

And, if so, what do I do with them now? They are not in the plans for the next few days...

And, what about all of that oil that is on the parchment paper?

Dinner report to follow soon.

[Smithy]

Do you have room to freeze those tomatoes? In that case, freeze them separately, then stack them in a container of your choice (select a convenient size) and put them back in the freezer. Voila, roasted tomatoes for the winter. I don't know how well they'll keep, even roasted, on their own.

You're right, that oil should be good for something.

[Malawry]

Oil: use it for a tomato vinaigrette.