So...whats for dinner?
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Lacey, joining the pocket party!
I have never made duck but I am going to try it this year...has been on my list of "try, it won't kill you" recipes for a while
Sandy, hoping whatever you think is going on is mild in the long run or disappears by morning!
Hot and steamy Freya? Where????
Hi everyone...nothing special on the menu tonight and in fact we will likely order pizza or something.
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Eric, I am in Australia, so summer here. We live in the mountains so usually escape the worst of it. It has started to rain so bringing some nice relief.
Carol, you mentioned an air fryer. I bought one last year, and it has become my favourite appliance. It is compact, roughly 30cm x 20cm, so not too bulky. Trying to make life easier for DH for when I am not around anymore, hopefully that is still a way off though. The air fryer does great roasts, the best pork crackling, crispy skin salmon in 6 mins. I use it like a small oven and in summer a big advantage is that it does not heat up the kitchen like my large oven. I'm sounding like an informercial
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I was thinking southern hemisphere.
I know some wildland fire fighters that have gone to Australia in December to learn more about the fire behavior.
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Welcome Freya. Pull up a chair. Or, errr, a knife & a bowl. It will be fun to have someone from the flip side of the world. You can talk about ice cream when we're dealing with simmering soup.
April - glad to have you here. Most of us cook most days, but yes - we do order pizza.
Eric - is ET the other daughter you've talked about before? I hope the tests come out OK. I had to look up Avagadaro. After skimming the text, I'm still not sure what it's talking about. I'll have to try again with my student hat in place.
This afternoon we're playing dominoes AND one of the ladies is bringing her specialty, my favorite recipe - Mexican Black Eyed Peas. Soak peas, add sauteed ground pork, celery, onions, lots of chili (I use mostly green) then simmer most of a day. YUM. I think I posted once, but will do so again if anyone is interested.
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Eric - Glad the duck turned out well. My husband usually makes cranberry sauce with it. Were you able to save some duck fat? Store-bought duck fat is expensive. Love using it for cooking. I just read recently that it's good in pie crust.
Hmm, an air fryer sounds interesting. I really like the Instant Pot.
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Thanks for the welcome everyone. Eric, unfortunately bushfires are a problem we deal with regularly. What we love about our home is that we are surrounded by forest, the downside is danger of fires.
I'm becoming a little obsessed with some BBQ cooking shows on an American food channel we get here. I'm pretty sure I literally drool at times
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ET is a friend of mine..Like family for over 30 years... She is one of two who helped me out of my "funk" in the mid 1980s.
....same birthday, last name, height, hair color, eye color and eye glass prescription. She is probably 40 pounds lighter than I. Even the college degrees are similar--computer science for her and electrical/computer engineering for me....
The "test daughters" are the (now) grown & long married daughters of another friend of mine. That nickname is their's. They said we were as close to each other as father-daughter and it was as if I were testing the waters.
The duck fat is in the refrigerator and I've been using it in place of oil. I had wondered how it would do in place of shortening in a pie crust. If DD were home I'd try it. Sharon stepped on the scale this morning and groaned a bit, so I probably shouldn't make a pie! :-)
Sharon is teaching chemistry and Avogadro's number is used to determine the (approximate) number of atoms in a given amount of a substance. It's needed when figuring out how much of each substance is needed in a chemical reaction.
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Baked beans from scratch, pulled pork and coleslaw on tap for tonight. I haven't been a big fan of baked beans from dried versus canned beans, but I've tinkered with my recipe a bit and am hoping for a tastier result. One thing I've done is used salt pork instead of bacon for a "porkier" flavor. Taste tests so far have been favorable.
Welcome to all the new "voices!" My goodness, we're certainly spread out now. Our table is going to need all it's leaves! Do we have anybody in CA right now?
Minus, that black eyed pea dish sounds marvelous -- sadly, I would be the only one to eat them. I get DH to eat hoppin' john' on New Year's day (about 1/2 a cup anyway and then only because it has rice in it) and that's it.
Sandy, you really don't need to be sick on top of everything else you have going on. Healing wishes to you. I really hope Lacey doesn't have to wait all weekend to hear her test results.
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Minus, I think you are on too many threads! I have been here in this thread for several months and you keep welcoming me. Hey, I will take it since it is better to be welcomed than it is to be chased away.
xo
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Mucinex DM is keeping this bug (started in the sinuses) at bay—I don’t feel compelled to cough and when I do, it’s easier to bring up stuff, which isn’t as thick. Had a scare with something orange-colored, till I realized the dry air in the house (three days straight of industrial dehumidifiers will do that) was probably causing low-grade capillary nosebleeds. And whenever I have lung stuff going on, it always starts as postnasal drip. Closest I’ve gotten to fever was 98.9 last evening when we got home from dinner out. (I normally run in the low 97s). Bob’s pneumonia started in his lungs (he didn’t have a head cold), and our housekeeper’s strep came on suddenly when her flight began its descent to Birmingham. Besides, I’m now vaccinated against 36 strains of pneumococcus.
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Freya, welcome! Yes, Nance our table is using all of its leaves!
First of all, on this punctuated day, I am loving your avatars, April and Serenity! Already missing them, and they've probably not even landed out West yet!
Keep feeling better, Sandy!
My pockets were comfortably full early this morning for my CT Scan.....yaawn. Thanks all! Plus, DH announced that he was coming with me, so my cup overfloweth!
Well, Nance, no doc word yet...so I guess I will be waiting until Monday for the results of the scan. Fortunately, I have a busy weekend, so maybe I won't have time to conjure up worries! I have a tendency to employ 'gross denial' for things like this, when there is nothing that I can do....so that is what I am likely to use until Monday.
Last night I ended up making haddock which I baked over a spinach/onion/garlic/mushroom sauté. Then lots of veggies in our salad with evoo and pinot grigio vinegar. I avoided bread, but did have some chocolate pieces after dinner.
At least we stopped in at the gym for over an hour after the scan, so I got some exercise in.I am really tired tonight so not sure what we are doing for dinner. There is leftover fish....or maybe pizza up the street! I'll let DH decide....he's always up for pizza.
Tomorrow we'll go through our Celtics' pre-game "what to do about dinner" routine. The game is early, 5PM, and I am going to meet up with DH who will be marching in Boston until around 3, so hopefully we'll sort it out then. I had hoped to march, but they are heading into town at 8AM and I can't imagine holding up (marching) for that long until I figure out what is going on with the lung densities. So he will represent moi......good guy!
Have a good weekend everyone....
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Steak, carrots and Brussels sprouts tonight. Will see if I can get and keep the gas grill lit so as not have to deal with the ribbed cast iron center-burner griddle and the smoke it might create.
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Lacey - They are an impressive family and will be missed. Pinot Grigio vinegar sounds delicious.
We may be getting sushi a little too often. After my appointment today to get my port flushed, my husband ordered sushi on the phone for pickup. It was through the car speaker so I could hear it. The person asked for his name and number. Then she asked for the order. When finished, she said, "Oh, so just the usual, <his name>".
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eric - It's very supportive to not bake the pie at this time.
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Sharon had a cold come on strong today. She's snoozing in the recliner right now.
I'm hoping I don't catch it.
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April - is this my very own April and I missed it because of the new avatar?? Sooooo sorry. Yes, I love your contribution here & elsewhere. And yes I'm looking forward to meeting you down the road as already planned. And yes, I like the new avatar. It just threw me off base.
Supper is snacks after the huge black eyed pea & pork & chili dish earlier. Eating Harry & David: Moose mix, whole wheat pretzels w/honey sesame mustard, pretzels covered in sweet yogurt, and the last Royal Rivera (comice) pear that melts in your mouth. Thanks to those nice young people who send me a mini-tower each year. On the side, my Kringles came today from Wolfermans. I froze the Raspberry and have tasted to Pecan to make sure it will be good for breakfast. Hmmm, maybe I'd better taste it again to be sure.
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Stay healthy, Eric—hope Sharon can shake the cold pretty quickly.
Was about to go outside and light the gas grill, but it was really damp and foggy. So I hauled out my cast iron skillet from the oven, got it screaming hot and tried it the “America’s Test Kitchen” way (except I used truffle butter instead of making an herb butter). I roasted halved Brussels sprouts in a balsamic marinade, salt, & pepper; and after I steamed some carrots, tossed them in butter, salt and just a touch of maple syrup. I am obsessed now with getting a decent seasoning on my cast iron pan—drives me nuts when little bits of paper towel lint rub off on the pebbly surface. It’s a Lodge Logic “preseasoned.” I do have a generic one with a smoother (but definitely not seasoned) surface—might get some flaxseed oil and do Cook’s Illustrated’s “ultimate seasoning” method when it gets warmer and I can heat the pan outdoors on the grill, since to me flaxseed oil smells like paint (to which I’m pretty sensitive). But, supposedly, flaxseed oil gives a very slick and durable seasoning—much better than canola.
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Why oh why oh why do I find it impossible to cook pasta for 2 instead of the inevitable 8 serves I end up with.
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Flaxseed oil *is* linseed oil, and linseed oil is used In oil based paint.
The method used to extract the oil from the flaxseed determines if it is edible.
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Ha ha Freya, I have the same problem. Lately I've taken to using one of those pasta measurers with the different holes for serving sizes so I'm doing better but as I put it in the water it still never looks like enough. It's harder to measure the homemade stuff though.
DH requested buffalo wings so that's what dinner is tonight along with celery sticks and homemade blue cheese dressing. There are leftover baked beans to be had as well.
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Sandy, Eric is a cast iron seasoning expert.
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Ha! Excess pasta cooking problem exists in thismhouse, too, despite knowing those little 'circle measuring helps'.
And Eric, your explanation about the origin of flaxseed oil helps me understand why I cannot do flax at all. It just smells to me like something I should not be eating....so I don't, despite all the claims about its healthful properties. I don't comsume linseed oil either. LOL!!!
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Now you've all made me hungry for pasta... Guess I'll add a salad with blue cheese and have my meal mid day.
Nance - how is your Dad?
Carole - how is your Mother?
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Well Minus, funny you should ask. Just got off the phone with the supportive living nurse. Dad fell last night while trying to toss a pillow off his bed. He's ok other than another skin tear on his very thin skin. Scary because he fell on the dislocation side but apparently he did no damage. And so it goes. SIGH.
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Well, it is good to know I am not the only one with pasta issues
It was lovely, some linguine, lemon zest and juice, garlic, olive oil, roasted roma tomatoes and prawns.I am being overtaken by tomatoes, another thing I seem to plant to excess. Time to get saucing.
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Somehow I think that 2 full boxes of pasta is "barely enough for two". So, add me to that list as well.
A fat that is baked onto a surface...
If that surface is the oven, it's crud and is annoying.
If that surface is a cast iron skillet, it's seasoning and is good.
I've watched a few forums where the discussion about the best fat/oil to use for seasoning comes up, and the discussion always reminds me of New York and Boston fans getting together to discuss the merits of their favorite baseball teams.
I get the pan clean, dry it, warm it up so it's nice to hold in the winter and rub all over the cast iron whatever fat/oil is available. I then wipe the cast iron off with towels so it seems like I've wiped off all the stuff I put on. And, then I put it into a 375F degree oven for a couple of hours. After a couple of hours, I turn off the oven and just let it cool down on its own.
Sometimes I'll do the "oil, wipe off, bake, cool" thing a second time.
For my fat/oil, I've used the yellow cans of Pam, bacon grease, lard, corn oil, shortening, flaxseed oil and bird feed suet. Based on how i had to clean the oven after the duck, I'm wondering if duck fat would work well.
Flaxseed oil gets "hard" as it "dries" and seems like it would work well. But, I don't know if it would be *that* much better to make it worthwhile to put up with the "did you paint?" smell. I guess it's like an AZ Diamondbacks fan listening to the NY/Boston discussions. :-)
The only thing with flaxseed oil is that when it dries, it generates heat. The old story about a pile of oily rags starting a fire came about from the days of linseed oil being used for paint. So, don't make a huge pile of flaxseed oil soaked towels. You're probably more likely to win the lottery than have a problem, but, still......
I've got one old (belonged to my mom's grandmother, so I guess that qualifies as old) skillet that has the smooth inner surface. I can cook an egg with no oil at all, and the egg will slide when I tip the skillet. I love it.
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Minus Two, I'm in NC. I just saw your question. It has been in the 60's since the snow melted. We always have one extreme or the other. We are actually grilling out tonight. Dinner tonight is Nathans hot dogs, potato salad and baked beans.
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4+ inches of rain yesterday, but today it's 80 degrees. I expect Eric is the only one on this thread who can beat that.
Somehow I bought an extra Lemon Extract when I didn't have any Meyer Lemon juice left in the freeze. I HATE to waste things so I was researching recipes. Thought this was fun from 1966 - the year I got married & started cooking on my own. Things seemed so much more simple then.
Adams Baked Chicken Breast
Notes: 1966 Adams Extract Teenage Bake0off Special Unique Recipe Winner- 2 Tbl margarine, melted
- 1 tsp ADAMS ALMOND EXTRACT
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 chicken breasts, halved
- 2 Tbl ADAMS LEMON EXTRACT
- 1/2 tsp ADAMS GROUND PEPPER
- 1 tsp ADAMS PAPRIKA
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Dont forget me Minus - 90 here today, much cooler than it has been. I love old cookbooks. I have found some absolute gems of recipes in old CWA (Country womens association) books, it's where I found my go to sponge cake and christmas cake recipes.
I grew up on a cattle station and many of the station cooks used to order boxes of essences, and drink them. It was a "dry" station, and the essences are almost pure alcohol.
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Freya - I remember my Mother telling me about what she called "winos" sitting on the street curbs and drinking straight Vanilla Extract during WWII. It always smells so good, but ooooo, not straight.
Sorry I had refresh my memory that you are "down under" and in the middle of summer. Yes, I imagine you're in the middle of some serious heat. Did you say before if you're in a city or the outback? I can't remember.
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