What's for dinner?

[JDub]

Afternoon folks. Sorry for the leave of absence - seem to be making a habit of it... I've just returned from the Panhandle, where very sadly, I had to help bury (cremate) a good friend who died last Fri. He was a fine leader of men, a courageous warrior, an excellent father, and a wonderful husband. They don't make them like that anymore. we did our best to help his wife who's still in a state of shock... I know the feeling myself... But what can you say?

Pretty depressing, my personal Memorial Day list of absent comrades is now up to just short of 2 dozen men, and one woman. Most lived long productive lives and died of old age, but too many were taken way before their time - cancer, aircraft crashes, parachute and diving accidents, vehicle accidents, combat in far off places we don't need to be... I'm one of the lucky ones considering how many times I've just escaped the "Golden BB"...

Anyway, it really puts things in perspective as you get older. You really should reorder your priorities from the shallow and mundane to what's really important in life. You can figure out what those things are I'm sure with a little thought. Speaking of reordering priorities, I notice I've had another "Just for Fun" post deleted due to "offending another member"... Really?

Grow up. My advice is: Put your right hand on your left shoulder and GET A GRIP ON REALITY. I'm often offended (deeply) by a lot of what I see and hear but it's just a part of real life. Trying to live in a Disneyesque world of unicorns and rainbows where no one is ever "offended" (particularly "in a van down by the river" ) is just plain unrealistic. Sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich accomplishes nothing except delay the systemic shock one will receive when long overdue reality smacks them "right tween the eyes"... JMHO

I'll get back to blogging manana... I'm sure this post will "offend" someone and be removed tonight. As for me, I'm going to go pet the dog, drink a beer, BBQ some ribs, and sit and watch a big storm roll in... I hope all of you are in a safe spot with a good meal to eat tonight. It's good for the soul.

Cheers!

 

[WanderingRose]

Sorry for your loss, JDub.

Death is a fact of life that we learn the hard way, thru the trauma of losing loved ones.

Mmmm, BBQ ribs sound good, and I might have to do some of those my own self.

 

[JDub]

Evening all. Today was mostly a catching up day around here. Had a lot of tidying up to do after a couple of storms passed through while I was gone. Last night's projected storm passed just North of here and all we got was some heavy wind for a short time. My poor Glads were really looking nice this year with lots of blooms but they're flatter than pancakes now after several wind events. Still, they make nice cut flowers and cheer up the house.

The patch of Easter Lilly's I planted for my wife many years ago are in bloom as usual around Memorial Day which I always think is fitting in her memory. The Day Lilly's are blooming too and the new color I planted this year is pretty sweet. My Guava tree looks set for a bumper crop of fruit this year. It's covered in blossoms (always twins to make pollination easier) I'm going to have to put down a lot of Guava jam and BBQ sauce this year. The first chili's of the year are coming around and I'll pick some Serrano's tomorrow to scramble with eggs, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes for breakfast. Almost out of homemade salsa too.

Last night I grilled a rack of ribs I picked up at the naval air station in PCola on my way back home. A nice rack of pretrimmed St Louis cut ribs which is how I like them. trimmed the edges, fat and membrane off and Sam enjoyed them in his dinner. Preheated my grill and grilled them on low for 45 min and then turned up the heat to give them a nice crusty finish.

Then I put em in a 300F oven slathered with sauce (Uncle Clyde's - made in Selma Al, one of the few bottled sauces I use - excellent stuff) and baked them till them till nicely glazed and tender (~ 45 min). Cut em up and served them with a marinated tomato salad and hot rolls. Desert was Mint Oreos and a cup of tea. Tonight was more of the same. Hit the spot too!

Do any of you do much grilling on the road, or only when set up for a while? I have a little Weber gas Party Grill I always take with me. Nothing complicated - dogs, burgers, little steaks and chops - that sort of thing. The most complicated is probably Russian Shashlik (pork kabobs) I love to make since it's so easy and tasty. I actually find it's easier than trying to actually cook since you can just make cold sides to go with.

By the way, this site lists a bunch of great places to eat in each state. Might be a useful asset when you're traveling and looking for a place to eat. The folks who run the site - the Sterns - have been doing this for years and have built up quite a database of great eats.

https://roadfood.com/
Well, that's it for tonight! Hope you all had a good day and a good dinner and a friend nearby! Stay safe.

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all.

Lovely day today, not nearly as humid as its been for several weeks now. Things are really starting to takeoff in the garden and I'm starting to harvest a little of this and that. Mostly chilis, a few strawberries, herbs, garlic, and figs pretty soon as well as cukes. I can't grow everything but I just try to grow the expensive stuff so I don't have to pay $4.00 for a tiny wilted pack of dill for example.

The basic staples are getting expensive enough! $1.99 a pound for ONIONS? $3.49 a pound for tomatoes (I love tomatoes but I have never had any luck growing them, actually it's more the climate here - they stop setting in the 90's and we hit 90 in mid May around here).

Gas here been rising in leaps and bounds as well - went shopping today and my station (I like Shell gas) has raised the price of regular 32c to $4.59 gal and premium which I have to use too is now $5.38 gal. I read that Mendocino Ca is about to cross over $10.00 a gal and that Cally in general is $6.32 a gal now. Wow... Definitely going to be a long, hot summer...

I actually had a completely different dinner planned tonight, but upon taking stock of what needed to be used, I found that I had disparate items such as bananas (I eat one before I go walking in the mornings), half a carton of UHT milk, a couple of eggs, etc that badly needed to be used (I had to drop everything last week and leave). My Mother and her family almost starved at the end of WWII in Japan and she pounded the mantra of "Never waste food" into my sister and I growing up and I do my best to follow that to this day...

So what could I do with all that? Banana Pancakes for supper! Anybody used to go to pancake suppers at the union hall, community center, or a baked bean and franks supper at the VFD when they were kids? Friday fish fry at the local VFW bar or in our case, the parish hall? I always get a wave of nostalgia when I eat those things. Simpler times.

Anyway, I mixed up everything - 2 cups self rising flour, 2 eggs, 3 mashed bananananananz, milk, oil, an extra dash of baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg (no sugar, burns too easy). Heated up the skillet on medium till good and hot (dry, no grease). A ladle full at a time and they puffed up nicely. Took about 20 min to get through the bowl and I ended up with quite a stack. Luckily they reheat well so I packed and froze most and had a couple of beauties spackled with butter and drizzled with honey for supper.

Delish. even the simplest things can make a great meal if you put a little effort into it. Best thing about it besides being frugal, was not wasting the foods that went into it even though they were almost useless on their own ... Have I mentioned before that I'm CHEAP!? Anybody else make something from nada today (Stone soup)? Take care out there folks. be safe and be sane and remember to have some fun too!

Cheers!

 

[WanderingRose]

I use up ripe bananas in pancakes, too, or whole wheat banana bread.

I like to sprinkle some chopped pecans on the pancakes as they’re baking, or blueberries.

 

[frater secessus]

I just made pancakes in the van the first time the other day. Nice treat. Doggo enjoyed her washing pretreatment of the batter bowl afterward.

Tonight's dinner was a chicken drumsticks over potatoes in the crockpot (5 hours on HI, or 875Wh):

I used to bake potatoes by themselves in the crock then realized it would be a "power freebie" to toss some meat on top of them. The fat drips off into the potatoes, so win-win.

 

[Frood]

The basic staples are getting expensive enough! $1.99 a pound for ONIONS? $3.49 a pound for tomatoes (I love tomatoes but I have never had any luck growing them, actually it's more the climate here - they stop setting in the 90's and we hit 90 in mid May around here).

JDub,

Generally cherry tomatoes grow very well in the heat.
There are some heat resistant varieties as well, check out some of the great stuff done by University of Florida...
https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/kleelab/
I love growing onions... both green bunching onions and bulb onions! They are super easy low maintenance crops. In the case of bulb onions it just takes a little planning ahead... Start your seeds (yeah, grow bulb onion from seeds it's MUCH cheaper than getting the little dried out bulbs) in a small tray in January, transplant into garden when frost is one, and harvest when bulbs are decent size (or harvest and store when the tops die off). A small percentage will go to seed the first year... harvest as soon as you notice (the onion ramps on these are delicious too).

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my garden... Every time I turn around I'm being assaulted by gophers, squirrels, rabbits, flocks of birds, or donkeys (yeah, donkeys). Started fishing more instead until I can figure out what to do.

 

[JDub]

I've grown a couple different kinds of the cherry variety - I think it was "Husky"s last year. They always turn out very tough skinned due to the heat here. The onions grow OK but I use a LOT of them so I just don't have the room. Garlic (Hard Neck) is what I grow, I've got two patches of them and they turn out great. The scapes are delicious stir fried or pickled. Missed most of them this year and only harvested a little garlic due to my absence but they'll come back gangbusters next year. The heat bolted them sooner than usual.

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all.

Nothing to report last night, went over to friends and we had lasagna, garlic bread, and tossed salad (yours truly made the salad) then we watched "Bigfoot Hunters" or whatever. Entertaining show if you're into that kind of thing... Anyone ever seen one?

Tonight it was just a quick grill of some burgers. Had a couple with all the trimmings. I've got some left for breakfast - the infamous Gut Bomb "Loco Moco" from back home. Burger, rice, and a sunny side egg smothered in GRAVY ALL OVAH! Food coma to follow! It'll be an all day thing though, super hearty stick to your ribs food for hard working plantation workers back in the day. Anybody remember the old C&H Sugar commercials back in the day? The jingle was set to "Pearly Shells" (Puu Pu Ao Eva) .



Well, that's it for tonight, it's getting hot out there early. Hopefully you full timers are all moving to a cooler climate zone before it gets to be a problem. Gas shot up another 9c a gallon here - 4.68 for regular. Not slowing down either. Might be a good thing to get to where you're going and hunkering down before the prices get too high...

Stay safe and sound all!

Cheers

 

[JDub]

I use up ripe bananas in pancakes, too, or whole wheat banana bread.

I like to sprinkle some chopped pecans on the pancakes as they’re baking, or blueberries.

I've got a young blueberry bush that's just starting to produce but the birds are getting to them before I can... Hmmmph. Mockingbird stew is sounding pretty good right now...

 

[JDub]

I just made pancakes in the van the first time the other day. Nice treat. Doggo enjoyed her washing pretreatment of the batter bowl afterward.

Tonight's dinner was a chicken drumsticks over potatoes in the crockpot (5 hours on HI, or 875Wh):

I used to bake potatoes by themselves in the crock then realized it would be a "power freebie" to toss some meat on top of them. The fat drips off into the potatoes, so win-win.

Try a package of Lipton Onion soup mix in there along w half a cheap beer. Old hack but it sure does TASTE good! Wonder if Shake and Bake can be used in a Instapot?

Cheers

 

[Annieclover]

I'm getting hungry. Every time I start reading on the food forum, I have get something eat.

 

[Psyckosama]

Japanese Curry.

1 small block of curry roux, 1 boneless skinless thigh, 1 small handful of diced carrot, 1 small handful of diced onion, one small handful of diced potato, and a little bit of water. Let heat, serve on rice.

Yum.

 

[JDub]

I'm getting hungry. Every time I start reading on the food forum, I have get something eat.

Me too!

 

[JDub]

Japanese Curry.

1 small block of curry roux, 1 boneless skinless thigh, 1 small handful of diced carrot, 1 small handful of diced onion, one small handful of diced potato, and a little bit of water. Let heat, serve on rice.

Yum.

VERY popular back home. If you're using the roux, first saute everything in butter (homemade curry roux is flour and butter) and then add a jolt of madras (preferably S&B) curry powder, fresh ginger and garlic while your sauteing. Really amps up the flavor.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/japanese-curry-history
Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Hey folks, before I do a lot of blathering that would be useless without a working link, can someone tell me whether or not this link can be seen or if it's behind a paywall?

https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/sukuma-wiki-with-matoke-beef-stew-with-mashed-plantains/
Thanks!

 

[maki2]

Dinner is easy tonight, cottage cheese and pineapple. It is hot, I have projects to do this evening when it cools down. Cooking is off the menu

 

[JDub]

Dinner is easy tonight, cottage cheese and pineapple. It is hot, I have projects to do this evening when it cools down. Cooking is off the menu

It's still in the mid 90's here in early evening according to my deck WX station... Gonna be a LONG hot summer methinks...

Cheers!

 

[rvwandering]

Hey folks, before I do a lot of blathering that would be useless without a working link, can someone tell me whether or not this link can be seen or if it's behind a paywall?

https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/sukuma-wiki-with-matoke-beef-stew-with-mashed-plantains/
Thanks!

Works for me! Thanks for all of the ideas.

 

[JDub]

Works for me! Thanks for all of the ideas.

Thanks!