What's for dinner?

[JDub]

OK. I'm making something I had years ago in another life in Zambia while we were visiting our new cobalt supplier (the metal element) Chambishi Metals "Near Kitwe, Zambia" - I poop you not, that was the address - This place was an old Belgian copper mine abandoned years ago - until they found that the MOUNTAINS (I'm NOT exaggerating) of mine tailing were rich in Cobalt which is used in a bunch of industrial processes and alloy production. The process to extract it was mind boggling and another story entirely (think flaming plasma with temps approaching the Sun's to melt it out).

It was a VERY long trip "Indiana Jones" style. JFK to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Capetown, Capetown to Lusaka. Lusaka to Ndola, then a seriously bumpy ride via Land Rover convoy (complete with heavily armed (think AK47s) mine guards) to the Chambishi complex. We spent a couple of days living in utter colonial luxury in the firm's guest house with very well prepared Western foods.

Of course, me being me, I was jonesing to get something "local" and real. This recipe (not exactly the same thing, but close - not so many tomatoes) and a LOT hotter) was what I found at a worker's canteen outside the gate (I had to pay a guard to accompany me out - we were pretty much prisoners as well - Probably for our own safety...) Anyway, this dish is something I've been looking for a recipe for a long time. As I recall, I had cornmeal mush with this, not the plantains.

https://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/sukuma-wiki-with-matoke-beef-stew-with-mashed-plantains/
I'm still cooking it (got started late) and I'll let it sit till manana to blend flavors and I'll write it up tomorrow. Hope you all are parked safely, full of supper, and watching a beautiful sunset somewhere! Stay safe.

Cheers!

 

[Psyckosama]

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!

Nothing so fancy here. I have a Japanese Electric Lunchbox I use for lightweight single meal cooking and I pre-pack the actual meal fixings so I can just dump and add water... and I might just say to hell with it and add a couple ice cubes in so I don't have to add water

 

[JDub]

Nothing so fancy here. I have a Japanese Electric Lunchbox I use for lightweight single meal cooking and I pre-pack the actual meal fixings so I can just dump and add water... and I might just say to hell with it and add a couple ice cubes in so I don't have to add water

I've got a Hot Logic 12V oven which is similar, the entire category is a pretty useful way to prepare meals or heat up frozen ones. Takes about 3-4 hours to produce a nice hot meal in mine - about a morning's drive. Nice and cheap too.

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all.

No post last night. Too TIARD! We were expecting rain today (we got it) so I did both Thu and Fri yardwork yesterday. Lots of mowing and whacking, and clipping. It's not the HEAT that gets ya, it's the HUMILITY! On the low side. we've hit $5 a gallon for regular here. A big chunk of this town is driving big gas guzzlers that can't be getting much in the way of mileage so there's going to be a lot less to spend in their wallets. I guess this is how recessions start...

Anyway, I finished up that Sukuma Wiki the other night and it was very good. I used plenty of chilis from the garden along with my Swiss Chard. Chopping the sirloin steak I used in the food processor gave it a much better and authentic texture than using ground beef. This stuff with the plantains on the side is FILLING. No wonder it's got the name "Week Pusher" in Swahili...! I'm actually thinking of using the the leftovers to fill Jamaican Pattys. It's got a very similar curried taste and texture.

I'm also including a good looking Swiss Chard recipe for you Vegans out there I'm going to try. It really looks good and I have plenty of rice and Chard...

https://www.saveur.com/recipes/stir-fried-swiss-chard/
It's getting hot out there. Try to stay cool and for you folks new to the road, don't hesitate to get to a cool location if you think you're getting too much heat. Heat injuries are common and very dangerous. Any public building will be air conditioned and you should head to one if you need too...

Stay safe out there!

Cheers.

 

[JDub]

Evening all. No I haven't forgotten you all. Just been super busy for the last few days - mostly outside and I'm SURE I don't need to tell you we're having a heat wave across the the lower 48. Before I blather any farther I just want to reinforce what I wrote in my last post: IF YOU NEED TO COOL DOWN DO NOT TRY TO RAMBO IT... GO TO A COOLING STATION OR CLIMATE CONTROLLED SPACE AND GET COOL. SCREW the optics...

Besides the usual household stuff - yard work, watering - GUTTER cleaning etc, which has taken much of the mornings - I get up at 5:00 am to get my exercise and yardwork done early, a friend decided this weekend was a GREAT time to get his neglected pontoon boat back into the water down at the marina... Since it hasn't been IN the water for a couple years (it's actually his parents) you can imagine there was quite a bit of work entailed...

The GOOD news? It still floats, the pontoons are air tight... The BAD news? It's a giant mouse/rats net to include the outboard... If the Tinman and Scarecrow of Oz (LOVE that movie - always have since the early 60's) mated, this is what they would have produced - a metal frame STUFFED with grass, fuzzy material, poop, and unidentifiable semi organic material - any organic chemists here?

Anyway haven't been in too much of a mood (at aALL) to cook (way too tired) but got started again last night -I've been cooking for the week as usual and so far I've made: Asian Cucumber Pickles, Beef Broth from Beef Shanks (for soup), Homemade Duck Sauce (Why? - You'll see... - anyone heard of that Nutcase in NYC who KILLED a delivery driver over his feud with a Chinese place who - apparently - didn't give him enough DUCK SAUCE with his order...???) The stuff is actually Plum Sauce and it takes 5 min to make - I'm including a restaurant style recipe that's WAY better than the little packets...

Tonight I'm making an unusual recipe I found browsing Saveur online - a spice encrusted chicken with duck sauce glaze - Just had to try it... I started it last night and I'm including the recipes (for both the yardbird and sauce), it's supposed to be grilled but indirectly so the oven's just fine and I don't want anymore heat! It came out pretty good - especially with a duck sauce glaze I added in the last 20 min of cooking - I cut up a fresh chicken (simmered the giblets and chopped for Sam's dinner bowl), marinated in the spice mix overnight, then baked at 350 F for 40 min, then coated with the sauce and 10 min per side @400F.

https://www.dixiecrystals.com/recipes/duck-sauce (I usually add a couple tablespoons of water and simmer this for a few min. Better flavor and consistency...

https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Spice-Rubbed-Chicken-with-Duck-Sauce/
Very spicy and unusual - in a good way from the couple bites I've taken. I'm still too wiped out to really enjoy it though. I'm gonna pretty much repeat my routine of the last few days and have a couple of cold ones, a bite to eat, a shower (A gift of the GODS), then hit the rack... I'm also gonna include some pix of the "Huevos con Chorizo Y Chiles, Savoya, Y Pimento" Pretty much spicy Eggs Ranchero Scramble. Had the usual this and that leftover and it all came together with a few warm tortillas...

That's it for tonight. Please take heed of my opening comments. Don't try and tough it out if you have options - Like the Amazon "Bride" Commercial says: "Seriously, NO ONE'S going to judge you for calling it off"... I'll see ya manana.

Cheers!


Marinated Chicken Simmering Duck Sauce


On the Rack Baked and Glazed


Not bad at all! Keeper! Eggs and Chorizo

 

[JDub]

Evening all,

hope you're all doing well out there. The heatwave here continues with a heat index of close to 110F today with the high humidity we're experiencing so it's pretty bad for the folks nomading in the region. Please keep paying attention to your heat situation if you're out in it.

One thing for sure, my garden is enjoying the heat and humidity. I'm already starting to harvest chilis, eggplant, rhubarb, herbs, and Taro (Kalo) leaves (Fo' to make LauLau!). I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a bumper crop of figs later this summer. The tree is covered. The cukes should be ready to start picking next week. Nothing like fresh produce you raise yourself!

Anyway, as I wrote last night, I've been thrown off my meal schedule out of a sheer lack of interest. So, I'm left with a lot more leftovers then normal. I've been trying to come up with good ways to use them since I'm hard over on wasting food. Tonight I needed to use up the Sukuma Wiki Beef and Greens I made last week so I decided to use it for the topping in Lahmacun (or Lahmajun) - a meat topped flatbread that's the original "pizza".

https://romanianfoodsrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/11/turkish-lamb-lahmacun-flat-bread-pizza.html
It's ubiquitous and available basically throughout the Balkans, Central Asia, and Mediterranean Rim. I've eaten versions in Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, Croatia, North Africa, Kazakhstan, and the Middle East. They're all good. My Sukuma Wiki was close enough in texture and spices to make a good fit for an ad hoc homemade version although lamb is the usual topping, and hey! It's what I had!

I went ahead and made up a recipe of my pizza dough and chopped up some odds and ends of veggies and picked a couple of jalapenos to slice. I stretched the dough into the oval shape that's often used and covered it with the meat mixture, the veggies and chiles, and a very small smattering of leftover mooz. Went into a 500F oven (not fun in this heat - I keep the house in the mid 80's to avoid paying the triple rate peak electrical prices we're saddled with Jun-Sep) for 10 min with a couple min under the broiler.

Came out pretty good, nice and crisp and spicy. The meat topping stood in very well for the usual lamb. A drizzle of Sriracha on top was perfect (By the way - if you like Sriracha - buy some now! - they can't make anymore till Oct/Nov due to the chile crop they use being devastated in Mexico due to drought). It'll be pretty much any Mexican hot sauce as well. The cheap stuff at Walmart has almost doubled in price - I' checked today. Only the Valentina Hot Sauce (in the big bottle) is still $2.50 - the same size Tapatio is over 5 bucks now...

https://www.ibtimes.com/hot-sauce-fans-just-got-worst-news-2022-its-end-days-3534808
Overall, just another example of the old hack of "Necessity being the Mother Of Invention!

Stay safe and frosty out there. Best of luck to all of you.

Cheers.

 

[JDub]

Evening all, nothing to report last night and not much today! Just been eating leftovers, dinner tonight was just some cold sliced smoked sausage (Manda brand - all pork sausage made in Louisiana - very good stuff), cheese, and rosemary focaccia I baked from the half of the Lahmacun dough I had left from the other night. Really staying too hot to want to do more, I'm sure a lot of you feel that right about now. It's HOT out there!

I've been cutting back on the outdoor activities last couple days but there's still things needing to get done. I was out mowing this afternoon, my weather station said it was 110 heat index and the humidity was out of this world. It's so high in fact, it's causing moisture to condense on tree leaves and patter down as if it were lightly raining. Kind of nice actually but it speaks volumes as to how saturated the air is right now...

I hope everyone out there in this is taking every precaution to avoid a heat injury and has a cool place to go to while we ride it out. For those of you who are casting about for new ways to cook, I'm going to leave you with this:

https://nypost.com/2022/06/06/arizona-man-cooks-burgers-pizza-and-cake-inside-200-degree-car/
Try to cook food, NOT yourselves!


Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Addendum:

https://www.survivopedia.com/preparing-for-this-summer/
Tips to avoid heat injuries. Be safe out there!

 

[maki2]

I cook late at night or early in the morning. Of course I am not at all hungry for a hot meal or even a hot drink on a hot day

 

[JDub]

I cook late at night or early in the morning. Of course I am not at all hungry for a hot meal or even a hot drink on a hot day

I'm with you Maki, very light cold stuff during the day - I still have to do a lot of outdoor work despite the heat (and the bugs) - simple and quick meals in the evenings...

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all... Another hot day as I'm positive you all know... I really hope you guys have found a temperate hidey hole to ride this out. Literally record setting temps and it's going to last a while longer unfortunately...

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/d...astward-triple-digit-temps-expected-southeast
Don't take any chances, know when to say "when".

As for me, I've been keeping it simple for meals. I was going to to grill some meat Sun for my typical weekly "stock the fridge" but ended up taking it over to a get together hosted by friends. I just rubbed some olive oil on the meat, S&P, garlic powder and that's it. Seared them hard for 3 min per side and into a 400F for 10 min followed by a rest under foil. Perfect medium rare. I whipped up a batch of horseradish sauce - HR, sour cream, mayo, S&P, and a touch of vinegar to go along with it. Sliced it thin and served with rolls to make little sammies over there. Pretty good!

All gone though, so I'm glad I made a pot of soup too- homemade broth using beef shank (Sam is carting the bone around), a can of mixed veggies, some squished canned tomatoes, a handful of rice, chopped shank meat, thyme, majoram, garlic powder, onion powder, and S&P. Tastes like real homemade soup! Way cheaper too. It'll be better as the week goes on with crackers and a salad.

I had to go shopping today at the WM in the little town about 1/2 an hour S of us because our WM is running out of almost everything as they reset the store. I never understand why that little town's WM is always SOOOO much better stocked, cleaned, and staffed than our much larger town's... It's a management issue I think...

Tonight, super simple. I had a large breast leftover from that spice rubbed chicken I made the other night (I'm a drumstick and thigh man - chicken breast is too dry and tasteless for me) so I shredded it, simmered it nearly dry in salsa, canned tomato, chopped onions, garlic, and peppers, a glug of hot sauce, and some oregano and a touch of vinegar - Didn't need much seasoning since the chicken was already well coated. Haven't eaten yet but when I get hungry, I'll fold the chicken in warm tortillas, add a sprinkling of chopped onions, cilantro, and lime juice and maybe a pickled jalapeno or two (or 3 or 4).

That's it for tonight. I just want to reiterate hot weather safety to you folks. Don't chance it, and don't be embarrassed if you need to ask for help... I wish you all luck and COOLER TEMPS (at least lower humidity - which is our problem here in Lower Bama) soon.

Stay safe.

 

[JDub]

Evening all. Not much in the way of cooking tonight! Just not hungry yet after a late lunch (tuna salad - chopped onions, celery, pimentos, sweet relish, S&P, mayo (Blue Plate), with a good dash of horseradish (try that sometimes, very good)). I spent most of the morning trying to get ahead of the heat - it's getting hotter by the day, starting tomorrow, we're expecting it to climb into the low hundreds for several days... Fun.

Got up at 5 am and got the dog walked, and then I hit the road for the usual hour walk by 6. Breakfast (Corned Beef Hash - chopped onions and peppers, canned Palm brand CB from New Zealand - really a superior product, a carton of Hungry Jack dehydrated hash brown potatoes - comes in smallmilk cartons - GREAT product for the road - try them ~ $1,25 at WM, sauteed in butter with two over easy eggs on top - hot sauce all OVA!) Then a bunch of watering and cleanup (the skeeters and horseflys are BAD this year,, I'm ate up - how are they in your neck of the woods?). Then a round of weeding before I followed my own advice and headed in around 11:30 - already in the high 90's by then.

I found this great site - the National RV and Motorhome Museum in Elkhart Indiana. The town hosts most of the big RV manufacturers here in the U.S. . The various examples of vintage RVs and MHs are amazing and really give you a fascinating insight into how Americans used to "Hit the road" back in the day. You might even get some good DIY ideas looking through their collection!

https://www.rvmhhalloffame.org/museum-inventory/
That's it for tonight! Stay cool out there folks - both mentally and physically. Just always remember - "Discretion is the better part of valor". Stay safe out there.

Cheers!

 

[abnorm]

^The Museum is a must see...........That 1915 Ford Telescoping Apt even has a water tank at the roofline

There's another RV Museum at Jack Sizemore RV in Amarillo Texas.........

 

[LeftTown]

I have a new butane stove that I positively love so it's inaugural meal will be in honour of my retirement planner, aka "the kid":

Instant falafel mix because it only takes ten minutes, doesn't cost any more than a hamburger at a restaurant, and the kid knows I like it better.

Because he asked me. Everybody else just tells me to STFU.

 

[JDub]

I have a new butane stove that I positively love so it's inaugural meal will be in honour of my retirement planner, aka "the kid":

Instant falafel mix because it only takes ten minutes, doesn't cost any more than a hamburger at a restaurant, and the kid knows I like it better.

Because he asked me. Everybody else just tells me to STFU.

LOVE Falafel! Fresh or mix, who cares? It's all good. Crispy, crunchy, goodness. Throw some chopped salad dressed with lemon and oil on top with some tahini and a dash of hot sauce (harissa is best) - Some Amba (pickled mango sauce is good on top too) but it's hard to get.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Cheers.

 

[JDub]

Evening all, same refrain, different day. It's HOT out there. It's like stepping into a Russian banya out there with the insane humidity anytime after 10 am. What's that great line in that movie "Biloxi Blues"? "It's HOT! It's HOT HOT!, It's Africa Hot! Tarzan couldn't stand this kinda hot!" The movie is actually based on Neil Simon's recollections of his (very) short military service in WWII.

I can attest to the heat there because I went to Keesler AFB Biloxi for my technical training phase (and my son did too coincidentally) and it was MISERABLE - especially just after the hurricane (Frederick?) had hit the town and had really messed it up.I remember the bumper stickers on some of the cars: "Beautify Biloxi - Run Over an Airman" - Not very friendly...

Anyway, definitely wasn't in the mood for anything hot so I turned to a regular hot weather favorite of mine: Thai Grilled Beef Salad. It's thinly sliced grilled steak tossed with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, lemongrass, and herbs in a bright citrus dressing spiked with garlic, hot peppers, cilantro, sugar, and fish sauce.

Very refreshing and really hits the spot on a warm evening. Just so happened I had a lot of what I needed on hand. I was able to harvest the cukes, lemongrass, mint, basil, and hot peppers, along with already harvested garlic from my kitchen garden (forgive the hubris but it's REALLY nice to be able to do that). The steak was top sirloin on sale at our "Not the Walmart" - $4.99 lb. Had some leftover sticky rice too to go with it.

It was a simple matter to pan sear the meat, slice thinly, and toss with everything. It's a great meal when you're in the mood for something very fresh tasting with lots of veggies and crunch.

I use Victor Sodsook's recipe from my copy of his "True Thai" cookbook. I'm including his recipe from an online source below. I'm sure this could be easily be modified for vegetarians and vegans. Sub the fish sauce w shoyu, and the meat with grilled firm tofu or deep fried tempeh or tofu. Overall a really good recipe with minimal cooking. In fact, some deli roast beef could eliminate the cooking entirely.

https://mygluten-freewife.blogspot.com/2010/09/fiery-grilled-beef-salad-recipe.html
The pix are of the various stages of assembly and I used butter lettuce leaves (from a head of the live lettuce heads that WM sells. Very good product) as a wrap.



The hot weather is going to hang around for a while so please, everyone find somewhere to hang out, stay cool, and don't hesitate to seek help if you're getting too much heat.

Stay safe and sane out there.

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all.

Another miasmic day in the Deep South. NOT that I have to tell anyone even remotely in the region... Got everything done in the morning exercise and gardening wise, did some shopping after cleaning up and scored a clearance priced Coleman propane lantern for $15 - the WM here is completely redoing itself (barely recognize the setup) and they've been putting stuff up for clearance for weeks now. Been getting some pretty good deals - also got a U.S. made minnow trap for 6 bucks - It'll come in handy during fishing trips.

I was actually supposed to go on a river cruise this evening on my friend's pontoon boat I've been helping to get back in shape - It's a nice evening for it. However... I'm just NOT feeling it tonight! . I begged off and I'm watching NG Channel's "Lost Treasures of Rome" Pompei in this episode. Amazing place... Anyway... No cooking tonight, I settled for a chicken salad sandwich and soup.

The soup was veggie rice beef I made earlier this week, I grabbed a can of chicken from the pantry, drained it (Sam was happy to take care of the broth for me), and added: Mayo, relish, chopped onions, and pimentos. I seasoned it with S&P, curry powder, and a spoonful of apricot preserves (chutney would be good too) and a dash of garlic powder. Sort of a low rent version of "Coronation Chicken Salad" invented by a famous chef for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1951. Still very popular in the "Ladies who Lunch" circles...

Perfect meal for a warm evening. Even had a little piece of lemon cake for desert (rare for me). Hopefully things will cool down a bit this weekend with some rain chances supposed to move in Sun. Anyone have anything good today? Remember to eat properly even if you don't feel like it. Gotta take care of yourself - if you don't ain't no one gonna do it for ya!

Stay safe out there and have a good weekend all.

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all,

returned this morning from a 3 day trip to N. Bama to visit my Mother in Law. Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of my Wife's death and it's been a pretty gloomy weekend I'm afraid... Can't believe it's been five years, time just rushes by doesn't it? Life goes on though as all of you know, just make sure to spend some time smelling the flowers as opposed to running in the rat race (my wife is the only person I've known who would probably have LIKED an inscription reading: "I wish I had spent more time at the office"!)

Got back today and wonder of wonders! We'd had (a little) rain but it was badly needed - might have some more tonight. Harvested some cukes off the vine and threw them in the pickling crock, some cayennes to dry, and the figs are looking good. The crape myrtle on my deck is putting out some beautiful flowers and looks like the moonflowers are about to bloom (love the smell of them).

I had left a ham defrosting and I threw it in the oven @350 F with a glaze I concocted from the leftover sweet and sour duck sauce I made the other night, lillikoi (passion fruit) jelly and apricot preserves along with shoyu, cloves, ginger, garlic, and orange juice simmered together. The ham came out nicely and I had some tonight sliced with a baked Spanish style potato omelet using leftover home fries (potatoes, onions, and bell peppers) as the filler. A little cheese and Voila! Something to eat.

Gas prices and the temps have come down a little here (about 20c gal) to $4.61 range, but I'm told it's going up again (of course...) but I'm planning on leaving for another trip in mid July regardless but I'm staying closer to home. Either Port St Jo or Steinhatchee in FL or down I-10 to Cajun Country. Still trying to make it to NM later this summer or fall to meet up with my Bud in Cloudcroft.

That's it for tonight! I'm posting a couple photos and then i'm going to bed after the "Skinwalker Ranch" episode - I've seen some weird stuff in the general area of Utah myself - wouldn't doubt that something strange is happening there military related... I hope you're all doing well out there and are having a good time while you're at it.

"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride."

Attributed to Anthony Bourdain but probably not.

Stay safe all and cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all,

sorry for the dearth of posts lately, hasn't been much to post about, I've been mostly eating cold plates of sliced up this and that for dinner with pickled spiced figs I put up last year, some simple island style Japanese food, etc - too warm to really get into heating up the place with ambitious meal making. I did have a craving for NYC style dirty water dogs tonight so I did a redux on Hebrew National dogs with onion sauce. Forgot to take a pic (I swear I'm losing it) so I'm using the one from last time. Super tasty and easy to make best of all - QUICK!

Did several hours of yardwork today, seriously humid but a little cooler. We've been getting a little blessed rain but not enough. I've been doing a lot of hand watering. My Moonflowers have started blooming and they smell great in the early evening when they bloom, but alas, they're gone by morning... Sort of of a metaphor for our lost youth I suppose!


Hope everyone has something interesting to do for this July 4th weekend, I'm planning on BBQing, hanging out, and doing nada (it's why I was sweating it up today!). We usually have a pretty good fireworks show over the river that I can see really well from the the front stoop so I'll just set up chairs in front. Trivial fact - My many times great grandfather Abel was a private in the Green Mountain Boys ( State Militia) in Vermont and took part in the capture of Ft Ticonderoga from the British early in the Revolution to obtain cannons for Gen Washington.

The expedition had not one but two commanders: Ethan Allen annnnnnndddddd - Benedict Arnold. Why? Arnold actually financed the mission and thought he should be the overall commander with Allen as his deputy, but he proved to be SO unpopular with the troops, they threatened to QUIT and GO HOME (they could do that back then ) unless Arnold shared the command with Allen. That's why everyone credits Ethan Allen with leading the mission today and Arnold is forgotten (there's also that Traitor to his country thing too...)

Stay safe all and have lots of fun this weekend just don't get caught!

Cheers!

 

[JDub]

Evening all,

different day, same tune, hasn't really been anything special culinary wise to write about. I hope everyone had a good 4th Holiday and had some good chow to go with it. We BBQ'd and folks brought quite a bit of stuff over of every variety - we had quite the feed! Problem is: They also LEFT a bunch of stuff and I've been trying to work my way through leftovers and raw meat that needs to be used! I've been eating leftovers and cooking up stuff that needs to be used all week. Now I'm certainly not complaining about having a full fridge but I'll tell ya I've been having some hodgepodge meals!

Our weather has been and remains beyond miserable, another day with humidity and temps into the 109 heat index level. One of the reasons I'm not posting much is that I'm usually pretty worn out from working out in the heat most days. The mornings are much cooler so I take my hour long walks then and spend another hour hand watering (we aren't getting a fraction of the rain we need and my soil drains like gravel) all my plantings. By the time breakfast and morning chores are done, it's already into the 90s and climbing - not great for yardwork so I wait till after 4 in the afternoon to start work since it's "cooler" (105F?). I'm usually good for a little dinner, a beer, a shower, and bed most nights.

So, what have I been cooking up? Let's see - I had quite a bit of burger left and a hankering for meatloaf so I used this recipe for a copycat of Boston Market's meatloaf - it's pretty good and it's really easy to make. I would suggest adding a little vinegar and more BBQ suace to the topping sauce for some better tang but overall, it's really close to the original

https://www.platingsandpairings.com/boston-market-meatloaf-top-secret-recipe/
I also had a big sirloin tip steak left (I have no idea who brought it and I don't want to refreeze something that may have been frozen like the burger) so I dipped into the wayback machine and pulled out this recipe for Hilltop Steakhouse Tips - Anyone from the Saugus MA area? That place was a local legend for close to 60 years before it closed. I went once when I was TDY (temp duty) at Ft Devens - it was like a gigantic western disney land complete with a herd of cows out front. Really good recipe and I highly recommend trying it. I wasn't in the mood to fire up my BBQ so used my little Coleman grill under my range hood and grilled up some kabobs that came out very nicely. I paired it with fries, cucumber and onion salad from the garden, hot Italian bread, and leftover coleslaw (Primanti Bros slaw if anyone wants the recipe).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/primanti-bros-sandwiches/10483/?noredirect=on
https://stevesacooking.com/2013/11/14/hilltop-steak-house-marinated-beef-tips/
Tonight, leftovers on top of leftovers - Meatloaf sammie, fried chicken, cuke salad, fruit salad, chips, and a brew (don't judge me, I'm still guppy gaping from 2 hours out there this afternoon but my yard looks GOOD for the weekend while everyone else is letting theirs go ). I was pretty hungry. Might even have a chunk of cake in a while! Well, that's all I can manage tonight. I hope all of you are staying safe and sane and well fed. Don't take any chances if you're caught out in this heat and drink plenty of fluids.

Cheers!