A Thousand Words

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 5:00am

Welcome to A Thousand Words, where I share pictures (and ask my readers to share pictures) of what they'd like to see more of in the world.

This week: Good home cooking.

I'd like there to be more good home cooking in the world. Which also implies, of course, that people would have time to spend cooking (preferably together). That implies, of course, better wages, a shorter work week, and, preferably, a better food supply.

One of the best things human beings do is cook. As Nero Wolfe says, cooking is "the kindliest of the arts." And we could all use some more kindness around, yeah?

Here's some examples of people cooking food I love (in particular, check out filmmaker Robert Rodriguez' "Ten Minute Cooking School")!

I'll close with a couple of recipes from my personal soul food. My grandma's father was Spanish and her mother Cuban, and we lived in Tampa, where Cuban, Spanish, and Italian cuisines have embraced with magnificent results.

If you, like me, wish there were more good, home-cooked food in the world, please share your recipes! Especially those of you who are pescaterian, vegetarian, or vegan. (It's pretty obvious that I'm not!)

How are you all today?

Tags:

Open Thread

cooking

frijoles negros

Cuban black beans

Ybor City Deviled Crab Croquettes

puerco pibil

Robert Rodriguez

chana masala

Vote

Comments

Submitted by Granma on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 9:05am

Great subject

I'm cooking for just myself most of the time now, but don't mind leftovers/planned overs.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 10:10am

Good morning, everybody!

Almost afternoon, where I am. I seriously overslept.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 10:23am

Good morning CSTMS. Timely column, though I can't look

at the recipes now, nor contribute any. We have to run up to Sonoma early today, and need to gas up first, so I have to get up and out of here, having slept in a cooupleof extra hours myself.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 10:23am

Good morning CSTMS. Timely column, though I can't look

at the recipes now, nor contribute any. We have to run up to Sonoma early today, and need to gas up first, so I have to get up and out of here, having slept in a cooupleof extra hours myself.

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 10:44am

Great Topic

And timely too! I am looking for a new squash dish for Thanksgiving and ran across this one pictured below. Will probably try it out first this weekend to see if the flavors actually do work together. Never really thought to pair goat cheese with squash before. I like goat cheese and I like squash, so who knows? Will keep you updated. Click here for recipe.

Roasted Herbed Squash w/ Goat Cheese

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 1:09pm

if regular goat cheese

@Anja Geitz

is a bit too strong, i'd recommend Feta crumbles, myself.

Submitted by Pricknick on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:02am

Winter is cooking time.

Pork shish kabob with shrooms, onions and tomatoes.
pricknick shish.JPG
Beef bone broth ready to can.

—

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:04am

Chole Masala

My Sister and I took some Indian Cooking classes a few years ago and while I was fascinated with my experience of watching Indian dishes prepared, I have never had the confidence to experiment with one myself. I liken Indian cooking with French cooking in the amount of ingredients and steps required to pull off that bit of magic. But after watching your video, I want to try making my own masala! It’s such a versatile mixture of spices and works so well to enhance sauces and vegetable dishes. Heck, you could even mix the masala with a little olive oil and use it on a roasted chicken!

Thanks!

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 1:16pm

i've been trying to

@Anja Geitz

learn east indian cooking, too...as the spices are sooooo healthful. and when you dry roast them in a skillet on low-ish until they emit a wee bit of smoke... oh, what heavenly scents, especially fenugreek, cumin, and even generic curry powder. garam masala i use rarely, but oh, is it yummy!

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Thu, 10/22/2020 - 2:11pm

Sure thing!

@Anja Geitz

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:27am

The naughty Russians strike again

Boy these guys sure seem to have a lot of time on their hands to do nefarious things to countries for no reason huh?

Britain and the United States on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

British and U.S. officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to the 2017 French elections. The charges covered four years of malicious cyber activity, from 2015 to 2019.

Vault 7 anyone?

The attack in South Korea had previously been linked to Russia by cybersecurity researchers but was made to look like the work of Chinese or North Korean hackers, Britain's foreign ministry said.

So they have proof this came from Russia physically right?

In 2017, destructive NotPetya malware spread globally out of Ukraine, infecting and locking up thousands of computers belonging to corporations. Experts say NotPetya caused upwards of $1 billion in losses. At the time, companies publicly affected by NotPetya included FedEx Corporation.

Guess not. Let's see if people are buying it.... yep they are.

- Not a word or response from Putin. This tells volumes about what he and Russia are all about. They are dishonest and cannot be trusted.

- Why does Trump ever call out Putin or Russia? Why does he take their side over our own intelligence? The answer should be obvious, it's the reason he was impeached. Republican senators are complicit.

Sigh. Now people will get behind Biden when he launches whatever he wants at Russia. And this is why the dems/HerHeinous blamed Julian Assange/Wikileaks for working with Russia to release the damning emails. This blaming Russia for everything farce is why people think that Russia is behind the Hunter Biden computer scandal instead of them seeing they have fallen for propaganda that Obama made it legal for the guv to spread. You know the scandal free president? The 1st one in history to not have any scandals outside of the Tan Suit.

I wish I could figure out why Obama/Hillary supporters believe this whilst most Bernie/Other supporters saw through it from the git go.

ICYMI

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOhwq8Zn18Q]

A recent graphic shows how Obama deported way more immigrants than Trump has. Yes it is damning that the scandal free president deported more immigrants than every pres combined, but Trump is keeping lots of them locked up in private prison detention camps so they can make ooodles of money of human misery. Guess y'all have heard the over 500 children separated from their parents have not been reunited nor will they because they didn't keep records. Will anyone be held accountable for that crime against humanity? I doubt it.

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:50am

Just sad

@snoopydawg

So DeJoy is not allowing 5 democrats from Coast to Coast to inspect post offices to see what's happening and guess who is getting the blame for it?

This is how Russia operates their election.

Of course once Biden and the Top Cop Comma-La get in there will be hearings, investigations and prison sentences for Trump, Moscow Mitch, Leningrad Lindsay and the other Russian moles in the GOP. That people actually believe that one party is beholden to a foreign government and the rest of congress turns a blind eye to it is something I never thought people would believe. And yet here we are. Every damn thing Trump does he does it with Russia in mind. Even though Trump has brought war to Russia's borders with NATO troops.

DeJoy will spend the rest of his life in jail as soon as we elect Democrats and reinstate a fair and equitable process.

Man the disappointment is gonna be fun to watch when Biden continues doing what Trump is doing now. I remember once upon a time those folks wanted war to end and the troops to come home. Now there's Liz Cheney working with dems to keep it from happening and not one word about it. As they say, "IF Hillary was president now we'd be at brunch." Yeah that was the problem during O's tenure. Criticism was racist. I guess it will be both ageist and racist with Joe/Comma-La.

Boy these guys sure seem to have a lot of time on their hands to do nefarious things to countries for no reason huh?

Britain and the United States on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

British and U.S. officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to the 2017 French elections. The charges covered four years of malicious cyber activity, from 2015 to 2019.

Vault 7 anyone?

The attack in South Korea had previously been linked to Russia by cybersecurity researchers but was made to look like the work of Chinese or North Korean hackers, Britain's foreign ministry said.

So they have proof this came from Russia physically right?

In 2017, destructive NotPetya malware spread globally out of Ukraine, infecting and locking up thousands of computers belonging to corporations. Experts say NotPetya caused upwards of $1 billion in losses. At the time, companies publicly affected by NotPetya included FedEx Corporation.

Guess not. Let's see if people are buying it.... yep they are.

- Not a word or response from Putin. This tells volumes about what he and Russia are all about. They are dishonest and cannot be trusted.

- Why does Trump ever call out Putin or Russia? Why does he take their side over our own intelligence? The answer should be obvious, it's the reason he was impeached. Republican senators are complicit.

Sigh. Now people will get behind Biden when he launches whatever he wants at Russia. And this is why the dems/HerHeinous blamed Julian Assange/Wikileaks for working with Russia to release the damning emails. This blaming Russia for everything farce is why people think that Russia is behind the Hunter Biden computer scandal instead of them seeing they have fallen for propaganda that Obama made it legal for the guv to spread. You know the scandal free president? The 1st one in history to not have any scandals outside of the Tan Suit.

I wish I could figure out why Obama/Hillary supporters believe this whilst most Bernie/Other supporters saw through it from the git go.

ICYMI

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOhwq8Zn18Q]

A recent graphic shows how Obama deported way more immigrants than Trump has. Yes it is damning that the scandal free president deported more immigrants than every pres combined, but Trump is keeping lots of them locked up in private prison detention camps so they can make ooodles of money of human misery. Guess y'all have heard the over 500 children separated from their parents have not been reunited nor will they because they didn't keep records. Will anyone be held accountable for that crime against humanity? I doubt it.

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by MrWebster on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 2:01pm

A few pundits have noted.

@snoopydawg If Biden wins, the mainstream media outlets will be crushing any dissent to Biden as Russian disinformation.

Boy these guys sure seem to have a lot of time on their hands to do nefarious things to countries for no reason huh?

Britain and the United States on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

British and U.S. officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to the 2017 French elections. The charges covered four years of malicious cyber activity, from 2015 to 2019.

Vault 7 anyone?

The attack in South Korea had previously been linked to Russia by cybersecurity researchers but was made to look like the work of Chinese or North Korean hackers, Britain's foreign ministry said.

So they have proof this came from Russia physically right?

In 2017, destructive NotPetya malware spread globally out of Ukraine, infecting and locking up thousands of computers belonging to corporations. Experts say NotPetya caused upwards of $1 billion in losses. At the time, companies publicly affected by NotPetya included FedEx Corporation.

Guess not. Let's see if people are buying it.... yep they are.

- Not a word or response from Putin. This tells volumes about what he and Russia are all about. They are dishonest and cannot be trusted.

- Why does Trump ever call out Putin or Russia? Why does he take their side over our own intelligence? The answer should be obvious, it's the reason he was impeached. Republican senators are complicit.

Sigh. Now people will get behind Biden when he launches whatever he wants at Russia. And this is why the dems/HerHeinous blamed Julian Assange/Wikileaks for working with Russia to release the damning emails. This blaming Russia for everything farce is why people think that Russia is behind the Hunter Biden computer scandal instead of them seeing they have fallen for propaganda that Obama made it legal for the guv to spread. You know the scandal free president? The 1st one in history to not have any scandals outside of the Tan Suit.

I wish I could figure out why Obama/Hillary supporters believe this whilst most Bernie/Other supporters saw through it from the git go.

ICYMI

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOhwq8Zn18Q]

A recent graphic shows how Obama deported way more immigrants than Trump has. Yes it is damning that the scandal free president deported more immigrants than every pres combined, but Trump is keeping lots of them locked up in private prison detention camps so they can make ooodles of money of human misery. Guess y'all have heard the over 500 children separated from their parents have not been reunited nor will they because they didn't keep records. Will anyone be held accountable for that crime against humanity? I doubt it.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 7:08pm

Ukraine SSR ;1922 to 1991. No further comment

@snoopydawg be well and have a good one

Boy these guys sure seem to have a lot of time on their hands to do nefarious things to countries for no reason huh?

Britain and the United States on Monday condemned what they said were a litany of malicious cyberattacks orchestrated by Russian military intelligence, including attempts to disrupt next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

British and U.S. officials said the attacks were conducted by Unit 74455 of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, also known as the Main Centre for Special Technologies.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department said six members of the unit had played key roles in attacks on targets ranging from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to the 2017 French elections. The charges covered four years of malicious cyber activity, from 2015 to 2019.

Vault 7 anyone?

The attack in South Korea had previously been linked to Russia by cybersecurity researchers but was made to look like the work of Chinese or North Korean hackers, Britain's foreign ministry said.

So they have proof this came from Russia physically right?

In 2017, destructive NotPetya malware spread globally out of Ukraine, infecting and locking up thousands of computers belonging to corporations. Experts say NotPetya caused upwards of $1 billion in losses. At the time, companies publicly affected by NotPetya included FedEx Corporation.

Guess not. Let's see if people are buying it.... yep they are.

- Not a word or response from Putin. This tells volumes about what he and Russia are all about. They are dishonest and cannot be trusted.

- Why does Trump ever call out Putin or Russia? Why does he take their side over our own intelligence? The answer should be obvious, it's the reason he was impeached. Republican senators are complicit.

Sigh. Now people will get behind Biden when he launches whatever he wants at Russia. And this is why the dems/HerHeinous blamed Julian Assange/Wikileaks for working with Russia to release the damning emails. This blaming Russia for everything farce is why people think that Russia is behind the Hunter Biden computer scandal instead of them seeing they have fallen for propaganda that Obama made it legal for the guv to spread. You know the scandal free president? The 1st one in history to not have any scandals outside of the Tan Suit.

I wish I could figure out why Obama/Hillary supporters believe this whilst most Bernie/Other supporters saw through it from the git go.

ICYMI

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOhwq8Zn18Q]

A recent graphic shows how Obama deported way more immigrants than Trump has. Yes it is damning that the scandal free president deported more immigrants than every pres combined, but Trump is keeping lots of them locked up in private prison detention camps so they can make ooodles of money of human misery. Guess y'all have heard the over 500 children separated from their parents have not been reunited nor will they because they didn't keep records. Will anyone be held accountable for that crime against humanity? I doubt it.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by RantingRooster on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:46am

I live on microwave

dinners. When my wife was sick with cancer, I did all the cooking and really enjoyed making all kinds of dishes she liked. Heck, I made home made butter and bread. It truly was a joy to do for her. Wish I had the facilities to cook and someone to cook for.

Stove top Chicken with Salsa, chili powder and garlic. (It's the only pic I have lol)

—

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Submitted by Azazello on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 11:51am

I've been watching De mi Rancho a Tu Cocina

That's From my Ranch to Your Kitchen.
Doña Ángela cooks home-style Mexican over a wood-fired grill.
The Spanish is pretty basic, the recipes are authentic.
Check it out, De mi Rancho a Tu Cocina.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WCni7y8i44 width:500 height:300]

—

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 1:34pm

oh, yum!

@Azazello

my go-to dishes over the years have become traditonal mexican, including the first written written recipe: pepita sauce, mayan i believe. the recipe i have has about 24 different ingredients, but oh...what flavor, what health!

i was looking on youtube for traditional mexican chef rick bayless's recipe for sopa seca (dry soup) which begins with roasting long pasta in a 12" skillet, then adding myriad ingredients, fire-roasted tomatoes, chiles, and spices. but i must only be in his cookbooks. he also taught me how to love and make dishes with molé. roasted tomattillos, and tra la la.

i'll choose one you all might like:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnp-18_z_M]

this is his website; the Recipes page.

but i will offer that today is bread day for me, just 2 loaves,not 3. if you have yet to bake bread, one feels like a god when it rises, bakes and fills the house with the homiest scent.

Submitted by Azazello on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 2:32pm

Yeah, I've seen Rick.

@wendy davis
He's been on PBS for years. If we're talking about PBS, I like Pati Jinich better. I've even got one of her books. Here's her YouTube: Pati Jinich
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iik1B_x0Zbk width:500 height:300]

—

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Submitted by wendy davis on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 4:31pm

oh, kewl! another

@Azazello

traditional mexican chef. i'll check out her channel; thanks.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 7:09pm

Gracias, will do.

@Azazello

be well and have a good one

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by CS in AZ on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 12:38pm

I love this topic, thank you CStMS

After a lifetime of getting by on a very limited range of cooking skills (and a lot of restaurant meals, take out, and prepared take-and-bake kind of stuff), over this past 6 months I have completely taken up cooking at home.

I now even make my own yogurt and it's amazingly good and quite easy to do, now that I have one of those new-fangled pressure cooker/multi-cooker devices (Instant Pot) that includes a yogurt function. I had a couple of failures, but have the process down to a science now.

The pressure cooker is a fantastic tool that has literally changed my life, because it saves SO many hours of cooking time. We now make perfect BBQ ribs in about an hour from start to finish and it's super easy to do. I'm making a huge variety home made soups, chilis, stews, one-pot meals, and casseroles. OTOH, I am spending countless hours watching cooking shows on YouTube, but that is fun, not a drudge at all. I find that I love watching someone cook in order to learn from them how to do things; it is infinitely more productive and helpful for me than reading even the best cookbook.

I love watching different people who cook at home and especially those who put their efforts -- including mistakes and accidents -- right up on YouTube. I have learned at least as much from seeing what goes wrong as watching a perfect cook make a perfect meal.

And I learned things from watching a regular person do it, that had previously seemed complicated or difficult, like for instance making a roux for a cream sauce. In the past if I read a recipe that started out with "make a roux..." well, that was it; I was done. Now I'm like, ok, that takes about 5 minutes, then what?

I was just thinking last night (after spending about two hours looking at videos on how to deep-fry properly) that I feel like I'm attending cooking school now, with a completely customized curriculum and super fun teachers. The deep fryer lessons are because we wanted to make egg rolls and crab rangoon appetizers. We did a batch using a dutch oven on the stove top, and we nearly set the kitchen on fire, not to mention making an enormous mess. So, it was back to school on that one! As it turns out, temperature control of the cooking oil on a gas stove is not easy! I might get a dedicated deep fryer, and use it outside from now on. Still, those crab rangoon appetizers were fantastic!

I can't even think of a favorite right now and I should get back to work... just had to stop in and say thank you and just share my excitement about this new adventure. Cooking truly is an art and a craft and a life skill that I am sorry I waited so long to get into. Now instead of dreading the inevitable daily "what should we do for dinner?" problem, I have a list of dozens of recipes that I'm waiting to get to and try out. Cooking well is a big part of the spice of life and I'm so grateful to be taking part in it these days.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 1:46pm

Congratulations

@CS in AZ

Sounds like you’ve been bitten by the cooking bug!

OTOH, I am spending countless hours watching cooking shows on YouTube

Welcome to the club

After a lifetime of getting by on a very limited range of cooking skills (and a lot of restaurant meals, take out, and prepared take-and-bake kind of stuff), over this past 6 months I have completely taken up cooking at home. I now even make my own yogurt and it's amazingly good and quite easy to do, now that I have one of those new-fangled pressure cooker/multi-cooker devices (Instant Pot) that includes a yogurt function. I had a couple of failures, but have the process down to a science now. The pressure cooker is a fantastic tool that has literally changed my life, because it saves SO many hours of cooking time. We now make perfect BBQ ribs in about an hour from start to finish and it's super easy to do. I'm making a huge variety home made soups, chilis, stews, one-pot meals, and casseroles. OTOH, I am spending countless hours watching cooking shows on YouTube, but that is fun, not a drudge at all. I find that I love watching someone cook in order to learn from them how to do things; it is infinitely more productive and helpful for me than reading even the best cookbook. I love watching different people who cook at home and especially those who put their efforts -- including mistakes and accidents -- right up on YouTube. I have learned at least as much from seeing what goes wrong as watching a perfect cook make a perfect meal. And I learned things from watching a regular person do it, that had previously seemed complicated or difficult, like for instance making a roux for a cream sauce. In the past if I read a recipe that started out with "make a roux..." well, that was it; I was done. Now I'm like, ok, that takes about 5 minutes, then what? I was just thinking last night (after spending about two hours looking at videos on how to deep-fry properly) that I feel like I'm attending cooking school now, with a completely customized curriculum and super fun teachers. The deep fryer lessons are because we wanted to make egg rolls and crab rangoon appetizers. We did a batch using a dutch oven on the stove top, and we nearly set the kitchen on fire, not to mention making an enormous mess. So, it was back to school on that one! As it turns out, temperature control of the cooking oil on a gas stove is not easy! I might get a dedicated deep fryer, and use it outside from now on. Still, those crab rangoon appetizers were fantastic! I can't even think of a favorite right now and I should get back to work... just had to stop in and say thank you and just share my excitement about this new adventure. Cooking truly is an art and a craft and a life skill that I am sorry I waited so long to get into. Now instead of dreading the inevitable daily "what should we do for dinner?" problem, I have a list of dozens of recipes that I'm waiting to get to and try out. Cooking well is a big part of the spice of life and I'm so grateful to be taking part in it these days.

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Thu, 10/22/2020 - 2:16pm

A

@CS in AZ That is wonderful, CS. All of y'all who live in the SW of the country have such a great food tradition all round you. I did too, growing up in Tampa/St. Pete, though it was more of a melange, a hybrid. That just made it better, though! (Having a constant source of fresh fish and shrimp ain't bad either. Man, I miss that.)

After a lifetime of getting by on a very limited range of cooking skills (and a lot of restaurant meals, take out, and prepared take-and-bake kind of stuff), over this past 6 months I have completely taken up cooking at home. I now even make my own yogurt and it's amazingly good and quite easy to do, now that I have one of those new-fangled pressure cooker/multi-cooker devices (Instant Pot) that includes a yogurt function. I had a couple of failures, but have the process down to a science now. The pressure cooker is a fantastic tool that has literally changed my life, because it saves SO many hours of cooking time. We now make perfect BBQ ribs in about an hour from start to finish and it's super easy to do. I'm making a huge variety home made soups, chilis, stews, one-pot meals, and casseroles. OTOH, I am spending countless hours watching cooking shows on YouTube, but that is fun, not a drudge at all. I find that I love watching someone cook in order to learn from them how to do things; it is infinitely more productive and helpful for me than reading even the best cookbook. I love watching different people who cook at home and especially those who put their efforts -- including mistakes and accidents -- right up on YouTube. I have learned at least as much from seeing what goes wrong as watching a perfect cook make a perfect meal. And I learned things from watching a regular person do it, that had previously seemed complicated or difficult, like for instance making a roux for a cream sauce. In the past if I read a recipe that started out with "make a roux..." well, that was it; I was done. Now I'm like, ok, that takes about 5 minutes, then what? I was just thinking last night (after spending about two hours looking at videos on how to deep-fry properly) that I feel like I'm attending cooking school now, with a completely customized curriculum and super fun teachers. The deep fryer lessons are because we wanted to make egg rolls and crab rangoon appetizers. We did a batch using a dutch oven on the stove top, and we nearly set the kitchen on fire, not to mention making an enormous mess. So, it was back to school on that one! As it turns out, temperature control of the cooking oil on a gas stove is not easy! I might get a dedicated deep fryer, and use it outside from now on. Still, those crab rangoon appetizers were fantastic! I can't even think of a favorite right now and I should get back to work... just had to stop in and say thank you and just share my excitement about this new adventure. Cooking truly is an art and a craft and a life skill that I am sorry I waited so long to get into. Now instead of dreading the inevitable daily "what should we do for dinner?" problem, I have a list of dozens of recipes that I'm waiting to get to and try out. Cooking well is a big part of the spice of life and I'm so grateful to be taking part in it these days.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by magiamma on Wed, 10/21/2020 - 3:30pm

house made sausage

At el Salchichero we provide delicious, top quality local meats that connect you to your community through healthy and mindful eating. We are passionate about the local foods we source from sustainable pasture raised animals. With our beautiful hand-cut meats, you’ll always know your food is from a carefully selected farm, with the highest and most humane standards. As your community butcher we artfully carve your meats and take great pride in bringing chef-driven, seasonally inspired recipes to your table. We hope you’ll visit our neighborhood shop or catch us at the local farmers market, until then, have a look around.
https://www.elsalchichero.com/

You all are making me hungry !!!

have a good one, all

—

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

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