What are you cooking?

[gwand]

So far all is well. I have enough propane to keep my generator running for another 36 hours I estimate. The power outage is so extensive that I have been unable to locate any more propane. Fingers crossed that the power outage ends before I run out of propane. Thanks for asking.

 

[fishorama]

gwand, my finger are crossed for you & your fish! I remember our first east coast widespread power outage & learned the gasoline pumps don't work then either to drive to an area w/power. Good luck!

 

[jaylach]

I'm doing pretty simple tonight but still good.

T-bone cut pork chop with cut up multi colored taters and carrots with rosemary. Often I'd do the taters and carrots on a sheet pan and roast in my oven but think I'll just go with sauteed in butter. Since pork is involved there will also be apple sauce.

 

[fishorama]

My bro-in-law does pork w/applesauce & sauerkraut. Sounded iffy but neither too sweet nor too sour, pretty good!!

We're having tax time tacos late. My husband did most of the prep & opened wine

 

[jaylach]

My bro-in-law does pork w/applesauce & sauerkraut. Sounded iffy but neither too sweet nor too sour, pretty good!!

We're having tax time tacos late. My husband did most of the prep & opened wine

Usually apple sauce is as a side with me but I HAVE been known to sear a pork chop and then lower the heat and add apple sauce to the pan. I could easily see some apple sauce added to my kielbasa and sauerkraut.

I also like a taco but not with the super crisp corn shells. If I'm going to get a taco from a fast food place it will be a soft flour taco. LOL! There are ALWAYS exceptions. When I lived in Texas I lived for a while with a lady that taught me how to use soft corn tortillas and deep fry using tongs to form the shell shape. Fried enough to have a bit of crunch around the edges and hold the proper shape. Good stuff and I like. This lady could cook Tex/Mex like no one I've ever met including restaurants. At one time before we met in Texas she owned a bar/restaurant in Arizona. If I remember right she dis green chili burritos for lunch twice a week and would have people drive 50-60 miles each way to eat. Best green chili I've ever had in my life. I've thought about trying to match myself but have never done as I know I would be disappointed with the results. She was TOTALLY from scratch with anything she cooked. Her green chili started with both a pork and beef roast in a stockpot covered with water and slow cooked for hours and then medium cubed. Use canned green chili? LOL! She'd probably slap you upside your head if you were brave enough to even suggest such a thing. The result was a really big baking pan of green chili that was to die for.

Sort of funny story about the "chili lady". She was half Blackfoot American Indian and looked the part including the long, straight, raven black hair, beaked nose, the whole thing. Not as to her face much, although she was quite pretty, but just with the 'look' she could have been a stand-in for Cher which is sort of funny as Cher is in no way American Indian regardless as to how much she looks the part at times. She was also a bit tall at a bit over six feet. Then there was me... 5'8", long sun streaked hair, black mustache. Very few of our mutual friends called us Jay and Valerie; they called us Sonny and Cher.

 

[jaylach]

Cheese burger with grilled onions tonight with fries but that could change at any time. I often have something thawed out for dinner and then change my mind and have something totally different. One of the perks of living alone as I eat what I want, when I want and how I want with no complaints from someone who isn't even doing the cooking.

 

[Fishmanic]

My 10 year old refrigerator stopped cooling properly. Freezer would get up to 25 degrees F at times....not good. Ice cream had the consistency of pudding.
I have a spare working 60 year old fridge in the garage and had moved some of the food to that one while repairing the upstairs fridge. I threw out some of items that were in the back of the freezer section whose age was questionable. I did a thorough cleaning of the fridge while it was empty.

With the help of YouTube videos, I figured out the problem...it was a bit low on R134a refrigerant. Following instructions from YouTube, I added about an ounce and a half of the R134a refrigerant. Now the freezer gets as low as minus 20 degrees F and the refrigerator gets to about 37 degrees which is perfect. I literally saved about $900 by not having to replace the refrigerator.
Now it looks and runs like a brand new refrigerator.
I went shopping to restock the repaired refrigerator....stocked up on ice cream, yogurt, filet mignon, ground beef, frozen veggies and other necessities. The ice cream is now hard as a rock which proves the freezer is cooling properly now.
You can't cook food if you don't have properly stored food. It's nice to have a working refrigerator again.

 

[lottabubbles]

I literally saved about $900 by not having to replace the refrigerator.

nothing like the university of you-tube. there is a lot of savings that can be had if you use that potential. I use it all the time working on my diesel truck and anything metric to know what wrenches to get out to do the job instead of being under a vehicle and have to crawl back out to get a different wrench or socket. that activity is hard on an old guy.

 

[fishorama]

I like both corn & flour soft & hard corn tortilla shells. I bet it would be very hard to learn dishes from a very experienced cook. My great grandma made awesome dinner & cinnamon rolls. My mom did learn good cinnamon rolls but maybe not quite the same, as a kid it was close enough. The dinner rolls were just a by eye kind of "recipe". Handfuls of flour (grandma had tiny hands), a knob of butter (?), etc. Then knead until it's smooth like a baby's bottom & more butter. She was 1 of those short round people; she never ate much but she always tasted everything like gravy to get it right.

My grandpa told a story about an old Indian man that came to the kitchen door for food sometimes. Not uncommon in those days, later 1800s. He offered goats & sheep in exchange for grandma, lol. It's from her we cooked in bacon grease or butter, they make everything better!

My sister was an exchange student in Mexico. Her family made tortillas, but she couldn't get the knack. Her hands weren't "shaped right for them", too long of fingers maybe.

 

[jaylach]

LOL! Like I said in my last post dinner can change at any time. Burger and fries is now for tomorrow, Tonight is now going to be red sketti sauce and meatballs with cheese raviolis.

 

[fishorama]

We had frozen chicken/bacon/ranch thin crust pizza. I had a total day off from taxes, housework & cooking! It was glorious! I went to my close library & had shoes on for an hour or so...that might almost count as exercise!

 

[lottabubbles]

had meat loaf sandwiches on home made rye bread with honey mustard and yellow onion, home grown collard greens and sweet potato for dinner.
we make 6lbs of meatloaf at a time and vac freeze them in dinner portions and it sure makes life simpler. do the collard greens the same way.

 

[fishorama]

You've got me beat, lottabubbles, lol. I do ~2lbs of 3-4 small meatloaves. I do onion (of course), celery, red &/or green pepper & often some jalapeno. I wish I had a vacuum sealer, I'm jealous!

 

[lottabubbles]

You've got me beat, lottabubbles, lol. I do ~2lbs of 3-4 small meatloaves. I do onion (of course), celery, red &/or green pepper & often some jalapeno. I wish I had a vacuum sealer, I'm jealous!

can't do any jalapeño in the meatloaf, the wife won't allow it. we cook big time on everything we make. seal up everything in dinner portions and at 10 minutes notice we can have one heck of a dinner variety.
even if I didn't use the vac seal on the unit I would still have one to seal all the open tater chip bags and any other plastic bag that had been opened. It works great for all those.

 

[BigDog]

My wife and I made homemade chicken noodle soup this week

Boy was it good