Foods for those that just don't care anymore

[Cancer]

Never had one.  But we've had rice cookers, well, back into my bachelor days 30 years plus ago.  The only appliances living on the counter are the coffeemaker, the toaster, and the hot water kettle, and those are in awkward hard-to-use-otherwise spots.

[Cancer]

News has it that Fred Franzia, the guy behind Charles Shaw wines, has passed.

 

... So, we'll be cracking open a bottle of Two Buck Chuck to have with our ratatouille for dinner tonight.  (I was sent to get nice fresh vegetables from a farmers' market for the ratatouille this afternoon.)

[Cygnia]

[Cygnia]

 

[unclevlad]

40 seconds in and his level of STUPID snark (like pulling the onion out from by the drain pipe)...no, man.  I get avoiding pretension, but he's MASSIVELY overdoing it, to the point where it's his focus.  Maybe I'm humor-deficient, but...no.  Just...no.  

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Halloween is coming...

 

[Cygnia]

 

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

 

[Cygnia]

 

[Cygnia]

Liberate Me From the Tyranny of Fall Flavors

[Cancer]

With fall and winter coming up, and "cold weather" fare coming back into scope, I sampled a couple of places' chicken pot pie over the last few days.  Based on that, I have this to say.

 

Puff pastry does not belong on chicken pot pie.  You need an honest rolled pie crust.  A biscuit crust is a significant step down, but is also acceptable in canon as an alternative for those crummy cooks like me who cannot make a decent pie crust.  Puff pastry ... No.  Where it contacts the gravy, puff pastry turns into something like melted Glad Wrap.  Bleah.

[Cygnia]

One of my cooking goals this fall/winter is to finally try my hand at making homemade pie crust dough.

[Cancer]

My wife suggests freezing the butter first (this assumes you're using standard cubes) and then use a conventional coarse grater on the frozen cubes when adding the butter to the flour.  I haven't tried this yet.

[Cygnia]

I've done the grating chilled butter hack before -- can confirm.

[Ternaugh]

Back in the 70s, Mom had a favorite empty liquor bottle that she'd fill with ice water and use to roll out her pie crust.

 

By the late 80s, she would just buy pre-made, and avoid the hassle. 

 

 

 

[Cancer]

The pot in which I make my pot pie is larger than the premade pie crusts I've been able to find in the past, but perhaps I should look around some more.

[unclevlad]

I must admit that I did just get a couple packets of pumpkin pie spice the other day.  I'll get pie pumpkins, roast them, and use that for a super-simple soup (almond milk, salt, spices;  puree and heat.)  AND roast the pumpkin seeds, which is a bonus you can't get with, say, a butternut squash, which is easier to clean out.

 

I'll also use it with pancakes, and maybe in oatmeal, both of which I do a bit more often in cooler weather.

 

But, yeah, practically everything listed as "pumpkin spice" is pretty gross.  SERIOUSLY overdone.

 

I think I only tried to do a pie crust once or twice...and didn't do it very well.  Too nit-picky.   I'd rather do a streusel topping.  And what I did most often was actually a Cali-style cheesecake.  2 layers, cream cheese and sour cream.  Very moist.   Works fine with a graham cracker crust (or similar) and no top crust.  Same with a pumpkin pie...but there, I just drop the crust altogether, and make it as a pumpkin 'custard.'  

[rravenwood]

9 hours ago, Cygnia said:

Liberate Me From the Tyranny of Fall Flavors

I like pumpkin spice flavor, but it should be time-limited and not "OMG, it's September 1st, roll out the PUNKIN!"  Maybe mid-October through Thanksgiving at most.  Keep it special.  Then again, I'm one of those cranky types who hates when stores start putting up Christmas decorations in August

[Cygnia]

The pumpkin pie recipe I swear by uses gingersnap cookies and pecans for its crust.

 

I have roasted the seeds of both acorn and butternut squashes when we get 'em.

[unclevlad]

I rarely get enough seeds from a butternut squash to make it worthwhile.  Acorn squash, that's possible...because it's also plausible to clean and roast 2 of them.  They have less flesh to them than a butternut or pumpkin.

 

That said...I believe the local Natural Grocers has roasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds, and they were quite good...and no shells.  Not all that expensive either.  That tends to dampen my home roast motivation.

[Cygnia]

Well, with acorn squashes, it's only me & the hubby here anyways, so only splitting a squash between the 2 of us isn't so bad.

[unclevlad]

19 hours ago, rravenwood said:

I like pumpkin spice flavor, but it should be time-limited and not "OMG, it's September 1st, roll out the PUNKIN!"  Maybe mid-October through Thanksgiving at most.  Keep it special.  Then again, I'm one of those cranky types who hates when stores start putting up Christmas decorations in August

 

Ohh man.

Was at the local Albertsons yesterday.  In the little sectional, specialty fridge in the aisle, between the dairy and the eggs...very much a prime spot...there it was.

Egg nogs.  Multiple variants of egg nogs.  And it's not even equinox.

 

I talked to one of the long-time employees;  he said yeah, it was upper management pushing this stuff out SUPER early, and that wasn't the only thing.  I believe he said some of the Christmas liquor gift boxes...buy the bottle, get the (sometimes) nifty glasses...were either out, or were coming out Real Soon.  

 

Mildly interesting?  NOTHING for Thanksgiving yet, I don't think.  Thanksgiving gets...kinda short shrift.  There's lots of stuff, but it's not out for nearly as long.  At least there.  I think Bed Bath & Beyond hits it harder.

 

Mildly annoying...20-odd years ago, September and October were awesome beer months.  The fall seasonals were numerous and YUMMY.  AND not all of em were pumpkin-based.  Now?  Almost nothing.  There's still Rogue Dead Guy, which I do love, but not a lot else.  Then again, that's also been true with winter/Christmas beers...dropped from maybe a dozen to maybe 3...?  There's a VERY good chance that it's a local issue.  The good ABQ breweries (and there are several) haven't done winter seasonals that I can recall, and the general out-of-state brands' availability has been on the decline for multiple years.  

[Cygnia]

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Every Monday a co-worker gets donuts for us. I think I'm the only one that truly appreciates this. 

 

The Red Velvet Cake donuts are awesome.

[unclevlad]

2 hours ago, Cygnia said:

 

Major, MAJOR culinary crime committed here.

Quite attractive chocolate cake donuts, they look decadent....

But that pale, thin beverage in the cup looks like tea with milk,  NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Coffee and chocolate are a dream combination.  If that's supposed to be coffee, there's WAAAYYY too much dairy.  If it's tea...nope.  I love a good cup of tea...but not with chocolate.