Sorry didn’t mean to respond to you @JustaMom5465
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We had tomato mozz eggplant basil and garlic aioli paninis tonight. Everything but the cheese was from our garden or made by us. It was so delicious. Going to miss all the garden veggies now that we’re heading into fall.
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We are back to sunshine and warmth after a day of much needed rain. I grilled some steaks and made a simple salad of homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes with feta (not homemade lol). My container cukes are still producing, so they are keepers for the next year’s garden. The container zucchini were a total bust. Which IMO was a good thing 
!
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I follow her. I’m not sure why I started following her but she makes beautiful food.
@abasket my braiding wasn’t terrible. My recipe made two loaves so I decided to make one large and divide the 2nd into two smaller loaves to give to my kids. The two smaller loaves look okay. The larger loaf tastes decent but the braids have no definition. I think my dough was soft and sticky and hard to handle. I don’t know if I under or over kneaded it. I followed the directions and weighed my flour. I’m a pretty good sourdough baker but the few times I’ve attempted challah it hasn’t been great.
Of course my daughter texted that she got us a challah from her kids school today. Now we will have more bread in the house. I think her loaf has raisins which isn’t my favorite.
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I picked the last of my tomatoes. My daughter (who’s subletting her apartment is here for a month) made a delicious sausage and cherry tomato pasta dish. We also had a lot of bell peppers and hot peppers. I’m going to make peach habanero jam–there are a number of local orchards in my area (including an organic orchard) and utility peaches are still available.
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I’m terrible at making a round one, too. My “trick” for a beautiful roundish challah is to divide the loaf into 7 even pieces. Roll each one out into a long strand. One at a time take a strand and tie a little knot in it so that one “foot” pops through the center and the other one gets tucked under. Basically, make a little decorative roll. Place it in the center of a greased round cake pan. Repeat the process for each of the remaining strands, placing it around the center one. When baked, it comes out looking like this:
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No one in my house likes raw tomatoes, but my neighbor just gave me five from his garden. What can I do with them? I don’t ever buy raw tomatoes, so I don’t know how/what to cook with them. Any thoughts?
This recipe’s really good. I substitute burrata cheese for Feta in this recipe.
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Awesome - thank you!
Chop and add chopped jalapeño, onion, garlic, salt and lime for salsa.
Cook down with some Italian spices, blend with a hand blender or in blender and add half and half or heavy cream for a soup.
Same for an easy tomato sauce for over pasta. Chop the tomatoes, cook down while simmering, add Italian spices, salt and a little sprinkle of sugar (to cut the acidity) and serve mixed in the pasta.
Use as the tomatoes in stuffed peppers.
Really just chop and sub in for any recipes you use diced or stewed canned tomatoes- Like chili!
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When I have excess tomatoes (not so much this year, unfortunately), I will use them to make a panzanella with toasted sourdough bread pieces, chopped tomatoes, diced and seeded cucumbers, sliced red onion, and crumbled feta/goat cheese; with a vinaigrette dressing.
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I’m back with more random questions. (I totally recognize that I am taking advantage of you all having expertise - I hope this is ok. If not, mods please tell me and I’ll post a question elsewhere.)
For Christmas my older son, currently a college senior, has asked for “spices and things for cooking next year”. He’s got some basic pots and pans that are some of our overflow from home and he’s got an instapot. What he doesn’t have: (1) Spices, but if he’s not really cooking until summer, should I save those for a later gift so they don’t get stale? And if I do buy him spices, anything you’d specifically recommend; (2) Big utensils, like stirring spoons, spatulas etc. These seem like potential stocking stuffers to me. Anyone have a favorite or unusual utensil you use a lot?; (3) Pyrex. He likes to make a lot of food on Sunday and store for the week, so I’m thinking a pyrex-like set of containers would be good; (4) Rice Cooker. I’m torn here. He eats a ton of rice. He could use the instapot rice setting, but it never seems to go quite right. I’ve never had a rice cooker, but I hear they are awesome. Are they? Is it worth the counter/cabinet space for someone who will be in their first apartment?; (5) what else? Any suggestions?
Not knowing what types of foods your son cooks (other than in bulk on Sundays), I might suggest the following:
(2) A good spatula or two (not plastic or rubber); a good slotted spoon (not plastic or rubber); a good ladle; a couple of good wooden spoons of different sizes/handle lengths; a whisk (but not too large).
(3) I tend not to use Pyrex or Anchor Hocking glass storage containers just because I am afraid to break them. I purchase plastic storage containers because I can use them in either the refrigerator or in the freezer.
(5) A decent Dutch oven (it doesn’t have to be anything too fancy). I always regret not using my Dutch oven more when I was younger; I use mine now to make soups/stews and casseroles (or any one-pot dish), which I store in the containers in #3.
If you do any cooking with a cast-iron skillet, that might be a possibility (Lodge makes a number of decently priced skillets); cooking with a cast-iron skillet is easier if you have someone to show you how to do it – which is why I asked whether you cook with a cast iron skillet, so you could cook with the skillet your son and he can learn from you.
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DH and I have been cooking together for over 40 years and have/had every utensil and appliance known to man, but I swear by the chop wizard. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has had a bigger bang for the buck for us than this little gadget.* I use this thing almost daily and have one at both our house and cabin – and a spare as I once broke one (user error) while preparing food for dinner guests and sent DH right out to get another one to restore my equilibrium and recipe.
*You can get them with multiple fancy grates, but the simple one with two basic dicers is more than adequate for someone just starting out.
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+1 to this or similar chopper. Make sure you get one that’s dishwasher safe if he’ll have a dishwasher.
This “chopper” is totally different but excellent for when you’re frying ground meat for tacos, meat sauce, chili, etc. Also can be used for mashing, stirring, etc. All of my kids have one. I use mine all the time. FARBERWARE Nylon Meat and Potato Masher – 5-Blade Ground Meat Chopper, Heat-Resistant to 450°F, Safe for Nonstick Cookware, Ergonomic Handle, 10-Inch, Dishwasher-Safe, Black https://a.co/d/4pL9W8N
You can go to Trader Joe’s and pick up a bunch of basic spices for great prices. Or you can order a basic kit like this: Generic Simply Organic Starter Spice Gift Set, 0.33 Ounce (Pack of 12) https://a.co/d/cKBWTy0
If he doesn’t open the spices (and even if he does) they will be good come summertime. I mean an aficionado might bulk at 6 month old spices but your basic kitchen cook definitely is still using spices even a couple years old. This will help him learn what spices he actually uses a lot!
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I’ve been thinking about some kind of chopper for the kids for Xmas. Coming from you (the goddess of cooking in my book), this one is a winner. But I have a question… On Amazon, it lists the dimensions as 11.9"L x 10.5"W x 11.9"H. The picture doesn’t look like it matches? The 11.9” length looks right, but it looks much thinner and not as tall? The kids have zero kitchen space, so I don’t want something big.
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Boneless short ribs, slow cooked in a Dutch oven, with roasted carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy.
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At 2.5” high, it fits nicely in a drawer:
ETA: I’ve never put mine in the dishwasher, so I can’t vouch for that feature.
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I meant, “cook with your skillet with your son” – I didn’t mean to suggest anthropophagy.
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Correct grammer and concise writing saves lives. “Let’s eat, Grandma!” vs “Let’s eat Grandma!”.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
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