Sauerkraut and kimchi are so delicious! Fermented cabbage is so much better than it should be.
It's really good as an ingredient in chicken soup.
I'm never sure what is popular but all of these have gotten an eew from someone.
Anchovies
Black Licorice
Limburger Cheese
Okra
Not all mixed together. I like every sort of olive, love goat cheese, that Thai green papaya salad, and the weird green mango pickle.
I thought everyone liked brussel sprouts now, they have been bred to be less bitter and the way people commonly prepare them now is better too.
Started working at 14, and I guess wanted to, sort of? Wanted to go with my friend to England in the summer and my mom matched what I paid, which was really nice, she was not usually like that but did think traveling was important and couldn't afford to take all of us anywhere far like that. We got to go abroad 3 summers that way.
I love to find something for a person that they don't even know they want until I give it to them, and that they will love. Can't do it on demand though - I have to see something and think "wow, cRazi-man would love this and I bet he's never even seen one.". Then buy or make whatever it is for that one person.
My kids say that now their standards for gifts are crazy because that is how I gift. Not many, not often, only when inspired, I don't think they realized it was unusual.
I don't understand the value of random crap. But do think that a surprise can be so good.
Not wrong to do. Wrong to do without asking first.
I notice wardrobe and the underwear in Dirty Dancing always bothered me, it looked too modern.
I don't like things much, it feels oppressive to try to hang on to them. I have a very few that I value. A gun cabinet my dad converted to a shelved cabinet. The harmonica my grandpa played. That may be it, actually. My mom gave me many photographs, I suck at organizing and preserving them, not sure why she gave them to me. I have also 2 other furniture pieces from my grandma's house but it's the gun cabinet I won't part with.
I have lived in the same place a long time and not a big believer in heritage - go 10 generations back and you have 1,024 people who are your great-to the power of 10-parents. Anyone who says they are descended from someone is picking and choosing to create a story. So I feel as belonged as I care to, by belonging to the place I live I guess.
Don't become familiar with it by drinking it straight.
It is very sweet and very bitter and not much else, fabulous as an ingredient but pretty foul alone IMO. A Siesta is a nice intro if you like tequila; and if you like bourbon sour (who doesn't?) try subbing Campari for part of the bourbon and reduce the sweetener for an "Italian Gentleman"
Or just put a splash of it in prosecco.
It's so red it does make drinks very pretty.
It would be something different but not bad. Clafouti is made like that, lots of egg not much flour. It's lovely.
But if you know the recipe how would you miss by that much?
You wouldn't put twice the salt and half the main ingredient in something you were cooking without expecting it to turn out very differently, right?
For left handed or right handed insertion, obviously.
L for the days you are losing so much blood it's worrying. R for regular amount.
I don't always measure for baking - for bread and pastry I do weigh everything (ETA not because there is an ideal - there is still a range of amounts that will work - but because I want to know what the hydration % is) but for cakes I do them like cornbread, it's more proportions - I know that for 3 eggs I need a certain amount of flour, I know how much baking powder and salt per cup of flour, and how much fat, milk or buttermilk or yogurt or ricotta, whatever - know it will work if I get it in the ballpark.
For cooking yep I am a yeehaw no recipe anarchist. Or more accurately, I read recipes for inspiration then don't look at them while cooking, but I am old and have made so many mistakes over the years I know what I'm doing. It feels like intuition but is experience.
So, I saw this recipe that inspired me.
https://punchdrink.com/recipes/green-mango-martini/
But don't have mango eau de vie and not about to make it, and I think as written it would be too sweet for my palate. And of course everything needs ice here in the summer. I did make the green mango tequila.
So far I can vouch for tequila, green mango and sauternes - it's a surprisingly good combination.
This is:
2.5 oz green mango infused tequila
1 oz Sauternes wine
.75 oz lemon
.25 oz Giffard Apricot (because I have no mango liqueur right now and did you hear Chinola is making a Guava liqueur? I am excited for that.)
Squirt of honey.
Shaken with ice.
My thoughts - the green mango tequila is tart and I think the lemon sort of muddies the flavor. I would try this again with more Sauternes and a splash of mango liqueur, leave out the honey and if it was too sweet adjust with citric or malic acid not lemon.
I would also like to try the green mango tequila with ginger beer but not today, this is a one and done.
And I was thinking to convert the recipe into a punch or sangria, a pitcher cocktail using a whole bottle of Sauternes, but I think that it might need to go in a different direction. Again, I do love the combination of the green mango with the Sauternes, and tequila - the main flavor combo is good. I've tried amchur and tequila - the green mango infused tequila worked so much better to get that flavor.
1 oz tequila blanco
1/2 oz each mezcal, Campari, passion fruit syrup, ginger syrup and lime.
Squirt of fire tincture
Shake these together and add 1-2 oz IPA beer.
I had to substitute apricot liqueur for the passion fruit and it's really good so I suspect anything fruity would be fine. Beer I used is Jai Alai and only 1 oz, I don't like it but as an ingredient in here can't taste it, must add something though. This is bitter in a great way, somehow not too sweet, I went a little heavy on the lime but close to the 1/2 oz. If you do like beer I think you could safely increase it past the 2 oz and still have something really nice.
The rainy season is finally here too. So happy to be out here watching the rain.
Sourdough donuts
Used the recipe on Perfect Loaf, way too long to detail here but the ingredients are, for 18 of them (he always has these weird odd measurements like 101, I do often round them with no ill effect but will write them as the recipe states):
203 g very active starter 100% hydration
253 g all purpose white flour
253 g strong white bread flour
187g eggs - use extra yolk to adjust to this weight
101 g butter
101 g white sugar
91 g water
10 g salt
It takes a couple days to finish these (I start Friday midnight to get Sunday morning donuts) but most of that time is waiting not working).
Couple of notes- he says the final rise takes 12 hours but that must be in a cold climate, here in the subtropics it took about 7 to be perfect. And when he says careful attention to shaping he means it, but it's easy if you keep the dough chilled, with the butter in the dough it's not too sticky. Don't be afraid to really stretch it when forming the little dough balls, you want a tight surface all over. If you can shape buns, and your starter is robust, this is about a foolproof recipe.
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/naturally-leavened-bomboloni-doughnuts/
I can't see the picture in the header, hopefully you can. Will put below too.
1 oz tequila claro (Tequila Ocho, la mejor)
1/2 oz mezcal
1/2 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco (see note)
1/4 oz Ancho Reyes rojo
1 oz fresh pineapple juice (see note)
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/3 oz agave nectar (again, see note)
Shake all with ice, pour into chilled rocks glass over fresh ice. It is delicious.
Notes: I don't have that luxardo, used half Campari half bitter rhubarb liqueur; doubled the pineapple juice because I literally just made it and it's amazing. This doesn't need 1/3 oz of agave, less is better. Finally - it was quite difficult to make one of these with those teeny measurements. I would recommend making two at a time.
Do it! That is how I used to get leftovers when I made pizza - anchovy, onion, garlic, and hot peppers. One pizza nobody else would touch so that I could secure lunch for me.