What the? Why did the posting stop mid sentence? Chinese Cooking Class

I have no idea why the post stopped or how to continue the last post..but, as I was saying..brought back conch from St. Croix.  There was a time when all kinds of food stuffs could be brought home from so many places.  That was part of the fun, being able to bring things home to cook that you have someplace else..and now though so many things are available here..like

My first cooking class was held in Beijing for a month, every day, in 1989, just after Tinanmen Square. Talk about fresh..they certainly didn't have refrigerators at home..much less many with no kitchens.  I think one of my favorite ingredients was garlic shoots...they now call them snapes..or what ever..it was years before I could get them here.  We were taught to blanch them first and then stir fry..I generally like them with a little ground pork..and seasonings..who measures?  and the seasonings change with my mood.  But oh, what a pleasure.

The chef who taught the class at a very large school did not speak English but we did have an interpreter.  Sometimes we would have a slight difficulty as the interpreter was not familiar with some of the words that chefs would use in describing ingredients or how to prepare..but, it was all great as first the lecture, then his demo, then each of the three of us cooked the same dishes and he would critique and then lunch along with a number of other dishes that his Chinese students cooked for us.  Now, I did write down the basic amounts of incredients when he cooked as if you just wrote down the ingredients you would not be able to duplicate the dishes much later.  That's it for today.

Where's the Chef

Well, on top of all the rain..I couldn't remember my passwords.  I certainly hope that I am not the only person who forgets.  I had it written down but for some reason it wasn't working.  So where have I been?  I can't remember that either.  CRS?  Perhaps.  Does that mean I haven't been cooking?  I don't think so, but sometimes not really sure about that either. 

But, recently I did make the Carrot and Daikon Pickles..julienne.  That is for here although I stopped at the Vietnese cafe yesterday and had their pork Banh Mi with their Carrot & Daikon.  I did take off the fresh jalapeno but that didn't stop the slight tingle on the lipssssss....just love the fresh crusty bread.  I think I will have the same for tonight for supper since I have some left over thin sliced roasted pork sirloin and all the remainder of the ingredients.

On top of the lunch spot did stop at the Hong Kong Market and the Mega Mart...missed the Great Wall and the Hmart but perhaps will hit those this week.  There is nothing more pleasurable that 'gliding' through the isles getting whip lash looking at all the wonderful ingredients and thinking about all the things to make.  It has been years before all this has been laid out before us here...years of having to travel around the country to buy the ingredients.  Yes...Brooklyn for the Middle Eastern products, New York for the Asian, SF and LA for the Chinese (in fact that is where I bought my first cleaver, probably about, well, you really don't want to know how long ago that was).  Of course then there was the conch from

BBQ Rub

one of these days I should learn how to make recipes print.  That might make it seem easier to publish..the Texas mild was/ is a mild red powder that I picked up out West..the Aleppo was/is some I picked up in Turkey..I think both are available on the web...I don't like over spicy...if you want more spice..add more cayenne...this is just what I use for the rub:..pork butt and ribs
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T dry mustard
1/4 cup Aleppo pepper
2 T mild Texas dry pepper
2 T black pepper (I always use restaurant grind)
1/4 cup cumin
1/4 cup granulated garlic
1/2 t cayenne ( mine seems to be overly hot so don't use much)

Mix..so that's my mix...Sangria base on ihatetobake.blogspot.com

Panforte wow

yes, a day of joy...but don't hold your breath.   for those who have never tried.....it 's an Italian cross between a candy and a fruitcake to beaten in very thin wedges.    Test one went okay...test three went okay...the second half of test two, not so hot.  Tried to remove the cake too soon from the pans...deleted the butter as seemed too wet....so that got me to turning the pans upside down too soon and they slithered out into a guey mess.....sooooooo...I start to clean up the mess...took time as had to stop for the computer tech...

The next two hours were spent trying to straighten out some glitches.....we still miss one which he might be able to fix remotely tomorrow....l

Soooo,what have I been doing ??   like I said..had to gather the ingredients for the pan forte.....will do more tommow...the PO fellow came with a registered piece of mail from the IRS...yup, they are at it again.....sent it back...again....this has  been  going on for at least two years....they send, we send

Will try to get this posted...made three recipes, different, of the Panforte...great..liked the one with the figs I think the best of the three.  I didn't take any pictures.  I did line the pans with the edible baking rice paper which was great. 

Better Late than Never, daikon, peas

Yes, it's been a while..sometimes I seem to fall behind and then have trouble catching up.  So perhaps a quick overview..was going to have help at Christmas putting up decorations but lovely lady who helps was in an accident and couldn't.  So...never got that done..then decided that if I was to travel again had better try to do something soon..so...signed on with a friend whom I had met on a Vietnam-Cambodia trip and later traveled to China's Silk Road area.  We signed on for two trips..one, big ship to South Pacific and one riverboat to Ukraine.  My favorite was smaller boat to Ukraine..wonderful time..great food, not touristy..

So enough with the issues..Marie and I had our yearly cook out this past weekend.  I started with the ribs a couple days before with the rub and then cooked them low..250...for about four hours..then before the party, pulled from fridge and again for two hours..then on grill for about 20 minutes with sauce.  We also had beef tenderloins that had been marinated for 24 hours, cooked off the night before and sliced that morning served with a blue cheese sauce and also a horseradish sauce.  Hot dogs for kids..chorizo and kielbasa and a few grilled veg rounded out the grill work.  I had also made a green pea salad: dice and slice cucumber, radish, baby peas, edamame, and some sugar snaps, vinaigrette.

Potato Salad: potato (russet or gold), onion, celery, salt, pepper, mayo, a little yellow mustard, hard boiled egg, and a little celery seed.

Of course we had rain as we have had for the past two weeks..and on schedule for the next week.  The s'mores will have to wait until fall as no way to do them this time.

One of the guests brought daikon battons and a dip although not many used to that 'radish'.  Luckily there were some left and I turned that into the Daikon au Gratin.  Google that...the last time I had a large daikon that I was using for the daikon and carrot 'salad'/relish..I used leftover of both veg to make au gratin..terrific!

Will have to go to the other blogs I have and get caught up and try to stay a little better caught up..I hate to bake...and another...will get back with more soon

So let's get cooking

Had a guest last week from gal and her husband..she and I went to Stuart Hall together....ohhhh, about 60 years ago...bet you thought that we were all dead one senile by this time....nope...we're just the one collecting social security and Medicare....we're the know-it -alls....at least if it was worth knowing.....a lot of ...been there and done that's......

And for the next three months the government is going to see just how far you can go on socsec...where ever penny goes and why...record today's outting for the cat,,,pins and needles
Then latter took Daisy and Pepper for their weekly trip to,Mickey D's,   With shouts and twists through two rooms..out the door and into the rain they bounded into the truck for the front row seats..although they really prefer standing looking out the window ."..To make sure we are going the right way and to also,any dog or person that they pass they canv just go,home.  It'a horrid to do this on an. iPad as it mades so many mistakes that are almost I possible to correct.  so what did I do for food today...
Oppps..what I did not was to pull the meats from the freezer for Sunday...will do tomorrow.  That will be por, beef, and beef steaks....have to decide on the sauces. But today I did make 4 x2.25# of Mac and cheese with cauliflower......really rich..cheesy....into the freezer....Sunday made about a gallon of my corn chowder with tomatoes...lovely...that packed,up for the freezer.  Saturday will be prep formthembig egg grill on Sunday...check back for the menu

AT&T trying to hold on..a drowning ship

They sent a notice that I was due a refund...well..a credit...so what do you do,if someone cancells their service.....they DON'T a CREDIT.....they want their money back....they want the shipping label to,send thenbox of stuff back.......the youngest and brightest do NOT work for att ...guess it will be time ti start with better business bureau or help desk with local tv....