It’s okay. You can admit it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone does it.
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Eating, shopping, & living in a modern Mayberry
Quick question. If early adapters are on one side of the spectrum and late adapters on the other, where do you think you fit in?
For example, were you one of the first in your coterie to get a smartphone — or the last? What about a car that wasn’t a Honda or a Toyota? And were you watching Walter White in Breaking Bad from the first episode, or did you binge watch later and see the whole lot during one debauched weekend?…
What a week it has been.
I am not the mushy, kiss-kiss, get swept away with romantic Valentine’s Day notions kind of chick.
I am, however, the gluttonous, bake-bake, get carried away with too many tasty Valentine goodies sort of gal, so needless to say, it was a busy week.
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Every so often I crave red meat, and I must attend to my inner cavegirl. Usually, my mind wanders to steak; flank, skirt, sirloins, fillets, rib-eyes, I love them all. Over the years, I have found that the flavor profile of the meat and the side dish pairing is often more important than the cooking style or even the cut of meat.
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When you are fighting off a cold that feels like you are being marauded by evil inhabitants, what do you do? I fight fire with soup, the hot stock acting as a superhero, warming chilled bones and seemingly fighting off infection with every slurp.
And, apparently, I also fight fire with tater tots. Allow me to explain….
Grab your car keys and wallet. There is something you must do RIGHT now. Don’t ask questions — just go!
You must buy this soup. As in right this very minute.
I need you to have it in front of you (preferably heated up and served with melted St. Andre on Grand Central Como bread like I just did) as you read this. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t be fair to tell you how mind-bendingly luscious it is.
Why so good? How do I know what the people at Pacific Foods are doing to make it so? Yes, it has a really intense roasted red pepper and tomato flavor, but there must be crack in this thing because there is no way that they are able to eke out that much flavor and creaminess from reduced fat milk and tomato paste (two of the top five ingredients along with two kinds of red bell peppers and filtered water) without some kind of shenanigans going on.
Pacific Foods is based just outside Portland in Tualatin, Oregon, and I am tempted to go on a secret, fact-finding mission and spy on their production — just what is the answer for that much cryovac-ced deliciousness? And with only 2 grams of fat per serving? Damn, I don’t even get out of bed without eating that much.
Either way, buy en masse before the word gets out. It’s delicious warm straight up or even better yet, enjoyed with the addition of cooked tortellini, roasted chicken or brown rice. And cheese croutons. And wine.
Available at grocery stores nationwide and when I am very lucky, I can find it by the 6 pack at Costco.
Scored this beauty of a pan this week at the Goodwill bins.
I remember these spendy pans being sold at Williams-Sonoma (I used to write recipes and copy for them many years ago but still pop in to their stores from time to time in to check out new arrivals and drool). I always thought they were charming but couldn’t justify the price as I had no need for something called a Charlotte Mold.
A Charlotte is a sponge cake or cookie-lined cake in which layers of fruit or custard also play a role, and are either served cold (making it like a trifle) or warm (as in Apple Charlotte). They can be baked or unbaked. Some say it originated in Britain, others in France. Who knows? All I know is I bake all the time, and I even have a daughter named Charlotte so you’d think I would have come around to baking one, but no. And no immediate desire to do so, hence I can’t justify buying a new pan just because it is Valentine’s week and it’s cute as a button.
That doesn’t stop me, however, from enjoying a cute tin-lined steel pan when it crosses my thrifty path. Now I can’t imagine coming home from the market and not having this little French-made cutie to corral my room temperature produce.
Charlotte molds — not just for dessert anymore.
Approximate cost @.89 per pound = .97 cents
I love acrononyms, don’t you?
They make our life so much easier. They abbreviate our speech so it is not bogged down with long unnecessary explanations and redundancies….