YA and I had some Subway last week and we each got a bag of chips to accompany our feast. We’ve had chips plenty of times but last week was the first time I noticed that there is are lines of colored dots along the bottom of the bags. I checked other bags in my house and about half had dots similar to these, although they weren’t exactly the same colors.
Didn’t take me to long to research this. These dots (apparently sometimes squares) are called “Printer’s Color Blocks” and they are used as quality control markers for the ink used to print on the bag. If there is too little or too much of a particular color, it affects the colors on the dots and the printer (human or machine) and adjust as needed.
The reason that I didn’t see these color blocks on all my chips bags is that it’s completely voluntary. Some manufacturers don’t use them and some manufacturers trim off the numbers after printing.
According to online articles, the most common colors are the four major colors used in printing: black, magenta, yellow and cyan, although depending on the manufacturer (like my bag above) can use more if they want/need.
This was a much more pedestrian explanation than I was hoping for and has absolutely nothing to do with the food inside the bag. I was really looking forward to some secret code that I could learn and apply when shopping. Oh well; if it had, I’d be spending way too much time standing in the chip aisle at my local Cub!
Some of you have expressed curiosity about my summer kitchen. When the weather gets too warm, I do everything I can here to stave off using the A/C. This summer, though, it’s been used more than usual.
There is a small stand on the patio, just outside the back door, and next to it a former potting table/cart (on wheels) that a neighbor left out on the boulevard when they moved.
You can see from the photos some of the appliances and their homes. The toaster oven, when I bring it out for baking, stays on the stand to the left. There’s a large ceramic tile on top of the potting cart surface.
I do most of my prep work in the kitchen, and then bring the food out to cook outside. The flaw in this system is that in “high summer”, the back patio is not in shade except in early morning, and late afternoon. In the sun on a hot day it’s just too hot to be out there at all – I need to rig up an awning of some kind. So this works best in early and late summer, like later this week when temps will be low 80s.
We tried several chilled soups this summer, one of them being this one:
Chilled Cantaloupe Mint Soup
1/2 Medium cantaloupe, cut into chunks and pureed in blender with several mint leaves
Add and mix well:
1-1/2 Tbsp honey (less if you used sweetened yogurt)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 – 8 oz container plain yogurt (or sweetened yogurt and reduce the honey)
1/4 cup buttermilk , or 1/4 cup fruity white wine
Cover and chill 1 -2 hours before serving.
Garnish with fresh mint leaves, and float some blueberries if you have them.
Serves 2
What experiences have you had with outdoor cooking?
Have any good non-heated recipes to share?
Woman #1: We ended up having to rent a u-haul to get everything to college.
Woman #2: Makes you wish they would just go to college locally, doesn’t it?
Woman #1: Absolutely not. Two u-hauls would be OK with me!
Girl: He’s throwing berries at me.
Boy: I am not.
Girl: Are too.
Boy: Am not.
Field Worker: Wouldn’t you rather just be eating them instead of throwing them?
Boy: I’m only throwing the white ones.
And then awhile later…..
YA: What are all those scratches on your arm?
Me: From the raspberry brambles.
YA: Why don’t you wear long sleeves when you pick?
Me: Well, it’s hot and the scratches are kinda like badges of honor.
YA: SIGH (and biggest eye roll this side of the Mississippi)
What shall we do with all the fresh raspberries this year?
Several months ago I watched several episodes of a show made in Britain called “Inside the Factory”. It’s pretty interesting mostly because the host, Gregg Wallace has an infectious excitement. The format has him following the manufacturing process of whatever item is showcased that week. There are a couple of other actors who did other bit parts but Gregg is the main draw.
One of the episodes featured the Cherry Bakewell, which is a popular treat in the UK and Australia. It is a pastry base, filled with a layer of raspberry jam, then a layer of frangipane (almond-flavored custard), then a layer of almond-flavored fondant icing and topped with half of a glace cherry (yes, that’s the only cherry involved). They come six to a package and are the kind of thing you might put in your kid’s lunchbox or serve as an after-school treat.
Of course, after seeing the show I searched a bit to see if I could find Cherry Bakewells in the US. It wasn’t a productive search and I gave up pretty quickly. I’ve found the recipe online but it’s a little putzy so I haven’t attempted it yet.
Then I found out that YA would be going to Dublin for two weeks for work. I still have contact with someone in Dublin who works for the DMC (destination management company) that BIW uses and I suggested to YA that I would ask my friend for a favor in finding Cherry Bakewells in Dublin for me. YA wasn’t crazy about this but then I found out the client has brought in a different DMC for their program, so I let the project slide and then forgot about it.
Imagine my surprise when a few days after YA returned from Dublin, I found two boxes of Cherry Bakewells in the fridge. Apparently the little pastries are not commonly found in Ireland but a more thorough internet search had turned them up here. A late birthday gift.
I’ve been spreading out my enjoyment of the little tarts, so I actually have a couple left. And while I am enjoying them, it’s not earth-shattering delight and I doubt I’ll ever order them again (the shipping probably cost more than the bakewells). Maybe someday I’ll try whipping up a batch to see how they compare freshly made. Maybe not. But it’s been fun to try them and fun that YA remembered.
What kinds of things were in YOUR lunchbox as a kid?
This is not only not a comprehensive look at the 2023 State Fair Food Offerings, it is also not objective or even fair. Just reflections from YA and me.
Don’t Bother
Cheese Curd Dill Pickle Taco. Sounds good on paper but dill pickle ends up taking away from the cheese curd taste. It also made the fried taco shell really soggy really fast.
Sweet Corn Ba-Sant. Marketed as a cross between a bagel and a croissant with a creamy corn custard, this didn’t live up to its hype. Not a lot of custard and if there was corn in there, I couldn’t tell. A little dry.
At Least Once Every Year
Sweet Martha Cookies. Get these early (so you don’t have to wait in a long line) but only get what you think you (and any companions) can eat before the day is up. Wonderful when warm but “meh” if you still have some around the next day.
Pickle Pizza. So much better than you expect. White sauce, garlic, dill and then the sliced pickles. Not an every day taste, but fun at least once.
Hot Honey Cheese Sticks. Strips of fried Haloumi cheese slathered with a hot honey sauce (and for some silliness, a sprinkle of honeycomb cereal). Hot sauce on cheese might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it didn’t keep YA and I from having it for breakfast more than once.
Yes Yes Yes
Roasted Corn. Fabulous as always. Perfectly roasted, dipped in melted butter, salt and pepper. What more is there to say?
Cheesy Siracha Bites. Little ball of dough, deep fried and then covered with cheese, green onions and chives. Served with a siracha sauce that is the perfect hot/not too hot blend.
Hawaiian Shave Ice. Still the best way to cool down on a hot summer day. Biggest shave ice on the fairgrounds. I always do cherry and orange.
Sota Sammie. Grilled sandwich with peanut butter, almond butter and fresh blueberry jam. Sounds good and tastes even better.
Deep Fried Blueberry Pie. Really, how can you go wrong with this. Freshly fried blueberry hand pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. This vendor added a cookie dough version of the pie this year but both YA and I say “why mess with perfection”?
Wedge-Hammer. Refreshing combo of orange juice, lemonade, ginger and a splash of lime. Not too sweet so just right for sipping in the sun.
Birthday Cake Mini Donuts. The big surprise of the year, this new concoction turned out to be great! The donuts themselves were a little fluffier than the usual mini donuts, doused with a cinnamon sugar mix and then drizzled with icing and sprinkles. It was the consistency of the donuts that really made this a winner.
There were plenty of other foods and beverages over the visits we made, but we decided these were the highlights.
Can you stomach carnival/fair food? Any favorites? Any really NOT favorites?
One of the new vendors at the fair this year is a bakery; they have three items on their menu – an Amish donut, a peanut butter chocolate donut and sweet tea. No coupon. We stopped by a few time over the last week and the lines were unbelievable. The photo above was taken at 11 a.m. on Friday and doesn’t even begin to do the line justice. It was the longest line I’ve ever seen at the fair – even longer than Pickle Pizza last year and Nordic Waffle their first year. Based on how fast people were being served, I’m guessing people were waiting 45 minutes or so for their donut. Pickle Pizza and Nordic Waffle at least move faster than that!
I once slept out overnight outside of Dayton’s to get Bon Jovi tickets. I got to the Fitzgerald at 5 a.m. for the last Morning Show and several baboons waited with me for quite a while for Jim Ed Poole’s service. And I will admit to sitting outside Aldi’s once a year for 2+ hours to get the wine and cheese advent calendars, but at least I’m one of the first few in line and the wait is spent sitting in my stadium chair. But I’m generally not good about lines; I tend to start weighing the benefit of what’s at the end of the line versus the time I’m spending standing in it.
So I’ll be passing on the Amish donut. If they return next year, maybe it won’t be such a crush.
What are some times you’ve stood on line for a long time? Was it worth it?
YA was three when I took her to the fair for the first time. We took her umbrella stroller although she didn’t use it too much that day (YA never liked any kind of enclosure – no exersaucer, no playpen, no doorway jumper). The following year we didn’t bother with the stroller at all – she kept up with no issues or complaints.
Since this is our experience, we are both a little surprised at the stroller revolution. Strollers have gotten bigger and bigger as the years have gone by. Now there are side-by-side doubles, front to back doubles, not to mention all the additional pockets, cupholders and clip-on fans. They seem like a lot of trouble to me but they are clearly popular with parents of toddlers.
I shouldn’t be surprised that strollers have taken the next step – wagons. The fair was full of them – large wagons, almost all with canopies. They remind me of the old Conestoga covered wagons that took settlers west. Most of them also have a lot of extra storage area and, of course, cup holders. Most of them have seating and trays (think tv tray) inside. And have I mentioned storage? Cookies, stuffed animals, shirts, bubble blowers, straw hats…. If you can find it at the fair, YA and I have probably seen it in one these wagons over the last week. I saw a handful filled with so much stuff that there wasn’t room for the kids. On Wednesday, a family with their full wagon held up the bus back to the park `n ride as they figured out what to do with all their stuff before they could fold it up to go in the bus luggage compartment.
Who know what the next step in stroller evolution will be but for now I’m absolutely sure that if I looked closely enough, I’d find that one of these covered wagons was named “Intimida”!
What would you have wanted in your Conestoga if you were heading west?
The past weekend was supposed to be relatively quiet one devoted to housework and gardening, with very little cooking. The only dish I was going to make was a rice and cabbage minestrone to use up one of our lovely savoy cabbages from the garden. We had almost everything we needed from the store on hand, and just needed to pick up a few things.
Everything changed rapidly when we got to one of our two grocery stores and discovered they were having a Hatch chili extravaganza and were roasting the peppers right there in the parking lot. The smell was wonderful, and, of course, we had to get some of the freshly roasted medium hot peppers. Husband started feverishly thinking about cooking with them, and by the time we got into the store he decided we were going to make roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa. Since he was going to fire up his grill to roast the veggies, he figured he might as well get a rack of baby back ribs and some of the Hatch chili brats. He insisted that we had to get the tomatillos at the Mexican grocery store downtown. Once we got to the Mexican store, I realized that I had left my debit card at the first grocery store, so we had to drive back out to get it. We drove home after that.
Husband got more tomatillos than he needed for the salsa, so I decided that I would make some Texas green sauce with the leftovers. My recipe called for six Serrano peppers, which we didn’t have, so I ran to another grocery store to get them and some more limes. When I got back home, I couldn’t find the Serranos I had purchased, so I drove back to the grocery store to get more. I must have dropped the first ones in the parking lot. Husband roasted all the veggies and meat, and we ended up with three pints of Texas Green sauce and seven pints of salsa, and they are all in the freezer. It was rather exhausting running to various grocery stores five times in one day. We also planted a late crop of cold hardy spinach and fenced it in to keep bunnies out. Sunday we slept in. I never did get the minestrone started.
What are your biggest distractions that get you off task? What fresh produce are you enjoying now?
We took a long weekend last week. Daughter has been saying we needed to take a vacation, and we fully agreed with her. But May through July is Kelly’s busiest time, and of course spring is bad for me, and, well, we can always come up with an excuse NOT to go somewhere. Spur of the moment, we decided, let’s just take a weekend. We asked daughter what she thought we should do; I mean are we renting a cabin on a lake or are we going to a hotel. Well, she wanted swimming, and rides at Mall of America. OK, sounds like we do the Embassy Suites, which has been a family favorite over the few years because they do complimentary breakfast really well. They set the standard for hotel breakfasts! Fruit, yogurt, Sausages, bacon, eggs (not as good as ours of course), hashbrowns, bagels, made to order omelets, cereal, drinks: milk, juice, coffee.
We got there late evening Thursday and had supper at the hotel restaurant. Friday we all slept in and took naps and didn’t leave the room until 3:00 PM. Over to “THE” mall and had lunch, then walked around a bit and bought some ride tickets. We waited in line for an hour so we could all do the log flume ride. Because there was some bad weather in the area, the rides were going at half capacity, so the wait was longer than it should have been. Boy, if we didn’t get covid waiting in that line. Then daughter and I did a crazy spinning loop de loop roller coaster and I think I learned I might be too old for those rides. Woo boy. A couple times I had to just put my head back and close my eyes and I’d think, “DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES!” There was a young boy about 8 years old who was on the ride with us; he said he had two little sisters and mom had to stay with them. After the first spinning loop he said “That was unexpected!” Yep, sure was! When it was over, I told him I had no idea what had happened in the last 40 seconds.
Even daughter, who’s a daredevil, was a little shook up after that. We all went to the Ferris wheel from there. And then Daughter and I went on our favorite roller coaster from 10 years ago; the one that goes straight up, then straight down. And upside down and right side down and over this way and around and back upside that way. Aye aye aye. Whew. That was easier last time I did that. Kelly and daughter did the carousel and we decided that was enough. I saw a sign that read, ‘Barking Lot stroller parking’, and I thought it said ‘Barfing lot’ which I thought was really appropriate.
I bought the 30 point arm bands, but no one put them on our arms, so I’d just show them to the ride operator. The first ride scanned them all. The second person was talking and looking away and only scanned one, and the third ride just put us on without even scanning the tickets. We gave them to a young couple and told them to have fun.
Daughter also wanted Red Robin for supper. We don’t have one of them in Rochester. At some point in her brief past, she had a shake at a Red Robin she really liked and wanted another. Supper was really good there and my vanilla malt was yummy. I don’t know about hers.
Saturday, we got the swimming in and had the pool to ourselves for an hour. We saw the Barbie movie, (and got a free icy drink), and had supper at Giordano’s pizza with a hostess named Joy who was super helpful and sent us back to the hotel with plates, drinks, and plastic ware.
Sunday, we stopped to see our son and daughter in law. When we got home, the dogs were glad to see us, (our neighbors took care of the dogs and chickens while we were gone) and Humphrey just had to stay outside for a couple nights. Once in the house, he had a big drink of soft water, and slept for several hours on his pillow.
Everyone survived on the farm, and Monday morning, daughter said she wasn’t ready to go back to her program. None of us are kid, none of us are.
We called this our ‘practice vacation’ to remember what works and what doesn’t when travelling together.
The soybeans are looking good, you know, for 6 weeks behind. They’ve finally started to canopy and, to add insult to injury, the weeds are coming too. A few buttonweed, lambsquarter, and ragweed are towering over the soybeans. Plus, a lot of volunteer corn. Which doesn’t really hurt anything, it just looks bad in a nice field of soybeans.
I started working on the shop again and started getting 2×4’s put on the walls and removed from the work bench an old radial arm saw that I haven’t used in I-don’t-know-how-many years. Back on Amazon Prime day I ordered one of those 360 degree green laser levels. It is pretty cool!
Remember a few months ago I showed a bunch of eggs under the deck? Well, the chicken hatched out 13 baby chicks the other day. She’s a good momma and moved them down to the main pen and she’s keeping a good eye on them. Thirteen chicks?? Don’t hold your breath for all of them. The other chickens seem jealous: ‘How come YOU got chicks!??’
My brother came out and we unloaded the last load of straw into the barn. 600+ bales in there again. Coming up, planting winter rye as a cover crop! Deep roots good for the soil, but it will over winter so it will have to be killed off in the spring before planting corn.
And back at the college, all my computer stuff is working this week! Yay!
This is a purely silly post for Friday. A friend posted this on Facebook yesterday, and I was entranced.
Once the Dutch part of me got past how wasteful this is, I was entranced with his creativity. I would have so much fun doing something like this. I am not a cake decorator sort of person. I haven’t the patience. But this seems so satisfying. I wonder if the creation is edible, and how he might serve it.
What is your favorite kind of chocolate? If you could make a chocolate sculpture, what would it be? What is your decorative style?
Trail Baboon 