What do you do when you can’t find your favorite curry?
This S&B Golden Curry is from childhood. My father had traveled to Japan many times and ate this curry. He would get in moods for it. He also liked the Fukujinzuke pickled vegetables, they came in a can. He was insistent on eating those with the curry.
In those days, you could only find this curry in Chinatown. So, off to Chinatown we would go. We loved exploring the shops and learning to eat with chopsticks.
Well, this just means no curry. Maybe there is a supply chain issue again?
So, GUESS WHAT!
I’m going Italian. YES, I’m making bolognese sauce. Hopefully, the store isn’t out of tomato sauce.
If they are, I’ll keep going around the world. Maybe tacos or matzo ball soup? What do you think?
What’s your speciality? Having trouble finding ingredients?
Big news in the candy world. PURPLE is the new color for M&Ms. Purple is the first M&M to represent as a female for the brand. As far as male or female, I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve never given it much thought. This Purple M&M is meant to represent loving your “true self.” You’ll see this in the song. We are being hit with political statements every where we turn.
Apparently, they haven’t had a new color in over a decade. Did not realize this. I’m not sure why, but I always prefer the light colored peanut M&Ms (orange, yellow, green). I get in moods for them.
Enjoy the weekend.
I leave you with Purple’s debut song, “I’m just gonna be me”
I can’t stop smiling. A Happy Meal (with a toy) for Adults?? This was a clever marketing idea and right before the Holidays. I want one and I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s for years, but don’t we ALL want to feel like a kid again?! I do!
McDonald’s partnered with an apparel company called, “Cactus Plant Flea Market.” That name helps with the marketing too. I mean, WHAT IS —> Cactus Plant Flea Market?? I had to look it up. They sell online contemporary fashion street clothing.
For this Happy Meal campaign, they‘ve created a lot of FUN McDonald focused art designs. The clothing is a bit expensive though. A shame, because the designs make me smile.
Here are some of the apparel choices. More to see on the CPFM/McDonald’s website.
The UK is furious that these Adult Happy Meals are ONLY offered in America. I got to say, I would be too, especially if I was a McDonald’s fan. Why are the Americans having so much fun! I WANT A TOY TOO!
So, what do you think? Will you head out for a Happy Meal?
Fall started over night. We had pleasant weather this past weekend and suddenly the temperatures dropped to the 50s. I had to pull out the long john’s, find my winter shoes, and sweaters. Oh boy, it’s COLD. I got a kick out of a lady who still wanted to wear her summer dress and added a parka to it. REALLY, I think it’s time to retire summer clothes to the back of the closet.
Of course, Fall weather has us wanting home cooked comfort meals. I was at the store, they had a special on asparagus. I really like asparagus. My ex/mother/n/law was not the greatest cook. She’s German and cooked a lot of potatoes. In fact, to this day, my ex/husband does not want potatoes. Ah, he’ll eat french fries, but NO BOILED potatoes, NEVER. She didn’t enjoy cooking, but she ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS made asparagus soup for ALL holidays. So, in honor of my ex/mother/n/law, I made asparagus soup. Sent picture to my ex/husband and daughters saying, “THINKING OF OMI.”
Next in line, boiled chicken. In cold temperatures, I really enjoy Matzo Ball soup. I’m not Jewish, not sure when I started liking this soup, but it’s a favorite. Soups are so healthy for us.
My Italian mother always made bean soup. She didn’t really venture off from this. It’s a good hearty soup, no question about that. I guess next in line would be chili. I like it OCCASIONALLY, but it would not be my “go to” comfort food.
A woman posted her meal with delicata squash. It looked good, I want to try it. I admit, I’ve never been drawn to the squash family of vegetables. I need to venture out a bit, right. A lot to choose from. Winter varieties include butternut, acorn, delicata, pumpkin, hubbard, kabocha and spaghetti squashes.
So, here’s to FALL and home cooking. Memories from childhood.
What’s YOUR favorite comfort food in cold weather?
On my walk the other day, I saw this garden. Oh, no! First, what happened to this poor bush? Second, it resembles our chaotic world right now.
I was just reading that in France there is a shortage of Dijon mustard. Due to climate change and the war in Ukraine, there is a shortage of mustard seeds. Did you know that? Did you know that Canada supplies half of the worlds supply of mustard seeds? However, because of heat and a drought these past few years, their supply has been low. This is heart breaking for the farmers.
I looked up where a mustard seed comes from. It’s this yellow flower. See next photo a field of these flowers. Beautiful! The BBC has a great article, a little bit long, but explains the Dijon situation, “Why there’s no ‘Dijon’ in Dijon mustard,” by Emily Monaco, August 17, 2022.
After reading the article on Dijon, guess what I bought yesterday? YES, I got some Dijon mustard. I do enjoy it on a sandwich, with a sausage, hamburger and hot dog. I had no idea there was a shortage.
With climate change, we are starting to appreciate what we took for granted in so many different products / industries, right. Also, learning where / how foods that we have enjoyed come from.
Many people I know are starting to have their own organic gardens. The tomatoes are AMAZING! Same with the raspberries and blackberries. Oh and snap peas. I enjoyed seeing how asparagus grows.
Soon, we might all have our own organic gardens. Share with our neighbors.
I ask you, should a peach be that LARGE? What happened to fruit? Peaches, nectarines, apples – they’ve all gotten so big. I thought of “James and the Giant Peach,” when I saw this large one.
There was a huge section of large peaches, nectarines, apples. I had to scout around to find normal small size fruit, I did find a few as you can see. The large fruit has no flavor. Also, if I am taking a fruit with me for lunch, I only need one portion size, not two portions. How about kids? How can we encourage them to eat fruit if we can’t give them normal small size?
First the chicken was plumped up, now fruit. Portion sizes for everything keep getting bigger and bigger. We really don’t need such big portions. It’s not healthy for us, for sure.
Do you eat a lot of oatmeal? This morning, in memory of my ex/father/n/law, I ate oatmeal. He was a retired Doctor from Germany. He LOVED oatmeal! He had his ritual. He would microwave a packet of oatmeal, stir in one packet of sweetener (yellow one) and then add cream on top. FINISHED – nothing else, ie fruit/nuts, etc. Toward the end, at 99, all he would ask for was “oatmeal.”
My Italian mother, on the other hand, preferred cream of rice. Probably because it reminded her of polenta. Although, she never made polenta for us. She would cook cream of rice (for 4 kids) and stir in one raw egg. Since the cream of rice was hot, stirring in the egg cooked it. Voila – breakfast served.
My mother enjoyed something else. She would take a raw egg, some sugar and whip/whip/whip it with a fork until it was creamy like a custard and then she would eat it. Did she cook it? I don’t remember seeing her cook it, I will ask her, but I remember thinking how “odd” that was and worried she’d get SICK!
So, WHAT was IT in your house growing up — OATMEAL or CREAM of RICE?
Remember the Squirrel from last week with that HUGE — piece of FOOD — in his mouth? Nobody knew what it could be. Such an odd “thing.”
Well, guess what, I happened to walk by a tree and as I looked on the ground, I saw it! Yes, I saw, “IT.” I saw what the squirrel had in his mouth. I picked the weird thing up. It was VERY STICKY, like sap. Imagine my surprise when it was sticking to my fingers, felt prickly and I could NOT let go of it. I had to fling it off. Horror of horrors.
As I looked at it, I noticed there were more at the bottom of the tree. So, I peered up into the tree and LOOK what I saw. YES, a bunch of them growing on the branch.
I’ve NEVER seen a tree with these “things” in my entire life.
I stopped people as they walked by asking what tree this was, NO LUCK! So, I did searches online. Challenging, since I didn’t know what search words to use — “sticky spikey ball in tree?”
Needless to say, my searches didn’t pull up much. THEN a brainstorm, I have a friend who used to work at the arboretum. She must know this tree, right?
She messaged, it’s a HAZLENUT tree.
I went back to the tree for further inspection. See photo of where the nuts were. The nuts are protected inside a green leaf-like hairy bract with ragged edges. Nuts in clusters of 2-5.
I LOVE hazelnuts, so this was a GREAT find.
No wonder the squirrel was dodging me left to right! He thought I was after his hazelnuts!
And you know what — NEXT TIME, I might just go after him!
Have you watched that show on Netflix called, “ALONE?” One participant was desperate for food, it was winter, hard to find food. A squirrel had stashed away mushrooms at the top of a tree. The participant cut the tree down to get the mushrooms. He apologized to the squirrel (who wasn’t there), “Everyone for himself in the wilderness! We’ve got to SURVIVE!”
Great wilderness show if you haven’t seen it!
I will have more appreciation for the hazelnuts in Nutella, Loacker wafers, Ferrero Rocher, Godiva, and Kinder Buono chocolates now!
Don’t you LOVE life’s surprises! Thank you, Mr. Squirrel!
I got so lucky. This squirrel posed for the camera. Look how close I got. You can tell he is hesitant. Wondering if he’s going to have to FIGHT to keep his… WHAT IS THAT in his mouth?
It started like this. I was out walking. I saw this squirrel on the sidewalk. I immediately STOPPED, because he was so darn cute with that HUGE root, dead flower (couldn’t place it) in his mouth.
At first, he wasn’t aware of me. When he got to the top of the fence… THEN I could tell, he was starting to think I “might” be a threat. You can see in his eyes and stance that he knew he had to ACT FAST or he might lose this HUGE food item. That is the motherland!
He happened to turn, I got another GREAT photo. Here he’s making an “assessment” of the situation.
This was the highlight of my walk. I’ve never gotten this close to a squirrel before. They are usually so fast to run away. Photography has become so easy with our phones. Fun getting these photos.
I really like linzer cookies. To start, I like, NO – I LOVE raspberries. Shout out to my future boyfriend, you’ve got Valentine’s Day all wrapped up. Surprise me with a heart shaped dish full of raspberries and a heart shaped box with something shiny (Jewelry, need to be specific, right. I don’t want to end up with a little silver spoon or a business card holder.) in it and YOUR GOLDEN!
I spoke to some friends who don’t do anything for Valentine’s Day. If they are alone, they find it depressing. Personally, I think it is a nice day to do something loving for another person. Even if you are alone, you can do something for a friend, your kids, a family member, etc. It’s a day to be thoughtful.
Back to the linzer cookies. One day, I want to make them. A few years ago I bought the cookie cutters. I got the recipe. I was THAT close to making them, but didn’t. So, they are still on the “bucket list.”
I get emails from TableWare International. I’ve always liked tableware products, so it’s fun to see the latest industry news. GUESS WHAT – Fiesta (leading dinnerware brand) comes out with a new color every year. This year they have some new HEART shaped dishes. They’re really pretty. See TableWare International’s article, “Love it! Heart-themed pieces from Fiesta Dinnerware.”
The Fiesta dishes look similar to THIS photo with the fruit. Visit FiestaFactoryDirect.com to see ALL the color choices. Oh, and look at their ABOUT section. They started in 1871, two brothers from East Liverpool, Ohio, quite a story.
Do you see how FUN and EASY it can be to make Valentine’s Day special?! It’s all about the hearts!
Brilliant Viewpoint 