The Food Thread
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That's a fair point. Though I also grow peaches, and they're far better than store bought, as well. Apples, potatoes, carrots, etc. are roughly the same, I guess.
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Yeah I had a couple of apple trees in my old house and they were all garbage by the time they were ripe enough to do anything with. All wormy and shit. I suppose I could of sprayed them down with some insecticide or something but i never bothered. They were also a mess to deal with every fall. And attracted all kinds of bees and shit. Totally not worth it IMO.
My gardening these days consists of few varieties of tomato, assorted sweet and spicy peppers, green beans and cucumbers. Oh and some assorted herbs. And even the cucumbers are a pain in the ass because you have to pick them at the right time before they go to seed and they take up a lot of room. Too much trouble for what amounts to a few $$ at the grocery store.
My gardening these days consists of few varieties of tomato, assorted sweet and spicy peppers, green beans and cucumbers. Oh and some assorted herbs. And even the cucumbers are a pain in the ass because you have to pick them at the right time before they go to seed and they take up a lot of room. Too much trouble for what amounts to a few $$ at the grocery store.
Tomatoes are great when picked ripe. They also spoil in like four seconds. So you pick them unripe, ship them, and ripen them with gas. At some point during this process you usually drop them below 45 degrees, turning off a magical compound that gives tomatoes most of their flavor. And once it is off, it is off forever. Also modern tomatoes are bred for size and durability. The extra size is mostly water weight, which deadens the flavor even more.
I'll take canned tomatoes (which are actually picked when ripe and then canned the same day) or freshly picked tomatoes. Store bought? Never.
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I have an electric fence around my garden and orchard, and I stay well on top of ground hogs and the like. We're having dinner with 100% garden ingredients tonight. I challenged the kids to see if they could come up with a dinner from only the garden. We're adding bread we made, and that obviously didn't come from the garden, but everything else did.
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I have a pair of hawks that live on my property very near my orchard. They're not interested in the fruit, but they are interested in the birds that are interested in the fruit. I've had pretty much zero bird issues with my trees/garden. Not sure if that's because of the hawks, because I just don't have problematic birds in the area, or because the fruit gods love me.
I got pretty much no cherries this year, but that was because of a late frost. Cherries seem the most likely to draw bird problems. I guess I'll report back next year.
I got pretty much no cherries this year, but that was because of a late frost. Cherries seem the most likely to draw bird problems. I guess I'll report back next year.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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My Mom grows broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, beets, carrots, zucchini, etc. which has never made sense to me because all of that shit is dirt cheap at the supermarket and just as good as homegrown. The only part of the garden I care about is the tomatoes and the sweet corn. Her garden is super late this year so the tomatoes aren't ripe yet but I celebrate the tomatoes ripening every year by buying about 5 pounds of bacon and going on an all-BLT diet for a week.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Sweet corn goes downhill pretty fast after it's picked. It's okay from the supermarket, better from the farmer's market/roadside pickup truck, but best fresh from the garden. I've heard some purists say that they won't pick the corn until the water is already boiling. It just gets less sweet and more starchy the longer it's been off the stalk.
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Meh, the purists are dumb. Pick sweet corn at its peak, it's fine on the counter for a couple days. It will still be delicious.
Don't ever listen to the extreme of any group - food "purists" are douche canoes who are trying to look self important and knowledgeable. However, you'll find virtually none of them know anything about corn pollination needs and so forth. Just a lot of hot air escaping from them.
Don't ever listen to the extreme of any group - food "purists" are douche canoes who are trying to look self important and knowledgeable. However, you'll find virtually none of them know anything about corn pollination needs and so forth. Just a lot of hot air escaping from them.
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Man, this is crazy. I don't think I've ever had really good enough caviar to really lust after this, but I'd certainly be game to try to do this.
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Lanx
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i use the sousvide supreme site for basic sous vide recipes, haven't tried any of the other stuff besides steak and fish.
Featured Sous Vide Recipes | SousVide Supreme Blog
they also have a nice temp chart i like to reference
Sous Vide Cooking Guide, Sous Vide Cooking Times and Temperatures: SousVide Supreme | Official Site
Featured Sous Vide Recipes | SousVide Supreme Blog
they also have a nice temp chart i like to reference
Sous Vide Cooking Guide, Sous Vide Cooking Times and Temperatures: SousVide Supreme | Official Site