Mike Nolan

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  • in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42770
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      We had sirloin steak, sauteed mushrooms, steamed broccoli and a small salad tonight.

      in reply to: Ketogenic Diets #42756
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        I think I'll pass on the chicharone pizza.

        in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42753
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I think we're going to do mozzarella crust pizzas tonight.

          in reply to: Chocolate chips #42751
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            I can tell you from decades of baking chocolate chip cookies that the brand and variety of the chocolate chip does make a difference in side-by-side tests. In terms of the grocery store name brands, I prefer Hershey's over Nestles.

            If you're going to melt them and use them in something like a cake, that might make them a little harder to tell apart, especially if you're also adding cocoa powder.

            Milk chocolate chips are very different from semi-sweet chips The dark chocolate chips have a higher percentage of cocoa solids, and usually less sugar.

            I stay away from the really cheap house brands, they taste waxy, probably because they scrimp on the actual cocoa products in the chip and use cheaper oils. (Some of the cheap ones can't legally call themselves chocolate.)

            The size can make a difference, too. The mini chips seem to almost disappear into the cookie, the big chunk ones will usually become a soft pocket of chocolate in the cookie, hardening a bit over time.

            I tend to keep Callabaut couverture callets (semi-sweet and milk chocolate) on hand, but that's because I buy them in large bags. (I'm afraid to find out what an 11 pound bag of them will cost now!)

            Valhrona and Scharffenberger are good couverture grade chocolates as well; Guittard and Ghiradelli are OK but I think they're a step down from the couverture grade chocolates.

            in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42746
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              We had hot dogs and I had a salad. I think Diane's going to finish off the keto cheesecake tonight.

              in reply to: Eggs #42738
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                We had some chickens when I was young, I'm content buying them from others, too. Our next door neighbor's youngest son is interested in agriculture and is raising some chickens again this year. Last year he had both chickens and ducks. The fox might have gotten some, but I think their dogs got most of them, so this year they bought a coop that ought to keep both types of animals away from the chickens.

                in reply to: Endless Shrimp Did Not Doom Red Lobster #42737
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  The biscuits were pretty good, a bit high on sodium and they had garlic in them so my wife couldn't eat them. I think I prefer the Brazilian cheese rolls I make, but they're pretty high in carbs so they're temporarily off the menu here.

                  in reply to: Eggs #42733
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    $4 a dozen is pretty good for a farmer's market, they're more like $6 a dozen here. I'm almost tempted to buy duck eggs, they're around $8 a dozen and bigger.

                    Grocery store eggs are running about $3.50, but more like $2.10-$2.50 at Aldi, WalMart and Target.

                    in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42729
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      We had taco salads

                      in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42724
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        We had big salads, tuna on Diane's and pork loin on mine. (The cat enjoyed the tuna water and got a bite or two of tuna, too.)

                        in reply to: Endless Shrimp Did Not Doom Red Lobster #42721
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          We stopped going to Red Lobster several years ago because they changed their recipes and their crab alfredo now had garlic in the sauce. Bleh!! (That should be a culinary felony!)

                          Other recipes changed as well.

                          I don't eat shrimp (I had a bad reaction to some shrimp creole 50 years ago and since then I just avoid it), which means their shrimp promotions were lost on me. And shrimp scampi has garlic in it (as did several other shrimp dishes) which means they were lost on Diane as well.

                          The location in Lincoln closed several years ago, and it was over a year before Diane even noticed. (It needed some serious remodeling/upgrades, as did many of their locations according to various articles on their bankruptcy.)

                          There really isn't a good seafood place in Lincoln these days unless you count the sushi places, and some of them aren't that great. The nearest Joe's Crab Shack is in Missouri and Legal Seafood just opened in Pittsburgh but nothing really close.

                          But if the restaurant industry had to depend on us, they'd all be out of business.

                          in reply to: What are you Baking the Week of May 12, 2024? #42717
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Sure, it makes a great spread on raisin bagels.

                            in reply to: The new cat #42716
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              At first, but he's getting more comfortable sitting on laps and likes being petted. And is putting on some weight already.

                              in reply to: What are you Cooking the Week of May 19, 2024? #42711
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                We had hot dogs and a slice of the keto friendly cake I made yesterday. It took a day but the frosting finally set up.

                                in reply to: The new cat #42710
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  He's getting a bit less shy, though he tends to retreat to the cat carrier and mew softly when we go out there. But he did walk out into the family room this evening, wander over to and look out the back door, and then retreated back to his safe place.

                                  He does appear to know what a litter box is for, and I think he knows the sound of the refrigerator door being opened, too. Not sure if he recognized the sound of the can opener, but the tuna water drew him out quickly.

                                  When Diane brought her mother's cat over after she passed, it took months before Gracie would stay on my lap and close to a year before she'd climb up there on her own. So we're used to being patient with an adult cat in a new place. (Kittens will explore anywhere.)

                                Viewing 15 posts - 706 through 720 (of 7,560 total)