Dinner tonight - or last night.

Snort...



I asked for my gelato to be served after his pizza.
He just couldn't hear me say that.
(We're both hard of hearing and conversation can be a challenge and also funny.)

The gelato was not as good as mine and neither the restaurant's nor mine were anything like the place in Rome.

I got part of the gelato, too.

Oh I do know their circumstances, they moved here a little over two years ago, paid cash for the house, both work and make very good money, have no bills, so to speak of. They will spend money on almost anything except eating out. In fact they think its horrendous if we buy a roast that cost over 16 bucks in the grocery store.

They’re only cheap when it comes to eating out and grocery shopping but they will spend money or other things.

Ok, now I'll laugh with you.

Interesting.
Are they equally anti expense on food?
Did they meet as people with no palates?
I say that not condescendingly, as I have almost no sense of smell, but apparently do have some goodly taste buds.

Maybe they are palate clucks?
Or, what? people who give no importance to food re health?
Suddenly I'm interested.

It tasted just like ordinary ice cream.

They just make choices with their money. Food obviously doesn't ring their bell. A real foodie doesn't mind throwing down a few bucks for something a little more expensive - at least every once in a while.

Those two cheap bastards did it again tonight. They ordered one entrée and split it. They will not spend money eating out but they have no problem taking a taxi out for cocktails with friends and spending a hundred bucks on drinks, they just will not spend it in a restaurant.

I can’t figure them two out, we’ve gone to several cocktail parties and they will eat everything in site as long as its free!

They have no problem flying from Tampa to Miami and taking a 4 day cruise every few months, must be because the food on the cruise is FREE!
Cheap bitches

Maybe they were raised by people like my mother in law, may she rest in peace, and met each other and were thus comfortable, re money questions between themselves.

I didn't like her much at the time, but, as with many things and people, I'm moderating my views re my mother in law and I hope to stop mentioning her lime jello salad with mustard soon. She was a good woman.
Didn't like me, but dealt with me.

When the brothers and I and a small child went through their abode after their deaths, I worked to not be a decider..
but sometimes I had to step in, in favor of not tossing some stuff.
The parents did have brown bags full of napkins and ketchup and salt packets from restaurants.

But.. those parents lived through the depression and scraped all their lives, even after they didn't have to so much.
Their father was one of the better story tellers I've ever been around, and made a good sunday dinner. (In self defense, from my view, but never mind.)

Good gravy - I keep salt packets and ketchup packets, soy sauce - anything extra - and it has helped many times.

I am not taking sides - but I do hate waste. I am HUGE on salvaging whatever I can. The amount of food they give at restaurants is ridiculous. If they like the same thing, I think splitting it is brilliant. Less waste.

Last night we took the kids to get wings and I made us split the order. It was $5 cheaper to get a big ol' batch and split it than it was to get the individual servings. Sorry - but $5 is $5. I can find all kinds of things to do with $5. I suppose I am a cheap ol' bastard as well. But I am comfortable with that.

Well I bought a couple bread pans and I’m making homemade bread, later I’ll be making a big pot of chili. Antonio had the right idea, he said if I make round bread how can we slice it and put it in the toaster?

My bread has to rise for three hours.

the idea is that homemade bread is so good you eat it fresh NEVER toasted

<slap slap slap>

He has to have his toast every morning

that bread won't be around tomorrow morning


~~~~


once he's had real bread he'll never want toast again - the reason you toast commercially prepared bread is to make it taste somewhat more like real bread

Amen to that. I have a bread making machine - now going on 25 yrs. If the machine breaks I'll buy another without blinking. I'd be lost without that taste of fresh bread. I don't even own a toaster.

BTW, after making bread by hand I appreciated what bakers do and been doing for centuries. I found that I liked the occasional forays into the intimate intricacy... having the control of things like the crust, the thickness, etc.

However, once I got the machine, I never went back. I've arrived at the right balance of whole wheat/white wheat blend with a very consistant tasty crust. It's far less work and no kneading by hand. My machine can be set 12 hours ahead and be ready at breakfast time, except for the cooldown time and the slicing. Clean up is a snap too.

Maybe I'm just not patient or creative enough to experiment enough, but I gave my (inherited) bread machine away. I never loved any of the bread I made in it. Ever. It was always just...meh.

But but but I like toasted bread sometimes. Especially if it's day old.

Looks fantastic.

I can almost smell it from here.

I hear you. Many machines aren't particularly good at making the crust or kneading, etc. I think after the '80s were over, mfrs all started making them cheaper and that ruined the taste through their cheaper mfring. and of course,

Also it's vital that the flour and yeast (of course) have to be fresh. In the beginning, I never knew how important it was that flour has to be stored properly and sealed tight and tossed after 6 months. This is especially true of whole wheat flour (can taste bitter/ rancid as the oils are quite volatile). That made all the difference for me.

FWIW, I do experiment a bit..and now know how to blend the flours so I get the right taste, crust, etc. that I want. When you don't have the patience, either auto or handmade bread isn't the activity for you. However, I've never met a soul (who likes bread) that doesn't like homemade bread.

I stopped buying store bread at all a few years ago, completely changing to making my own 'hearth' bread, or dinner rolls, or focaccia, or flat breads, and so on. I've eaten other folks' bread machine bread and think 'meh' too - but I think I put that somewhat down to the recipes that I'm guessing is an effect of the nature of the machine - but naturally I don't know. The Fresh Loaf website posters may have insight on that and maybe more interesting recipes.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

I don't even have a kitchen aid machine with paddle - either I knead, which I enjoy but is getter harder as my aging hands get weirder, or I make no knead doughs, which I generally like.

I also differ on the matter of toasting - I've always liked toast and still do, though there's nothing like still warm fresh bread out of the oven. A rich homemade bread, with different grains, perhaps different spices, differing yeasts - can be fabulous toast, with or without any kind of spread on it, or slice of whatever meat or cheese, or a good jam, to go with it. But, that's me.

And I'm just getting started - need to work my way into the world of rye breads.
And I want to get back to making my own (or copy Nancy Silverton's) sour dough starting procedure.

Yes, nothing like it.

And for sure, for me, the crust was the worst part of an otherwise mediocre loaf. The machine was probably from the '90's some time as well, so maybe that was part of it. But sadly I'm inclined to think it was mostly just the baker.