Those venues may not show the stuff to its
best advantage, but your instincts I think
are right.

As I said to Jim, I cannot justify spending tons of money just on a

meal. Yes,

both places are "low-brow" (though Red Lobster is a bit higher class

than LJS

We don't much worry about brows here. One of our
best members was a cook at a Red Lobster. Another
was married to a well-known chef (who was murdered
in a terrorist attack). Another used to work in a porno
theater.

though I'd rather eat at LJS all things considered) but I got a good enough taste of lobster to know I like it but, like crab legs, not worth the

money to

eat it more than once a year.

If you get a craving, you gotta do it. Luckily,
I seldom if ever crave lobster, and there is
usually someone else around who is willing to
celebrate (and pay for a bagful of bugs).

Ah, yes, the ever-amusing happy little
trees guy. He was most enjoyable. I've
never actually seen Andreas on TV.

Bob Ross' family is still making hundreds of millions a year off of their now-deceased patriarch. So good for them and good that Bob left a good

legacy.

It's good to have made a bunch of money
making people happy. Better than making them
miserable.

Andreas is pretty soft-spoken but passionate about his food. You can catch episodes over at https://www.newscancook.com IIRC. Over here in the

States,

NSC is broadcast via PBS.

Someday. I actually have not had a TV for decades
- I had a 2" screen Sony for emergency alerts and
to watch the occasional Square One TV (and, surprise,
the show that ran after, which was Joy of Painting).

One thing is that the herbs as called for
will run to a bunch of dough. I also think
there is too much of them. For me a quarter
teaspoon of tarragon and thyme on a half-pound
fish steak is plenty (maybe a bit more for
fresh herbs).

I have heard with fish that "less is better". I really don't have a lot of experience cooking fish. With cooking tuna steaks a time or two, I can

agree

that you have to be careful with how you treat fish though without

damaging it

beyond being edible.

It is largely regarded as best to cook fish just
until it's opaque, flaky, and no longer jiggles.
For me, translucent going on opaque, barely jiggly.

It's generally preferred to underseason rather than
generously season a decent piece of fish. I season
very lightly if at all - but make up for that with
generous doses of butter.

Properly made wine never tastes like rotten
grapes. If it weren't for your other concerns,
I'd say that it was time to try again.

I can see that. One of my co-workers considers himself a foodie and he was saying the same thing to me about wine. His boiled-down advice: you

get what

you pay for.

You do, more or less, with caveats. One, if a
wine is fashionable, the prices rise irrationally,
demand being what it is. Two, even with good wine,
there's a diminishing returns thing going on. A
wine that costs 10x what another does is highly
unlikely to deliver 10x the pleasure, except at
the far low end, where 1x is a buck or two and may
get you something that tastes like rotten grapes.

A worthwhile activity, though honing skills
that might be a bit more saleable might have
been of benefit to you (rather than a bunch
of strangers).

At that time of night, I was lucky to have the wherewithall to be able

to just

enter data into MealMaster. :) I am considering going online to get a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity though as that is a very hot (and always needed) field in computer science.

Cybersecurity will be needed as long as there
are clever criminals. My uncle made a career at
IBM out of it in the 1960s to the 1990s, the
platforms going from mainframes of which there were
just a few in the world (but still security issues)
to myriads of PCs and even smaller. Did pretty well
for himself.

I don't know how I'd live.

It's not fun. However, I am working on trying to get my teeth fixed.

Maybe if

I can get to this year's picnic you all will finally get to meet me

with a full

set of choppers.

If that doesn't work out, we can make you pease
pudding hot, pease pudding cold, pease pudding in
the pot nine days old.

Title: Georgia Smothered Chicken

I like that except for the margarine and the
Worcestershire.

I didn't really read the recipe but yeah, I'd dump both and just use salted butter. Believe it or not, my diabetic dietitian told me to use butter sparingly instead of margarine. She said it was better for me and I'd

use less

butter to get more taste.

Yes, I believe that, as most dietitians have come
to realize that what they were taught is outmoded
and occasionally just plain wrong.

Beef bone broth

I have yet to make broth but one of these days I will.

If you have the ingredients, there is no better
cost-benefit food. And if you have a freezer,
you likely can compile the ingredients with ease.

And now for a "locally cultivated" recipe:
Title: Chinese Fried Rice
6 sl Bacon; cooked,crumbled
-OR-
1/4 c BACOs

I'm not fond of Bacos, but they have their place.

== Courtesy of Dale & Gail Shipp, Columbia Md. ==

Figured.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.00

Title: Quick Bacon-Spinach Dip
Categories: Appetizers, Dips, Meats, Vegetables
Yield: 6 servings

10 oz Frozen Chopped Spinach; *
1/2 c Imitation Bacon Bits; OR
1/2 c Crisp Bacon; Crumbled, **
2 1/4 t Fresh Dill; Chopped, OR
3/4 t Dried Dill; Crushed
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1 c Mayonnaise
1/8 t Cayenne Pepper

* Thaw and drain one 10-oz package of frozen, chopped Spinach ** 6
or 7 slices of bacon cooked until very crisp should give you this
+
Squeeze as much water as possible from the spinach. Mix the
bacon and spinach and add the other ingredients, blending well.
Cover and chill. Makes about 2 3/4 cups of dip. SUGGESTED DIPPERS:
Apples, Fennel, Zucchini, Monterey Jack or Cheddar Cheese Sticks,
Toast Triangles, Pears

Source unrecorded

MMMMM
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