tony b

I know the forks are your brand, but these work infinitely better for poppers! The only challenge is to not get peppers that are too big to fit in the holes.

Nice sear on that steak. Salad looks excellent, but the real judge was your daughter. Did she think it was "authentic" from her travels??

OK, gotta try that next! Did you do both cooks in the air fryer? When I do twice-baked, I cheat and do the first cook in the microwave (about 6-7 minutes depending on size), then the 2nd cook, with all the "goodies," in the convection oven - 425F for another 30 minutes.

Yes, pure coco char will be better for your baking. Almost no flavor. Chickens look great. What's the rub on them?

Will file that away for the House Divided on beef. I have some veal and bison ribs in the freezer. Could be worth a try on them, as well. If you can't get the other Plowboy's rubs there, we can add them to the next box.

Thanks for the nice words, Keith. Many of my friends think that I'm a snob, because of all my opinions about foods and beverages. And yes, I've dabbled in high end tequilas, too. And Caribbean rums (seek out 5 star Barbancourt from Haiti, just like drinking brandy!) Just started to explore Mezcals. I like their smoky character - very different from tequila.

Thanks for that tip, MacKenzie. I didn't know that there were 2 different kinds of palm oil. I'd only heard about the "bad kind." I'll make sure to look for the "raw red oil."

Similar to Charles, my pantry door rack is actually 6 levels - the top is for bags of dried chile peppers, 2nd is for packages of spices/spice blends/salad dressing mixes, 3 & 4 are BBQ rubs, 5 is more dried spices, and 6 is cleaning products/furniture polish and rags. Not to mention a box on the floor full of Lane's rubs and a plastic tub with Food Saver packs of other rubs (I like to buy in bulk, then sub-divide into 4 oz packs to preserve freshness - like I sent to Aussie). And, this isn't the full inventory in the pantry & kitchen cabinets either. I won't even list all the different kinds of salt that I have! Obsessive - Not Me!!!

Once I get through some other stuff in the pantry to make some room, I found many blends on their site that I want to try - some that I've had from other sources and liked, others that I've never seen before and looked interesting.

I'm a HUGE (make that YUGE!) Penzey's fan. But, given all the kudo's that World Spices gets, might have to dip my toes in that pool, too!

What did you think of the House Divided on the beef ribs, Aussie? I haven't tried it on beef yet. And, Pineapple Head on any grilled fruit just kicks ass! Glad to hear that you can get Yardbird down there. It's one of my go-to's for chicken/chook! Love the stuff. Have you tried any of their other rubs - Fin & Feather is nice, and the Bovine Bold had been my standard for beef ribs/brisket, until I discovered Lane's.

Can't wait to hear the story about the poppers?

Thanks, Bruce. I had been toying with the idea of getting that pan for the fryer down the road. Not sure about that double rack with the kabobs, though. Doubt that I'd use that one? Nice job on the spuds, MacKenzie. Might have to give the palm oil a try. But, isn't is supposed to be really unhealthy? (Says the guy who cooks with duck fat! ) Well, I did some countertop rearranging and made room for the fryer. The old Cuisinart coffee pot, that I rarely use anymore (only when I have house guests and need to make extra cups), went to the basement.

Welcome to my world, Aussie. I have a spice rack on the back of the pantry door, two full shelves are packed with rubs. And, I have half a shelf along one pantry wall that's full as well (the other half is loaded with bottles of hot sauces!)

Just scored the Mole myself, but haven't tried it yet. Hope to do some chicken leg quarters with it soon. I've used both the post oak and red oak from Fruita. Post oak for briskets and red oak for Santa Maria tri-tips. Red oak seems to burn hotter, but the flavor profiles are about the same in the rare times I've burned the post oak solo, i almost always mix it with some fruit wood in the smoker pot.

HUH?? No pics, just little boxes with the file names - ex. JohnsLamb,jpg

Yeah, Ken, I used to think that calves were cute, too - until I tasted veal. Game over.

Great food porn!

Did my first batches in the fryer. Followed your advice and split it in two, so not crowd things. Batch #1 was some potato wedges and hushpuppies. Hush puppies went in frozen and were nice and crispy. The wedges had been parboiled whole, then sliced. They weren't as crispy, even though they had good color. So, Batch #2 was the rest of the wedges and i upped the time by another 3 minutes (and the fryer was already hot). They were better, but still not as crisp as I'd have liked. I think that I needed a bit more oil on them. I had lightly sprayed them with canola. Next time, I might try tossing them in a bowl with a splash of oil to get more on them. And, my other challenge - where to store the damned thing! It's bigger than I was expecting, so it's not going to fit in the space that I had planned under the counter.

I've had many on your list - Angel's Envy is on my bar right now. As far as Pappy goes, only had the younger versions, never any 23 yo. If you liked the wheat based bourbons, seek out WJ Weller - it's "Pappy Jr." Same mash bill and made by Buffalo Trace, and here's the kicker - both the 10 and 12 yo versions sell for under $35. But, it's just about as hard to get as Pappy. Flies off the shelf as soon as they release it, typically quarterly. I just happened to be in Binny's in Naperville in February and some had just come in that day. So, I lucked into a bottle. Went back the next, as they had a 1 bottle limit, and it was already gone!

Well, off to feed the dogs and start working on dinner.

Count on it, MacKenzie!

I'm a big fan of Willett rye. Small distillery near Bardstown, KY. They are on the Craft Bourbon Trail. Local boys, Cedar Ridge, turn out a nice one, too. Big fans of their single malts, as well.

Thanks for the reminder, MacKenzie. I've only boiled 2 medium sized spuds and will only toss in a handful of the hushpuppies. Shouldn't fill the basket.

Getting hungry!