What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Evo]

so if it's still on the market in the spring, I might take a more serious look at it...based on the age of the house, it's probably an air raid shelter in the basement, which might have potential for a good wine cellar.)

or Evo's new home

 

[Moonbear]

The basement might be a good place to keep an inflatable raft.

With this summer's weather, it might not be a bad idea! Maybe I'll just stock up a pond with fish rather than try gardening if we keep getting so much rain every summer. I'm kind of eyeing up the places with no zoning laws so I can get some of the ducklings from the farm in spring and grow them up to tasty size.

 

[Moonbear]

or Evo's new home

Or both. Ooh, it would be a good location to store the sisterhood's chocolate stock too.

 

[turbo]

Moonie, could you negotiate a purchase if the house is pretty nice and sub-let your current place? If your lease has a no-sub-let clause, what are the chances that your landlord would let someone assume your lease. You could take a little loss monthly, if you end up with a property that can be easily spruced up, especially if there is space to let you have a real garden. With the price of food going ballistic around here, I'm throwing lots of time and effort into the garden. The rot, mildew, and mold (and the slug damage) perpetuated by the constant rains are stressing my garden (and me) but I'm going to come out of this season ahead, one way or the other. My neighbors and I (and family members who garden) are sharing produce. I have a lot of peppers, lettuces, beets, etc, and share with a neighbor who gives us summer squash, and who will let me have all the dill I want to make my pickles. Another neighbor who supplied me with the varietal garlic cloves to start my crop will get lots of canned pickled peppers this season, and as usual, I will have his cute little grand-daughters here in the fall to dig carrots and beets and to pick apples and grapes. It's fun - they are 3 and 4 and they get such a kick out of getting dirty, especially when Grammy tells them that the family is going to eat what they picked for supper.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonie, could you negotiate a purchase if the house is pretty nice and sub-let your current place? If your lease has a no-sub-let clause, what are the chances that your landlord would let someone assume your lease. You could take a little loss monthly, if you end up with a property that can be easily spruced up, especially if there is space to let you have a real garden.

The chances of a sublet here are slim to none. I might be able to negotiate getting out of the lease a couple months early next summer, because it would put the place up for rent during the prime rental season (being a college town, everyone wants a place rented by Aug 1...the only exception being new residents at the hospital who need to start July 1). There would also be potential issues because the HOA limits short-term leases, so if someone were to sublet next summer, they'd probably have to be willing to take over the lease.

My rent is too high too afford both a mortgage and lease, especially since the new lease only just started (it's annoying...I really would have preferred buying now, but the new job didn't come through in time to avoid renewing the lease...if I knew I was going to get it in time, I'd have probably negotiated month-to-month rent while house hunting). But, no harm waiting until spring to shop...more houses come on the market then too, and property values are still dropping. I'm actually trying to save enough extra to have the option to close on a house with some overlap on the rental place so I have plenty of time to do any work on a new place and slowly move in before I have to get out of the rental house.

 

[Evo]

I'm kind of eyeing up the places with no zoning laws so I can get some of the ducklings from the farm in spring and grow them up to tasty size.

Nooooo, meat comes from stores. It was never actually alive.

 

[Moonbear]

Nooooo, meat comes from stores. It was never actually alive.

You just have to give them the right names:
"Roast duckling," "Duck a l'orange" ...

One of my friends grew up on a cattle ranch. They had names for some of the cattle, "Steak," "Sirloin," "Hamburger."

 

[turbo]

Good luck, MB! In most economic downturns, housing values drop after the problems with jobs, wages, etc. Maybe we're going to see another slide in housing if the economy continues to suffer, and you can buy near the bottom of the market. If you can buy early next spring (before people with school-aged children and tight budgets can comfortably shop for a new place), you may be able to get a decent place at the bottom of the market, and enjoy the appreciation that incremental (no-permit) home improvements can bring, along with any appreciation accrued through an improving economy. My wife and I sold our last place just before home prices nose-dived, and I'm happy about that. I'd love to be buying in this market, but since we down-sized heavily, we were much better off buying this place in an OK market and selling our much larger place in that market. The differential in values favored us in that market.

 

[turbo]

Nooooo, meat comes from stores. It was never actually alive.

You're a poof, Evo! One year, my uncle allowed his kids to name their pigs Romeo and Juliet. Hard lesson, maybe, but when you farm, you don't make pets out of your food.

 

[turbo]

You just have to give them the right names:
"Roast duckling," "Duck a l'orange" ...

One of my friends grew up on a cattle ranch. They had names for some of the cattle, "Steak," "Sirloin," "Hamburger."

My uncle and a partner raised Herefords, and they culled the males pretty early every year, leaving a matriarchal herd that followed very strict rules about which cow could lead the rest, who chose new pasturage, who chose to move to water, etc, etc. All the cows had names, and if you were familiar with the pecking order, you didn't have to ID them by appearance. Just watch them trekking from pasture to water to graining at the tie-up and you KNEW Rosie was first, then her oldest daughter Bessie, then, etc, etc. Any deviation from that order was a sign of dissent and would be a good clue that you ought to give those critters some room until they sorted it out. You don't want to be between an alpha female and a pretender!

 

[Evo]

In cooking school in France, my mother had to reach down a live chicken's throat with a pair of long scissors and cut something that killed it. Any idea what that was other than a form of torture?

 

[turbo]

A couple of my college buddies were sisters who earned their college money working on the eviscerating line in a poultry plant in Augusta. They were both pretty, funny, and smart as all get-out, and they refused to eat chicken. I think pigs and cows probably get more humane deaths.

 

[Moonbear]

All the cows had names, and if you were familiar with the pecking order, you didn't have to ID them by appearance. Just watch them trekking from pasture to water to graining at the tie-up and you KNEW Rosie was first, then her oldest daughter Bessie, then, etc, etc. Any deviation from that order was a sign of dissent and would be a good clue that you ought to give those critters some room until they sorted it out. You don't want to be between an alpha female and a pretender!

Cattle don't really have a linear hierarchy, though, and the "alpha" female changes with stage of estrous cycle. The one in heat is alpha for the day. Though, the one to watch out for is the one in proestrous. They're quite difficult to handle that day of the cycle, but oh, what a difference a day makes!

In cooking school in France, my mother had to reach down a live chicken's throat with a pair of long scissors and cut something that killed it. Any idea what that was other than a form of torture?

I can't think of any reason to do that from the inside. Chickens have thin enough necks that you can pretty quickly and easily do a cervical dislocation (basically, break their neck and tear their spinal cord) to kill them instantly and painlessly. I guess if you want to keep the head on for presentation or something, you could cut the spinal cord from the inside like that, but that really does seem unnecessarily slow when people don't usually care if the chicken is headless.

 

[scorpa]

You're a poof, Evo! One year, my uncle allowed his kids to name their pigs Romeo and Juliet. Hard lesson, maybe, but when you farm, you don't make pets out of your food.

I had a friend with a pet calf named Rambo, one day she came home from school and couldn't find him. She later found him on her dinner table :P

 

[turbo]

Cattle don't really have a linear hierarchy, though, and the "alpha" female changes with stage of estrous cycle. The one in heat is alpha for the day. Though, the one to watch out for is the one in proestrous. They're quite difficult to handle that day of the cycle, but oh, what a difference a day makes!

Is that true when there are no mating-age males around? The pecking-order of my uncle's Herefords was real predictable. Apart from some minor fluctuations, which generally got resolved in the short term (a few days at most) they were as predictable as can be. My cousin and I would stock up the feeders in the stalls with hay and grain, and you would NEVER see cow X in cow Y's feeding stall. They had rules.

 

[Moonbear]

Is that true when there are no mating-age males around? The pecking-order of my uncle's Herefords was real predictable. Apart from some minor fluctuations, which generally got resolved in the short term (a few days at most) they were as predictable as can be. My cousin and I would stock up the feeders in the stalls with hay and grain, and you would NEVER see cow X in cow Y's feeding stall. They had rules.

Yep, true without males around too. Actually, even more so. If males are around, the females in heat will be more distracted by the attention of the males rather than hassling the other females. That's different than them all having "favorite" stalls. That's more just training. They all learn that food comes faster if they sort out into the same place every day than if they fight over stall choice. This becomes apparent if you're intentionally trying to move them into a different stall, even if there isn't another cow trying to get in.

Though, if the herd was fairly well synchronized, which may have been the case if they were using any methods to time breeding, then these shifts may not have been readily apparent because they'd have all been coming into heat at similar times.

 

[turbo]

Though, if the herd was fairly well synchronized, which may have been the case if they were using any methods to time breeding, then these shifts may not have been readily apparent because they'd have all been coming into heat at similar times.

That may be. In a herd of 20-30 cows, they might have been synchronized to the point where us kids couldn't have easily seen variations in their behaviors. Very small farm run by a couple of hard-*** Mainers who cut pulp-wood for a living. My uncle and his neighbor were tough customers.

 

[turbo]

One of my favorite meals tonight! Roast chicken with gravy, baked potatoes, and garden-fresh string beans. My wife brought home a small chicken the other day, so that's tonight's supper. I rubbed the skin with peanut oil and dusted it with a little salt and pepper, plus paprika and sage. I put the chicken in the pan breast-down, so that the fats from the thighs, legs and back meat will baste the breast meat. Also in the roasting pan is a quartered large yellow onion - that juice will make some killer gravy. The giblets and neck are in a small pot with another quartered onion, salt and pepper, and I will boil those, timed to be ready at the same time as the chicken. The juice from that will be added to the pan drippings as a base for the gravy. Reduce the juices in the pan on a gas burner and thicken with a bit of flour-and-water. Mmmm! The house already is smelling great.

 

[hypatia]

Heh, that made me thaw out some chicken, except mines going over hickory chips, but I'll still have the Mashed and maybe some corn.

 

[Andre]

I used chicken too, today, but in a totally unrecogniseable form, Ko Yu Luk. deep fried sweet sour chicken in dough balls with fruits, chinese kitchen, served with fine fried noodles and mixed vegetables.

 

[turbo]

We just finished supper, and it was wonderful. I decided not to make gravy. Instead the juices will be boiled with the carcass and reduced to make a nice broth for home-made tomato soup. Tomato soup made with chicken stock and served with a grilled cheese sandwich...mmmm! Another of my favorite meals, and easy, too.

 

[Evo]

Ooooh, the chicken sounds wonderful. I've neevr made tomato soup with chicken broth, share the recipe when you make it turbo.

I have beef strognanoff leftovers. I *love* beef stroganoff. Unfortunately the only pasta I had was angel hair, but it still turned out yummy. I'm just not used to having it over angel hair though.

I need to find a man that can cook, do housework, scratch the Fruit Bat's rear end, and won't get in my way. I just want to sit in front of the tv, watch cooking shows, and whine all day. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

 

[Moonbear]

I found one that cooks and does housework. Not sure if he'll scratch doggy rear-ends (though he would allow me to bring Ember to his condo if I wanted...but the place is so tiny, it's better leaving Ember home with a sitter than torture her with this tiny place)...I think I can get him to scratch my rear end though.

I had a tasty corned beef sandwich tonight. I was too tired to wander very far for dinner after driving out here (he's still out of town until Sunday night), so just hit the bar across the street. Strange place. One side is a deli type sandwich bar, the other the actual drinks type bar, and you can't just order a sandwich from the drinks bar, you have to go to the other side, get your sandwich, then carry it over. Very strange. But, it was real, home-cooked corned beef on yummy rye bread. That's the sort of stuff I miss when I'm in WV.

 

[Evo]

I found one that cooks and does housework. Not sure if he'll scratch doggy rear-ends (though he would allow me to bring Ember to his condo if I wanted...but the place is so tiny, it's better leaving Ember home with a sitter than torture her with this tiny place)...I think I can get him to scratch my rear end though.

I had a tasty corned beef sandwich tonight. I was too tired to wander very far for dinner after driving out here (he's still out of town until Sunday night), so just hit the bar across the street. Strange place. One side is a deli type sandwich bar, the other the actual drinks type bar, and you can't just order a sandwich from the drinks bar, you have to go to the other side, get your sandwich, then carry it over. Very strange. But, it was real, home-cooked corned beef on yummy rye bread. That's the sort of stuff I miss when I'm in WV.

OMG! I *love* corned beef sandwiches!

Now I must buy a corned beef brisket. Evo Child loves corned beef.

Funny story, completely unrelated to food.

The Evo Child's car has been making a funny noise since she had the tires rotated and alligned a couple of weeks ago, so we dropped it off at the dealer to get it checked out. You get a free new car as a loaner when you drop your car off. They were putting us into a nice $40,000.00 car, but I mentioned how much faster they were than the XXX Import Car Dealer I take my car into. The guy excused himself and a minute later was back giving us the keys to a new $60,000.00 car. Muwahaha, little does he know my income has dwindled so much that I can't even think about buying that car for her. I suggested we drive it to Colorado since we have it for the weekend.

 

[turbo]

Ooooh, the chicken sounds wonderful. I've neevr made tomato soup with chicken broth, share the recipe when you make it turbo.

The tomato soup is easy and is always good. Take the pan-drippings from the roasted chicken and the water from the boiled giblets, neck, and onion, garlic, whatever, and reduce them. Freeze that concentrated stock if you're not going to use it soon. When you get ready to make tomato soup, combine the chicken stock with tomato sauce (we use ours, but you can use store-bought if you want) and start simmering. If the soup is a bit tart, add some fresh basil (dried if you must) and consider trimming with oregano. I don't have a "recipe" that I can post because the character of the chicken broth, the tartness of the tomato sauce, etc, can vary quite a bit. Sorry about that. My wife and I love whipping up simple soups like this and pairing them with great grilled sandwiches.

 

[turbo]

Forgot to mention that what I intend to do with the stock today is to boil the meat and fats off the carcass, remove the bones, leave in the onions that I boiled with the giblets and blend until the stock is smooth. Usually, I chill the stock and skim off the excess fat and then package it for freezing for later use. When making the tomato soup, all you have to do is thaw the stock, stir in some home-made (or canned) tomato sauce and season to taste. Season with our fresh (or fresh-frozen if out of season) basil leaves. If you you have made up and frozen some basil pesto, you could add that to the soup instead. My grilled-cheese sandwiches are usually: Pepperidge Farms Jewish rye and some very sharp cheddar cheese (mustard on one piece of bread), buttered and grilled in skillet. That's a very tasty comfort-food meal for a cold day, so it's nice to have tubs of chicken stock in the freezer.

 

[wolram]

I have to go out and eat tonight, the chili i made tastes like manure, what the heck i did i do not know, i used all the same ingredients, any way my belly is growling and i have to wait another few minutes for the take away to open.

 

[turbo]

Oh, that would be very disappointing. When I make chili, I make a pretty big batch, and it would be a shame to have to toss all that. Ground pork, hamburg, hot sausage, and chili peppers always figure heavily in my chili and those are valuable commodities.

 

[Evo]

I have to go out and eat tonight, the chili i made tastes like manure, what the heck i did i do not know, i used all the same ingredients, any way my belly is growling and i have to wait another few minutes for the take away to open.

How can anyone make chili taste like manure? Did you check to make sure there was no mold on the chilies? I know you had a problem with that once.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I just sliced up a gallon of Bell peppers to freeze for stir-fries this winter, and another gallon of chopped Bell peppers to freeze for sauces, etc. Plus we have set aside another dozen of those big peppers for a couple of my sisters-in-law, and a few more for a neighbor, along with Hungarian wax chilies. Most of my garden is suffering terribly from the never-ending rain, but the peppers are coming so fast that it's hard to keep up with them.

 

[hypatia]

Nachos tonight! Black turtle beans, green peppers, sweet onions, brick cheese and avocados. With home made sour cream and salsa!

 

[turbo]

Nachos tonight! Black turtle beans, green peppers, sweet onions, brick cheese and avocados. With home made sour cream and salsa!

My wife made us some for a snack an hour or so ago. Tortilla chips topped with sharp cheese and my home-made dill-picked jalapeno rings and microwaved to melt the cheese. Then topped with a quick-and-dirty fresh salsa made of stuff from the garden (tomato, cucumber, chilies, cilantro). Some of the tomatoes are developing soft spots at the stem (too much rain!), so we have to use them up as soon as they start ripening.

 

[wolram]

How can anyone make chili taste like manure? Did you check to make sure there was no mold on the chilies? I know you had a problem with that once.

Every thing was fresh, i think it may have been the meat it did not smell to good when i was frying it.

 

[Evo]

Every thing was fresh, i think it may have been the meat it did not smell to good when i was frying it.

Oh, that would do it.

 

[Moonbear]

Just to make Evo jealous again, I'm enjoying a very tasty Chinese take-out tonight of orange beef. A bowl of wanton soup too, with some of the BEST wantons I've had in ages (actually, haven't had them this good since I was a kid and my Chinese neighbor would bring some homemade ones over). I could just eat a plate of the wantons! I can't get anything even close to this in WV.

That reminds me that I need to find a good bakery so I can bring back a loaf of real rye bread with me when I return...I found out one of my colleagues in the new department I'm in is also from NJ, and that's the sort of thing she craves, so I'll bring her back a loaf (I don't have a cooler, otherwise I'd bring back some good deli meats too).

 

[turbo]

That reminds me that I need to find a good bakery so I can bring back a loaf of real rye bread with me when I return...I found out one of my colleagues in the new department I'm in is also from NJ, and that's the sort of thing she craves, so I'll bring her back a loaf (I don't have a cooler, otherwise I'd bring back some good deli meats too).

If the deli has fish, they may get fresh fish deliveries in Styrofoam boxes, and if you're going to buy some deli meat, they may be happy to pack the meat in one of those boxes with a bag of ice. I've got a couple of those dirt-cheap "coolers" in storage.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I am eating mango slices with warm coconut-flavored sticky rice. I got it from a new vegan Thai place in town. yum yum.

 

[wolram]

I can not cook for now my cooker is in bits, i decided to clean it and boy what a job, you have to take the doors apart and i am using that foaming oven cleaner, well i have used three cans so far and it still needs more, this must be the worst job ever :grumpy next time i will buy a new cooker.

 

[lisab]

That foaming oven cleaner is horrible.

 

[Monique]

How many people here know how to cook bitter gourd/melon? I cooked one up today after salting it to get rid of some of the bitterness, but it was still quite bitter (and salty) after cooking it (for a first try it dit taste quite good). Any tips?

 

[rewebster]

I can not cook for now my cooker is in bits, i decided to clean it and boy what a job, you have to take the doors apart and i am using that foaming oven cleaner, well i have used three cans so far and it still needs more, this must be the worst job ever :grumpy next time i will buy a new cooker.

When I do use that stuff, I let it set on there for about 1/2 hour--when the oven gets really coated with something---I'll get a putty knife on the worst part of the gunk

 

[offtheleft]

im having some beef stew concoction my father made. it started out as regular beef stew but now there is rice instead of broth. pretty good.

 

[LowlyPion]

How many people here know how to cook bitter gourd/melon? I cooked one up today after salting it to get rid of some of the bitterness, but it was still quite bitter (and salty) after cooking it (for a first try it dit taste quite good). Any tips?

I've had it in dishes eating out and I can't say that it was unpleasant, but then again I can't say that I would add it to my larder either. Not exactly my taste.

But here is a link that tells you more than you may want to know and it's from where else but Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitter_melon

I would steer clear of the seeds. That causing nausea part might be seen as a negative by guests.

 

[Evo]

Just to make Evo jealous again, I'm enjoying a very tasty Chinese take-out tonight of orange beef. A bowl of wanton soup too, with some of the BEST wantons I've had in ages

I hate you Moonbear!

That's ok, I have potatoes.

 

[Moonbear]

I hate you Moonbear!

That's ok, I have potatoes.

Last night, after having a lot of take-out and other not-so-healthy food over the weekend, I decided to cook in. A filet of salmon, prepared very minimally with a little salt and pepper and sauteed in butter and garlic, then cut up a fresh tomato onto it to finish the meal. I'd be HUGE if I lived in NY all the time...granted, I do a LOT more walking, but the food is SOOO good. For fish bought at a grocery store (I need to get more familiar with where things are locally...bakeries, fish mongers, etc...I still get a bit lost here since we're down in the financial district area where it's off the "grid") it was wonderful. Very fresh, and just the right amount of fattiness to the meat to make it melt-in-your-mouth. It was a very simple meal but incredibly tasty too because the foods are fresh.

I think my quest this afternoon is to find a Chinese grocery to get some dried mushrooms (they usually sell them bulk in the Chinese groceries much cheaper than you could get them anywhere else) so I can make a wild mushroom risotto for my boyfriend one night this week. He usually cooks for me when I visit, so I'm going to make something nice for him this time since I have a longer visit.

Though, today we're off to have pizza for lunch (I HAVE to have pizza when in NYC) and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

 

[turbo]

...and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

Now I'M jealous! The nearest sushi bar is over 100 miles away from here, and since I have to avoid public places, I haven't eaten there in at least 15 years.

 

[Evo]

Last night, after having a lot of take-out and other not-so-healthy food over the weekend, I decided to cook in. A filet of salmon, prepared very minimally with a little salt and pepper and sauteed in butter and garlic, then cut up a fresh tomato onto it to finish the meal. I'd be HUGE if I lived in NY all the time...granted, I do a LOT more walking, but the food is SOOO good. For fish bought at a grocery store (I need to get more familiar with where things are locally...bakeries, fish mongers, etc...I still get a bit lost here since we're down in the financial district area where it's off the "grid") it was wonderful. Very fresh, and just the right amount of fattiness to the meat to make it melt-in-your-mouth. It was a very simple meal but incredibly tasty too because the foods are fresh.

I think my quest this afternoon is to find a Chinese grocery to get some dried mushrooms (they usually sell them bulk in the Chinese groceries much cheaper than you could get them anywhere else) so I can make a wild mushroom risotto for my boyfriend one night this week. He usually cooks for me when I visit, so I'm going to make something nice for him this time since I have a longer visit.

Though, today we're off to have pizza for lunch (I HAVE to have pizza when in NYC) and then going out to dinner, probably sushi since we both love sushi.

Oh, that sounds so wonderful. Glad to hear (send Evo food) that you're having such a good time. (send Evo food)

Luckily I have sushi available 1.2 miles from my house. Nothing fancy, it's made fresh at the overpriced grocery store by a Japanese guy in the Japanese section, unfortunately their other location has the Chinese deli that serves fresh green beans stir fried with garlic in sesame oil just until they are slightly wilted. I could eat those in vast quantities.

 

[wolram]

How to cook root vegetables, like swede and turnips, swede can be used as a substitute for potato, but i am lost as to how to make some thing out of turnips.

 

[turbo]

You can do a lot of stuff with turnips, and in fact I used them a lot when I was in college because they were the cheapest toot vegetables around. If I had enough money to buy a cheap beef roast, I would brown and simmer the meat, then throw in potatoes, turnip, carrots, onions for a nice boiled dinner.

If you like turnips, you can also use them instead of potatoes in casserole-style dishes. Cube a large turnip, and steam it until tender. Transfer to a flat-bottomed bowl and mash it up with a potato masher, mixing in a bit of butter, salt and pepper as you go. You can add in a little milk while mashing, too if you want a creamier texture. Saute some hamburg with chopped onion and pressed garlic and season to taste. Spread that out in the bottom of a baking pan and pour a can of tomato sauce over the meat mix, add a layer of sharp cheddar cheese and top with the turnip. Bake in a 400 deg oven until the juices are bubbling and the turnip starts to brown. Basically a shepherd's pie with turnip instead of mashed potatoes. I've done stuff like this because there were times when I ran out of some staples like potatoes and I knew that I wasn't going to have more money for food until after I got paid for a weekend gig. Usually in the fall, yellow turnips coated in paraffin wax would go on sale prior to the holidays, and I'd stock up a bit. I like plain mashed turnip OK, but when I cooked for myself in college, I'd try to make large cheap meals so there would be leftovers for a few days. The hamburg and cheese were the pricey parts of a shepherd's pie, but I'd ration those somewhat and stretch it out with cheap bulky root vegetables.

Fried turnip is pretty good too. Just treat it like home-fried potatoes made from pre-cooked potatoes. Cube and steam the turnip until it's still just a bit firm, then fry it in butter in a skillet with chopped onion and pressed garlic, salt and pepper. Cook the turnip until it's browned and serve as a side-dish with fried eggs and salsa.

 

[scorpa]

For supper tonight I bought some ground turkey, I am going to mix some onions, an egg, and a red pepper in and make turkey burgers out it it and throw them on the BBQ. I am also going to have some baked potatoes made on the BBQ as well and some corn on the cob. Yummy. I think I am going to throw a roast in my slow cooker tomorrow so I have some good meat for sandwiches next week to, and when the roast is almost done I will throw some carrots, onions and pototoes into cook with it for the last half hour or so...soooo good.