Thinking back, where I probably went wrong was “oh, it’s Budget Bytes, I need to WAY increase the herbs and spices” and then dumping in too much rosemary. I might’ve done better with a different flavor profile. Or adding something to the rosemary and thyme instead of just throwing in lots of both.
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It’s a pretty mild, simple soup. I think it’s good as written, but YMMV! Might also depend on bean quality?
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Has anyone here made macarons at high altitude? I live at 5300ish. I’ve used this resource for altitude adjustments, but almond flour feels like a whole new ballgame. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Shamelessly tagging some folks who I know cook and bake a lot here!
@Panda @Economista @Greyweld @ginja_ninja
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I have made madeleines but not macaroons. I just used my “phone a friend” card who makes unbelievable ones in CO for her recipe. I’ll keep you posted on what I find.
ETA: this same friend recommended “pie in the sky” as a cookbook for high altitudes and I’m gonna be getting it soon.
ETA2: phone a friend was very fast. Here is her recipe. She also said to whip the egg whites to droopy peaks not very stiff peaks and add the flavor and color half way between combining the wet and dry ingredients.
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You are the best, thank you!! We’re making them for NYE, so will let you know how it goes.
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I can’t wait to hear about them/see pictures!!! Good luck!
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Thanks! My wife and I are not wildly experienced bakers, so we can definitely use the well wishes 
Ha, cheap Aldi beans in a can are probably not great!
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definitely roasted broccoli or cauliflower would work well as vegetables for that one. They’re also really good with tahini dressing because the florets catch up so much flavour.
I make a mixed lentil, rice, and onion dish we like plain (maybe with some cheese) or as a base under meat, curry, or what have you. It’s blandly seasoned, so goes with almost anything, and a complete protein – something I work hard to achieve when I’m using beans.
What’s on everyone’s new year’s eve menus this year? We have smoked salmon, and vegan and regular cheese. And seedy crackers. Maybe the frozen soup.
I’m going to try to do a homemade ice cream too. One keto dairy and one coconut milk and sugar. (I’m trying to move further in the direction of wfpb and partner is thriving on keto)
Or I might just nap and hope I get the salmon out of the freezer in time.
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Sending you guys all of the healthy thoughts, and hope you can enjoy dinner.
We’re going to make spicy crab (https://www.sunset.com/recipe/vietnamese-style-spicy-crab-with-garlic-noodles) and attempt macarons.
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Cherry pie with homecanned pie filling. We don’t have dinner plans yet. Pie may BE dinner?!
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Just by virtue of it’s the last thing on the meal plan that I haven’t cooked yet, not for any special NYE reason.
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I thought this was really cool!
I scored a 36, higher than 46% of people who took the quiz! I think part of why I love cooking and meal planning and grocery shopping so much is because of the sense of abundance it gives me. I feel so fortunate to be able to cook in a kitchen of my own, shop from so many interesting places, etc. Anyway, thought I’d share!
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Food access/cooking is a major gratitude focus for me too. Thanks for sharing!
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39/43 (more than 67%). And, I actually got rid of the dishwasher to free up potential storage space, also I don’t work so the question about lunch wasn’t relevant.
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Sometimes I think about how easy everything is now too! If vintage cookbooks and homemaking books have shown me anything it’s how intensely difficult preparing even a modest meal was for most of history. Like step one wasn’t turn on the oven, it was go get fuel to start the fire to boil water (bc no hot water) just to begin to cook. And diversity! People ate such narrow diets for most of history.
I actually have a theory about that. I think part of why people find meal planning and cooking so onerous now is because of the comparison available to them. The diversity of takeout and convenience grocery food has exploded in the last 10-15 years and people have so much more exposure to delicious high end food that they measure their home cooking against that. I don’t think that’s a realistic measure unless cooking becomes a hobby. But you can see this changing standard in older books, like they’ll often recommend nailing 2-3 menus for dinner parties, and just using those indefinitely, or rotating 7 meals every week over and over (and often one night is a “cold platter” night, so no cooking at all). Each item was so intense to make that they really had efficiency down! Those meal prep kits all do restaurant style foods too, so I think they train people in the exact wrong way for easy home cooking.
End of pointless rant, lol.
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31! And a lot of my answers are much more fortunate than even a few years ago.
I think home taught cooking and learning from others in the community is so valuable. Like I grew up making curries and so even a new to me curry is easy to make and adjust. It is a weeknight meal. But for people who don’t know how to handle garlic or onion? Or need to read the spice bottles or measure spices? That’s a project.
I think bought breads are my favourite convenience. Making most breads are easy but so time consuming. Thanks to covid I’m having trouble getting corn tortillas. And they are crazy easy to make and yet…I am sick and I have a toddler! I want to lightly warm food and eat it! I’ve also fully bought into bought pasta sauce these days. It makes pasta a super fast meal. I do kind of miss making my own, but the convenience. I think when my kids are older I’ll go back to it.
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Big time agree with you about bread—we live by so many amazing bakeries that making it ourselves is…fine, but we can step in one store and find an abundance of delicious options so I’d rather save the time and effort for other things!
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