@worth - I gave a crying happy face because the meal sounded good, but the habs would kill me, Ha! Bless your heart for eating those, sombody got to.

Fresh italian bread, buttered, and rotisserie chicken meat sandwich. The bread was really fresh and just right chewy. I needed a break from ham and salmon, , still may have enough left over scalloped potatoes for tomorrow. snack may be a slice of that bread with some peanut butter.

Danny wrote: ↑Sat May 03, 2025 9:36 pm @worth - I gave a crying happy face because the meal sounded good, but the habs would kill me, Ha! Bless your heart for eating those, sombody got to.

Fresh italian bread, buttered, and rotisserie chicken meat sandwich. The bread was really fresh and just right chewy. I needed a break from ham and salmon, , still may have enough left over scalloped potatoes for tomorrow. snack may be a slice of that bread with some peanut butter.

The habanero honey mix is surprisingly mild.
Too mild I was disappointed with the amount of spicy heat,
I'm positive anyone could handle it.

PIC can handle heat much higher than myself, but my level at most is a mild jalapeno. I do grow some hot ones, for table vinegar and PIC. Also grow some of the no heat habaneros and such, for flavor without suffering.

Changed my mind for my evening snack and had two small navel oranges. Sweet though smaller.

Bought some Slovacek's link sausage to cook on the offset smoker.
Slovacek's at least for me is my favorite brand out of all of them in this category.
Started by a Czech family in Snook Texas.

I decided to put on a pot of beans.
50/50 mayocoba and Anasazi.
Chopped bacon and Knorr tomato chicken bullion powder for the salt.

After the beans were cooked I added about 3 tablespoons of the smoked honey habanero spice blend.
Just in case people don't know, beans will not get tender if sugar is added when the dried beans aren't cooked yet.
They will remain hard.

Just opened the bag of jasmine rice and it smells like popcorn.
Cooking half a cup.

I had some leftovers again, including a spicy Asian slaw, that I made a couple of days ago, using some green cabbage, instead of the napa, in the original recipe. And today I didn't do much outside, due to the weather, so I cooked some more, that I now have a bunch more leftovers of - some 1,2,3,4,5 drumsticks, which is based on a spareribs recipe I've been making for decades, and used the recipe for many other types of meats. I had a 3½ lb package of drumsticks, which I took the skin off of, and spread out in the 12" sauté pan, then put a double amount of the ingredients in. The original recipe called for 1 tb Chinese cooking wine, 2 tb soy sauce, 3 tb white vinegar, 4 tb sugar, and 5 tb water (I only put 8 tb in a double recipe). Then I mixed in 2 tsp of 5 spice powder, dissolved the sugar and brought the liquid to a boil, reduced it to a quick simmer, then covered, and cooked 40 min. After 20 minutes, I turned the drumsticks over, so both cooked in the liquid on both sides. After 40 min, I removed the pieces to a plate, and cooked the liquid over medium high heat down to a syrupy consistency, then put the chicken back in, and rolled them around in it. It is great leftover, but the liquid will have gelled, so has to be heated, and probably a little water added - not really for eating cold.

1,2,3,4,5 chicken drumsticks, with some 5 spice powder added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First pico de gallo of the year brings with it a happy face.

Chicken Fajitas tonight. The pico along with bell peppers and onions sautéed in butter. H-E-B fresh made flour tortillas.

Cinco de Mayo today, which isn’t a thing where our friends Antonio and Angel are from in Central Mexico. Normal day in that part of Mexico. Celebration worthy here in Texas.

The veggies for fajitas. I like to have a red bell to add to the mix, but it is still too early for those.

Remade the scalloped potatoes with more ham diced up ( the ham is only about half used up, but trying), diced onions and red bells added to the basic scalloped leftovers, and a generous amount of colby jack/cheddar mix cheese. Should be a good dish in one pot thing for a wet and slightly chilly day.

Of course, by added things it became an 8 by 8 pan full again ! Recycling, ha!

Leftover mayocoba beans and hotlink and freshly cooked basmati rice..

Decided to experiment.
Toasted basmati rice toasted in toasted sesame oil.
Some people say toasted sesame oil can be overwhelming but I love the stuff.

The chicken fajitas from last night.

Egg salad for lunch. Daughter stamps her farm free range eggs. I’ve seen the operation, these truly are free range chickens.

Leftover fajita meat and fixings converted into quesadillas for dinner.

Grilled beef (in air fryer).
Coated with coconut aminos (or soy sauce), evoo, chopped garlic, spice/seasoning.

The last of the beans a sausage and a new batch of rice.
This time jasmine.
I keep cutting back on the amount of rice I cook but it's getting a little ridiculous.

Today I found a winter melon with a small bad spot, that made me have to use it - very small spot, when I cut it out, but those thing spread fast. I wore gloves, when prepping it, due to that hairy skin, that can be like handling fiberglass, with bare hands. I cut it in half, and scraped all the seeds out, then quartered it, and peeled it, before cutting it into pieces.
A winter melon from last October, with a small bad spot I had to cut out. 5-6 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Winter melon cut in half, showing the large amount of seeds. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

About 3/4 cup of cleaned seeds, from winter melon. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The winter melon meat, and the peels and cleaned up core for the compost, after separating the seeds out. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

For the winter melon dish, I cut the melon up, and it was just over 2 lbs, and when I saw the pieces in the bowl, it reminded me of those eggplant pieces I cut up frequently, for that Szechwan dish I make all the time, so I figured I'd try it with this - it has even less flavor that eggplant, but it is fairly absorbent of the flavors in the sauces. The one time I've cooked one it kept its shape, and didn't turn soft and mushy as quickly as eggplant or butternut. I stirred. It around after 7 min covered, and it was still firm, so I cooked it the full 15 minutes, which was just right.
All of the ingredients mise en place, for the Szechwan winter melon dish. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The garlic/ginger paste started in a little oil, followed by the Szechwan chili paste with garlic. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A lb of ground pork, mixed with the soy sauce and half the scallions, added to the wok, to cook on high for about 2 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The winter melon, added to the pork mix, to SF for 4 minutes, followed by the sugar, then SF 2 minutes longer. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The other half of the scallions, to be stirred into the winter melon, with 3/4 c water, then covered and cooked for 15 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Almost finished dish, ready for the chives and chive blossoms. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Garlic chives and chive blossoms, to be stirred into the dish, and cooking another 30 sec., before serving on jasmine rice. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished dish, served on some jasmine rice by pepperhead212, on Flickr

I sure do love the detailed pictures and comments you post on the stuff you cook, ppperhead ! It helps a lot, to undrstand the dish even if it is something I might not cook for myself. And the tip about gloves for the winter melon was good. I do have seed for wintermelon, but never have grown it as yet. This recipe I may try, but with less hot chili, Ha!, as my tummy would rebell at too hot a spicy level.

@pepperhead212 I also appreciate the time you take to post these. Really inspiring!