I just bought this beautiful cookbook ( ). It is incredible - 550+ pages of well-researched history, stories, photos, recipes, templates, and advanced baking advice. It contains Norwegian, Icelandic, Sami, Faroese, Finnish, Swedish and Danish recipes; some well known and some very obscure.

In "normal" times, I visit the Nordic region almost every year and I have developed a great love of Nordic food and culture. I can't wait to recreate all those amazing cardamom buns, cinnamon scrolls, rye breads etc that I have tried over there - although I feel like it will be well past my 100th birthday before I get through every recipe in this book...

And while I'm on the subject of baking: this is a pretzel which I recently baked - sprinkled with Maldon sea salt flakes and served with whipped wholegrain mustard butter:

gorgeous baking :-)

Beautifully done. A work of tasty art.

Mrs BamaVol just looked up from the other room to see what I was snickering at.

How long do russet potatoes last? I get the corky special at Safeway - not a free rotisserie chicken but a free 10-lb bag of russet potatoes (value $5). I got it in May or June and just got it again. I can�t NOT use it because I make oven fries so often including today for our July 4 family bbq (family as in my immediate family that lives in our house).

plus I want to make hash browns or home fries for egg cooking. How have I not yet grated potatoes for home hash browns. They�ve always been a diner or restaurant favorite. Omg so excited.

Ha! I won a free pizza when I went to redeem my free chicken coupon. Nothing since then.
They will keep for a long time in a dark cool place. How about baked potatoes sometimes? Or mashed? Or really stick your neck out and make potato gnocchi! You can stuff baked potatoes with all kinds of goodies for a complete meal....like broccoli with cheese and ground turkey. Or instead of pasta...some of your Rao's sauce with sausages & cheese. Latkes? I am doing sweet potatoes on the grill today but I precook russets and grill sometimes.
And since it is the 4th of July, shouldn't you be having the classic BBQ side dish---potato salad!!
Potatoes don't freeze well so use what you can. if they go dark or too many sprouts I would toss them out.

My family has been up for two weeks and finally left this morning .

I was feeding a small army so my short order cooking skills had to get dusted off a bit.

My menu was mostly crowd favorites:

Chicken parm
Lasagna - One pesto, one tomato basil
Some big London Broil (top round) steaks marinated overnight in various different flavors
Burgers by the dozen, pasta by the bucketful
2 huge clambakes (Got a new burner/stainless pot/strainer bucket setup from Bayou Classic)
Steamed lobsters

The fish I posted above was also a part of the army feeding.

Wow, I�d say they were pretty lucky to have you cooking for them.

I love to do it. We also live up here and making their trip easier and more enjoyable is a no-brainer for me.

I also had a gaggle of helpers from age 2-70 so there was no lack of hands to do mise en place!

My curry attempts are still not packed with heat.

1 tbsp curry powder
1-2 tsp curry paste
1-2 tsp dried ancho chili powder (Albeit circa 2012)

with 3-5 pounds or so total of short ribs, potatoes, and carrots. In a blue dutch oven.

I need advice. The stew is definitely tasty and I love it for the fun comfort food but I want it spicier because I love hot curry.

Add cayenne, you don't have any real hot spice in there. Anchos aren't going to do much. Start with 2 tsps and work your way up.

For reference, ancho peppers are less spicy than jalapenos by a large margin. Chipotle would be spicier but going straight to cayenne is going to add the pop you're looking for.

Whoa! That menu looks like a damn near mirror for what I have planned for this week since my brother is passing off his two kids (5 and 9) on me for four nights when they celebrate their anniversary.
I might make the ragu tomorrow a Tuesday cook.
Replace the London Broil with either a Tri-Tip or picanha (I have a vacuum-sealed top sirloin in the fridge needing to be used).
Replace clambake with a fish fry.

And the 9-year-old turns 10 at the end of July so I might have to bake a cake for her too so her grandparents can have a celebration with her. Then again, Granny loves a cake from Publix, BJ's or Costco.

I leave the baking to my better half. She's a magician at pies and cakes. She makes a key lime pie that changes lives.

danke. I didnt ancho were so weak!!

How about cookies? Scones... anyway you obviously are already a top chef.