The food thread

This summer, we are having an outing to "Belgrade Gardens" which has the best fried chicken in this little part of the eastern Midwest. Barberton OH:

Belgrade Gardens

I am looking for recommendations in your neck of the woods along I-80 upon which I find myself travelling every two weeks.

A rare road for me 70 & 90 are the ones I usually travel. But 30 years ago the Emlenton Truck Plaza was cheap, pretty decent and popular. The suprisingly good restaurant south of there was out of business last time I went by.
 
nezbleu, the biggest challenge on those cheap smoker/grill combo units is the cheap grilling rack. Get some expanded metal grid and use it for a replacement when the first rack rusts out and it will last for years.

My gas grill is over 20 years old, but the only thing left original is the two piece housing.

I once found a cast brass burner unit that was "Lifetime" guaranteed. By the time it corroded to being useless, the company was out of business so it is back to the cheap SS burners that last two to three years. Still cheaper than buying a new unit.

With charcoal it is not a problem.
 
A rare road for me 70 & 90 are the ones I usually travel. But 30 years ago the Emlenton Truck Plaza was cheap, pretty decent and popular. The suprisingly good restaurant south of there was out of business last time I went by.

Nearby Emlenton -- one of the soprano's in the choir told me that Foxburg Mansion is the place to go for an affair, I wouldn't know. (It even has its own sign eastbound on I-80.) I am also informed that the Venango County Airport Lounge serves great martini's.
 
Long story, be patient if you can.

Interesting family my wife has. Half of them live an hour flight from here and when they come to visit, they bring food. They realize that we are all foodies around here but they think we are too busy looking after Dad that there's no time to cook.
They called last night at 9 to say they had made it, and to come over as they had some things for the freezer. Hanh comes back a while later and I hear her going in and out the door repeatedly. I go into the kitchen to see boxes and a cooler. I said "Don't they know we don't have room to store their stuff"
"It's not their stuff it's ours" she says.
OMG.
They live on the ocean in the northern part of the country where the Dungeness crab are plenitful.
Along with many packages of marinaded chicken, pork & beef, we have beef jerky, Vietnamese ham, Vietnamese head cheese, wontons, steam buns, cookies and biscuits.
We also got crab. A lot of crab.
Shelled and packaged, one crab to a bag, 23 bags.
This is just our share remember. For two of us.
We packed it all in ice and I took it over to our other place this morning where there's a chest freezer not being used, because we don't live there anymore. Thank god or I'd be heading to the food bank.
I love these people but I have trouble with this kind of gifting. It has to take them weeks to prep all this stuff and the cost must be enormous.
Top it off, I'm not really that good of an in-law so it strikes me as a bit odd.
Anyway, I am hoping to enjoy and bring forth some recipes but I just spent the weekend doing a stock and then green lentil soup, yellow pea soup and two kinds of beef chew, so I wasn't really in need. :)
 
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Half of them live an hour flight from here
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Along with many packages of marinaded chicken, pork & beef, we have beef jerky, Vietnamese ham, Vietnamese head cheese, wontons, steam buns, cookies and biscuits.
We also got crab. A lot of crab.
Shelled and packaged, one crab to a bag, 23 bags.

Do they have their own plane? Did they come by boat? How do you carry all that?
 
My gas grill is over 20 years old, but the only thing left original is the two piece housing.

I have so far replaced 2 of 3 burners in my Broil King (10 year warranty was not yet up when they sent the replacements). This year I think it's time for the 3rd burner and all the sheet metal bits over them ("Flav'r Wave" or some such). The bulk of it lasts pretty well. The new charcoal unit will let me give the BK some rest, though I love it for roasts and chickens on the rotisserie. Last Easter I did a stuffed leg of lamb on the rotisserie, it was very good. The pistachio stuffing was great.
 
Bill, 16 cm is the minimum size to keep so these bags would each contain about 300gr. of cooked meat. I'm guessing. I will measure one next time.

I used the flight time just for reference. These yahoos don't fly so they drive 1500km (quite the round about route Prince Rupert to Vancouver, straight line 800 kms) to get here. Takes about 16 hrs if the roads are clear.
 
Bill, please go back to post 1 of this thread and see how it is often done. Yes, one crab per person per meal is common. Usually it's a half a crab if other things are being served.

My sister and I tried the hairy crab specialty in China, they come sealed by the state to assure authenticity. $35 for about 2oz of meat, meh, give me a lobster, for 1/5th the price.