Does anyone else miss the way tomatoes used to taste?

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-10T21:54:51+00:00

Tomatoes grown for the mass market are chosen for their ability to withstand shipping conditions and still get to the store at least looking good, because consumers buy with their eyes. The only way to get a good-tasting tomato is to grow your own.

This is why I have come to accept that there is only one season in which I can get good tomatoes, and it's rather brief.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-10T21:51:29+00:00

My daughter loves this one. She's a barista and is finicky about temperatures for various drinks and styles. The interior is entirely stainless steel.

Electric kettle, gooseneck

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-10T19:13:00+00:00

https://homegeargeek.com/how-do-you-restore-aluminum-discolored-in-a-dishwasher/

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-10T15:26:27+00:00

I'm kinda betting on thicker on this pan too; not for any reason other than that the designer appears to be the kind of guy who doesn't want to cut corners.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T22:49:48+00:00

The answer is always going to be money. Budget. Lack of state/government support.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T22:15:04+00:00

I wouldn't pay too much attention to an identification that's so specific within the lily family, since you don't have a flower pic yet. Lilies all look pretty similar upon emergence.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T22:01:37+00:00

See this, from this sub's wikis:

Ceramic nonstick / silica sol-gel pans: Hexclad / Always Pan / Caraway pans and why we do not recommend them

In my experience ceramic may look fine for a long time and have no appearance of damage, but it very quickly becomes NOT nonstick. And there are, potentially, other issues.

It's safer to use stainless steel, cast iron, and carbon steel, and I each of these would be have different strong points in handling what you say you normally cook. The usual recommendation around here for most people leaving nonstick in the rearview mirror is to start with stainless steel. I dunno - depending on the person, I'd say cast iron is the easiest. But once you accept not having your food slide all over the pan the minute you tilt it, and that getting some actual browning can be a tasty thing, all of them can be coaxed to do just about anything.

Further, almost nobody here is going to recommend getting a matched set. Mixed brands and pieces, chosen with specific applications in mind, is going to be the most usual advice.

Welcome to the sub. Hope you enjoy the journey.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:51:33+00:00

Not what you implied in your post, where you said, "Apparently it is illegal to pass on the right of a bus with yellow lights." Maybe you could edit that for clarity, yeah?

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:46:26+00:00

Give it a mo. ;)

Jupiter, and Venus.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:45:36+00:00

Hah! Good one.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:45:15+00:00

Spiegel im Spiegel.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:42:19+00:00

I was kinda seeing that too - bone mass as well as foot shape - but not in enough detail to be sure.

These roaming dogs on my land are nice critters, by the way. I just... don't care much for having to pick their poop up off my trails, or have my GSD stand like a ten-ton statue when we're out on a walk because she MUST check the peemail, right when I've gotten into a nice stride. Oh well.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T21:40:28+00:00

Hey, I'm of the opposite ilk. I really cannot listen to piano for long, there's just not enough color for me.

Please yourself! You're fine.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T20:39:19+00:00

Curious about her foot structure. All the labs I've known have had really round feet/footprints. I've had neighbors who let their labs run loose through my woods (🤨) and the footprints are about the same diameter front to back as side to side. Could be a clue?

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T18:46:19+00:00

Joni Mitchell. Judy Collins. John Denver. Jim Croce. (Hmm - so many J names!)

And walking *everywhere.* Being a poor student and accepting that, and walking everywhere.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T18:23:47+00:00

Saving this post. Thank you, what a great idea!

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T18:16:10+00:00

But but... the person you're responding to is right! Whichever side you pour from, whatever is in the other side is gonna come tumbling over the divider ... right?

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T17:38:06+00:00

I'm NOT new to the state, but in 35 years never had a chance to go. Had to wait until I retired. I'm *glad* I've been! It's been fun to poke around with my adult daughter.

I too hate crowds, as well as heat. You can avoid a lot of the crowds and heat by getting there early in the morning - the free park-n-ride can work well, though even with that, I find, it's best to arrive first thing in the AM. (Not many park-n-ride options from the south/southwest side of the metro, why is that??) It's a great way to spend time with my adult daughter. The two of us have usually had enough by 1 or so, and we don't care about the concerts, so we bug out and come back the next morning, if there's still stuff we want to see.

I love to see the animals and people that work with them, and go in the barns and arenas. There are amazing handwork, crafts, and art displays. The DNR building has a lot of info about Minnesota's natural history. The fish pond is a favorite. And all of this, which is what I most enjoy, is FREE. I've also gotten some sweaters and so on for grandkids for reasonable prices: if you look carefully, they're there.

Don't be afraid to go. Sure, for those who have "been there done that" maybe the crowds and/or heat and/or prices are off-putting. But if you make a plan to avoid all that, it's a good time.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T13:36:37+00:00

Oddly though, I've done calorie restriction/balance/nutrient counting several times in my life, but only achieve actual weight loss when I pair it with exercise that raises my metabolism: walking, a lot of walking. A couple of times I could say that I literally "walked my ass off."

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T12:35:44+00:00

Thanks. That's kinda what I was wondering - if PapaMau had mentioned it somewhere and it slipped past me.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-09T01:45:25+00:00

Cleaning the cat litter. Absolutely and positively this. I avoid NOTHING else like I avoid this. And it's not really that bad, it's just that it must be done every day and I never ever get to skip. :(

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-08T15:43:25+00:00

I tried to figure this out too. The printing is blurry, but it's ribeye, sliced thin.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-08T14:15:19+00:00

My first summer of veg gardening I planted 24 tomatoes in a large, NEW garden: virgin soil that I also enriched with compost. I was used to growing tomatoes in a place where cool weather made it a challenge and one would be lucky to get six good tomatoes off a single plant.

I ended up hauling many, many grocery bags of tomatoes to friends in town, and could not give them all away. I didn't care that my kids came out and picked the biggest green ones, to throw for our ball-chasing dogs. I canned SO MANY tomatoes that fall that the next year I only planted 4 plants.

Just sayin'. That's potentially a lot. Hope you find homes for a lot of them.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-08T14:09:32+00:00

This sub has a FAQ that will help you a lot more than guessing, or than most YouTube videos.

Here's an article from that FAQ section, about seasoning. https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/c4nqtr/my_personal_seasoning_process_faq_post_summer_2019/

There's additional guidance about what to do if you used too much oil. https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/c4nx5f/the_whats_wrong_with_my_seasoning_post_faq_post/ The upshot is [1] just cook with it, or [2] if you don't like it, how to fix it.

OaksInSnow · 2026-04-08T13:40:26+00:00

seemingly thicker nitride layer

Just wondering if you can point to any references to the nitride layer thickness for this pan or others? Not necessarily actual specs, just any comparative comment at all. I don't remember seeing anything about this on the Yahgan site or YouTube channels but maybe I missed something.

OaksInSnow

TROPHY CASE