Tostado Tuesday. Black bean refers, ground pork & chorizo seasoned with garlic, oregano, cumin, coriander, lettuce, pico with avocado, Ortega taco sauce, sharp cheddar, pickled jalapenos.
Did I get carried away? Yes, yes I did. Did I eat all three? No, no I didn’t. It will be breakfast or lunch tomorrow. Sangria.
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Catfish chunks were inexpensive today, so catfish and chips. I added some of those TJ’s calamari rings, hoping they would crisp up better than they did in the air fryer. They sort of did, but got greasy even in the non-stick. Meyer lemon Kewpie mayo aioli.
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Turkey meatballs in gravy with mashed potatoes and green beans.
The meatballs were a veggie-loaded mixture with zucchini and carrots in a brown gravy (deeper and herbier than swedish meatballs but similar).
New recipe that my aunt tried out recently and wanted to make for me, and it’s tasty, so it may stick around.
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Would you, could you share the recipe?
Spicy Dry-Fried Beef and Celery - strip steak and celery stir-fried in a mix of toban djan, ginger, soy sauce, sichuan peppercorns and chinkiang vinegar. Served over jasmine rice
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Ladies night / senior bar tour 
yesterday. A favorite small plates place in town started a 5-6pm buck-a-shuck last week, and my gals plus 2 peripheral peenz wanted to check it out.
We each had a dozen oysters, all well-shucked, some more flavorful than others, served with a very good grapefruit pomegranate mignonette. I’m usually a purist and eat my oysters with just a squeeze of lemon, but this was pretty irresistible.
I had a French 75 to warsh down mine. Next stop after losing the peenz was a newish cocktail bar just down the block, which is also part of a new hotel. Its main branch in the town over also distills its own spirits — gin, rum, vodka, brandy, whiskey. The place was permeated by the distinct smell of fryer oil, but we didn’t let that deter us. I had a decent martini with their gin, as well as their take on a Mule. The girls shared not very great hummus & a whipped feta dip;
Because none of the food appealed to me, certainly not after seeing what had been served to our table already, I snagged one of my friend’s wagyu sliders that was cooked to death, and tried what was probably my first tater tot (verdict: not as bad as I thought it would be).
Another friend had the “gyro” pita and onion rings. Did not care to try any of it.
None of the food will have us return, but we had great conversations about the state of the world and our bodies, and stayed out much later than anticipated — especially given the early start. Guess we all were craving some girl time 
I got home just before midnight, where my sweets had wings on offer,
but I didn’t feel like eating that late, so we just hung out a bit before hitting the hay.
I had to Febreze most of my clothes / toss the rest in the laundry. Nice to see the gals, tho 
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They have their place in the food world. 
My late brother LOVED them and always preferred them to fries when out or at home.
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I have a personal potato prep preference top 5 (?), and tots are pretty low on the scale.
Aren’t they basically deep-fried nubs of mashed?
Yeah, I think so!
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I like the crunch and the textural contrast between crispy outside and soft inside, and the size of tots balances those perfectly for me. I only get them a few times a year and really enjoy them each time.
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Not really they should be chopped or grated Potato (similar to Reibekuchen) formed into a Cork/Cylinder.
When not mass produced they can be quite good. (not that the others are “bad”)
Truffle, Herbs, Leeks, Onion, Cheese or other Flavorings can be added as well.
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Ah, maybe it was grated potato… a texture I also don’t like, which is why I don’t care for Riefkooche or latkes, either.
More for the tot lovers 
Of course!
TJ’s cultured butter – about 3 Tbsp. Just brown it in a large skillet and immediately add half a finely diced medium onion and half a large minced shallot. Saute and when those are translucent add 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 diced red bell pepper, stirring well to prevent the garlic from over browning. Add a pinch of chili flake and bit of dried thyme (maybe 1/4 tsp.). Pour in about 1 c. Heavy cream and scrape up the fond. Add around 14 oz. super sweet corn and heat through. Season to taste with generous salt and pepper and stir in around 1 c. halved grape tomatoes.
If making ahead, I recommend adding the tomatoes upon reheating so they don’t get too mushy.
That looks excellent, whose recipe?
Milk Street from their 365 book - here is the recipe on their webpage (but you need a subscription)
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I think shredded instead of mashed, at least the ones I get. Potato puffs are the nubs of mashed (image google the phrase to see).
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I can’t say for certain, as I only tried a couple of them, but to me they seemed to be mashed potatoes coated in something, then fried crispy. I don’t think I would’ve liked them had they been shredded.
I can check with the manager and find out 
Depends on the brand. I prefer the type that are more shredded/cubed than mashed, but the mashed type seem to be getting increasingly common. I will say the Whole Foods house brand makes an EXCELLENT tater tot even though the insides are more mashed in texture - they’re incredibly light and crispy.
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Chilean sea bass with ginger, garlic, and scallions adapted from this Woks of Life recipe
My sea bass was skinless, so I dusted it with Wondra, salt, and pepper and proceeded with the recipe as written. Very good! We had roasted green beans and mushrooms, along with jasmine rice to accompany everything.
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