Just curious if the vegetarian family ate the cheese? Asking bec the vegetarians I know wouldn’t eat something that was on the same plate as, never mind touching, meat.
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Yes, cheese was consumed. But thank you for giving me that tip. I’ll do sep plates this time. Our table in long and narrow, so I was trying not to overfill it with dishes in the middle.
I’ve had caterers tell me the cheese board is for the vegetarians — after interspersing charcuterie through the cheese, crackers, and nuts 
.
Not everyone cares, but people who are vegetarian culturally (or “strictly” whatever that means, lol) usually do.
Speaking of strictly — I do actually have a couple of friends who are vegetarian “except bacon” or “unless there are ribs” and so on. So no, not vegetarian then .
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Right. It’s helpful to know the comfort level of your friends. I’d just gone on a long walk with the one who is veg (not vegan - her H is trying vegan). And she’s told me that she sometimes eats turkey sandwiches. Her kids sometimes eat chicken. So I wasn’t too worried. And as for the vegan H, he wasn’t going near the cheese anyhow.
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I don’t like tofu either, and I’ve tried it every which way. Don’t like the flavor, don’t like the texture (no matter whether soft, baked, fried, or whatever).
Really? What does it cost near you? In these parts — $2-4/lb roughly. Leaving aside beans, the only thing cheaper is chicken drumsticks, though probably not given that you have to account for the bones.
Other chicken, pork, beef, lamb, never mind seafood — all much more expensive.
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We need a new category. Selectatarian. Or Arbitrarian. Or Occasionalarian.
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If you’ve tried it every which way, then that’s that. You gave it a fair shake. I adore it. I’m hoping the poster - who admits to being a big of a cooking novice - hasn’t tried it every which way (or that his gf hasn’t), and has decided they don’t like it based on a single or a couple examples. And that they’ll try it prepared differently and see if they might like it. If they’ve also tried it a million ways as you have, then of course no pressure to try it again from me!
As for cost, ymmv, but I think we’re saying the same thing. You said besides dark meat chicken, no protein is cheaper. That’s what I said too. Inexpensive. Except my chicken cost is higher.
Here, it costs me $2/lb for kroger beans. But if I want nice beans, rancho gordo or comparable, it’s $6/lb. My 12 oz tofu ranges from $1.50-2.50 depending on where I buy it. I also buy organic eggs, and no cafo beef or long house tyson type chicken. Obv others’ shopping habits may vary, but after much reading and thinking on the topic, I decided if I wanted to be an omnivore, then I need to source my meat thoughtfully. So the cheapest thing I can buy is chicken drums or thighs, and those are also around $5/lb. Chicken, beef, pork, lamb, seafood, are all more $$ than tofu. Beans and eggs are sometimes comparable, sometimes more $$ than tofu.
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Flexitarian is a common term.
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I am very much a “cooking novice”. Admittedly, I’ve only tried a handful of tofu recipes – mostly in various “Fried Rice” recipes. I even tried soaking in a red wine sauce and adding to dishes which was not liked.
My worst tofu failure was attempting to “Shake and bake” it. My girlfriend likes “shake and bake” pork, so I thought why not try this seasoning wonder on tofu – she literally spit it out. I was told “NO MORE TOFU” that day, so I haven’t really tried to re-visit it.
I really need to work down what is in my chest freezer before purchasing tofu and trying it again.
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Hah - me too. I love to have bags upon bags of frozen fruit, lots of meat when it goes on sale, a couple dozen bagels every time we go to the local bagel shop. Bags of bones for stock. We recently did a 3-way switch of our third fridge/freezer! to a standup freezer. Given the economics, I think we were out $200. And I LOVE it. I open it and see glorious organization rather than the tetris mess I used to have. I’m sure it will fill up all the way though soon. We’ve only had it a month or so.
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I fear the same. We have our first game tonight (Seahawks) where Russell is playing against us rather than for. Big sad.
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What made it Thai besides the peanut garnish?
Yeah, mea culpa. I was reading on my phone where the text seems to get tinier by the day, and I read it as expensive rather than inexpensive 
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I still haven’t “sprung” for RG beans. Maybe one day.
They’re really tasty I have to say.
The dressing:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t. chili sauce (+ more, to taste)
2 t. sugar
2 T. fish sauce
3 T. lime juice
1 T. grape seed oil
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SO SO worth it. Royal Coronas are enlightening! I still have bags of Cranberry and Vaquero beans I need to use - maybe use the Cranberry beans in some chili this fall. Or maybe their Pasta e Fagioli.
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@Saregama, my sentiments exactly about tofu. The first time I had it, wasn’t sure about it. Since then, I have given it many chances and just can’t like it. So finally decided, I was not going to try it in any more iterations. IMO, I gave it more chances than it deserved.
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Felt like cooking yesterday so marinated a game hen in a honey/lime/garlic mixture and grilled, cooked a small corn on the cob, made French bread (used a recipes I’ve used for many years, but added an egg this time, it is very good but different taste) that was slathered with butter
slathered all over it, cherry peppers again - I really like them, and a melons/grape/pineapple salad with raspberry dressing. It was so good! And it felt great to make a loaf of bread again.
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