Hodgepodge, indeed

"Product of Mexico, USA, Guatemala, Canada, Vietnam"

Geez, you really have to read labels, and this is something I don't like about Trader Joe's.  They source food from the four corners of the Earth, then package it under their brand name.  Even T.J. doesn't know where these cheap "Harvest Hodgepodge" vegetables were grown.  You see these multiple country labels on other products, like their shrink-wrapped "fresh" hamburger, which is even more of a turn-off. 

I'll just stick with Kroger's frozen vegetables.  I always have them on hand, and when I'm home I often make a quick vegetable stir-fry for lunch with a couple tablespoons of this sauce from Kikkoman. 

For convenience sake, this is a pretty good bottled sauce and not too sweet. It helps to add a bit of hot chili paste to the mix.  We often eat stir fry for dinner, but I usually make my own sauce concoction (never the same twice) thickened with cornstarch.

I was lazy the other night and used the bottled sauce on some tofu and fresh bok choy. It was good, but then we both like tofu. Many folks would rather eat a piece of styrofoam. I don't think there is a food in existence that people feel so passionately about, one way or the other.

But it isn't all vegetables and soy protein around here.  I like a cooking challenge now and then, and last night I made a small beef rib roast on the gas grill.

Who is that know-it-all guy, with the fancy grills and his own barbecue TV show in the desert? Even he would be impressed with the result.

I got so excited I cut myself on my razor sharp knife.  But thanks to John's extreme knife sharpening skill, at least it was a clean, surgical wound.

Oh,

My...

Goodness!