I made a Beef Wellington with tri-tip roast, and bacon, mushrooms and onions, rather than pate and duxell.

It turned out very good.

Schwan's

I've started using Schwan's home delivery in addition to Amazon Fresh.

One of my few complains with Amazon is that it's meat prices, especially beef, are on the high side. Of course, Amazon beef is all high quality. Much of it is organic or grass fed. But, sometimes I just want an inexpensive steak. That's where Schwan's nicely fits in.

Most of what Schwan's offers are fully prepared meals. They also offer a decent selection of steaks and roasts. Schwan's delivery isn't as convenient as Amazon Fresh. Delivery takes anywhere from 2 days to one week. They do offer unattended delivery.

Chili

I haven't made it in years. Since I'm trying to make meals that make lots of leftovers, I've started making it every week.

fry up...
1lbs turky beef.
onion

add big can diced tomatos.

With Chili #1, I used 2 cans kidney beans, plus the kidney bean water. One can tomato paste. 3 serano peppers

Chili #2 I used 2 cans black beans, drained. Two cans tomato paste. 2 serano peppers.

spices-- cumin, oregano, basil, garlic powder, celery salt.

#1 was a better chili. #2 was still very good. I'm going to try and reproduce #1.

Pho House Vietnamese in Renton

2844 NE Sunset Blvd Renton, WA 98056.

This is a great Pho Restaurant. Clean. Good food. Good service.

My partner surprised me with by purchasing a Vitamix 5200. I'm a little angry because it's a $500.00 blender and I don't like it when 'we' make big purchases without consulting each other.

On the other hand, it's a very nice blender. The design is very well thought through. With my old blender (blenders really) food would frequently clump in the blender and I'd either have to stop the blend and mix, or stick a wooden spoon into the blendar and risk having the spoon chopped up. This blender appears to have been designed to promote better cirulation. It also comes with a special tamper that lets you push foods around in the blendar without risk of smashing the tamper into the blades.

The sounds of the blendar sometimes worry me. It's not a quiet machine. The first time we chopped ice, it sounded like something had gone wrong. After watching the included DVD though, my worries have subsided. The blender can make loud griding noises. That's just normal.

The blendar can also heat soups. It doesn't have a heating element. The friction of the blades creates enough heat make a hot soup in about five minutes. This is useful.

What I like most about the blender is the quality of the purees. Food comes out smooth. With the old blender a puree created a considerable amount of pulp. The Vitamax obliterates the pulp. I no longer need to strain sauces or soups.

Amazon Fresh still ahead...

Amazon Fresh has been making changes that worry me. The minimum order with free delivery has gone from $30.00 to $50.00. Case discounts are no longer available.

I decided to compare Amazon Fresh against Safeway.com. As nearly as a could, I created the same shopping list on the two sites. The end result; the bills on the two sites were close; $154.59 on Amazon, $157.54 on Safeway . Safeway groceries were slightly less expensive. The $6.00-$10.00 delivery made the difference..

The delivery options are where Amazon really pulls ahead. Unattended and overnight delivery are very convenient. I can't imagine paying $10.00 for delivery during hour slot or $4.00 for a 4-hour slot.

Oh. Even better; tucked away on the bottom of the Safeway bill, but not reflected in the price is this line: "There will be a fuel surcharge of $1.68 for this order"

Amazon Fresh will remain my grocery provider.