Cooking Challenge (Sidequest) - Buy The TKMAXX Things

15:47 "and I know this is a weird idea" – isn't that why we're all here?

The fact that he said "yet" about the possibility of a pet food challenge is mildly concerning

Back when i started truck driving i was broke, often had to spend a night at a service station with £5. I think a motorway service station challenge would be interesting considering their usually obscene prices. Also had no idea TK Max even sold food

when i saw you put the chickpea butter on the tortillas, i thought you might stew some prunes into a sort of prune jam to make a not-quite-peanut-butter-and-jelly

Heya! italian here, Fusilloni are actually meant to be cooked like any other average type of pasta, but just like regular fusilli the center can stay a bit tough. The specific fusilloni you grabbed looked off to me as they were very inconsistent in shape, if that's the case that might have contributed to the inconsistent cooking and in particular to the flaps breaking off. in general fusilli and fusilloni both are very hit or miss in how uniformly you can really cook them, and it will vary from brand to brand Although i've not worked with fusilloni specifically before, i can provide the following knowledge: - Large pasta in general cooks a lot better when baked, though most of our traditional recipes have you boil it beforehand to some extent before baking (baking usually crisps up the pasta which is generally removed from the water just before it becomes al dente) - In my personal experience Finishing up the cooking of difficult or mixed pasta types in a pan (along with all of the other ingredients that will be in the final dish) tends to result in a better consistency. so long as there isn't a very liquid sauce, doing the last few minutes of cooking in the pan tends to firm up the already cooked pasta a little bit (granted that there's some fat in there to make that happen), and softens up the pasta that wasn't done cooking yet This doesn't apply to all dishes clearly, but i feel that it may have helped in your case.

How you left that store without buying the easter island head at 2:39 I'll never know

I've long suspected that the massive jars of pickled things in TKM are actually decorative only.

This reminded me of the times in uni when I forgot to buy food before a bank holiday and I had to make something out of whatever was available in the shops that were still open

Would be interesting to see this challenge but in a world food supermarket (middle eastern, African, Asian, etc) to see how cheap or expensive things compare say to a normal supermarket.

The varying foods at TJ/TK Maxx, where you never know what you'll get, and they go out of stock, never to return again, is apparently part of their business strategy. It's meant to get people to think that everything is special, and many stores also keep their food aisles in a bit of disarray on purpose, so there's a sense of discovery. So this definitely seemed to be a great experiment in seeing what they offered and making the best of it.

For the record, there's nothing wrong with having mushrooms as the main star of a taco. It's common for vegetarians but even beyond that, there are authentic recipes that do that. And of course, tomato and onion in a taco is plenty normal, of course, even if not quite that exactform. And salsa, also not out there. Never heard of prunes tacos before, nor chickpea butter, but I have seen some using other fruit!

Atomic Shrimp: Eva I love you! Eva: Shut up! I know it!

They threw a party in that store when you bought those prunes

It's striking how alike the aisles of TJ/K Maxx are, across the ocean. I know they're the same store, but your grocery store safaris are always subtly exotic to an American. Knowing TJ Maxx' usual inventory, I agree about dry pasta/jarred sauce. They seem to sell a lot more "snacks" than "ingredients," but pasta is a perennial offering. "Gourmet" pasta bulks up a gift basket, I suspect.

Essential Shrimp = ingenuity. I like this side of Shrimp's content because of its creativity. Onion dust—brilliant. I am here for it - with bells on.

I honestly had no idea TKMAXX even sold food! Everyday is a school day

I could tell from the first two minutes this was going to be an enjoyable episode. Thanks so much.

"Onion and mushroom dust...Don't breathe this!" Ahhh, I see you're a man of culture and a fellow Blendtec fan.

I love to see your experiments. Too many of us have preconceived ideas about what to eat at certain timesof day and which ingredients need to go together. Your surprises are a refreshing change.😊

9:59 so sweet. Her feigned indifference is quite cat-like.