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Miso salmon, coconut brown rice with ginger, and spinach. My sister was chopping garnishes while I was cooking dinner, and we ended up with way too many (cashews, cilantro, peppers) so we ended up just strewing it all over our plates and calling this our “Love, Actually” decorated dinner, inspired by the scene where Rowan Atkinson’s shop clerk keeps adding more and more decorations to a gift wrapped piece of jewelry.

And here's another example, related to the above, from this morning's Washington Post.

We were really impressed by the reefs that we saw - they were all in great shape and yes, the area is known for currents - you can see why! Those currents are actually nothing compared to certain dive sites. One site, called shotgun, is known for so much current that you need to use a reef hook and rope to hang on for dear life while watching sharks and other pelagics cavorting in the nutrient rich water. Then, you let go and get swept away. Many thrill seeking people come to Komodo just for that type of experience, but we wouldn't do that dive, even if we were allowed to go there - we feel like we don't have nearly enough experience to deal with that and it's just too risky. To paraphrase Donald Glover.... we're getting too old for this sh*t.... Honestly, we love traveling to this part of the world - yes, the jetlag is a pain, but it's definitely manageable. Plus, usually there is at least something extremely compelling to come here. This trip should have had tons of mantas, black and white tip reef sharks, possible whale shark sightings and more so that definitely would have made the travel worth it. We wouldn't have come all this way just for the house reef, but you make the best of what you have, right? Plus, there's a reason I named this report "take 1".....

After lunch, we were debating what to do for the rest of our last day. Unfortunately, they still weren't allowed to take us out to either Komodo or Rinca islands to see the dragons or to Padar for hiking and amazing views. We weren't thinking of snorkeling since our wetsuits were still drying and we wanted them to be dry in time for the flight the next morning, otherwise they add a LOT of weight to the suitcase! It then occurred to us that we could rent wetsuits from the hotel rather than using our own for one last snorkel - so after getting fitted, back into the drink we went! Most of the coral gardens were basically the same as I've shown already, but we did see a huge school of trevally just before getting out of the water... So happy we decided to go one last time - it was pretty cool to feel surrounded by these rather large fish - each one was maybe 1.5 - 2 feet long. For dinner, I risked another tuna tataki (with no bad effects later) And another round of prawn spring rolls And we split the Thai-ish red curry and nasi campur Fruit and a last tiramisu.... We went to bed early since we had to wake up at 5AM to pack before meeting our boat at 6:15 to get to the airport. The next morning, the hotel offered us a takeaway box with breakfast, which was very nice of them since they just opened, but we declined, thinking we'd get something to eat in the airport - we should have plenty of time there as we were leaving early on purpose just to make sure we made that flight - if we missed it, it would cause a huge host of problems...

Thanks for sharing your trip! The reef looks very healthy. That is a serious current going on in a couple of the videos! I have to say that I am impressed that you can travel so far and then stay for what seems to be a relatively short trip. I don’t think I could do that.

That's actually a keynote of Haspel's body of work, overall, and covering it is pretty much her whole job at WaPo. She rubs a lot of organic-food enthusiasts the wrong way, for example, by pointing out that the yield loss for full-organic means needing more land to feed the same number of people, which in turn pushes environmental degradation. She has no academic credentials in food or nutrition, but she's been following the field for a long time, and interviewing both authorities in the field and the academics writing the papers she covers, so she's got a pretty deep knowledge of the subject matter (and a suitably jaundiced attitude about poorly-constructed studies).

I know we're not supposed to discuss politics here, so I won't, sort of, but the first three pages of the full report are a perfect illustration of how politics (and economics) and food are inseparable.

Here is a link to the new guidelines' "Scientific Foundation" document, for anyone who might feel inclined to geek out on it. https://cdn.realfood.gov/Scientific Report.pdf Some of you will be familiar with Tamar Haspel's work; she's the WaPo's columnist on food and food policy. She's done a lengthy analysis on Bluesky, for those who are active there (she may have posted this on other platforms as well, if you follow her elsewhere). Here's a link to the thread: https://bsky.app/profile/tamarhaspel.bsky.social/post/3mbvzrhtgm22n ...and for the TL;DR version, here's a screencap of her summary/takeaway: Posted this originally in the "Food Science" thread, then remembered that Mitch had started this one. Duh.

They may not, but I can! Especially while it's still cold outside but I imagine this stuff to be pretty temperature tolerant, bacteria-wise.

Posted in wrong thread. Whoopsie!

I'm buying stock in pharmaceuticals who make cholesterol and cardiac drugs. While I drink as much alcohol as possible.

Food pyramid as sponsored by McD’s.

She'd been the first Black woman hired as a cast member on America's Test Kitchen. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/07/lifestyle/elle-simone-scott-passed-away-americas-test-kitchen/

Would be fun! When is the deadline for confirming attendance?

Yesterday at Costco I found a couple of steals I couldn't pass up. I'll share some with my sis but will not need to buy cheese again for a while. And no photo, but for tinned fish lovers, they also had packages of 3 tins of a spicy flavored tuna by Fishwife. I don't know size of tins, but cost was $15.xx. Since I've yet to use the Tonnino I got a couple of weeks ago, I did not buy.

Saute variation of Chicken Marbella, with collards, over bulgur.

Thank you, and I love the bowls too. I have a set, sort of, they’re from an Australian homewares store, and long out of stock. They belonged to my niece who died a few years ago. She had a rare genetic disease that caused next level clumsiness, so there’s 8 dinner plates, 7 side plates, 3 large bowls and only 2 of these soup bowls. She very much liked salads, her floors were tiled, and that’s why the bowls are in short supply. She would have laughed too 🤣

Creamy Ragout with Beef and Butternut Squash - quick ragout with ground beef, butternut squash, yellow bell peppers, onions, cream and chives. Served over boiled potatoes.i’m

This totally broke me up: gave me a much-needed belly laugh! Thank you! (And it sounds delicious!) And in case I haven't said so before, I wholeheartedly lust after your bowls. Something about That Pattern and That Color make them look perfect, no matter what you have in them. I have some with a similar pattern, in white (I had more, but most have broken) but that green takes them from "pretty" to "enchanting".

Too kind, you are. My husband put a croissant in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and that was enough time to make it firm up for easy slicing! He thanks you.

a) thank you, they are and b) no, we sure don't.

You’ve given me ideas here, although my panini press doesn’t open flat.

I’ve been remiss. I used the poaching broth from the previous nights meal to make another episode of things in bowls. This has wombok, thin egg noodles, leftover shredded chicken, baby bok choy, green onions and chilli crisp. My kitchen MO is sometimes like this; research intensely on YouTube and Instagram taking a little bit from each reel, then march into the kitchen armed and dangerous. This was a slow roasted boneless leg of lamb sitting on a bed of onion and garlic, heavily seasoned, rosemary strewn and white wine doused. After 3 hours at 150°C it rested while I smashed the gravy into submission using a stick blender. The veg cooked on the top shelf for about 90 minutes. Served with cucumber salad, because I always need green. Then another episode of “things in a bowl” with the addictive cabbage salad. It’s very simple, cabbage cut largish, washed and dried, rubbed with salt and chicken powder, strewn with minced garlic, crushed toasted sesame seeds and drizzled with sesame oil. A bit of leftover lamb and veggies to go with, but seriously, the cabbage is the star of this episode. And, the reason for that relatively light dinner, was this monster for lunch at the local pub.

Lamb keema with peas: Cinnamon stick, bay leaves, green coriander, turmeric, garlic, ginger, and onion for flavors. Simmered the lamb with crushed tomato and yogurt, finished with lemon juice, chile serrano, and basil (sub for nonexistent cilantro). Rice with black coriander, cloves, and a bay leaf, topped with chives.

I hope they ship to Kansas lol. But seriously I hope somewhere near you has that delicious looking treat.