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After years of hating induction I finally got one in our latest kitchen. One of the biggest things that put me off was touch screen controls - they have absolutely no place in a kitchen. thankfully (though not for my bank balance) gaggenau now do cooktops with optional physical dials. We’ve had it about six months now and honestly I couldn’t be happier. The knobs make all the difference to the cooking experience. The other big plus is how much it lets me just get on with stuff, no beeping when I move a pan, no switching off when I put a tray or plate elsewhere on the cooking surface - zero second guessing. The gradations have been great for everything I’ve needed - it has 13 power levels (12 + boost), but they aren’t linear, so you get much finer adjustment below level 9. Having been solidly in team gas until now I feel like I’ve finally been converted - I actually prefer it to my previous Wolf rangetop. pic of it in situ:

1 Traditional, 1 Triple Chocolate, same as last year. I wanted to try the SOMA chocolate also, but decided against it. Maybe another time, if there is another opportunity.

Where did you have these crab cakes? With regard to the title of this thread, sorry but I have never used bechamel in crab cakes. Not opposed to the idea, just never tried it. But I am curious whether these were Maryland-style mostly-crab cakes or whether the filler played a larger role.

What are you getting?

I local diner near me has these baked crab cakes that are insanely creamy. They reminded me of croquettes due to their mound shape. So i went down a rabbit hole and came across crab croquettes that use a bechamel sauce, but these are fried and seem to be asian inspired. That is not what i am after. I think i need to incorperate a bechamel with a traditional mayo/egg/cracker base. I just don't know what a good ratio would be. I want these to be super creamy and not end up dry like most mayo based crab cakes end up.

Almost bought a turkey at Aldi today. Jennie-O brand frozen birds for 0.77/lb. Most were big but I was tempted by a little 13 pounder. Could have had some entertainment for 10 bucks but I resisted!

There is virtually nothing authentic about this Thai green chicken curry, but it’s how we like it with potatoes and spinach.

We have a number of favorite mugs but my camera does not do close-ups. If our daughter comes this weekend, I'll get her to take the photos.

A few years ago, for some reason friends started giving me mugs. I'm not sure how it started but I ended up with about 30. Two years ago, I moved house and left most behind. Deliberately, only retaining some few favourites. Here are a few of those.

I believe I might kill for that counter.

It's hard to tell where our mugs end and where our kitchen counter begins 🇲🇽

The WaPo gift links ask the user to enter their email address to either create or log into a free account. There’s no need to pay any sort of fee but some people might feel that sharing that info is a tax of some sort.

Thanks, TdeV, but mine was a gift link, too, so I'm wondering if rotuts tried it.

The one time I tried it that way all of the breading slid off during frying. Maybe I'm missing something?

Is there any reason why you don't PC first, then dredge and fry? It reminds me of a lot of Indonesian recipes where they're cooking tough pieces of meat - it's first simmered in a spice paste liquid for a few hours, then drained, then fried...

@rotuts, gift link to @Alex's article https://wapo.st/48v5b3b

Yeah they do need to be cleaned well. The ones I buy are either from the grocery store or the Asian Market--the Asian Market ones are always nicely cleaned. I rinse them all in cold water and comb through them to make sure, though. I'll refer again to my hero Hank Shaw--he has a tutorial on cleaning gizzards here . I always soak mine in buttermilk for a while before frying, too. I believe it helps tenderize them a bit. I dump a bunch of flour in a gallon ziplock and add a copious amount of Lawry's salt and black pepper. Like really dump a lot more than you think. Mix that all together well. I don't dump all the gizzards in at once because it becomes a gummy mess. Just dredge a few at a time. I use a cast iron pan. Fill with enough veg. oil so that it can fry but not a ton. I probably do 1 1/2 to 2 inches? Then heat up the oil and fry turning over once to do both sides. You don't have to worry if they're done enough--just get a nice crisp like fried chicken. Once fried, drain on a paper towel--I put paper towels on a big square pan. After frying they can wait a while until you're ready to pressure cook them if you wish. When ready, I fill the instant pot with a cup of water and place the gizzards on a stand--I'll take a picture tomorrow. I might actually use two IP's just so they aren't so packed full. Pressure cook for 40 mins quick release. These won't be crunchy but they will be tender and delicious. KFC back in the day used to make these and they were wonderful.

I have quite a few tablecloths passed down from my Grammy. I'll have to ask my mom but I'm sure some are from my great grandmother. Quite a few are what I'd call vintage 50's patterns. Some beautiful lace ones like @SLB's. I'll have to dig around and see what I have. I like tablecloths, I just rarely use them because I'm messy lol.

Remind me please about the fried and then pressure cooked chicken gizzards. I have a couple quarts of giblets that friends gave me from their farmer's market chickens. The first batch I cooked (stir fried) had a strange taste and I ended up giving most of them to the dog. Since then I've read that the gizzards have to be cleaned first...which I didn't do. So, please describe your procedure again? (And yes to carby not crabby ... but my autocorrect does plenty of strange things!)

My favorite are teal and pintail--mild flavored and tender. Coming in second are mallards. Mallards are a bit stronger tasting and can sometimes be a bit a bit tougher but sometimes not. I don't notice a difference in fat content except mallards are bigger so they have more of course. I'll roast the mallards together in one oven and the teal and pintail in the other. Teal and pintail take 15-20 mins. Mallards 20-25 mins. My oven on the right doesn't get as hot as the other so I have to watch it lol. I've decided to go with stewed tomatoes and cheesy Brussels sprouts. Maybe I'll do some more bread. I'm trying to be less carby because tomorrow and Saturday I'm doing something with potatoes for sides (spell check keeps changing "carby" to "crabby"--I'm trying to be less crabby too 🤣). Tomorrow I'm going to do the fried and then pressure cooked chicken gizzards--I'll also do the duck and goose gizzards I've saved up in the freezer. Probably a salad and French fries to go with. So, tomorrow will be a looooooooooong day of frying. But, once that's done it's easy from then on. We'll talk more about that later though. Just thinking about it is giving me anxiety lol.

I heard from them today also, and got the payment link, and have ordered!

Can you tell a difference between them once plucked, or do they need different treatment? Different fat content, for instance? What about flavor?

Come December, my daily hot beverages go in one of these: These 3 Glühwein mugs from Munich Christmas markets get used for hot cider in the evening, perhaps with a shot of extra warmth!

I love the combo of aged sherry vinegar, finely diced shallot, a little Dijon mustard and tarragon. When I was a kid, my parents used to take me to a french restaurant that did a ridiculous cherry sauce with duck....

Awesome, thanks.👍