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That looks great!

Slavery-free would be a more notable advancement for Hershey's. But as for sweeteners, Guittard and Callebaut sugar free both use maltitol.

sure. They are going to notify me when back in stock, I will let you know.

Little potatoes here, too, in this kinda artsy fartsy smoked trout, eggs & keta (salmon roe) with sour cream dressing from Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana Henry I thought this was just delightful in looks and taste. The potatoes, greens and trout are all dressed in a simple vinaigrette with a separate sour cream/Dijon/lemon juice dressing drizzled on top. I used a mix of little red, white and purple potatoes with more arugula and less olive oil than in the recipe.

Lemon and garlic marinated chicken with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli

I’ve never seen anything like that here and the size is almost intimidating. I’d need a much larger refrigerator!! 😜

Fingerling Potato hash- Italian sausage, shisitos, onion, beans

Amazon , of course https://www.amazon.com/s?k=utility+kitchen+towels&crid=3B9V6TG18CBBO&sprefix=%2Caps%2C70&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent there are dozens of offereing . generic . might not be much difference between them aside from price // towel look at the weight of the towels , might be more important and none of them will bleed your trust fund dry . nothing fancy about them . as you wash themn , they get more absorbent but absorbency is not what you are buying them for really . these are the towels used to grab hot trays out of the oven etc.

Thanks, @rotuts. Where do I get these towels (in quantity)?

@TdeV hold it with a ' tea towel ' I have older kitchen towels , that are clean , go through the washer repeatedly but are not impressive to look at after years of use this sort . I keep them forever hold w something like this pay careful attention to where your finger tips are i.e. always behind or to the far side of the blade . should work well.

I was in the market today and looked for the largest Welsh onion I could find. That involved examining around 20 vegetable stalls. The longest was this one at 66 cm / 2 foot, 2 inches. Cost me the equivalent of 27 cents US.

DH has a special blade (used for food) for a battery operated jig saw he uses for cutting open bones (for stock). Like @FlashJack I'd worry about the oxtail sliding around on the table. I've no idea where our vice is, probably left it behind when we moved. I'm going to complain to the farmers if I see them at the market this weekend. Will discuss what I discover.

No direct experience of using it but certainly of consuming it. Shio (しお or 塩) means salt in Japanese. Koji (こうじ or 麹) can be rice, barley or soy beans infected with Aspergillus oryzae. Put the two together and you have shio koji which is indeed used as a tenderiser. It is a paste made from a mixture of rice koji, salt and water. It breaks down protein and starches. It also adds umami to dishes.

Delicious looking waffles @blue_dolphin Another breakfast for me was a slice of sourdough bread fried in olive oil till crunchy with avocado and topped with halloumi.

Nor do I but I'd dearly like one. As a frustrated butcher manque I bought a meat saw: Details here: https://www.mefe.com.au/handsaw-butcher-bone-meat-saw-19-482mm-cam-lock-stainless-steel-frame-with-needle-tip-blade-for-bone-ss-blade-for-softer-meats/ It comes with one blade for flesh and one for bone. Kind of frustrating and I've used it very little. Sawing through a joint that's sliding around the bench or board feels unsafe. It might work well enough on oxtail if the tail was secured in a vise. Is anyone aware of a small band saw that can clamp to a bench? Commercial band saws are expensive behemoths. There must be an alternative but I've never come across one.

There was a local Chef here in LA that did a Koji Pork chop that was super popular at the time. To me it had a bit of a cured / hammy flavor.

Herb Frittata - “classical” frittata with plenty of herbs (parsley, chives and chervil) and nutmeg. Topped with a mixture of diced red bell pepper, onion, black olives in olive oil and white wine vinegar

Apples or pears combined with beans is quite popular in Germany. One famous dish is “Birnen, Bohnen und Speck” - pears, green beans and larger pieces of bacon cooked together

Does anyone have any experience with this brand. I've been burned before and am suspicious of the relatively low pricing.

Yes. I can eat them, but wouldn't miss them. No. I don't see them as particularly outlandish, just unusual. I pass because I don't really like the texture of sticky rice. No. They tend to vary every year but nothing to do with the Chinese zodiac years.

I got Koji Alchemy during the pandemic and got a few GEM Culture Koji Starters but never really got into it, had a few other hobbies get in the way. I know Rich Shih is one of the foremost experts on it (here's his site: OurCookQuest) and here's an ATK article about shio + meat: The Magic of Shio Koji | America's Test Kitchen

I have a followup question: is there a correlation between the mooncakes and the lunar year? For instance, we're in the Year of the Snake right now. Are the mooncakes different than they would be during the Year of the Horse?

If I recall correctly from past years, you aren't generally impressed with moon cakes. Do I have that right? And are these particularly outlandish? I think the mulberry sounds good, but I've no idea about how compatible the sticky rice would be.

October 6th this year sees China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival. This is when people give gifts of mooncakes and traditionally eat them. So, already the stores are stocking up. Every year brings more and more types, from the more traditional to the outlandish. My plan is to post some of the most unusual I see this year. I start with 桑葚米月饼 (sāng shèn mǐ yuè bǐng), black mulberry and sticky rice. I’ll pass.

Recently I saw an article, probably in the NYT, on using this stuff to for want of a better term, speed-age meat. The story is that it is fermented rice extract and has enzymes. Any experience out in the eG universe?