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Right... but I guess my point was that the Murray's cheese sold in the NYC stores are probably still aged in-house, but who knows about the product they sell through Krogers or elsewhere in their expansion.

Yes - Kroger's was nice enough to buy it all - lock, stock and caves.

I believe the Murrays on Bleecker still does its own affinage - even though they've expanded into the space next door with their cafe.

They're only $3.50 and in stock at the San Clemente TJs. I grabbed a couple more bags today. It's the texture. Left over from one bag on the drive home, combined with their low priced impossible nuggies: 'tis a vegan alternative to McD that hit a craving. Don't judge me.

Possibly. The reason I mentioned xanthan gum is that Flaxfiber supposedly was made to be a xanthan gum replacement used in a 1:2 ratio: https://www.sosa.cat/en/producto/flaxfiber/ Given Flaxfibers fiber content, Inulin, or a mixture of inulin and xanthan gum may be a better substitute for an ice cream/sorbet base however. I guess I'll have to set up a side by side test to see how the alternatives compare to Flaxfiber.

@Duvel - Great looking karage! And your 'little one' is not looking so little anymore....wild how quickly time flies and they creeping closer to eye level!

Relaxing evening with some comfort food: family requested karaage … I made a meal out of it with some (commercial) shrimp gyoza & fries with aonori salt … Plus a variety of rice crackers, seaweed salad, menma and (Korean) yukhoe - marinated beef strips with soy sauce, honey and seamed oil, seeved with nashi pear … All enjoyed with a Bavarian beer from little one school trip location … And a Ghibli classic: Spirited Away … No complaints 🤗

Another fine blog. thank you @Shelby

Awww thanks--and thanks to everyone. I promise--barring any hail...natural disasters etc. lol--that I'll do better for deer season. I think I'll be back on my game by then

It's great that you like what you got - just know that Murray's is owned by Kroger's. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The independent cheese mongers here might need your support even more...Formaggio Kitchen/Essex. And Saxelby's, founded by the late, great Anne Saxelby.

@Ann_T Perfect looking Ham Dinner Ham requires either scalloped or au gratin potatoes ,and your version looks very tasty .

It sounds as if you may have identified the issue - in a scientific manner!

I planned to take a dough out of the fridge last night to bake early this morning, but then I saw the ham I bought the other day and decided instead to make a ham dinner for breakfast. Might as well do something when you get up early. Put the ham in the oven just before 4AM. Served with potato gratin and Southern style simmered green beans. Moe had the ham dinner for breakfast and I'm going to take the same thing to work for lunch.

Thanks so much for giving us what you could, Shelby! I admit I was thinking, isn't it Huntin' Time again??? It's always wonderful to read this thread, and I've come to rely on the regular hits of inspiration. Now all I want is giblets.

Marketing. So far as I can make out they are claiming it's specially formulated to enhance crab. It contains no crab and is just regular rice vinegar.

What is crab vinegar?

Wasn't sure whether to put this here or Non-food Funnies or Companions.

Little one came back yesterday night from a one week school trip to the Chiemsee. Arriving at 21.00h he announced that he had lunch at 12.00h and no snacks since then (which I doubt, but DW agreed he looked famished 😎) … Luckily, I had some sausages in the freezer. Made a quick curry sauce with the help of Japanese curry roux and airfried some fries. And as per request BBQ sauce on the side … Happy and slightly tired kid (and happy parents that he is back) … And a little treat from the mancave, just because … No complaints (at all !) 🥳

Another day; another lunch 大闸蟹 (dà zhá xiè), mitten crabs aka hairy crabs. With 蟹醋 (xiè cù), crab vinegar for a dip (in the bottle).

So I (semi) regularly make a roasted tomato soup for the family. It's easy, freezes well, and everyone loves it. Tomatoes are just coming into season here (South Africa), so I got a couple kg's worth and made a big batch a couple of days ago. It's very simple: I chop and roast tomatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, red & yellow bell pepper, and a couple of small chillies (birdseye this time) under the broiler, toss with salt & pepper and a little olive oil, then into a pot to simmer, then blend with an immersion blender. At the very end I add cultured buttermilk before we eat it. This time, for the first time ever, while simmering (after blending) I got a persistent layer of scum on the top that had to be scraped off. Similar to when you're making a stock and you have to skim it. Because the soup itself is so thick, it was quite hard to get the gunk off the top without losing a lot of the soup itself. The only difference this time: Normally, when I chop the tomatoes, I dump the insides (seeds and goo) into the trash, but this time I thought I would try to get some of that 'tomato water' so I put them into a fine sieve over a bowl while I did the rest of the prep. I ended up with about two cups of very delicious tasting juice that I added to the mixture. Could that tomato water/juice be the culprit? Or is there something else I'm missing? Thanks in advance!

They're at it again! This a screenshot of a dish sold as western food. The video is going viral here in China. Overcooked but unseared steak, some kind of spaghetti, random salad, a fried egg and a lump of cØrn. As served in every western home every day! Thankfully, the restaurant is over 1,000 miles from me.

You may have noticed that a number of the mooncakes I’ve mentioned are described as 冰皮 (bīng pí) something. This means ice skin. They are not baked like normal cakes but are fresh and are sold and stored frozen. They are not ice cream like, but are defrosted and then immediately eaten. These have been around a couple of years but have really exploded this year with lots of ‘new’ flavours turning up. These two are from the grasslands of China’s northern province, Inner Mongolia. First up is 醇厚奶香地道蒙味 (chún hòu nǎi xiāng dì dào méng wèi), full milk flavour authentic taste. Hmmmm. Next is 咖啡混合味月饼 (kā fēi hùn hé wèi yuè bǐng), coffee blend flavour mooncakes. Blended with what?

Just an update - tonight was the first time I was able to try the most ripe of the rawit chillies. It is now obvious to me that chilli plants do not require heat to make the chillies spicy - just lots of light. This one chilli was fantastic - lots of flavor but also, quite spicy. One mashed up chilli amongst a pound of smashed cucumbers definitely made itself known....

I, too, would request leftover oxtails for breakfast if only there was the slightest chance!

Yesterday. Crayfish in a Sichuan style mala sauce. Vinegar fried potato slivers and stir fried cabbage. Served with rice.