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Looks good. Funny how a detail can spoil things. I hate being served on plastic and those plastic sauce cups bother the hell out of me.

Thanks for that. @blue_dolphin has posted links to it in other topics also, but it's nice to see it again here. For those who don't have a NYTimes subscription, here's an unlocked link to that recipe.

Thanks, Mike. I used to be able to by that in Costa Rica. It was SAF made in Mexico and it was excellent but I haven't seen it now for for about 10 years. The only really good yeast that I can buy now is Fleischmann's. Not the best but when it's all you can get you learn to live with it. So now, like you, I just have to be patient and let it take it's own time. I think probably that's the most important thing that a new Baker should learn. To be skeptical of any recipe that gives a specific time. Every dough has its own rise time and it will be ready when it's ready.

I found the recipe here.

I did not even notice that on the menu! I tend to skip over the red meat section, especially on a menu this large. That is a wacky sounding burger! I wonder what inspired such an….extreme concoction. The weather was not great yesterday, with lots of dark clouds and wind. We scrapped our plans to explore the beaches near the house and just stayed at the house and read books until dinner. The pool remains untested. We were originally thinking of just getting take out, but ended up booking a last minute table at Indigo at the Wymara Resort. It’s a really beautiful resort. I should have taken pictures. Here’s the restaurant interior. It was much too windy to dine outside. By the time we left they wasn’t a single open table. Menu. Evening specials And the regular menu Our server said the lobster, grouper, and snapper were all local. We decided to share the seafood sampler special to start. It was a pretty plate and perfect for sharing. Husband chose the lobster spaghetti for his main dish. And I had the blackened grouper All of the food was delicious. We both finished our entrees so were not hungry for dessert (and I forgot to take a picture of the dessert menu). We just ordered espresso and shared a scoop of house made Biscoff ice cream. It’s still windy and a bit overcast today, but not as bad as yesterday, so we are going out to explore the island beaches today. I am hoping to find some more conch fritters along the way.

Osmotolerant yeast is specifically designed for high-sugar doughs and is the best choice for sweet breads, brioche, donuts, pastries, and other enriched baked goods. Unlike regular yeast, osmotolerant yeast can withstand the water-absorbing effects of sugar, which otherwise leaves yeast "thirsty" and dormant. Of course, when I ordered some from Amazon, it came to me dead, and I threw it out. I haven't tried it again; I just add in a longer rise time to my schedule.

Yes indeed. It was actually quite filling.

No. I never eat those "instant" packs. They are vastly inferior and double the price of any Luosifen sold freshly here. I ate this in a small local restaurant. We have a Liuzhou Luosifen topic here. No one makes it at home.

Spatchcock Chicken with Celeriac Purée and Sugar Snap Peas for dinner last night.

WOW! Did you make that from scratch, or was part of it from a kit? The only full recipe I ever found takes 8 hours to make, and has some specific ingredients including river snails from Liuzhou. It is also made with pork neck bones and chicken feet. I have only ever had it from this kit -

The French love a crêpe on la Chandeleur (Candlemas). I sometimes make a crêpe cake but this year I fancied a bit of a change. I've never made - or eaten, for that matter - Crêpes Suzette so thought I'd have a crack at it... I guess it's a classic for a reason. Absolutely delicious.

螺蛳粉 (luó sī fěn) This city's famous snail noodle dish.

Returning here to say that all food can go bad, except honey. Samples thousands of years old have been discovered and proved edible.

Reuben baked potatoes with steamed broccoli

Braised Duck Leg with Celeriac-Potato Mash (German cookbook) and Long-Simmered Collard Greens (Saveur cookbook) - the duck legs are braised in the oven, first alone than after 45 minutes plenty of shallots, rosemary and bit of honey are added and braised for another hour. At the same time, you braise the collard greens with onions and garlic for one hour hour in chicken broth. Served with celeriac-potato mash, made with milk, cream and nutmeg

I spent a lot of time in Liuyang in the 20th century (1997-1999). Good food.

Fuchsia has a new book coming out in September (UK) / October (US) 2026 called The Five Tastes: Delicious Recipes for Chinese Flavor. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/443156/the-five-tastes-by-dunlop-fuchsia/9780241517000 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1324050705?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

I just use a piece of tin foil. Roll it up and fill the void.

Despite being "stuck" here I put a lot of time to good use. It is the first of the month, and traditionally the time to pay bills. I did. I took care of other business. I walked, and walked, and got my boots wet in the snow because I DIDN'T COME PREPARED FOR SNOW -- I was supposed to have left that all behind by now! Woe is me, poor me -- but again, things could be much, much worse. Midday meal -- was it a late lunch of the first half of dinner? -- came from the Hardee's attached to this truck stop. The basic Starburger: meat patty, cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, extra pickles and no ketchup, at my request. Hardly gourmet fare, but better than it looks here. I scrounged around and found a packet of cocoa mix in late afternoon, when I was getting cold, and loaded a freeze-dried ice cream ball from a friend into it. Pretty good. I forgot to take a picture, but the sugar helped my hunger and fatigue. I'll post a photo of one in action later, I promise. Final day's dinner -- if I show you every salad I eat in the next few weeks it will look a lot llke this, so I won't bore you with repetitions. I really, really like the House Salad Dressing from Samin Nosrat's Good Things (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) (Kindle version on sale right now!). I'm glad I made a large batch!

Southern India via Singapore headless fish head curry with masala potatoes

pork marsala

Good grissini are part of going to a good Italian restaurant. I don't know when or why they started offering those puffy doughy things but it's a trend that I certainly don't care for. The best that I have ever had was in an Italian restaurant in Reno run by a Greek family. It was also where I learned to love good pizza. The recipe that I linked to says that it will make seven dozen and I didn't need quite that many so I made pizza with 2/3 of the dough. It's not as good as the restaurant in Reno but it worked out just fine.

Made chicken and leek risotto. Tasty

Liuyang black bean chicken with long beans. A long-time favorite - we particularly enjoy the head of chunked garlic sacrificed for the meal. Not recommended before date night. Improvised cilantro rice with mint, Mexican oregano, and half a chile Poblano

Maybe a little more well done than I would have liked, but I got to the oven just in time (I also think I turned up the heat 25 degrees, rather than lowering it 25 degrees, when I removed the lid from the Dutch oven). Speaking of those grissini, there used to be a restaurant here in Manhattan, in the Union Square Hospitality Group, called Maialino (it's theoretically reopening, in a different location, in 2027). They had great grissini (and that recipe you link to mentions another favorite Italian restaurant with great grissini, Pizzeria Delfina, in San Francisco), and they used to offer them when you first sat down at a table, or at the bar with your drinks. We were somewhat friendly with the chef, so I asked if the pastry chef would be kind enough to share her grissini recipe with me. She obliged, but the only issue was that the recipe yielded 500 breadsticks!