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I also thought about pickled green beans or carrots, too. I would take the cocktail sauce in a jar, take all other components in baggies and put them together at the hostess's house. I'd never be able to juggle all those little cups. And I just checked and I have exactly the right size plastic cups for them. And pretty sure I've got some fancy cocktail picks unless they are packed. But that's easy to pick up.

@Maison Rustique Thank You

A while back someone made and brought almost exactly the same thing that you are describing to a party that I attended. It was an impressive presentation and very well received. As I remember it, it had a cocktail pic with two pickled onions instead of olives. She had had a problem transporting it and brought extra supplies in case some of them spilled which they had.

I'm invited to a "Galentine's" dinner this year. I asked the hostess what to bring. She said it would be nice if I brought "shrimp cocktail or whatever appetizer you want". Since there are around a dozen people attending, I think I'd have to take out a loan if I actually made shrimp cocktails for everyone. Here's what I'm thinking--please shoot me down or add ideas: Marinate and cook shrimp in bloody mary mix and vodka. Take small glasses (bigger than shot glasses but not much), put in doctored cocktail sauce, a skewered shrimp, pickled asparagus spear and couple of skewered olives. So, it isn't a drink and has more than just a decent sized shrimp, but isn't nearly as expensive as making a full-size shrimp cocktail for each person. Does it sound too small?

Today's bake. 9 mini baguettes. Started a sourdough last night and left it on the counter until 3:00 AM this morning. I used one of the mini "scapings" in the jar starters. I fed what was left in the jar again and left it on the counter overnight as well and it had more than doubled overnight. I started another dough this morning for Matt, for pizza and fed another jar of scrapings. Will have two starters that will get used in two batches of dough tonight. One will get left out to bake in the morning and the other will go into the fridge for a longer cold fermentation.

I won this as a door prize at a holiday party last night. Looks interesting, doesn't it? I don't think I've ever had nitrogenated coffee before. I'll report on it later, somewhere, when I get around to trying it. It's a bit cool right now for me to get excited about deliberately chilled coffee. (I confess: my 3rd cuppa of the morning often gets cold before I finish it. 😀 )

Gimme an example of a recipe you don’t understand.

That for months 👆 Freezer for years …

I have a butter crock and if the butter doesn't get used, it goes off - usually the thin smears up the side of the crock, or when the crock is mostly empty. New butter I divide into smaller pieces, wrap in parchment, then the original foil. Then put the butter into a ziplock, remove some air, then into the freezer. This lasts a very long time.

I find it lasts forever in the fridge with no special care other than the wrapper it came in

I always just saved butter in the freezer - if wrapped in foil and then plastic, it lasts practically forever that way. Some smells can go through plastic, which is why the foil wrap is important. @Smithy I wouldn't worry about the surface drying out - once the plastic (or foil) comes in contact, no more moisture will leave. Leaving it uncovered will have it dry out much faster. Anyway, if I were to save it in a vacuum bag, I would use a mylar one which would have the benefits of foil and plastic all in one. Otherwise, I think a completely sufficient method would be to wrap in foil then put in a ziplock bag and get rid of excess air via displacement.

If you do, please let us know what you eventually find out. I'm mystified too.

Would it perhaps dry the surface of the butter as air (and moisture) are pulled out during the sealing? One way to find out!

I think part of what you're looking for comes with experience, which just takes lots of practice. Also, I think it makes a difference if you cook a certain style of food all the time (like from a certain region), or if you're constantly bouncing around - not that there's anything wrong with that. But, for me, when I started making a certain type of food over and over, certain things started jumping out, so now, if I watch a video showing someone making a new to me dish, I understand what they're doing right away - even if it's in a language I don't understand, I don't need captions anymore. Also, I think that one thing to keep in mind is that, for centuries, most cooks had no understanding of the "why" of recipes - they just did as they were taught and didn't think much about it. This was true of professionals - journeymen cooks learned from their masters and then continued the tradition, as well as home cooks - a daughter learning from her mother who did things the same way her mother and then her mother did.... It's only relatively recently where a select few people have to started to ask "why" and then, after learning, change their method from what was always "this is the way" to something different.

I really don't understand it. Today makes 336 entries in the contaminated pistachio saga. 336!! Why don't the powers that be pull all the Iranian pistachios off the shelves? The sheer number of grocery stores and other outlets affected by this problem is staggering. And why are we buying pistachios from Iran? How many unsuspecting people have been made ill? Are folks still being made ill? That information is not up online...or I haven't located it. When will it ever end? I'm thinking of calling my MP and requesting some information.

@Norm Matthews, here is a link to your post about the cookbook.

I've never tried that but now I'm curious.

Anyone have/read this? I have the opportunity to buy it from a friend and am wondering what people thought>?

I was looking into getting a butter crock as I use butter but not frequently enough and wanted to extend it's shelf life. Then it occured to me why not use a food saver resealable vacuum bag, the ones with the circular vacuum pocket you can reseal. I've seen a bunch of 'best butter dishes' but this seems to be a better way to do it. Any reason why this wouldn't be the best way, it would suck out all the air

What do you all recommend to read or watch to advance in cooking. I can cook, that is I can follow a recipe, have knife skills and equipment. What I can't do is improvise, I don't really understand the 'why' of some recipes and it's frustrating. The books I've tried to read are either too detailed and daunting, I'm looking for something that goes over the basics but also explains the 'why'

Stir-Fried Beef with Green Asparagus - top-sirloin steak is stir-fried with green asparagus, scallions, garlic, ginger, fresno chili, soy and teriyaki sauce, toasted sesame oil, lime juice and corn starch. Finished with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro. Served over rice.

Pasta, egg tagliatelle with a sauce of bacon, mushrooms, garlic, chilli, and baby spinach. A sprinkle of finely chopped parsley and lashings of pecorino. I know that ‘he who must be fed’ will never say no to pasta.

Did you order a classic too? If so, hopefully it arrives tomorrow.

If anyone would like to browse our previous eGullet Chocolate Workshop posts, here is a link to our list of past workshops with tons of information! https://forums.egullet.org/topic/161995-chocolate-confections-workshopsclasses-index

Likely when we get a sufficient number signed up that we start to think about limiting - looks like that was around mid April last year.