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Thanks again. Didn't get delivery of the ingredients so I'll have to to the "classic" way today. Will be a nice comparison. :)

Welcome! You'll find a lot of friendly and helpful people here. If you have any questions about using the forums, feel free to contact a staff member (I'm one) by the PM (Personal Messaging) system. Tell us a little more about yourself. Do you cook only for yourself, or for a family? What sort of baking have you started? My own baking odyssey began with cakes and cookies and is now more about bread...but compared to the most active bakers on these forums, I don't know much. 😀

Hi everyone! I’m new here and really happy to join this forum. I enjoy cooking at home and trying recipes from different places. I especially like making Indian and Italian food. Lately, I’ve also started baking and it’s been fun. I’m excited to learn from others and share my love for food. Thanks for having me!

The difficult thing about doing these mushrooms is identifying what the hell they are. I only have the Chinese name for most. The Chinese rarely do scientific names and even when they do often get it wrong. One specimen was given a name that turned out to be a common houseplant; not anything fungal. Another led to a totally different mushroom. But mostly, I just don’t know. I can translate the Chinese name and search for that, but some names are rather cryptic, while others bear no relation to any real English name, so lead nowhere. This one is less opaque than most in that there is some information on it but I have still been unable to find any Latin name. It is 龙爪菇 (lóng zhuǎ gū) which translates as ‘Dragon’s Claw Mushroom’. It is native to Chinese but not specifically Yunnan. In fact, it was first found by commercial concerns in Fujian province, far from Yunnan. Most are foraged but they are successfully cultivated in very limited amounts in a few places. They rarely get exported. It is a type of clavarioid species, the coral fungi (in Chinese 珊瑚菇 (shān hú gū)) but that is an umbrella term covering many unrelated types. They must be cooked and the taste is mildly sweet and earthy. The texture is crispy and meaty.

I searched the library and found books by Philip Craig, no cookbook though. There was a cookbook titled Delish, but by a different author. If you have the pate recipe, how much fish and how much cream cheese?

I had a similar situation last week with 1 1/2 pounds of frozen meat. The meat went into the fridge early in the day, then removed to the counter for an hour or so, then back to the fridge. While I didn't temp the meat, it remained cool, but was very soft. When ready to cook, I just put it back on the counter fro 30-40 minutes to warm a bit. Worked like a charm. All times are estimates and approximate.

Some meals from the cottage… delicious local’ish winery. Highly recommended!

Seared scallops with curried onions and lime from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage served on polenta with a slaw dressed with lime vinaigrette. I made the curried onions, basically finely chopped, slow caramelized onions with the addition of curry powder for another dish so this was quick and easy.

My ‘other’ garden. Needs very little weeding or watering!

Gosh I love rendang, and that one looks gorgeous.

I don't see a need to change mess the water. I'd work to eliminate added water entirely, but it often helps the fruit blend to a nice puree.

@TdeV I agree with you , a micro can destroy a dish. using the automatic defrost button. when i defrost , I select the time , usual only a few minutes then select the power , say 2 or 3 and see what happens.

Camarones al mojo de ajo (garlic shrimp): Marinate shrimp in a paste of garlic (lots of garlic), black pepper, rice vinegar, and salt. Saute with butter and olive oil, and finish with lime juice. Served over last night's leftover salad. Finished off the last of the muhammara with toasted naan, but there is a picture above.

I don't trust the microwave not to destroy the dish. 😂

Not one of my garden plants, but this was probably the most appropriate spot for it (I think?). Spotted alongside one of my compost piles, this is... red clover. I've never noticed it before, but having scrutinized several other plants apparently the leaves take this shape immediately beneath the blossom (so...bracts, I guess?). Anyway, it's amazing the beautiful things you see when you take a moment to actually look.

I'd leave it out on the counter for the afternoon, or overnight if necessary, to thaw. Then I'd put it in the refrigerator. In my household, at least, it will thaw but still be cool if left out overnight. If bacterial growth is a concern for you then the sink trick would work, or rotuts' suggestion for the microwave thawing.

microwave on defrost ?

In the freezer I discovered a pyrex dish with frozen contents, some kind of stew-ish thing. I moved it to the fridge. I'd like to serve it for dinner tomorrow night. My experience is that fully frozen big items (not soup, etc.) don't thaw in 24 hours. I could place it in a baking dish in the sink, fill with water, weighted down by something, for a couple hours. I could put it in the Anova oven and heat on some low setting. Or . . . What do you suggest?

While I have seen some with marginal parking, the ones in my area and the ones that I frequent have vast amounts of easily accessible parking, including 6 handicapped spaced directly in front of the store and about eight or ten just off to both sides of the store. In addition, there are two spaces reserved for quick in-and-out shopping.

@pastrygirl Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t done any popsicles this year, and root beer (float or not) sounds intriguing.

Thanks, I don't have that book either. Maybe I'll try this syrup: https://beveragemixers.com/products/genuine-root-beer?srsltid=AfmBOoppTOgovspQsS_lxb1Wwb7BeHqETffOTnOIVbjNXB6h61yOvc-E

I am pretty sure having a terrible parking lot is part of TJ site selection criteria. All of the ones I've ever been to (maybe a dozen, in several states) have had horrible parking lots. Too small for the traffic, horribly laid out, or both.

I checked my books and don’t find any straight up root beer pops. I've got a few recipes for root beer float pops that loosely fill the molds with little bits of vanilla ice cream and then pour in flat, cold root beer. Eat Your Books tells me there's a root beer sorbet in The Modern Café by Francisco Migoya and the CIA that uses both root beer and root beer extract, sugar, sorbet stabilizer and glucose powder. I don’t have the book, but an approach like this (root beer + extract) sounds like the best route 🤣 for a good root beer flavor in a frozen treat.

Does anyone have a recipe for root beer popsicles? I just had an inquiry. Beyond just freezing off-the-shelf root beer

Prima Taste Singapore Curry Lamian Noodles (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) with various additions. A guilty pleasure.