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I think we had around 5 days in Tokyo, some were spent just wandering around - 20,000 steps without even noticing. We popped into many eateries and often had two small lunches. Lunch one, gyoza and chicken karaage. Lunch two, a snack of edamame, fish cakes, soup and pork. We didn’t buy a single Kit Kat, despite the unusual choices.

Dinner last night was spicy baked chicken wings, using a Nagi Maehashi recipe. I bolstered the chilli and reduced the sugar, as I usually do. Served with leftover rice, sesame green beans and her smashed cucumber salad (with the addition of chilli flakes).

What is this miracle box ? It’s not the cardboard kind carrying sheets of A4 paper, that’s for sure 🤣

Interesting, thank you.

...and Boomberg has noticed. (Gift link, hence the length) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/ai-slop-recipes-are-taking-over-the-internet-and-thanksgiving-dinner?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NDA4MzUxMCwiZXhwIjoxNzY0Njg4MzEwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNkFGNzVLR1pBSlowMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJFNzAxNENGQzIzNTI0MzU0QTVENUY2QkREMDAxOEU3NiJ9.zVeH6d7ceqUngdCBCfynlfmG4wiYTU-Dv8BjiwikQsU&leadSource=uverify wall

Annnnd, senna leaf herbal tea. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/celebration-herbals-brand-senna-leaf-herbal-tea-recalled-due-salmonella

One pistachios, one not. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/aoun-brand-tahineh-recalled-due-salmonella-2 https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/various-pistachios-and-pistachio-containing-products-recalled-due-salmonella-5

I've been roasting vegetables today: red bell peppers, carrots, red onion and eggplant. They're nice to have on hand as easy additions to other dishes. Today I excavated a smoked duck breast from the freezer and allowed it to thaw. Looked like a good accompaniment to the vegetables. The final result: linguini that I'd forgotten I had, put together with a sauce of butter, olive oil, cheese and half-and-half (not really up to Alfredo standards) and the ingredients in question. The duck breast had been seared first. Pretty good. Is it worth trying to reproduce? I dunno. Will I be able to finish the remains? Easily.

When I was a kid, I can remember a brand of yellow mustard (don't remember which one) coming in a glass jar which, once it was emptied, became a drinking glass. My grandmother had a full set of them.

Seared shrimp with mushrooms and mashed sweet potatoes: Boiled sweet potato cubes and mashed with butter and heavy cream. Sautéed mushrooms with butter, S&P, and a sprig of rosemary, then added the shrimp. Discarded the rosemary and deglazed the pan with bourbon and heavy cream. I thought I made a lot but I had forgotten just how much food the boys eat. Peas with butter, thyme, and sage.

It's Pierre Franey's recipe from his 1970s cook book 60-Minute Goumet. I have adjusted over years to suit ourselves. It's pretty close to the 60 minute mark, though I'm not as zippy as I was in the 70's. Try this link. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/03/28/archives/60minute-gourmet-paella.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E8.1ekH.OaHfNjs_jKS1&smid=url-share

No pizza for me tonight. I'm having leftover Momo at half-time of the Celtics game, which started at 4 pm and I thought that was odd. Back when I worked, I always had to work the day before T-Day.

Actually, @gulfporter, we had our Thanksgiving on Sunday night. Sous vided yellow beets (with sherry vinegar) and roast duck. We'll have leftovers tomorrow. In writing this message I see an unposted response to you for this post. Do you manage to make the paella in 60 minutes? And have you posted that recipe somewhere on eGullet? I'm intrigued.

I'm sorry that the Last Supper didn't work out as well as the first time. We've had that happen to us many times but it's always sad. But I enjoyed your short trip, so thank you!

Honestly, I think they are just producing so many of these different newer tomato varieties. All these corner fruit and vegetable stands most likely get their stuff from the Hunts Point Produce market, the same distributors that stock many restaurants and stores...they just get what the stores and restaurants haven't taken at the end of the day. Tomatoes seem especially cheap; apples, pears, strawberries, etc. are almost the same price as at a place like Trader Joe's or the brand new LIDL which recently opened across the street from TJs.

Show of hands 🖐️🖐️........ How many of you plan to order pizza 🍕 tonight (Wednesday before 🦃Day)? Appears to be a tradition with many friends and extended family members.

I think that's one of the most gratifying experiences in cooking / baking / confectionery and, for that matter, in any other skill. It means you're really getting a grip on the process! Congratulations!

That’s much more like the way we did it back in the olden days!

I've been enjoying this salsa for a few months and it's really quite good. Not anywhere near as watery as some store brands I've tried, thick, but not overly so, and a nice level of heat. This is something of a Goldilocks salsa for me, just right, and a perfect choice for TJ's dipper-style corn chips. This has become my go-to salsa. Guests have liked it and said so.

apparently not every McD's uses the same method. this is an egg cracking speed contest - but you can see it's a big ole' flattop with many more egg pockets....

Regarding my latest little creation. I think it could be called "chocolate praliné". At least that's as close as I get. It consists of cocoa beans, caramellized sugar, half a vanilla bean (the scraped part) (i grind this into what resembles dry biscuits as the cocoa beans start to release some of the cocoa butter),add somewhat melted browned butter and mix it more, tonka is added with some sea salt, and finally hazelnuts. I did it in this order as I want the cocoa beans, vanilla and sugar to be mixed into as tiny pieces as you possible can - so I later could add hazelnuts and better control how much fat to release from them. Maybe I can do it in a different way, but it felt like a somewhat good way?! It's one of the best things I've ever made. I really love how I just went "let's try this," and it turned out bloody amazing.

Not too many photos from Monday, as we did exactly what I said we were going to do: sit on the deck and take in the view and read books. Here’s a picture of the sunset from our deck. And the afterglow, looking towards the hotel Dinner was at Solaris again. Unfortunately, we did not like it as much this time. Amuse bouche of smoky gazpacho. This was really tasty. Husband ordered the rockfish. It looked pretty, but was a little bland. I had the catch of the day, which was grouper. This was better than the rockfish, but still a little bland. The pickled parsnip salad on top was the best part. We shared a dessert of pavlova with pistachio cream and strawberry-basil ice cream. This was our favorite part of the meal. And that ends our quick visit to Bermuda. We will be back.

In my village and surrounding areas, a shrimp burger isn't shrimp formed into a patty with binders such as bread and eggs. Here, it's just cooked shrimp and grated cheese melted together in a pan. For me it's tricky, getting the heat right so it doesn't burn. Takes a few minutes at most. Then pull off heat and let sit a minute in pan to solidify. These were pretty good result; I managed to get the finished burger onto the buns in 2 pieces (locals do it in one fell swoop). Since the shrimp and cheese are both mild we don't load up with lettuce, tomato, etc. A squirt or two of chipotle mayo is all it needs.

Doing a Thanksgiving with another family this year for the first time. Main will be a smoked turkey. I’m doing Mac and Cheese instead of stuffing. Other family doing stuffing. Also doing creamed corn, sweet potatoes and a couple cranberry sauces

I really try to eat low carb and bread is off the list, but I just made one on a low carb tortilla, and while it was good, it wasn’t the same. The picture was ugly, too. 😂 I searched to find out if it was maybe a southern thing, but it’s not. I remember riding my bike holding a fried egg sandwich in one hand, and steering with the other. Perfectly portable and no runny egg to make a mess. Liking runny eggs (which I do) doesn’t stop me from enjoying them this way, especially with lacy crispy edges. I love runny or jammy yolks. This is just it’s own thing, I guess. I’m not sure which website you’re referring to? Where I am, the group sponsoring two of the community fridges has a Facebook page called Foodies of Lafayette. The people who run that page, which is generally about local restaurants, decided to take them over, as the previous volunteers seemed to lose momentum promoting them, and interest waned. There are other local community fridges, (like the one I donate to) not sponsored by the page, but are allowed to be promoted on their page. There are at least 7 fridges in this area. Some get more notice than others. I agree that it wouldn’t be easy to start one without lots of energy and time and effort.