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Sorry this reply is so late, but this is an issue on which I have worked. I tried making my own transfer sheets for molded chocolates, and inevitably they cracked and were unusable. I gave up on the idea but am giving it more thought since my favorite transfer sheet maker has closed his business. Most transfer sheet manufacturers may say their transfers are fine with milk and dark chocolate, but--if one really wants colors that stay the color they originally are--they are not fine, unless you don't mind red turning into brown or blue turning into gray, etc. I think the site I am about to link can help you. It sells a substance used to ensure opacity of transfer sheets (that is the big issue with using transfers on milk or dark chocolate), and I have spoken with the owner at length about the issue and her possible solution. Here it is: https://www.yelibelly.com/online-shop/transfer-blender-for-chocolate-transfer-sheets

Dolin dry is a go-to here, but I also have a stash of good old Martini & Rossi dry, just in case. I have quite a few different sweet vermouths, depending on the cocktail or purpose. Dolin is darn good (and lighter/drier) than Antica, Cocchi, et al. (I like Antica for our Manhattans). In the Death & Co. cocktail book, they put together their own house version of a sweet, which is equal parts Dolin and Punt e Mes.

Dry side towels all day...

@liamsaunt thank you for taking us along. and sharing some wonderful dishes and sunsets.

Yesterday ended up being a total pouring rain washout, so no beach pictures. Our only foray from the house was when we went into town to attempt to have dinner at the local tavern. We walked in and encountered the rudest hostess I think I have ever had the displeasure of speaking with. This went beyond New England reserved to outright rudeness. Needless to say, we walked right back out. We ended up back at Viera on Main instead. Drinks (martini and phony Negroni) A shared fritto misto Swordfish with chickpea panisse and cauliflower puree steak frites Raspberry-strawberry bread pudding for dessert That’s it for this visit. I have had enough restaurant food for a while. See you back on the dinner thread.

My previously posted Dinner just didnt make the Grade. I like willed pasta , and , locally RANA has fresh filled refrigerated pasta i can work with. Unfortunately , their prosciutto and chicken tortellini is no longer made. it was quite nice in the past Ive had trouble getting filled pasta ' on the plate ' cooked properly . something about added pasta water at the end ? so have use that sort of pasta in a soup , as noted in Dinner , above. I like pasta w a little creamy-ness . for my linguini pork ragu and L. Campari , I get that w the addition of eggs a la carbonara it finally dawned on me that i could cook the filled pasta in one pot of simmering water , and have a second pot w the hot creamy addition , the add the filled pasta to that pot , problem solved. blurred pics to follow , unfortunately no salt C ofM soup a added IDS CkJell , then freshly grated nutmeg just a clearer pic cooked mushroom ravioli added . they can stay in this pot and finish cooking , if needed that was my issue in the past yes , my current standard fresh spinach and Campari I like both , and they are easy for me to buy at this point Id add some cooked FT-Rice , then the pasta mixture. but I forgot . after having a few bites , i remembered and added the rice on top , rather than between this pic winds no awards , but I liked the rice this way . the creamy ravioli , under it comes through w each bite and the rice retains more of its individual flavor and texture . properly cooked rice has a delightful texture all on its on. so a mistake resulted in a dish I prefer , visuals aside. another home made keeper for me delicious it was

If you're picking up something hot, and need to hold on to it, a mitt will let heat though, and the radiant heat from a hot pan can burn exposed skin. a grabber keeps your hand further away, and takes longer to transfer heat into your hand. the other place they're used is for grabbing pans out of a shallow oven -- pizza cooked in a 2" deep pan in a 5" oven is pretty tight, and grabbing with a tool is safer. You can reach in with one hand, grab the lip of the pan, pull it out, and put it on the counter. you'd need to use two hands with mitts or gloves, which is likely impossible to do in a crowded oven. @Shel_B the grabbers you list work on pizza pans, and get used in every pizza place in Chicago that does deep dish. some places, the wait staff use them to carry the pans to the table. I don't see why they wouldn't work on a sheet pan, as long as the jaw is short enough. (pizza pans are taller than sheet pans.)_

I had to search for a Gentlemen's Paste recipe. That sounds delicious!!!

And it's absolutely delicious 😋

I have an old pear tree that somehow manages to spit out a handful of gnarly looking specimens every year, which inevitably end up in a Tarte Bourdaloue... The pears were poached with star anise and tonka, the almond cream punched up with some mahleb.

Basically, it's anchovy paste with butter and herbs. Also known as Patum Peperium. Great on toast or crackers (or, in my case, teaspoons!)

Familiar with piccalilli and Branston - what’s Gentleman's Reliah?

Not my experience at all. My mother served piccalilli with almost anything and any time of year. I had Branston Pickle on a cheese sandwich just yesterday (in China where, like me, they don't celebrate Christmas) and would eat Gentlemen's Relish for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could source it here. I always hated piccalilli although to be fair I only ever got it from a jar - probably Heinz.

It's a vague reference to 'A Christmas Carol', as most people only get them out around that time of year

https://kristagilbert.com/davenport-soft-peanut-brittle-recipe/ Had it posted over in the workshop follow up.

That is correct. Battered and sauteed chicken was considered a French method for some reason.

What do you mean here by "ghosts"?

Have you checked your yeast raised pancake batter recently? 🤭

Not sure I'd google that on a work computer 😁

A couple to share today... I shall never again reach into a near boiling (95C) sous vide bath only to discover my silicone gauntlet leaks. I shall never again almost certainly again allow an organic pineapple to liquify in the living room. I cannot lie, this makes twice in recent memory.

Showing that I must be a creature of habit with my breakfasts. Saturday and Sunday lightly fried egg and sourdough toast with Danish feta.

It has a similar hue to piccalilli, one of the three* British Ghosts of Christmas Condiments: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-piccalilli *The other two being Branston pickle and Gentleman's Relish

The English Breakfast tea bags make for a very nice (cold brewed) iced tea.

What rotuts said, damn. Looking at that made me hongry! I've got a pork butt brining for this week, but I need to dig into the beef side of the freezer next. I've enjoyed this thread, and am a little sad that the beef farmer I've bought beef from for the last several years is no longer offering quarters.

Good news. Low temperature hydration of Gellan F is definitely possible 😀 In fact, the addition of sodium citrate worked almost too well... Still, the Elderflower sorbet had perfect scooping consistency after two spins in the Pacojet. I paired it with a base of roasted sunflower seeds (flavoured and bound together with salt, honey and glucose syrup) and grated frozen blue cheese. Very, very close, but for a sorbet, I actually found it slightly too "creamy". Gellan proves its reputation as a bit finicky, but its amazing flavour release and promising results on consistency, is definitely worth further testing. With some minor tweaks to the gellan and sodium citrate amounts, the elderflower sorbet might be dialed in perfectly 🙂 and then I can move on to other flavors. Adding all the sugars (and salt?) before hydrating the Gellan gum, as opposed to after like I did in this test, may have an impact on the result too. For those interested, the elderflower infusion I used had a Brix of 0.9%.