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Irene's pictures this time. Iren

Still trying to get rid of some herbs.... Pho ga with....

good point...but worse now

Read "Bright Lights, Big City". It's been going on for almost 50 years!

For the radish lovers amongst us, a Radish butter to spread on baguette or crackers. This is going to get some finely chopped pistachios at time of service. 6 oz. of radish are finely chopped in the food processor along with two tablespoons of vinegar. This is left to rest for ten minutes and then well drained until totally dry. While this is occurring, soften 4T butter, along with 1/4t salt and 1-2 teaspoons of horseradish, mix well. When radishes are as dry as possible, mix with the butter and add additional salt and horseradish if desired .

Thank you @Ann_T - busy summer with the usual yard work projects and outdoor diversions, so I haven't been baking as much. Hoping to rectify that now that most of them are finished. Always inspired by your posts here and on Facebook. Thanks for sharing them so freely!

@PatrickT, I was just going to post asking where you were. I've missed seeing your posts.

I was just about to answer this but Patrick beat me to it. I agree completely with the idea that it is in the shaping. I have a pebbly glass tablet that I use for shaping the dough and I used to shape it without using any extra flour. I found out that the drag of the board sometimes prevented proper tension. Now I use just a tiny sprinkling of flour and it helps to eliminate pockets and makes for smoother surface.

Lemon poppyseed sourdough. While the crumb is definitely tight, the flavor is delicious. Not sure why I didn't try this before! - 400g bread flour - 100g white whole wheat flour - 375g water - 10g salt - 50g starter - 50g honey - 100g poppy seeds - Zest of one whole lemon, coarsely grated

I see nobody answered your question. I'm hardly a bread making authority, but I wonder if this could be a shaping issue - especially given the fact that it appears intermittently. Maybe try degassing the dough well before shaping and then ensure that there are no trapped air pockets as you're doing the final shaping. Hope that helps!

Deb Perelman has a recipe for a Porch Swing cocktail on her website.

That's plausible. I'd have hyphenated it in that case, but (shrug) I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt.

In taking lots pottery classes I had a Japanese instructor. I married a Korean and one of her friends told me that a back at that time a 'joke' was for one Korean potter to tell another "Quick, wash your hands. Japanese soldiers are coming.

Maybe because that’s how they wanted it to read? Ranting about restaurants… at times. She has never been a restaurateur.

A small "hot pot" meal. A few things that needed using up. ------------#2------------------------- Roasted aubergine and Turkish peppers. Kurdish tandir flatbread and the rest Intensely aromatic Greek mint ------------------#3------------------- Minty meatballs. There's already loads of mint in the mince. Quinoa with lovage from the garden, and parsley. The mint "branches" are getting bare. Finishing very soon at the rate I've been using. Good that I got 2 bags of it. At first I wasn't sure how to store it after opening. Then it occurred to me that it's much faster and easier to rub the whole thing in the bag and tip the leaves onto a newspaper. Remove all the small "twigs" that fall out together with the mint, now it's ready to use it in my food. @MaryIsobelThank you!

Dough for this batch was started using a sourdough biga that had been left on the counter Tuesday night (May 21st) and then went into a batch of dough Wednesday morning (May 22nd). After the last stretch and fold the dough went into the fridge for a long cold fermentation (about 80 hours). I asked Matt to take the dough out of the fridge around noon yesterday so that it would be ready for me use when I got home from work. I used 300g of dough to make a pepperoni pizza for Moe and I and six baguettes.

One of these?

@rotuts thanks!

Proofreading and copy-editing are almost nonexistent. I even found a couple errors in a recent New Yorker. Maybe one day AI will be up to it.

I had the good fortune to have a couple of meals out this week. We have a new place in my little area. I met friends at Osteria Bianchi for Happy Hour the other night. I had their Pizza Finnochio and it was fantastic. Took home half, which I had for another night. Yesterday after we decorated family graves, we had a late lunch in Independence at Ophelia's. I did not take photos but had a delicious brunch item It was a thyme and cheddar biscuit that was topped with cheese, coconut chicken, thick crispy bacon, an over easy egg and drizzle of hot honey. It was delicious and enormous. I'll be having the rest for a supper. We followed lunch with cocktails at a little place on the Independence Square. The Sentinel Room is a very small intimate bar in the old newspaper building. Delightful people and delicious cocktails. Did not take many photos but here are my BIL's smoked old-fashioned and my sister's champagne cocktail of some sort. That is my older sister in the photo who would be horrified that I put that photo of her on the internet.

A few more.

Couple more from Bob

I agree with palo. I'm a bit confused by your measurements in inches and millimeters, and I wonder whether that i.d. will really be 1/4". (I can see you wonder also.) The flexible 7mm tubing I found on Amazon has an i.d. of 5 mm (13/64"), slightly smaller than 1/4". Is the Polyscience tubing stretchy enough to fit over a 14" adapter?

We are in the Berkshires in Western MA visiting my nephew.and family. They live in the middle of nowhere and it's lovely. Despite the odds there is a wonderful place called the Dream Away Lodge ten minutes from their house.. It's in an old traditional reconverted farmhouse. We all had Porch Swings. I've never had one before, mainly because I thought they were always made with bourbon, which I don't really like, but these were made with gin and they were fantastic. Summer in a glass. And it is hot weather here in MA. The place was packed. We sat outdoors where the kids could run up and down a grassy slope. We all could have had several more Porch Swings but the kids were getting hungry and there were no available tables for food service. Sadly the place was all booked up tonight for dinner, or we would have made a reservation. The Porch Swing is going to replace my G & T this summer if I can figure out how to make one.

Our traditional Sunday dinner ( when it’s not a curry !! ) A roast, this time roast belly pork with lots of vegetables including pumpkin , rough apple sauce and gravy. Belly pork in its baking dish