Alex

Have you had any wine from them?

I use mine nearly every week. See my post here.

That's the exact one I use. Dare I buy another one? And this is the basic recipe I use, more or less. Always 4 eggs, ½ cup cottage cheese, and somewhere between ¼ and ½ cup chopped or shredded cheese (usually Swiss/Jarlsberg/Gruyère). Usually a couple of handfuls of baby spinach, sometimes with arugula. Occasionally bacon, cooked and chopped. Always salt and white pepper. Sometimes other seasoning; Penzey's Sunny Paris is a favorite. However, I use the Steam setting instead of High Pressure -- also for 10/10. I start the cooling process with the lid off. After 10-15 minutes, I push the bites up a bit, just to make sure they'll release properly. After another 10 minutes or so, I move them to the fridge.

I've usually used Plymouth. I think PUNCH prefers it, too. I've yet to try Aviation brand gin.

I agree. In my limited cookie-baking experience (a good third of it chocolate chip, though), I'd say that creaming the butter and sugar together to start is the most crucial part. I suspect you'll be fine.

Full story here

Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. I make it regularly, except grilled (so to speak) on the stove and w/o the roll.

I also spotted the recipe and, taking a leap of faith, bookmarked it. Some time in the not-too-distant future, after Cubanelle peppers arrive at a nearby farm market, I'll take one for the team and give it a go. I also use Cubanelles in my gazpacho (Julia Moskin's NYT recipe), to no ill effect.

Celery stalker:

I suspect it still tasted markedly better than pretty much any commercial variety. I've made DL's recipe. I'm also a fan of Jeni's Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk Ice Cream (here).

Good article about taste preferences This was new information for me:

This is interesting. Bernie, do you have a reference or two for that?

From NerdSnacks, this week's Meme of the Week:

OK, I know there's a lot of unwarranted and overheated concern about GMOs, but this one, I dunno.

Flavedo was M-W's Word of the Day on May 28. It's defined as I also learned its literal flip side, albedo, which is I knew that word only for its primary definition:

Dijon

It was a "Judge John Hodgman" column. Here's a shareable link.

And if it ever asks you for a companion, you can get it this one (which I do have; maybe we can arrange a play date and see how it goes).

From the New Yorker:

I've made Jeni's Roasted Strawberry & Buttermilk Ice Cream with great success.

That's a panisse you see here, from our recent dinner at Bulrush

Thanks for the report about the boulangerie. I went right by there a couple of weeks ago but it didn't even register! Foo. I even had a snippet of conversation with my Airbnb hosts (he's a retired -- for now -- restaurateur) about the lack of excellent bakeries in DC save for Bread Furst.

The bread wasn't part of the meal. He included the recipe because one of our "parting gifts" was a little packet of two watermelon seeds (I forget the varietal) for us to plant. The first course was my favorite, with its unusual and unexpected flavors, construction, and presentation. The smoked catfish ice cream was the most challenging course. It worked, but I don't think I'll be making anything similar (Great Lakes smoked whitefish around here) at home. The only dud, imo, was the short rib dish. It was Rob's riff on Ozarkian meat and three, but it was a bit of a snoozer for me—although compensation was provided by the accompanying Syrah from the Languedoc, Monsieur Petit Myrmidon 2019 (not Myridon—a typo in the menu). Here's the rest of the handout that was in our parting package:

May 7 it was...

Pray tell, what is so horribly risky about eating the occasional -- and properly prepared -- deep-fried food?