Alex

42½ weeks later, Pete Wells blathers in the New York Times about the noise issue.

That's a gag gift box.

Is there a particular proportion you prefer?

Until I ran across it somewhere on the Intertubes, I had no idea that Starbucks Egg Bites was a thing. It's basically eggs plus cottage cheese plus your choice of ingredients. Ms. Alex thought they'd be great to take to work for a quick snack or lunch. After a bit of online research, I found this promising Instant Pot recipe and this Instant Pot mold. I made my first batch yesterday, using Swiss cheese, roasted red pepper, baby greens, and touch of salt and white pepper. Ms. Alex proclaimed it a winner.

"Truffle Oil Embarrassed..."

Reminds me of this Calvin and Hobbes:

Good idea, except it's sold out at the moment.

This marinade. It was great with duck, so I figured, why not boar?

From these folks

Company is coming for both. New Year's Eve Smoked oysters on crackers wine = Crémant Wild boar tenderloin, miso-orange marinade Leeks in white wine and butter Browned Brussels sprouts Roasted potatoes wine = Brunello Almond-orange honey cake Chocolate tahini Silan Dessert wine = Alvear PX New Year's Day Salad w/vinaigrette: Boston lettuce, Asian pear, toasted pecans, gorgonzola Hoppin' John (Rancho Gordo black-eyed peas!) Organic jasmine rice Cornbread Almond-orange honey cake Chocolate tahini Silan

Northwestern Cutlery, I suspect. I recently bought this knife during their Black Friday sale.

That was a nice show. I was impressed by the barrel maker. And I've been buying American Spoon Foods products for a good three decades now, so I was tickled to see them on the show. (Back when, I used to play softball with Justin Rashid's brother, fwiw.)

The Far Side is Back. Sort Of.

Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food, by Lenore Newman. I'm only a few chapters in. It's in the rotation with two other depressing but non-food-related books: Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, by Anne Nelson; and Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?, by Bill McKibben

I made this tonight. Browned the sausage (from these folks -- website and Facebook), as you mentioned. but in a big saute pan, then transferred to the IP. I didn't use any stock but I rinsed the tomato cans with some red wine. After seven hours I added oregano, garlic powder, salt and a small glug (is that an oxymoron?) of 10-year balsamic vinegar from Zingerman's; then cooked another two hours. Mixed it with gluten-free fusilli by Bionaturae (one of just two decent brands of g-f pasta, imo, the other being Schär) and cooked a little more. Superb.

This sounds great. Did you brown the sausage first?

For those who like puns, from today's Pearls Before Swine: signature dish

We're making Tg dinner the weekend before, to coordinate with Ms Alex's birthday. The timing for a fresh turkey from my favorite provider didn't work out, so it'll be a nice big chicken instead, roasted on a bundt pan. Here's the tentative menu: Smoked salmon on crackers Hild Elbling Sekt NV (Germany) Salad greens, crispy shiitakes, roasted chestnuts Ginger vinaigrette Cranberry-orange sorbet Roast chicken, mushroom sauce (probably chanterelles) Cornbread dressing Roasted potatoes Browned Brussels sprouts, dill Chateau St Jean Belle Terre Vineyard Chardonnay 2012 (California) Elk Cove Mount Richmond Pinot Noir 2012 (Oregon) Pumpkin tart, tahini salted caramel base, macadamia-almond crust Thickened and sweetened goat yogurt

The Onion chimes in about cocktails: "Cocktail Menu Scanned For Drink With Fewest Unfamiliar Ingredients"

OK, now I want to know more about this. Could you perhaps start another forum for us?

Here's another Halloween map (scroll down about 2/3 of the way), along with 26 others.

That's my preferred mass-market brand now. And apparently other folks', too. When it goes on sale at our Fresh Thyme Market, it's promptly scarfed up.

I think we did that one year when we weren't home, but Ms. Alex loves to see the kids in their costumes. I do, too, but I'm not as into it as she is.

Ditto re picking out their favorite Tootsie Roll Pop flavor(s). We're usually left with a bunch of orange ones, but that's OK.