chromedome

Quebec only, Coaticook brand cheddar, for potential listeria: https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2019-12-16/eng/1576561478528/1576561485300?utm_source=r_listserv

To me it feels like an induction version of my large electric skillet. I'm not in the market for such a thing, but I can certainly see the utility of it.

On a somewhat related note: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/12/judge-serves-up-sizzling-rebuke-of-arkansas-anti-veggie-meat-labeling-law/

An update/expansion of the Sunflower Crisp salad mix recall: https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-12-12/eng/1576180047004/1576180047316

https://ny.eater.com/2019/12/5/20978234/tripadvisor-best-nyc-restaurant-rankings-scam

Foreign matter (plastic) in PC brand cranberry goat's milk cheese: https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-12-11/eng/1576113490340/1576113496379?utm_source=r_listserv

Two words for you... "medicinal purposes." My paternal grandfather didn't hold with drinking, and had no respect for anyone who did drink. He did, however, keep a small bottle of brandy on hand for when he had a headache (a "bad head" in Newfoundland parlance, oddly echoing the French expression). These headaches occurred with suspicious regularity at the end of each week, though in fairness he reportedly only had one glass each time.

A friend of mine had a hollow one years ago. The whole point of the exercise was to fill it with ice cubes, so it would keep your pastry super-cold as you roll it. I can't say I was impressed with it. I have two, a tapered one and one with handles. The one with handles is about 16" wide without the handles, and the...uh...barrel?...of it (the business portion) is about 3, maybe 3 1/2" in diameter. Works pretty well.

Good enough. Lots of crisp skin. The bird of course was well done, because that's how this particular recipe works, but it was tasty enough and still moist. I bought two while they were on sale, and will probably do something different with the other one, but the results were perfectly acceptable.

It's just the loin. When you're talking about beef, it's the "NY strip." (ETA: In humans, it's called the "OMG, what have I done to my back this time...?")

As it happens, duck and Brussels sprouts were on the menu at my place tonight, too. The duck was a version of the five-hour slow roast that's been going around of late, and the sprouts were tiny ones from my garden (blanched and frozen a few weeks ago after harvest). In my case the sprouts were caramelized slowly in a skillet with onions from my garden. Other sides were roasted potatoes (in duck fat, natch) with roasted carrots and parsnips (the latter also from my garden) and braised cabbage (ditto) with onions and apples. No photos, alas, as my kitchen is currently a shambles with Christmas baking. Also laziness...

"Sunflower crisp" salad kit from Fresh Express, for E. coli. https://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-12-08/eng/1575846136193/1575846136974?utm_source=r_listserv

I only eat them sporadically (unlike a friend, who grew up in the stereotypical Big Irish Family that went through 100 lbs/week) but you don't need to be a frequent binge-er on french fries or potato chips to see the problem with a major shortfall in production of a significant staple. Bad news for everyone.

Oh, and fwiw the link works fine for me.

They're not tempered glass, so they're susceptible to thermal shock. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Personally, having gone to the requisite effort, I prefer not to risk the ignominy of scraping a batch of mixed jam and glass shards into the trash.

It certainly can't hurt to try. It's quite striking the difference aquaculture practices make. There are two salmon-rearing operations in my immediate vicinity, and when I opened my restaurant I tried them both head-to-head. One is among the largest players in salmon production, and they cater primarily to the price-sensitive mass market. Theirs was just sad...pale in color (not that color *really* matters) and equally insipid in flavor. The other was a smaller operation targeting a higher-end market niche, and theirs was vastly superior in every respect. Better color, better flavor, thicker fillets, firmer texture. Their cultivation practices were better as well, with pen densities at less than 1/3 of the populations stocked by their larger competitor. They also produce their own feedstocks, as opposed to buying feed. You'll have little trouble guessing which supplier I opted to use...

I had a similar mishap with my most recent pot of steel-cut oats. Thought I'd turned the pot off, but instead somehow had just lowered the induction hob to its lowest setting. Left it to "cool" for an hour, and returned to a smell of overdone oatmeal cookies. About 2/3 of the pot was salvageable, though I deliberately didn't scrape out as much as I could have in order to limit the whiff of scorched-ness. Too damned cheap frugal to throw it out, so that's been my breakfast the past two days and I'll finish it tomorrow. Next batch will be babysat with the vigilance one normally reserves for a 3-year old with ADHD and a bellyful of chocolate-covered espresso beans.

That's what crossing the border feels like for a Canadian. There's many a hard-drinking New Brunswicker who can cite in detail exactly how much you're allowed to bring back after a given length of visit, and I'm sure the same holds true for border areas of the other provinces. If "Two-buck Chuck" had a Canadian equivalent, it would be "Ten Buck Chuck" or something like that (or maybe "twelve-buck").

I've made up a large quantity of sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies, because I'm going to host the building's kids for a cookie-decorating day soon. I've also done a couple batches of shortbread cookies (I'll do another batch with browned butter as well, and one batch old-school as fingers), and a batch each of German cinnamon stars and what my GF knows as Russian tea cakes (aka pecan meltaways and many other things). I've baked the pieces for five little gingerbread houses and will do another batch soon to make a church, and will assemble a little gingerbread village on a large cake board at some point in the next week or so. Have made a batch of 8 mini-loaves of date-nut loaf (one of my Mom's holiday staples) and 9 mini-loaves of banana bread with nuts and chocolate (one of my GF's holiday staples) and will do one more of each, as well as a two batches each of cranberry-orange loaf and pound cake-y Sultana loaf (my mom's other two holiday staples). I'm thinking I'll plump the raisins with a bit of rum, just 'cause. Still to come (aside from what's already been mentioned) are more of the zimmtsternen and Russian tea cakes, a batch or two of linzer cookies and spritz cookies, a few kinds of chocolates and possibly some breads. I've got a stack of small dollar-store baskets on the side table near my desk, and plan to fill those for the neighbours and others peripheral to our circle, and slightly larger ones for family. Most years I start too late and don't get through half of what I'd intended, but this year I'm pretty much on track. This is the upside of work slowing down at this time of year.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/a-north-american-french-fry-shortage-could-be-on-the-horizon-1.4712386

Possible salmonella in President's Choice coleslaw. So far it's Ontario and points west, but possibly national. https://www.inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/newsroom/food-recall-warnings/complete-listing/2019-12-03/eng/1575413977507/1575413982486?utm_source=r_listserv

https://qz.com/1754394/intermittent-fasting-has-become-a-productivity-hack-for-men

LOL Might want to move that post to the humor thread...

Try this: https://www.heirloomgardener.com/plant-profiles/edible/cockes-prolific-corn-with-a-comeback-story-zm0z19szhoe Argh. That one hits a paywall as well, but not until you're halfway through. Here's another, which doesn't... http://www.thecarolinagoldricefoundation.org/news/2018/4/2/now-it-is-found-the-story-of-cockes-prolific-corn

Regrettably it's paywalled to anyone without a Premium membership. I found what appears to be the same recipe elsewhere: http://spoonbreadforhieronymus.blogspot.com/2008/12/amazing-five-hour-duck.html