chromedome

I'm guessing those oats are finer than the steel-cut oats I keep on hand for my morning oatmeal. Probably what I'd know as "Scotch oats," I'd guess.

There's a little Middle Eastern cafe in the YMCA in Saint John, as of a week ago. That one's perfectly logical, because the Y hosts a number of programs for new arrivals and we have a lot of Syrian refugees here. The cafe is operated by two of those recent arrivals, a pair of women who live nearby. I haven't been to the gym since they opened because of this damned crud that's going around (I seldom get sick but this one's holding on, and in my GF's case it turned to pneumonia) but I certainly plan to within the next few days.

I think of the scene with the lemonade vendor every time I make lemonade (just turned 55, myself, and raised a couple of Marx Brothers fans currently aged 30 and 25).

Mine, too. I'm the opposite of most people, I'm terribly disappointed if I pick what I think is oatmeal raisin and it turns out to be chocolate chip. I'm okay with a chocolate chip cookie occasionally, but usually it won't get eaten after that first bite.

I've had similar things happen, and the main requirement is patience. It's basically just sugar, and therefore water soluble. Clear the surrounding area as best you can, and damp it down liberally with a sponge or cloth. Let it sit for 8 or 10 hours, then give it a good wipe with the cloth to get up anything loose/dissolved, and re-wet it again. The second time, you'll be able to get more of it off. The third time or fourth time, it should be moistened right down to the cupboard's surface. At that stage you can take a scraper or spatula to get up most of it, then get the rest with a wet cloth and a green scrubbie.

https://qz.com/quartzy/1487485/the-scientific-case-for-eating-bread/

Sherman's Lagoon had one of my favorite food-related strips, which alas I can't find online. Sherman asks Ernest (IIRC), "Have you ever eaten something you haven't tasted in years, and it just brings back all kinds of memories you've forgotten?" Ernest: "It's a well-known phenomenon. In fact the great French novelist, Marcel Proust, wrote a whole series of novels about it." Sherman, incredulous: "Boogers?"

https://gizmodo.com/whats-the-most-dangerous-food-of-all-time-1830979433

Well, that makes sense. I mean, Spam's popular, but not a real staple like veal kidneys.

My GF has three fondue pots (!!!) so both the cheese and hot oil variants can happen at once and in a reasonably large company. We've only done that once in the few years we've been together. Viewed as a meal, it's rather a disproportionate amount of fuss (to my mind, at least). Of course, the whole point of the exercise is that it's not simply a meal, it's a social occasion. And it takes less time than, say...a game of Monopoly.

At the restaurant where I worked in Edmonton, the chef preferred Kenwood stand mixers because you could get a mouli/food mill accessory for them. The screen insert sat in the bowl, and there were angled paddles that attached to the mixer and pressed the food through. I don't remember what we used it for, probably fruit for sorbets, but it worked great and was a huge time saver. On the downside, those Kenwoods sound like a cement mixer when they're running. Real workhorses, but loud.

Yup. Scratch whichever itch is itchiest that week.

LOL I had to look at that a few times before it fell into place... I read it originally as "-38C," and I knew that just couldn't be right.

Sooooo....taking a break from the keto thing? (No judging here, my GF has to do that once a month or so as well.)

I'm a sucker for syntax humour myself. The first year we were together, my (now-) ex asked me to throw her over a dish towel. So I did. I found it much funnier than she did. (To clarify, for those who wonder, she became my ex almost 20 years later so I doubt that was part of it...)

I do that periodically in the summertime, though I use my venerable Cuisinart. My Vitamix is the old-school variety with the stainless steel jar, and I find it needs help with anything thick/chunky.

There's no plaice like home! (...hangs head, slinks away...)

I have a slight preference for a double sink, but I do appreciate the versatility of having one large one. My last place in Nova Scotia had the big old-fashioned sink, and I "doubled" it by the simple expedient of using a small plastic tub as my washbasin for dishes. The rest of the sink then became the functional equivalent of a second. When necessary (big roasters, etc) I'd just lift out the basin, and have the full space for oversized items.

That's what I know as Swiss steak as well, though there's a sharp division among those who make it with gravy and those who make it with a tomato-based sauce. I was raised with the tomato version, but I'm broad-minded enough to appreciate either. Dr. Salisbury was a 19th-century physician and crank, who theorized that the widespread diarrhea he saw among Civil War troops could have been avoided by a diet of coffee and minced lean beef. He developed the ancestral version of the Atkins/paleo/keto diets, and "Salisbury steak" was one of the dishes he recommended. Because vegetables and starchy foods were full of toxins, doncha know.

I'm a yellow-pea guy, myself. Green pea soup reminds me rather too vividly of an illness my son had, back in my diaper-changing days. I actually like mine more pea-forward and with fewer pieces of actual ham in it, which is another reason why hocks work so well for me. I'm not entirely certain why pea soup is more of a "thing" here than bean soup. Certainly there were plenty of beans grown and used in my neck of the woods, as well. It might just be a cultural thing...the Acadians here would have had an ancestral connection to good ol' potage St-Germaine, while the Anglophones of us would have had our "pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold." There's also the issue of peas' lesser reputation for provoking flatulence. When your winters are cold and (in the days before central heating) your house is buttoned up as tight as you can make it, that might have been a factor.

Much the same thing, but the other way around. I braise them in sauerkraut, usually with a piece of fresh pork as well and a few sausages added late, then serve it with boiled potatoes and a few different kinds of mustard. My longtime best friend's family was from Germany, and I learned this from his mom. I do also use them in bean soups, but - this being the East Coast - more often it'll be pea soup. I like mine to have a good ham flavor, and a hock works better than the bone left over from a ham. That being said, if I have a ham bone or ham skin I'll bag them and freeze them for soup days, and throw those in as well or instead.

I'll second that. I usually whisk my leavenings into the dry ingredients to incorporate them evenly, or - if they happen to be on the counter anyway - use my stand mixer or Cuisinart to do the same thing.

Finished the series last night. Overall it was fun to watch, though I had a few quibbles (especially about how the final judging went down). I won't get into that, though, because it'd be pretty difficult to discuss or even reference tangentially without spoilers.

That's quite interesting. I studied German back in 8th grade, which is exactly the wrong time for a roomful of boys to hear any word that sounds like "fart."