chromedome

AFAIK I'm getting nothing culinary this year, but of course I'm not necessarily privy to everyone's gift-giving intentions. Last year the in-laws gifted me with a food dehydrator, which was one of the very few things left on my "always kinda wanted, never owned" list. I've tried to emphasize to everyone that a) I have pretty much every kitchen gadget I'm interested in owning, and several more that I've just accumulated; and b) in the event I see fit to add something to my (already-requires-too-much-storage) kitchen battery, I'd probably prefer to pick it myself. I suggested shirts. My shirts always seem to get stains and spots from cooking (I own dozens of aprons, never think to put one on until it's too late).

Well, it's not a successful mission until they've actually taken their samples and brought 'em back to earth. But yeah, getting there is - as they say - half the fun. Or the stress, if you're in the telemetry, navigation and guidance systems end of things (he is).

My GF actually sent me that one, because it made a nice intersection with my existing interest in rocketry and space exploration. My best friend since childhood is actually in aerospace, and played a significant role in the current OSIRIS-REx mission.

That's genius. If I still baked regularly, that might have finally given me a reason to dabble in SV.

My GF and I binged the first four episodes last night. I generally don't watch these competition shows, because (like Lisa) I detest the hackneyed format, but the food made it interesting enough to keep watching. I'll probably finish it, but it isn't really overcoming my dislike of the competition-show structure in general. Seeing a guy who has placed well in the Bocuse d'Or struggle with the individual challenges just underlines the unreality of it all.

GQ, of all publications, followed up with a really good and touching retrospective: https://www.gq.com/story/anthony-bourdain-men-of-the-year-tribute

We had a few days' serious thaw, so unexpectedly I was able to get one more harvest out of my garden (we'd been in the deep freeze 10 days ago, and I wasn't sure I'd get another opportunity). I managed one more mess o' greens, mostly hardy brassicas with a bit of dandelion. The beets I'd planted late - mostly for greens - gave me about a dozen golden beets (an early variety, Golden Grex..the extra-dark Bull's Blood, not an early variety, didn't give me anything but greens in the limited time I had). To my surprise I also got the other half of my red onions, which I'd assumed would be a write off. I'd gambled on leaving them in the ground for another week or two, and then the hard freeze intervened. My indoor lettuces and kale look like they'll do well in their current location (on a windowsill in our exercise room, where they get more light) so I'll have something fresh to look forward to after the holidays.

Found on FB:

But...those pics are in color...

Yeah, it's a difference of focus. Yours are meringue cookies with nuts in 'em, while cinnamon stars are nut cookies with enough egg white to hold them together.

Wearing my former food-safety trainer hat: Anna's right, molds can introduce mycotoxins into foods even when they're apparently confined to the surface. Also, as Lisa says, many pathogens (especially Listeria monocytogenes) can quite happily keep on keepin' on even at refrigerator temperatures. I share your horror at the tragedy of wasted lamb stock, but OTOH it's an excuse to eat lamb again soon so you'l have the makings for a new batch. That, plus avoiding a nasty bout of GI distress, adds up to a win-win.

Yeah, that's it. I can't speak for Dejah but we've bought it a few times for my GF, who's keto-ing this autumn, and she's liked it. If you think of it as skinny orzo, rather than as "rice," you'll pretty much have the picture. What's available in my neck of the woods is a different brand (the name escapes me at the moment) but I'm sure it's pretty similar.

Ours is dominated by a large vase of cut flowers, and has a small laptop semi-permanently at one end. Much of the rest is usually buried under pet and grandkid stuff, so any time more than one or two are sitting down to eat we need to spend a few minutes clearing the table first.

Basically nuts held together by sugary meringue, and usually (but not invariably) topped with royal icing or a similar glaze. My daughter has a (diagnosed) gluten allergy, so I make them every year. There's actually an entire class of German Christmas cookies made with nuts and egg whites, and varying in the details.

Zimtsternen, since it's that time of the year.

Hmmm. I'll have to bear that in mind. I usually buy one or the other of those to make a few things at Christmas time. I've not had any problems, but neither did you until this time.

LOL Why report a boring ol' meteor when you can monetize a YouTube channel about your awe-inspiring UFO sighting?

Yeah. I'm still not sure if it's a really, really bad location, or a really, really inspired one.

"Location, Location, Location" Dept: This is the local Weight Watchers office in my city. On the left, a burger joint; on the right, fried chicken.

Sage Derby is a nice "gateway drug" if you can find it there. It's got a nice herbal flavor to it, and the veins in it are green rather than some sort of disturbing red or purple, so it's perhaps a bit easier psychologically.

I basically can't hear people at all in any kind of retail establishment. My actual threshold of hearing, as tested a few years ago, isn't too bad...down about 5 percent in one ear and closer to 10 in the other, pretty much the normal range for a guy in his mid-50s. The problem is that I can't pick voices out of background noise (ie, I need a favorable signal-to-noise ratio). To make things worse, my ears appear to be most efficient at picking up exactly the kind of frequencies generated by HVAC systems and crowd noise. The average Walmart isn't an especially noisy place, for example (most days) but for me the HVAC is thunderous and reduces me to lip-reading. Bars and restaurants are worse, because on top of noise from the mechanicals you've got the din of conversation, you've got music, loud drunken people, etc. Usually I just stay home.

Hmmm. Is it just me, or is that yellow bottle closest to the camera Greek olive oil?

Yeah, the self-rising part is neither here nor there IMO. Even White Lily posts self-rising and regular versions of biscuit recipes on its website.

Kind of a quasi-pierogy, I suppose. Actually, out in Alberta pierogy pizza is a thing. Mashed potatoes, bacon bits, caramelized onions, etc. I've never had one myself, but I can see how it would work once you get past the actual idea of it. Hmmm. Google tells me this is fairly common in the American midwest, as well, especially around Pittsburgh. So I guess this isn't news to a lot of you.

It crops up with other forms of childhood nostalgia, like Cheez Whiz on celery and certain indefensibly bad pop songs.