chromedome

Alex, I'll take "Things I didn't expect to see in the gardening section," for $800? (It's actually only $29.99 CDN, but that doesn't really fit the catchphrase)

That sucks. Mine is a Cuisinart with convection (CT used to sell similar models in the $149-$179 range, but apparently not anymore). The current equivalent seems to be this one: https://www.cuisinart.ca/TOB-135NC.html?lang=en#lang=en&start=1 I've been happy with mine, but of course there are a few caveats. For one, I got mine for $9.95 at Value Village, so my expectations were minimal (though it did appear to be in new condition, and may never have been used). Also I've never checked the accuracy of its temperatures, and have probably used mine for less actual cooking or baking than you've done in your lamented Breville. That said, I've had no issue cooking or baking in it on the occasions I've tried. Toaster ovens in general are prone to over-browning on the top, and this one is no exception, but that's easily dealt with. It doesn't appear to be notably hotter or cooler than the purported temperature. I expect there's some individual variation at play, too, given the price range: the ones that came off the production line immediately before and after mine may have performed differently.

My ex's grandmother made what she called zummerborscht, using beet tops, ham or chicken broth, and new baby potatoes and carrots from the garden. It leaned heavily into fresh dill (my version more so than hers, because I do love dill), and was usually finished at the table with a splash of buttermilk. She was a Mennonite, and her family had previously lived in the "colonies" scattered across modern-day Ukraine and Belarus.

Very cool. Apparently it's part of the broader magnolia family (as are nutmeg and cinnamon, so I've already learned a few new things today). One blogger seems to call it "spider berry," but that appears to be an ad hoc name that nobody else uses or acknowledges. (ETA: Liuzhou doubtless knows the above already, but I thought maybe it saves someone else a click or two on Google...)

Wow... the vet's face must have been a study when fielding that request...

Food funnies, headline editor edition:

...and I make at least a small part of my living by vetting AI outputs on a number of different criteria, and I don't doubt it for a minute. I expect image-generating AI will largely supplant conventional memes and animated GIFs over the next few years. And I'm willing to wager that bringing dad jokes to realistic life will certainly be a major use-case.

Not a "funny," as such, but... croissantasaurus.

I expect that it's a color issue, as much as anything. A leek and cauliflower soup would be pretty white in the normal run of things, and caramelizing the leeks would affect that. I'm personally a flavor guy, so I'd do it, but I see a lot of recipes that emphasize not allowing the aromatics to brown at all on esthetic grounds.

I had to look that up. In Canada, at least, their prices seem in line with the other chains; you're going to pay somewhere around $14-$16 dollars for a burger combo at Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King or A&W. That's not the "value" combo, mind you, that's a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder, a Whopper, a Baconator, etc. The mainstream burger.

I would like to think that this is the "bridge too far," the place where people will draw the line and say "[expletive] this [expletive]" and spend their money elsewhere. To my eye, an ideal outcome would be a backlash that impacts their revenues not only in the test market, but across the entire chain. They won't miss my "once every few years" custom (I don't darken the door of a burger chain very often), but they've lost it for what that's worth.

"Uber Eats" indeed... https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/02/wendys-plans-ai-powered-menu-to-change-food-prices-based-on-demand-weather/

It's more a parenting thing, but kinda food related anyway.

One of my "favorites" in that particular school of design is when the force required to open a bag's zipper seal exceeds the tensile strength of the bag itself. Gets me going, every time.

Per the company's website, linked in the original post, it's only partly about boiling water quickly. More immediately it's about eliminating the need for a dedicated high-current 240v circuit for people who - like Blue_Dolphin upthread - aren't wired for it, and wouldn't be able to use a conventional range. In that context it's in interesting "out of the box" solution, and the money not spent on having an electrician re-wire your kitchen would probably defray a chunk of the price premium for the range itself. I'm not saying it's a universal solution, by any means, but I'm sure it would work for some. If the technological and (more importantly) political hurdles involved prove surmountable, feeding energy back into the grid would just be a nice bonus.

I wrote a long rant about storage, renewables and their inevitable rise, but it would take us well OT so I've refrained.

Taylor Farms' "Mexican Street Corn" salad kits are being recalled for salmonella. Currently known to impact provinces from Ontario east, though that could change pending further updates. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/taylor-farms-brand-mexican-style-street-corn-chopped-salad-kit-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

Vehicle-to-load/vehicle-to-grid already exists, though it's still in its infancy and not all BEVs support it. And yes, it is potentially a way to stabilize the grid once EV adoption reaches the necessary level; it's been researched for years in terms of both the technology and the policy incentives necessary to make it happen at scale. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518300995 https://www.virta.global/blog/vehicle-to-grid-boom-is-around-the-corner Currently in North America it's being framed in terms of your EV being an emergency power source during outages (Ford's ads for the electric F-150 really pushed that), but for anyone who lives in a jurisdiction where a) power rates fluctuate with demand, and b) net metering is available, it can be done at a personal level right now as a bill-management thing. I'm sure there is some degree of loss involved as the electrons move in one direction or the other, but the variance between daytime and nighttime rates is what will make it or break it for a given individual. The batteries in home appliances will be significantly smaller than those in vehicles, of course, but once the principle becomes established with vehicles I expect it could be implemented with any other product containing a battery of a given minimum size. In fact, the more I think about it, as battery chemistries improve and the cost per kw/h comes down, I can absolutely see the value in adding a battery to appliances. For those of us who live in areas prone to power outages, wouldn't it be wonderful to own a fridge and freezer with their own battery backup?