chromedome

Yes, red jelly for the Linzers. I say "jelly," but usually it's raspberry jam with the seeds strained out. I know apricot is equally traditional, and one year (when I actually had some apricot jelly on hand) I made some of each, but raspberry is much easier to find. The vanillekipferl are pretty much the same dough as for the Linzers, but with the dab of cinnamon omitted and with vanilla instead. The "Russian tea cakes" are shortbread-ish, but with nuts added (walnuts or pecans; this year it was walnuts because my pecans had bugs in 'em). They're rolled into 1-inch balls and baked, then rolled in confectioner's sugar while still warm from the oven, and again after they've cooled. The icing sugar melts the first time, of course, but it makes them sticky and helps the second coating of sugar adhere. They're best when the nuts are toasted first, and we usually make them with browned butter (50/50 with plain butter) for that extra bit of nuttiness.

This year's scaled-down Cookie-palooza is pretty much wrapped up (I have a few details to put on snowmen, but that's about it). Sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies in multiple seasonal shapes, something I know as "Russian tea cakes" (aka "Mexican wedding cakes," "pecan meltaways," etc), zimtsternen, Linzer cookies (one granddaughter's special favorite) and vanillekipferln. Decorated cookies with my grandkids on the weekend, and this afternoon - fulfilling a promise I made when I moved - I'm heading back to my old building to decorate another batch with my former neighbour's three sons. I've lost count, but it's somewhere between 300 and 400 cookies total. Down somewhat from previous years, due to time and budget constraints, but enough to bring gift boxes to many friends and family.

I have an 80s-vintage Cuise that I use infrequently but consistently. When my old work bowl broke I was fortunate enough to find an entire backup Cuisinart on a local buy-sell site for the same price as a replacement bowl online. It's a replica "Classic" model rather than an original, but since my original is only 40 years old and still going strong I haven't actually used the backup yet. Unfortunately the work bowl that came with the new machine has the new-style lid/pusher assembly, which is an absolute PITA to disassemble and clean.

Finocchiona brand salami, the Sweet Fennel version, is being recalled for possible salmonella contamination. It was sold from BC to Ontario. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/venetian-meats-brand-finocchiona-salami-sweet-fennel-recalled-due-salmonella?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23&

There's an update on this one (BC is now also included): https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/igor-brand-gorgonzola-dolce-recalled-due-listeria-monocytogenes?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

Western folks, be aware that Taynton brand pickle-flavored vodka (a phrase I never thought I'd type, but here we are) has been recalled for excessive levels of copper. It's sold in BC and Alberta, and online. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/taynton-bay-spirits-brand-pickle-vodka-recalled-due-elevated-levels-copper?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23

The future of coffee? Maybe? https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/12/your-next-pour-over-may-be-liberica-or-excelsa/

Igor brand gorgonzola is being recalled in Ontario and Quebec due to possible listeria contamination. https://recalls-rappels.canada.ca/en/alert-recall/igor-brand-gorgonzola-mild-ripened-blue-veined-cheese-recalled-due-listeria?utm_source=gc-notify&utm_medium=email&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=hc-sc-rsa-22-23&

They're pretty much always to be found at Sobeys and Superstore, but often they're in the frozen section. I buy them occasionally when I think of it.

I spend a lot of my working day digging information out of badly-constructed websites. If you scroll to the very bottom of the home page you'll see a link for the site map. Site maps are your friend. There's also a "Contact Us" link there, but I passed over that in silence when I posted the above. Another useful play, especially when there's no site map, is to Google the thing you're looking for, and then specify the site in question. So in this case it might be contact us site:lepicerie.com or contact information site:lepicerie.com Instead of specifying "site" you can use "inurl" the same way - ie contact us inurl:lepicerie.com - but I usually go with "site" just because it's one fewer character to type and it keeps you among the most-used letters on the keyboard. When you do this stuff all day, those little details add up.

New York City https://www.lepicerie.com/about-our-company/ Contacts page: https://www.lepicerie.com/contacts/

We all have these days, right? ...right?

The very first episode, in fact.

I had genuinely expected that to be the culmination of the story.

Huh. My local No Frills (the discount arm of Loblaw's, our largest grocery chain) has ducks for $3CDN/lb, up from $2/lb back in the spring. They're costlier at the main supermarkets, mind you.

My GF is keen to do this now that we're on an acreage. May or may not happen, of course, but I'll keep an eye on this thread.

Figured it out in less than a week. Not that it isn't obvious...

"The Glue That Holds This Place Together" has a nice ring to it, but doesn't reduce well to a keyword search.

Where the "Food Funnies" and "Companions" threads overlap...

More or less my reaction, as well. Oddly, my earworm when I woke up this morning was the Beatles' "Piggies" (I can't imagine what I might have been dreaming about), specifically the line about them using forks and knives to eat their bacon. Finding this on my timeline a few minutes afterwards seemed utterly apropos.

... an eggsistential dilemma...

Not so much, no. I like being on the coast. Truthfully it was not the winters there that I minded, it was the summers. Not a fan of hot-and-dry (not a fan of hot, period, but getting desiccated as a side benefit just seemed a bit much).