chromedome

My GF and I are planning a Thin Man marathon at some point over the holidays.

Stores here sporadically sell 'em with an external wire frame, for just that reason (it's otherwise a fairly standard deep foil 1/2 pan size). Since they're not always available, I eventually had an epiphany and kept a couple of the frames. Now I can just buy a disposable foil half-pan when I want, and don't have to worry about it (I also have permanent roasters, and sometimes use one...depends on my mood).

Yeah, that. As I explained somewhere upthread a year or more ago, I'm not bothering to post the ones that are allergen-specific or lack wide applicability (a recall by one small producer, confined to a specific region of Nova Scotia - to pick a random example - wouldn't apply to most here).

This isn't quite a peeve of the same order, but I'll add it just because it's explicitly a "venting" thread. Although I seldom watch it, my GF likes to have the Food Network running as the background to her day, so - as she puts it - "I don't watch it all the time, but when I *do* look up I see something tasty." Often, this involves a whole day of those road-food shows, which seem to revolve primarily around examples of artery-clogging excess. Truthfully, if I ever again hear a grinning host use the phrase "...this over-the-top burger..." it will be too soon.

Thinking "inside the box," as it were.

...and pretty meaningless, especially in the role of adjective (ie, "gourmet" processed cheese product.. (I know it once actually *had* a specific meaning, but that has long since been shed)

Some batches of Sobeys' "Compliments" brand smoked beef pastrami are being recalled for possible listeria. Currently listed as NS, Ontario and "possibly national." https://www.inspection.gc.ca/food-recall-warnings-and-allergy-alerts/2020-11-22/eng/1606105850558/1606105856067?utm_source=r_listserv

That would be a bad, bad, day.

I got the full set of roller attachments, which IIRC retails for around $300 here in Canada, for $100. They'd been on clearance at one of my local stores for about 18 months without moving, so I made the manager an offer. I use 'em pretty regularly, as long as my GF isn't keto-ing at the time. Most recently a couple of weeks ago for ricotta-filled ravioli, at her request.

Hmmm. I've been pretty good about culling unused stuff of late, but little of that has actually been appliances. I don't use my ice cream maker but once or twice a year, though that's mostly because the GF is always dieting and it's just not right to make it harder for her. It's in my storage locker, and I know where to find it when I need it. I'll use my slow cooker a lot over the next few months, then very little during the not-cold months, but that's a normal cycle. My GF's little "mini-chopper" (petite food processor) is something I seldom use, partly because it's harder to clean than my full-sized Cuise and partly because I hate the sound it makes. She also owns a chocolate fountain that we've used exactly once in the 6 years we've been together (at her daughter's wedding). I suppose we really "don't need" that, but it's hers and she likes knowing she's got it if she feels the urge. (shrug) What's one cubic foot of our storage locker, if it makes her happy? We also have a small Keurig machine down in storage, which one of her daughters left behind when moving away. It's the emergency backup, should her main Keurig ever kick the bucket. It's also handy on moving day, so as to have coffee available at each location. Not that I plan to move again anytime soon, but my plans sometimes don't figure into it...

We were supposed to have brunch with one of my stepdaughters today, in belated celebration of her birthday (it occurred while I was in NS for my mom's birthday), but we're back into "orange" level restrictions now - in NB, that means keeping to one's own household - so instead it'll be "curbside drop-off." Made up a batch of yeasted Belgian waffles, crisped a sheet pan of bacon in the oven, caramelized some pineapple, and will send along some whipped cream and maple syrup as well. She's also getting crème brûlée, which has become our little tradition.

Hyup. I'm currently buying "C" grade Honeycrisp apples from a local grower's storefront at $1.20/lb, which is 35-50% of the regular retail at stores. What makes 'em "C" grade? Random sizes, irregular shapes, and the odd cosmetic blemish. (shrug) Works for me...

I *have* a little extra fridge, and am thinking very seriously of a little extra upright freezer to match. Again, there are just the two of us.

Costco used to sell those (at least here in Canada) but had switched over to French's last I checked. I thought they were fine.

I almost always butter and grill my burger buns, and buy the "New England-style" (split top) hot dog buns so I can do the same with those. ...And bread for sandwiches is always buttered, even if it subsequently gets another spread/condiment on it, because that's what keeps the bread from getting soggy.

LOL True...and few nightmares worse for a culinary student than having instructors with sharply opposed and vigorously held opinions, during the same semester...

They might have interpreted that as 6 lbs, maybe? Bananas go 3-4/lb depending on size.

Makes a good dip. Not that anyone's entertaining much, at the moment...

A closet floor on an outer wall on the windward side of your home is probably the best bet. I've done that.

It's not how much pressure you apply, it's which blunt object you choose with which to administer that pressure.

LOL I've worked with a female Tommy and a female Kevin, and my late wife's name was pronounced (but not spelled) "Larry," so this is one more for the list. Are you perchance a fan of "Pushing Daisies?"

My bread machine is an older Zo that I found on a local buy/sell site for $50. Works great, though the paddles are wearing out and getting a bit loose on their posts. I check the same sites every week for a Zojirushi rice cooker at a similarly low price, but haven't found one yet. (shrug) I've got time...

That's not at all the case up here. The largest cuts Canadian supermarkets get are subprimals, like whole loins or a shoulder, and even those are less common. I know a few retail meatcutters, and they tell me that they do very little actual meat cutting any more. Grinding, yes, and cutting loins into chops sometimes, but it's increasingly common for even individual cuts to come in portioned and packaged from a central processing plant. My GF's cousin married an old-school, old-country Dutch butcher who runs the meat department at my local Costco, and he's rather despondent over the decline in his trade here.

That's pretty much me as well, though I splurge on a couple of beers most weeks (which I'm pretty sure drops me from 99.9% to...98-point-something?) as well. Don't think of milk as a beverage, have no taste for fruit juice or sweet 'n' fizzy stuff.

I did this a couple of years ago, and it's actually not hard but I'll give you the benefit of my dumbass mista experience. First, *do* open up and unfold the gasket and put it in a warm place until all of the folds, wrinkles and crinkles unfold and it assumes its proper rectangular shape. If you have old-school rads, those are a good place to drape it (after taking suitable precautions to prevent melting, etc). I "didn't have time" to do this properly, but later was forced to make the time to take it off and start over after doing so. The instructions from the manufacturer said this was a necessity, but I figured it would "pull into shape" once it was stretched around the door. I'm sometimes smart like that. Second, the way to do this is emphatically not in situ, it's FAR easier to remove the door and lay it flat in a suitable space. That means making plans to protect the food inside, which I didn't do because I was winging it and hadn't realized what a pain it would be to put the seal around the door while it's on the freezer. My on-the-fly solution was to duct tape a comforter over the opening, but of course if you can organize a couple of picnic coolers and some ice that would be a superior option. Once the door is off the freezer (usually just a few screws) and laid flat, putting the actual gasket on is no more complicated than sealing a Ziploc bag (except much, much, bigger of course). Once it's on, and you've checked that it fits nice and snug all the way around, it helps to have someone to either a) hold the door in place on its pin while you replace the screws; or b) replace the screws while you hold the door in place.