Smithy

@blue_dolphin, @TdeV, anyone else in the USA who's trying to order from gouter: have you actually managed to order? I got a price quote, with the caveat that the price covers product and shipping but not any tariffs that I might have to pay. I haven't heard anything since then and they haven't answered my question about how to actually place the order. (Last year they sent me a payment link via Square.) @Alleguede may be able to shed some light on this question, now that I think of it.

My mugs are mementos, and many of them are museum pieces of a sort, due to their age. For instance: this little guy was a thank-you gift for donating to MPR, donkey's years ago. Bob Edwards, one of the founders, is long gone. My first flight instructors were invited to more than one Shuttle launch, thanks to a couple of their students who became astronauts. One time they gave me this mug, purchased at the Kennedy Space Center gift shop after watching Stan Love and his fellow crewmembers launch into space. This museum piece goes back to the company where I settled into a long-term North Woods career. The company has long since been taken over by another corporation, changed names, and changed culture as well. I think of happy discoveries and growth whenever I see this one. My father was an aviation enthusiast, and bought this at an airshow near their home. When Mom and Dad downsized, I claimed this mug. The oldest mug in my collection is this beauty from Taylor & Ng. I have a bunch more of their designs tucked away in storage, but this one stays out and gets frequent use. I love the pun. Finally, this mug is my most recent acquisition. I've been to the West Denmark Fiddle School in Wisconsin 3 years running, and plan to go again next summer. The last thing I needed was another mug! But for $3 I couldn't resist. It makes me smile. The fiddle school is like a weeklong musical boot camp: some 60-odd musicians, broken into sets according to accomplishment level, learn about a dozen pieces of music by ear. We learn those pieces in segments, bit by bit, and put them all together as an orchestra for public performance, from Sunday afternoon until Thursday night! The music is beautiful, the instructors excellent and funny. Truth is, the mug I use most is larger than any of these...a Friends of the Duluth Library purchase. But the decoration is fading from frequent washing, and the mug is dirty right now. I'm not going to show that one here!

I don't know when I'll get to it, but I've downloaded that recipe. It does look good!

As noted here, I started wondering about the source of the smoked salmon that I purchase here in Duluth. One of my favorite shops, Northern Waters Smokehaus, discusses the sources of their fish in their FAQs, but it was confusing: according to the FAQs, the salmon may be wild-caught or farmed. I wrote and asked them about it, and had an intereesting and nuanced discussion with their HR representative. With his permission, I'm quoting his writings: I followed up with: He responded:

A couple of nights ago I went to a party. One guest had brought smoked salmon from a local company. It was moist, tender, and better than I'd have expected; I have (had) firm opinions that the best smoked salmon in town comes from the Northern Waters Smokehaus. Another guest and I agreed that this was just as good. So I bought some yesterday, and had some of it for dinner. Mmm. Flaky. Oily. Maybe not quite as firm as Northern Waters' work, which is Atlantic salmon. This label suggests this salmon is locally farmed. (I need to call both of those companies and get more information about their sources, in light of this article.) Anyway, it's good stuff. I also finally had the ingredients to try a recipe from The Mediterranean Dish: Sauteed Mushrooms with Garlic. I overcooked the garlic and had to start over, but fortunately I hadn't added the mushrooms yet. This recipe's a winner. It's intended as an appetizer, but was plenty of dinner for me, especially because I'd been sampling the salmon. Edited to add: Everett's salmon comes from Alaska, according to their info sheet. According to the Northern Waters' Smokehaus FAQs, some of their salmon is wild-caught in Alaska but it isn't clear whether some of it is farmed. I've written to them to ask. Edited further to add: Northern Waters says their Sockeye Salmon is wild-caught in Alaska, but the Atlantic Salmon is farmed. They're careful to look for certain certifications for sustainability and best practices. We had a good email discussion about their practices. I've shared it, with permission, here.

@SLB, that tablecloth reminds me sharply of the "fancy" tablecloths I grew up with...can't remember now whether it was my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or all of the above. I think it's beautiful!

I love tablecloths, and have far more than is practical given my current circumstances. I think it's a harmless habit. As to the yellowing: the other day, I unboxed a crocheted...tablecloth? bedspread?...not really sure of its original purpose although it would work as a tablecloth. I don't think it's quite as old as the one you describe, but it also has yellowing that I don't remember. I'm not sure what to do about it. I know my mother tried to bleach the yellow out of some ancient piece of table covering and just made it worse. Stains or no, please post a photo! I at least would like to see this wonder!

I heard back from Goûter yesterday. They are shipping to the USA. The shipping cost depends on state, so I won't bother telling you the quote. Edit: sorry, I didn't see that ElsieD had already answered.

@rotuts, if your eyesight is good enough you'll see that the holder for the water trap has one open end, and the trap will slide into that slot without pinching. Eyesight can be an issue, though; pinching should take care of that problem.

Green salad and sandwich pressed in my panini press. The sandwich elements are all left over from a party here last night: brioche hamburger bun; mesquite-smoked turkey and picnic ham, from a local deli; slices of jalapeno pepper jack cheese. I'm not crazy about the texture of the brioche bun compared to an open-crumb bread slices as I generally use, but I waaay overbought for the party and will be able to use these buns as sandwiches. It's getting cold outside, so pressing them improves the texture and flavor. Here's the best "money shot" I could come up with. Not great, but you can see that the cheese was appropriately melty. The reddish color is the salad dressing I dredged from the bowl into the bun.

😅

@paul o' vendange, I don't buy lamb often but I have a meat shipment coming this month that will include ground lamb and a rack of lamb. You might look into ButcherBox.com. It's a subscription meat service, very flexible as to what you purchase and how often, and they claim that the meat is all sustainably sourced, humanely raised, no antibiotics, etc. Again, I don't know how much selection you'd have for lamb cuts, but you should check it out.

My new portable BBQ grill arrived today, to replace the ancient and doddering Smoky Joe my darling and I bought years ago. Will this one be any better after it's broken in? I dunno. I like the size and price ($20). Some assembly required, which will make it less compact when I get to that point. It's going into the Princessmobile for now. I won't be using it until I'm in warmer, drier climes. I hope this year I remember to pack charcoal!

My dear friends threw a full-blown Thanksgiving gathering with 3 couples and 3 singletons. Each of us brought something by prior arrangement. I forgot to take a picture of the appetizers, but they included a cheese ball, a country paté, clam dip, Reuben dip, probably some cheese, a wide selection of crackers and chips, and some wonderful lightly smoked salmon with baby pickles and fresh dill. That was just the appetizer set-up while we caught up on news and the chief cook kept coordinating kitchen chores. Then came dinner: 2 perfectly roasted chickens; gravy; green beans with bacon; scalloped corn; mashed potatoes; a cranberry-ginger chutney/relish that, I'm happy to say, is a NYT recipe that appears in my ancient cookbook!; cheesy rolls; wild rice dressing with water chestnuts; some sort of bready stuffing. Wine, of course. I didn't bring the scalloped corn, but it was my mother's recipe. Something the hosts did by accident made it taste much, much better than I remember my mother's version! A buttered breadcrumb topping, rather than the cracker crumb topping, was one difference. But I think having it spread out in a shallow baking dish made it taste better than the deep-dish serving she used to do. My friends did the recipe proud. The spread, before we all sat down and dug in: And here's my plate: Then there were the pies: pecan, pumpkin, apple. Urrp. Followed by after-dinner drinks. I think I ate more last night than I normally eat in a week, but it was a fine spread and an excellent evening. Better still, we all got to come home with leftovers!

Bumping this up to see if anyone's planning on panettone purchases again this year. I chose this photo series because it's what really pulled me into the splurge. Maybe @Alleguede or @Kerry Beal can tell me whether gouter.ca is making them.