Smithy

That looks good, @Anna N. I want to try this recipe next time I can get duck legs. She suggests that the duck can be cooked and kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. That makes me think it would lend itself to an easy dinner for company: do everything except crisp the skin a day in advance, then warm it all and crisp the skin on the day of the dinner party. Does that sound right to you?

Welcome, Trufflenaut! We have a few other members in the San Diego area, and we have a LOT of talented bakers and confectioners. Since you've been lurking you probably know where to find things already, but if you have any questions about how to work the forums feel free to ask a host. I'm always impressed at the baked goods and confections that our members crank out, and look forward to your contributions. Do you also cook? If so, what sorts of things do you like to cook?

Thanks for the quick responses! I'm pretty sure she wants to be able to leave the inner pot in place and just put the lid somewhere else. Anna, is that 9 1/4" with or without the inner pot? If with, then we'll have an idea of the variability.

My friend who's deciding on which IP to get has a question. Would someone who has the DUO 5-quart please take the lid off and measure the height of the pot alone and report it here? I'd appreciate it if someone who has the DUO 6-quart did the same thing, mostly because the 5-quart and 6-quart seem to be the same height and the 5-quart seems fairly rare. The issue is whether the 5-quart will fit in the designated shelf space. My mini did, but the lid had to come off. Oh, and once you're measured it, please report the number here.

Yes - thank you for a fun tour!

My best friend and I just spent 3 days putting the Instant Pot Mini through its paces. She was trying to decide whether she wanted one. We cooked rice. We cooked pork chops. We cooked an enchilada casserole. We pressure-cooked. We sauteed. We slow cooked. We made one-pot meals for the two of us, and ended up with leftovers every time. One evening's leftover rice became the basis for a lovely lunch rice dish with shaved red cabbage, diced chicken breast, parsley, sunflower seeds and Indian (Mexican) lime pickle. That rice dish was beautiful, and I wish I'd snapped a photo. For some reason I only snapped one food photo during our visit. This is of the first night's dinner, a coconut-lemon chicken bowl, based on @ElsieD's adaptation of a dish from the Cooking Light Diet. We had to make a few adjustments for missing ingredients - lemon rather than lemongrass, for instance - but it was very good. My friend is pretty sure she's going to buy an IP, but she still needs to decide on size - the Mini or the next size up - and version (Lux, Duo, Ultra). Unlike me she loathes clutter and is appropriately disciplined about getting rid of 1 or 2 things when she adds something new. She won't be owning more than one!

Thanks for the suggestion, heidih. Here is a good summary topic, for readers who want to know more about Methode Rotuts, more casually known as "MR".

I opened my jar's worth today for the first time. I used it to season cooked rice that had been mixed with cooked broccoli, raw shaved red cabbage, and sunflower seeds. Delicious! Top photo: the contents of the jar. Bottom photo: the (Mexican) lime pickle, and some preserved lemons, all chopped and ready for the rice.

Ooh, I want that!

I'm with Shelby on the hash browns. Great photos!

I've had kumquat marmalade once and thought it was the very best marmalade I'd ever had. I don't know whether it was because of the recipe or the kumquats. As a rule, I'm not a marmalade fan, but this was enough to change my mind. I'll be interested to hear how the pickling goes. It also sounds like a delicious way to use those little fruits!

Thanks for the link. I was wondering whether there was a Higgs Boson connection somehow. Now, seeing the choices on the menu, I'm reminded of a series of salsa marketed for a while under the brand name "Religious Experience". I don't remember any of the stages except their very hottest. It was titled "The Wrath", and the label was hot pink with lightning bolts. Back to barbecue sauce: I'm with gfweb about sweet sauces; most of them (IMO) are too sweet. I have been known to stand in line for good 'cue, though. It's a mystery to me how some places manage it profoundly well and others end up drying or shredding or undercooking. I'm still trying to get it right myself.

That looks a LOT like my mother's meringue cookies. She used Nestle's chocolate chips and walnuts, but they were one of my very favorite Christmas cookies. The combination of hazelnut and chocolate sounds good too.

"God sauce"?

You may find this topic interesting: Soylent (Food Replacement)

Cocktails can look so pretty! The Bijou is a fine example.

It looks like this on their web page, but I can't find a URL with which to actually send a link. Do keep in mind, though, that I took liberties with the recipe as noted in my earlier post: roughly the same quantities as in the recipe, but with slight differences in the ingredients.

We both thought it quite filling. The tortillas (and baking dish) I used only allowed 5 enchiladas, but I don't think they were oversized from the recipe. We each ate two, which was the serving size. My darling is just eating the last one now.

I've driven through Las Vegas a few times, but I'm not sure I've ever stopped there. My Nevada casino experiences have been in places like Reno and Laughlin, where the hotels or dinners were inexpensive. I'm looking forward to the sorts of foods and sights we'd be able to enjoy if we went to the fabled Vegas!

We have had some beautiful sunsets here. For reasons I don't fully understand - health issues described earlier? Age? - we haven't been making as much use of the campfire as we did last spring, or even last fall at the beginning of this trip. We did get out a couple of nights ago, however, when it was calm. We enjoyed the campfire... ...and then went inside to make hash. His favorite. I've been using the avocado pulp in various dishes. If I ever have reason to freeze it again, I'll follow @Nancy in Pátzcuaro's advice and puree it with a bit of salt and possibly lime juice. Most of this stuff is bland. It's possible the loss of flavor is because the fruit was already fading before I saved it. It's certainly edible. This morning I used some in a kick-over-the-traces breakfast: Quesadilla with shredded cheddar and avocado, warmed just enough to melt the cheese and stiffen the tortilla. Stiff enough to hold, gooey with melted cheese, avocado enhanced by the cheese. Good stuff. But I think a squeeze of lime in the puree would have helped.

Add me to the list of followers! I too would be excited to have a kitchen like that in a rental. If I were the rental owner I might be quaking in my boots about the damage renters might do to the equipment. Did you have to pass a security screening, submit references, anything like that? It's interesting to see the foods available in that "upscale" market. I noticed the D.L. Jardine's sauces - a Texas product - so that store is presumably casting a wide net. I'm surprised, though, at the prices of the Australian produce. I know Australia's a huge country, but have no sense of where things are grown. Did those stone fruits have to travel a long way? They should be still in season, I'd think. A fair number of folks should be able to answer your question about miso. @heidih, @Dejah and @ElsieD come to mind immediately, but I see it used in the cookery of a lot more members than those three. If the weather stops weathering, some scenery shots would be nice...and don't worry about pistachios and nachos for dinner. Heck, some of us here - no matter how much we like to cook - sometimes settle for popcorn.

This is going to be fun! Your kitchen looks like a very cook-friendly kitchen, and I admire the contents of your refrigerator and pantry. Like you, I'm addicted to cured meats - it's generally best if I just keep them out of the refrigerator, except during splurge times. Those croissants look fabulous. I hope you'll comment on prices as you go along. In my extremely limited experience with hotel casinos, the food is inexpensive because they're counting on the casino to make money and the restaurant to keep the casino customers fed. I have trouble believing that would be true of upscale places like Bellagio. Blog on!

...and here she is: Live from Las Vegas, it's Smokeydoke!

We got around to making the chicken verde enchiladas, with a few liberties taken. I didn't have salsa verde, but I had fresh tomatillos and some truly wonderful fresh tomatoes with which to make the simmered stuffing. I had no cilantro because my darling doesn't like it. I used chicken breast from a citrus-roasted chicken of a few nights ago. The enchiladas were baked rather than broiled, so the cheese melted but didn't brown quite as well as I'd've liked. Their picture is much prettier than mine! Still, we liked the results. I've bookmarked this one to make again.

Here's the last location shot. I understand it's also from Bellagio, and it's for their Chinese New Year celebration.