Smithy

You probably mean Grand Rapids, Michigan, since that's the larger and better-known of the towns. However, there is also a Grand Rapids, Minnesota. There may even be other heartland Grand Rapidses. Which state will you be visiting?

It seems to me that scallops cook so quickly that a quick sear is enough. What does the sous vide do for them that the quick sear doesn't? Those look lovely and tasty, by the way.

I am really enjoying this ongoing adventure. DH has been to Manitoulin Island, but I haven't. I think I'll have to fix that.

I have some bodaciously huge intact kale leaves and I'm going to try the roasting idea myself. Do you have any lessons so far that you'd care to share?

You mention copper pots but not copper bowls. Julia Child and Lynne Rosetto Kasper, among others, insist that you'll only get the best whipped eggs (for a souffle, for instance) by whipping them in copper. Would that appeal? I have no suggestions for make or model. As opposed to a sauce pan, what about a stock pot? I'd suggest nothing smaller than 8 quarts, and perhaps going up to 12. Again, no help on type. I adore my Revere Ware aluminum-disk pots for their styling and functionality, but that particular model is no longer made. Partially-clad stock pots (going up the side) or aluminum disk bottoms carry the heat where you need them. Another thought with regard to stock pots is to get one with a pasta insert for easy rescue and drainage. What a fun problem to have!

I'm afraid that that's pretty off topic, but via PM perhaps. Its a big question with no simple or short answer. Sorry. Perhaps you could work in small snippets about changes as they relate to food: availability, whether modern agriculture has selected for more sturdy and less tasty produce, influence of immigrants, changes toward or away from meat, whether the EU has really helped to protect certain artisan foods and whether it makes a difference in daily life. I don't mean to be asking for essays, but I too am interested. FWIW my food blog (admittedly 8 years ago) discussed changes in my area, and nobody complained.Edited for clarity.

I'm intrigued with the idea of an entire Sunday afternoon spent over lunch. Clearly there were breaks; I assume there was a lot of good conversation. But what else, if anything? Walks, games of Scrabble or tennis? Or is the pace over there such that y'all could linger for that many hours over good food and good conversation? The papillon cheese above has a rounded wedgy shape that makes me think of butterflies. Is that a trademark for them, or just an accident of the cut and the photo?

Cut into rings (or semicircles so the cleaning can be done first), tossed with a little olive oil, seared in a hot pan then cooked to softness with garlic, maybe some onion, maybe chunks of our bratwurst du jour. Maybe served with rice or pasta. The possibilities are varied and good. I love the fact that the delicata skin is edible.

I wonder how it is that I've never picked up on your engineer's sense of humor before? Si lly me. I'm with Anna N on wondering where you grew up and whether it's an accidental or deliberate oversight. Do the bakers make more bread for market day than on other days? Are their regular shops (boulangeries?) closed on market day, or would one find the shop open and stocked as normal on a market day?

Oh, those look good. Is the recipe available online? Otherwise, which of her books is it from? (Yes, I remember Monica.)

"Haggis with a whiskey based Cumberland type sauce"? I'll take just a bowl of the sauce, please. As for your Nanna's "ambrosial Bacon and Onion pudding made in a cloth".... Do you have that recipe? Gawd that sounds good. Amen! Also, what are clootie dumplings?

I too want to know about the mortar and pestle sets, and what look like salad bowls with servers. Are those olive wood?

You are far more peripatetic than I've been. I think this is going to be wonderful! Thanks for laying out the ground rules at the outset. I already have a question that I hope isn't off-topic: what languages do you speak? Which, if any, did you study in school before starting to travel? How has your exposure to new countries changed your sense of what constitutes good food, good cookery, good food ethics? Okay, that's more than one question. I expect that the last will unfold during the course of the blog, if you care to address it.

This is interesting reading. I love, love, love olives and want to try out some of these methods. Unfortunately I'm the only one in this household who even likes olives, so at present I find it more practical to concentrate on sauerkraut and search the grocery stores for different varieties and cures of olives. To those of you who are curing your own olives, or posted here in the past, thanks for the vicarious experience! Please keep going on this!

I'll go look again. Thanks for that information.

I haven't seen Ferran Adria yet, and I'm into the review work (waiting for the labs to come back up to view). Could it be you're thinking of Jose Andres in one of the two introductory videos? Or am I missing a video yet?

I adore tempura. Yours looks wonderful!

"Eeyore's Requiem" - what a great name for a drink! Sounds like it could be a good fiddle tune, also.

Those are handsome bowls in the iMusa set. However, the largest of the bowls is only 24 cm in diameter - 9.4 inches. Taking a wild guess by the picture because they don't list the height or the capacity, I come out at a rough capacity of 1.8 liters, or less than 2 quarts. Maybe that's the 2L bowl to which Panaderia Canadiensa refers, but you should check. Is that big enough for your purposes? Panaderia Candiensa, is the 2L bowl to which you refer also your largest bowl of that type, or do you have bowls larger than listed in that link?

Not a typo! It's Shakespeare. Macbeth. Oh, good! I didn't recognize the Elizabethan spelling. I'm relieved to know that such a simple error was, in fact, mine.

Y'all are really funny! I've refrained from replying to this topic so far because of its stated purpose; I've never learned to like okra: not as okra in the USA, nor as "bamya" (just as slimy) in Egypt. There are some treatments uptopic that I'm willing to try. Maybe I too can become a convert. But here's the challenge: what does okra taste like, to those of you who like it? Does it taste like a pepper, a mushroom, broccoli, celery? "Tastes like chicken" doesn't count.

Ah, so it seems to live up to its promise! The Amazon preview feature is a lovely and enticing element of their web site, isn't it?

Dry fried green beans? They look really good! How do you cook them? Please give more detail than "dry fried" :-)

That does look like a swell book! I've just been admiring the lively writing style and the well-turned phrases in the Kindle preview on Amazon. (Alas, a typo jumped out at me in the second paragraph: "ravelled sleave of care" in an otherwise lovely sentence.) I can see this cookbook in my future, despite the fact that I'm currently weeding my collection because I Have Too Many Cookbooks. It promises to be a treat to read and an education in the kitchen. Nelson87, your copy should have arrived by now. Do let us know what you cook from it, and how you like it!

Clearly, you're in good company! I have to ask why the yard sales are coming to an end soon. Please tell me that it's because you're in a northern clime, instead of some impending zoning restriction...?