Smithy

Member @Ann_T put together a hydration table for those confused about how to calculate it with bread recipes. She posted about it in the Bread topic. In order to make it always easy to find, here's a link to the post.

Shelby, you are a real trooper! We're pulling for you!

What was your assessment of it? Will you do the same again next time, or make adjustments?

I'd like to go back to this statement: Is it common there to vinegar the chips before they're served? I don't remember that (granted, I was there in 1980) and I'd expect the fries to get soggy quickly after the vinegar.

The viscosity would definitely affect the simmering point, as well as the boiling point. Thanks for your measurements. According to Thermpro (who, as I type this, is having a Black Friday sale) Other websites have similar numbers. Getting back to the altitude question: I'd extrapolate from the boiling point rule to make a simmer rule. So @TdeV's altitude of 760' should require a gentle simmer at 183.5F.

That would be the boiling point for water at your altitude, yes. I'm not sure how much less for a gentle simmer. 1 F lower? I'm just guessing, sorry. Maybe someone else has measured how close to the boiling point water has to be before it starts simmering. I doubt it can be much lower. Edited to add: boy, was I wrong about that!! Read on!

No, we buy smoked pork shanks from a grocery store that carries them, back in Duluth. (I don't think we've ever found them in Yuma, oddly enough.) I'll have to try that thickening trick; it sounds like a good variation on what we do. The corn was smoked by my husband's daughter last fall. Each summer she buys dozens of ears of corn, soaks them in a bucket of salt water (1 cup of salt for a big pot, I think about 16 quart capacity) for 4 hours, then smokes them in her pellet smoker at 185F for 4 hours. She shucks them after they're smoked, then cuts the kernels off and vacuum packs them for freezing.

According to the USDA, the boiling point of water drops 1 degree F per 500' of altitude, so you'd be looking at 210.5F assuming standard atmospheric pressure.

I HAVE to try that cranberry curd tart! But yesterday was not the day for it, nor for the pecan pie I'd contemplated, nor even the tarte soleil that's been been on my to-do list since @CookBot showed it off here. I didn't even bake bread. Somehow, with only the two of us, ambitions and timing fell by the wayside. We ate at almost our normal dinner time, rather than in midafternoon as we'd intended. Still, we had family phone calls and a good day. And we ate well. I got a bee in my bonnet about deviled eggs yesterday, thanks in part to this topic but mostly because our housesitter texted me to see if there was a deviled egg carrier in our house. (Yes, there are two. I was able to steer her to the one most conveniently stored.) I remembered that we already had a hard-boiled egg in the refrigerator. My filling was much too gloppy, but we enjoyed the appetizer anyway. The rest of the menu was smoked pork shank, slow-cooked in the oven with carrots and potatoes, topped with sauerkraut green beans with walnuts and feta cheese, based on this recipe smoked corn, cooked with a bit of butter a cucumber relish / salad, made of very thin slices of cucumber marinated in vinegar with a touch of sugar and salt, to be squeezed and garnished before serving Appetizer, and getting ready to serve: Served: Not shown: the cucumbers. I discovered them this morning, still marinating. 😆

Our housesitter gave us some of her home-harvested, home-boiled maple syrup before we left for the winter. I'm not usually a fan of maple flavor, but this is the Real Deal and it's delicious. My husband quipped that we should see if we can get more from her next season. A quart, maybe, instead of the cup jar that she gave us. We had some with breakfast a few days ago. Three other unexpected food gifts, still to be opened: pickled beets, dilly beans, and raspberry jam. I gave my great-niece a lot of my spare kitchen equipment to help her set up housekeeping now that she's out of college. When she and her mother came to collect the stuff, they brought these gifts from their (massive and ambitious) garden. I'm told that they refer to the dilly beans as cocktail beans, but since we don't do cocktails often I expect to just break into them and have them with dinner one evening. The beets are beautiful.

"Edible paper" is an interesting concept. Do you know what it's made from? Does it have any nutritional value that you know of, or is it convenience and roughage?

This cracked me up. I've seen similar in Egyptian hotels, although the upscale hotels I rarely could afford did the job well. You're right, going native can be a good way to go. The scallion pancakes look delicious. You probably have said before, but please say it again: are they provided with any sort of dipping sauce? Eaten out of hand? This confuses me. What's in the oil tea? If you said, I missed it. Thanks so much for continuing this discussion of food I'm unlikely to see in person, at least at the source. It's fascinating.

Here the seasoning mix in question: "Everything but the Bagel" seasoning mix (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

@heidih, thanks for reviving this. Delicata and Carnival are my two favorite winter squash. I generally treat the Carnival the same way you do. It makes a perfect 2-person meal, sometimes with leftovers.

Shades of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans, from the Harry Potter series!

Duvel, I too am interested in the fish sticks. I used to love them when I was a child; recently my husband wanted them as a bit of a childhood comfort-food treat so we tried some. 🙄 I made him eat all but the two I tried. I couldn't imagine anything making them palatable. I've never seen fish sticks made from different varieties of fish! That might make all the difference. 🙂

@Paul Bacino, today's gassiness would be a small price to pay for that dinner!

I've been told that duck eggs make an especially rich and wonderful cheesecake because of their richer yolks. I'm sorry to say I haven't had the opportunity to try it out. If someone else has, or does, let us know!

My father used to reminisce on the chow-chow that his mother (my sainted Nana) made. Dad didn't know much about it, except that it involved the green tomatoes from the garden...and he liked it. Despite the lack of information, I fantasize. How do you make your grandmother's pickled green tomatoes? And what do you do with it, once you've made it?

@Tropicalsenior, and anyone else who isn't aware: you should check out the eG Cook-off titled Consider the Schnitzel! We are always happy to have new entries, and to revive the discussions. While I'm at it, I'll put in a plug for our entire series of Cook-offs. (Here's the index). No matter how old a topic is, it's always up for revival. 🙂

Oh, lobster bisque! And a beautifully, perfectly cooked Beef Wellington! I can dream. Thanks for sharing with us.

@Ann_T, the Netherton Foundry's Facebook page (to which you linked above) is a wonder. So is their main website. Oh. My. I do NOT need any more cookware, but this is gorgeous stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing more of what you do with that dome. Then again, I always look forward to your baking.

If you were to make that chicken with chilli at home, how would you go about it? It looks good, and within my stir-fry-inexperienced capabilities.

Now that you mention it, I'm seeing plenty of turkeys in the markets also. I can't speak to their pricing, though; it isn't something I've bought in a long time and I haven't paid attention to their prices.