liuzhou

This amused me.

I very seldom bake but my scales live on the kitchen counter and get used a lot. For an explanation as to why, see The Kitchen Scale Manifesto.

Coincidentally, British newspaper The Independent had this article on Saturday. Why Dipping Pizza Crusts in Sauce is Sacrilege

Lunch today was a couple of bowls of home made carrot and coriander soup with home made bread to dunk. Followed by a couple of cheese (Irish Cheddar), ham and lettuce sandwiches using the same bread.

The OED has examples from the 16th century through to the 19th. It is still certainly used that way in at least parts of the UK today. So, again, I'm sticking with my knives.

Tonight: Salmon, rice and asparagus. Simple but hit the spot.

According to the OED, one definition of 'appliance' is so I'm sticking with my knives.

My knives.

Unfortunately, yes. Only one. The classic bacon one. I did manage to persuade them that I really, really didn't want corn on it. I should have asked for no pizza on it, too. It was horrible. They cook them one at a time on one of those stupid, small conveyer belt ovens which are nowhere near hot enough. THe base is more like sponge cake than like pizza crust. The "cheese' was processed gloop and the topping wasn't any form of bacon I've ever seen before or since. Years ago, we had an excellent pizza place in town. Best pizzas I've eaten outside of Italy. No one went but me! So, of course, they didn't last long. Weeks after it closed, Pizza Huit opened its first store and the locals were lining up along the street, waiting up to two hours to get in for their foul imaginings of Italian food. I wanted to weep. In the last couple of years, there has been an explosion in pizza places, but I'm sure no one who works in them has ever seen or eaten a real pizza. They've just seen pictures and decided that what the pictures lack is some CORN!

Found it. I knew I took a picture of the advertising. Looking more carefully, I see that it's described as 麻辣小龙虾比萨 (má là xiǎo lóng xiā bǐ sà), mala being the classic Sichuan taste from cillies and Sichuan peppercorns. I see no corn (but they may be hiding it! That would be typical!), but I do see peanuts. Seems like some sort of mutant Crayfish Kung-Po Pizza. No respect for Sichuan or Italian cuisine, that company!

Pizza Hut here is doing crayfish pizzas at the moment. Whether or not they have corn, I don't know. I never go there - just seen the advertising. Disgusting food pre-assembled and partially cooked in a factory 1000 miles away, frozen then microwaved.

Here is the pizza list from the menu of my local pizza place. (I think if you click on the image you will get a larger version.) There isn't a single mention of corn, but please believe me every darn one has corn except (so far) the mixed fruit pizza and the durian pizza (not that I've eaten either, but I have seen them.) They will hold the corn if you ask (and they remember to tell the people who assemble the things). Note: "Hot" here means 'popular', not 'spicy.

Here, the tuna pizza comes with corn!

I think the manufacturers probably know that and so, make the handles from heat resistant materials.

That's one way to put it. I have another. So far as I know 'craft' has no legally defined meaning in trade description law in any English speaking territory, which means it is meaningless. Any industrial conglomerate could use it.

Not all Bamix blenders are such low power. They have a range. The Bamiix I've been considering, the Bamix Gastro 350, is 350 watts and 22,000 rpm.

Yes. Anna is correct. I am only looking at Bamix.

Kidneys (pig) and mushrooms (white button) in a whisky (10 yr old Macallan) and Dijon mustard sauce. Potatoes. There was a side of greens which I forgot to photograph. Never mind, you've seen greenery before.

I have my heart set on acquiring one of these. Anyone have one (or more). Impressions? Good or less good. Recommended models? Anything.

"I've got blisters on my fingers!" to quote Ringo. Actually, they aren't badly burned and the blender was a cheap one, so I'm not too upset. It gives me the excuse to buy the Bamix blender I've wanted for a long time.

... put whole, but crushed, spices in a cheesecloth bag to flavour my soup then attempt to blend it with the stick blender without removing the said bag. The cheesecloth wrapped around the blades of the blender which jammed, but not before getting red hot. I discovered this when I tried to disentangle the remains of the bag from the blades. Burnt finger blues! The blender is broken, too.

This morning I headed for my favourite supermarket. Unlike my regular supermarkets, it is a good bus or taxi ride away so I don't go as often as I would like. However, there were a couple of things I wanted which only that place stocks. Mainly cheese! While there, at the fruit section, I spotted a couple of oddities, one of which I bought. First up is 雪莲果 xuě lián guǒ, literally 'snow lotus fruit'. Technically it isn't fruit at all, but the root of saussaria involocrata, a native of the Alpine slopes of the Himalayas. For scale, the largest one here is a foot long (30cm). Washed (they are muddy) and peeled, they have the texture of a particularly crisp apple and a mild, sweet taste slightly reminiscent of melon. In fact, not much taste at all. However they are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (what isn't?) and at least one study has credited them with anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in mice. Here is one washed and peeled. I just ate it. The second oddity may be more familiar to some people here. 拇指西瓜 mǔ zhǐ xī guā, literally translates as 'thumb (or big toe) watermelon'. I'd go with the 'thumb' choice! Elsewhere, they are known as mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin, cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber or pepquinos They are the fruit of Melothria sabra, native to Mexico and Central America. How they ended up here I don't know. About the size of grapes, they resemble tiny watermelons. Being imported (I guess), they were a bit on the expensive side and I had already spent more than I had planned, so I didn't buy them. As one of their names implies, they taste like slightly sour cucumbers. I'm glad I didn't buy them. For the price of one pack of the things, I could by 50 cucumbers and I already have vinegar! Apologies for the picture, but as I wasn't buying them, I didn't feel I could get them out the package and artistically arrange and light them.

Round here if it's not corn, it's durian! I like durian, but not on my pizzas, thank you. I've seen the mayonnaise thing in Japan. Sweet Kewpie mayonnaise at that!

It is virtually impossible to get a pizza in China that doesn't have corn on it. Vile stuff, that it is!

Yes, you are correct. Dim sum is small snacks to accompany tea and the event is called 'yam cha'. It is usually translated as 'morning tea' although the literal meaning is 'drink tea'. It is a Cantonese/Hong Kong breakfast tradition. I should have said that most do not drink tea with full meals such as lunch or dinner. I forgot about yam cha, because I can't bear it. The food and tea are ok, but the noise is cacophonous.