FrogPrincesse

I got a raised planter which I am having fun with. I started in February with various herbs, plus arugula and chard. I made a few small salads and sandwiches with the arugula (it was fun to harvest it for my lunches). The chard produced more leaves over the weeks but has not grown taller for some reason (I suspect overly compacted soil). Here it was shortly after planting everything in February: The arugula is gone now (I got rid of it after it bolted and stopped producing new leaves). I planted a cherry tomato with a variety of basil last weekend, together with more herbs (an assortment of basil varieties, summer savory, more parsley). The cilantro from February bolted and I planted its seeds; fingers crossed that I will get a second generation. It's been fun and gives me an occasion to spend more time outside enjoying nature and listening to the birds. It's usually the first thing I do in the morning and it brings me a lot of joy!

Oyster shell infused gin and vermouth is a thing, and it’s actually very nice.

I use the plastic bowl of my oxo salad spinner on top of a cake plate. It is not the most elegant, but at least it doesn't take up additional space in my kitchen.

@Pete FredI am very jealous of your abundance of cherries. Cherries are somewhat of an exotic fruit in southern California where I live. I have seen them at the store, but at $15/lb decided to pass. I made a strawberry-rhubarb biscuit cobbler recently (this was for a cookbook club event where we were cooking from Carla Lalli Music's That Sounds So Good). I love rhubarb and strawberry so I enjoyed this dessert. The biscuit dough used hard boiled yolks which is supposed to prevent gluten formation. It was my first time making or eating biscuits, so I am not sure what the texture is supposed to be like. They were soft and moist, but I think I prefer the texture of a crumble because it provides more contrast with the soft fruit.

I bought my Anova for the specific purpose of making duck confit. I use 77C for 12 hours (after a 24 hour cure in salt etc) based on a recommendation from the app (recipe). I have made it countless times and have been very happy with the results.

We have a Kura revolving sushi in San Diego (Convoy) and I like it too, it’s fun place and the quality is pretty good for the price.

You could make citrus curd with the juice. Or you make cocktails.

Thanks for starting this thread, @Duvel, and great to see you back on eGullet! It was just my husband and me this year. We started with a simple little gems - heirloom tomato salad, and homemade confit garlic and sun-dried tomato focaccia. For the main course, I made a classic mustard-crusted and garlic-studded rack of lamb and Kenji’s best crispy roast potatoes (which disintegrated a bit, but were very tasty). I just love a good rack of lamb and this was perfect!

@OlyveOyl And here it is! I followed the original recipe (with butter). I used an extra tablespoon of marmalade in the batter by mistake (the one that was meant for the glaze). The marmalade was a “vintage” homemade sour orange and Jamaican rum marmalade which gave the cake a dark color. The cake is on the smaller side (I used a standard loaf pan), and didn’t rise very much. The texture is lighter than a pound cake and it’s extremely delicious. 😄

@OlyveOyl That looks beautiful. Thanks again, I will make it for sure.

The cheese with an ash rind is a (sliced) Sainte-Maure, recognizable by its cylindrical shape and hole in the middle where a piece of straw was. It's a great goat cheese. (Selles-sur-Cher is disc-shaped with a larger diameter than Saint-Maure. It's another great goat cheese.)

Thanks for sharing. I make marmalade and am always on the lookout for good marmalade dessert recipes. That one looks delicious! Did you also try it with butter or margarine as in the original recipe (link)? I just wonder how how olive oil changes it.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have a second hand kitchen supply store nearby so I will see what they have. Maybe I will find my pot there, who knows.

Thanks for the info! It looks like a very nice pot (nice patina!). I do not have a lid close to that size, so I would need to buy one if I decide to go that route.

It looks nice, for sure. Would it be ok as an everyday pot? Why do you like it better than All-Clad? And how much maintenance is there with the copper exterior? It looks like it doesn't come with a lid, which is a bummer (the lid is an extra $89!).