lemniscate

Big PASS for me on the TJ's Movie Theater Popcorn. Flavors OK, people seem to rave about it. But there are some tooth breakers hiding in the bags. Super hard pieces that masquerade as popped pieces. BEWARE. I still love the white cheddar popcorn, it's delicious and I've never encountered a dangerous kernal.

Most of the stuff I eat can be described like this LOL 😄

See now, I'd try this. It's like french toast with cinnamon sugar and bacon slices that I've eaten hundreds of times. I bet it smells amazing cooking. I guess candied bacon has hit the mainstream. also, I am still onboard with the gravy-flavored mayo from a few months back.

I've been making hot toddies with a coffee bean/cocoa nib infused vodka and a splash of homemade berry liqueur (I don't remember the combo). It tastes like a Belgian truffle candy, except warming. I have also made this with my orange liqueur. Chilly evenings are more than tolerable. I've got a lot of concoctions on the liquor shelves, I need to start a utilization process.

My mojo has taken a hit because I've been a bit over-provisioned by a harvested feral pig that we got in a hunt. That thing has lasted a long time in the fridge. I've divided it into sausages, chops, (something like) ham, stews roasts, etc. All vac packed in portions and sous vided when needed. Every meal is practically made in mind of what part of the that damn pig I can use. I want to use it all the way before thinking about restocking the proteins. There are black cod filets in the freezer, and a bit of ground bison. So there are other options that the pig. I'd say I'm 70% thru the pork but that last 30%............................it's boring. I miss the flexibility of "What do I want to make today?"

I had the Honey and Halawi. Both were moist. The Honey are very tender, sweet, mild and sticky with an easily dealt with pit. The Halawi were a bit harder and long/skinny but not dry and had a more dense caramel flavor. Maybe this year was good for dates. It was horrible for citrus. I actually ordered a lot more of the Honey dates for delivery. Not cheap, but the household really likes them. Never been a fan of medjool.

D'Artagnan has a 40th anniversary special going. I bought veal for my Mom, who bemoans that it has been unobtainable here locally for quite some time.

honey dates from Dateland while channel switching NFL games. I have no dog in any of the fights today, nor any $$.

I have never been a big fan of panettone, mostly because I don't care for candied fruit. But, at an Italian deli today, I succumbed to this version for ~$12 (clearance). Pear and chocolate sounded OK to me.

I think craft beer consumption is also declining. Hard seltzers are replacing beers on tap at local places.

Three potato pierogies, a scoop of cottage cheese, all covered with the leftover cured salmon roe from last night. I want to live 2025 unconventionally.

The times, they are a-changin' https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/red-wine-restaurants-19930284.php

We stay home due to pet reactions vs. fireworks. The going out thing has lost the luster long ago. I want some cured salmon roe and rice for NYE. Not sure why, it just popped in my head. I'll have to plan to get some at HMart in the next couple days. I normally do caviar, but this time I want roe. I may add some wasabi tobiko if it's available. I'll check out the prepackaged ban chan offerings to see if something looks good. I think the rest of household wants yakitori chicken. And long noodles. I also have a couple filets left over from Christmas to offer. UPDATE: Household wants bison burgers. My Mom always wants pickled herring for New Years and Costco had a good jarred brand called Vita that filled the bill. No champagne, probably vodka sodas or gin&tonics. Or a good beer.

Very small Christmas dinner, some nice filets sauteed in butter on the patio ( in the A4box), with a splash of homemade Worcestershire-like sauce (we call it sizzle sauce). Some frozen fries in the outside AF with a smoky bbq dipping sauce. Cherry tomatoes and sharp cheddar cubes were the sides. I made hot toddies with chocolate tea with orange liqueur. Nitecaps were creme Amarula in a low-ball with an ice cube around the firepit. Really pleased with the peacefulness.

You'd be surprised. I get them from my local (oldest established) Asian market. Lee Lee. Asian markets here are also really good about handling European foods, especially in freezer section.

Both. On preference. I like them boiled and then sauteed in butter with a dust of nutmeg.

Christmas Eve meal is various pierogis and smoked sausage today. I bought the pierogis frozen, I don't have the temperament or the assembly line help for making pierogis ( and tamales for that matter). Alexandra's is a very good brand. The store didn't have the plum ones, only blueberry. I don't like blueberries, so no fruit ones this year. Kraut, mushroom, sweet cheese and the ubiquitous potato are the menu.

The lid has that weird design I think because the condensation needs to be kept away from dripping down into the space between the outer case and the grill area. I just keep a folded up paper towel to swab the corners/edges of the lid when I remove it and flip it over to mitigate the moisture. Or, I just ignore it if I'm steaming stuff like veg or frozen dumplings.

I'm good with banana ketchup, mushroom ketchup, currywurst ketchup, spicy(sriracha, jalapeno, horseradish) ketchup. I even mix cheap American yellow mustard into my Heinz ketchup for a fry (and patty melt) dipping sauce. but this is not gonna make it for me...... Brussel sprout ketchup

All these pictured cookies are amazing, beautiful classics ornate and simple alike. Great job!

I measured 475-480F at the highest setting.

Phoenix Metro has scattered Posadas from now until Christmas. Mostly neighborhoods bordering the Catholic churches. I've only witnessed posadas in New Mexico myself. A lot of the upscale suburban subdivisions are announcing Noche de Luminarias, those are quite beautiful to visit. And Phx Botanical Garden is the pinnacle of Luminarias for the season. I've played out the eggnog and now gravitate to spiced hot toddy's. I went to a Christmas party that was overwhelmingly UK, Irish, and Scottish ex-pats. Had my first real pork pie and Branston pickle. I can see the devotion, it's comfort food.

@Smithy I've always handwashed. The pans are very easy to clean. For some reason I never even considered using the dishwasher for it.

We call it Combat Christmas. I've never heard the Dirty Santa version. "Stealing" the desirable gifts is good fun, but we try to use ridiculous items peppered in for that White Elephant feeling.

I was going to suggest the Burrito Pop, but it's sold out. Maybe something like the SubSafe (eG-friendly Amazon.com link), which sounds ridiculous, but may actually be useful. And it's expandable😃!