lemniscate

Here's what I have in a backpack for "on the road" serving/cooking. Not camping. In case of bringing stuff back to room or whatever accommodations. The backpack I use is just a standard school size backpack that was laying around. I just toss it in the vehicle when a trip comes up. We do roadtrips quite a bit and sometimes aren't near restaurants that interest us. Especially if the only choice is Applebees/Chilis/Olive Garden etc. Or it we've found something good on the road and want to eat it later, like finding a great BBQ place but at the wrong time. Silipint bowls and cups, easy to clean, can be used as cooking vessels. A pair of metal tongs. (these are invaluable) A couple serrated steak knifes, for eating and prepping. A couple sets of real flatware, not plastic Plastic serving spoons/ forks/tongs poached from catering events, usually disposed of, but sturdy for light reuse. A flexible cutting board. A spatula and pie cutter (for side of the road pie places) A wooden spoon Victorinox peeler (for using roadside produce) A couple empty plastic takeout style boxes in case of needing to store something. A small box of zip-loc style bags. A couple kitchen trash bags. A couple wooden steak plates for dinnerware (I picked up a set at Goodwill for couple bucks, they are super useful) A couple of smaller empty reusable water bottles. a few more things I just can't remember right now. Individual salt and pepper packets. Small bottle of hot sauce. Napkins + papertowels + wet wipes We also bring our own tiny vacuum coffeemaker and coffee, which is VERY Important, VERY. It's got its own special bag.

Well, you *can* press olive oil at home. I did. BUT, wow, what a lot of work. Picking olives isn't bad, at least the ones you can reach. Then sort and clean, not hard. Grinding the olives down to paste is OK, if you have the right equipment. Some use a garbage disposal bought and used exclusively for grinding the olives into a container. I used my electric meat grinder and it did alright. The paste needs to be agitated (Malaxation) for about 40 minutes to get the olive oil globules to separate. I used my Kitchenaid with the paddle attachment. Then, the paste was placed onto cheesecloth in the press so it makes a flat round. Cheesecloth was wrapped over the top of the round. The round was pressed and repressed (after flipping) several times until as much liquid was removed as possible. The juice is then left to rest to allow the oil to float on top of the olive juice. I did maybe 3 lbs of olives, and got.............a scant 1/4 cup of oil. It's good oil. But it would take weeks to get a full bottle at this rate. I think I'll stick with brining.

I found Mrs. Obregon's recipe in the RGullet. Not to cross-thread post, but I think this type of low temp long cook will be a good test of my new Paragon precision . If I ever open the box. TJ's has goat milk.

For me, it took maybe 12 months from going "Why is there SOAP in salsa?" when I first moved to the Southwest, to "Why isn't there more cilantro in the salsa?". I grew up in the Midwest, far away from cilantro cuisine. I clearly remember the day I was treated to dinner at a Sonoran style Mexican restaurant upon my arrival. I took a big chip and loaded it with the table salsa, and stopped dead. I thought someone had not rinsed out the bowl and was horrified. But no one else at the table was reacting like me. I did the polite thing and didn't spit it out. But I didn't have anymore. But eating Sonoran foods almost daily (burros, enchiladas, etc) at the cheap hole-in-the-wall college-student-friendly places must have given me daily doses of cilantro and my brain learned it and now I love it and really can't enjoy salsas and Mexican soups without it. In fact, I make a cilantro infused tequila for my margaritas. I drink cilantro. That's why I kind of doubt the "genetic" thing, because I was a card carrying soap taster, but now I can't detect any modicum of a soapy taste from cilantro. Asparagus, on the other hand...........that's a weird genetic quirk.

I emailed the company and got this answer: "Our products are manufactured in China and are CE, GS, RoHS, REACH, and ETL certified." I had asked if they were UL certified, since I didn't see it on the descriptions.

The company's phone numbers are Seattle based and London based. I'm just having a hard time finding where the equipment is manufactured, China? US? EU? @Kerry Beal do you recall any info from the show on country of manufacture for the chambers?

@rotuts Do you have a brand of artichokes you prefer? I shop at World Market a bit, and they have Mezzetta brand marinated artichokes. The other they have is Cucina & Amore grilled & marinated, based in Novato CA (which was promising) but the artichokes are from Peru according to the jar (disappointment). I haven't tried either yet. Costco occasionally carried marinated artichokes in jars, but I can't recall the brand.

I'm getting pretty excited about this appliance as you cook. I noticed the A4 Facebook page has some videos of uses and recipes, especially for the takoyaki pan. Also a pizza. And a rice burger(?!?).

It's looks like nice even heating end to end on the griddle in the pics. Does the lid fit over the griddle when cooking in case one would want to "steam" the top of a sunny-side-up egg? EDIT: I reread and see that you did indeed use the lid over the griddle, so question answered.

Are the internal seeds in the tomato sprouted? I've had store bought ripe tomatoes have sprouts inside of them because the seeds have decided to become new tomato plants.

Not to threadjack, but the Blanda bowl also doubles as a solar cooker . ☀️

I've never noticed the heat from chiles diminish from freezing. I freeze mine either whole, roasted & skinned, or as a puree as you found in the market.

I was just in Northern NM and all the signs were for Socorro chiles, not Hatch. I have come to find out that there are chile turf wars in NM pitting growing regions against each other.

Salmas baked corn crackers with butter and golden caviar.

(i just succumbed to the Paragon deal)

Anticipation.

Hmm, if it were me, I would put some sort of a furniture dolly or some casters under the storage unit and turn it into a rolling table. Then it would be mobile and you can get the v. chamber you want. But that's just me, I like things that roll and are mobile.

Is that tabletop/storage on wheels? If so, maybe just pull the table out of closet when using the v. chamber, and then return it when done. Also will give a lot of ventilation space. Does the chamber have to be utilized in the storage space? If you just roll out, roll in, you won't need to move your clothes much, if at all.

Plymouth. There are two versions, Plymouth 72 proof and Plymouth Navy Strength 100 proof.

I am addicted to his shows on Amazon Prime. He's just fantastic, a treasure.

Not an unreasonable question. Answer is: I don't wanna. I like the unattendedness of an modern automatic dishwasher, I grew up in an old farmhouse having to do the dishes in a tin basin. I did not enjoy it. I run the dishwasher at night and wake up to clean dishes. Countertop? Takes up pretty much permanent counter space plus still needs fill and drain hookups to use. I don't have the counter space for one of those currently. My friends in Singapore had one, so I am familiar with countertop versions. I remember the rolling ones also. In "theory" the Tetra doesn't need fill and drain connections according to the video, unless I missed something. Plus it looks small enough to stow out of the way. Again, it's probably VAPORWARE, but what if it really does work? I wanna believe (like the X-files). I'll run this current dishwasher until it croaks. It just irks me that durable goods are much less durable now.

My current dishwasher is dying, and the baskets appear to be rotting 😠. I don't want to buy another one, the reviews are disheartening. But I think I'd try something like this Tetra which is hopefully not vaporware, because we really don't use loads of dishes daily: Anyone else heard of this?

This is me also, right there. Except add the Kitchenaid mixer with the pasta attachments too. Small Household too.

I just made Caribbean Rum Cake. for my soon to be 93 year old Uncle Augie. He says he doesn't want to wait until Christmas "because you just never know". LOL. What Uncle Augie wants, he gets. He's also getting some of the Munavalgekook I made earlier from leftover egg whites.

I did this a few weeks ago with Kirkland American Vodka, Tj's cocoa nibs and some coffee beans. Oh, the eau coming out of that bottle when I sniff it!