lemniscate

That's a great story. My Grandfather also came to the US as a (very young) baker. Family legend is he was locally famous for his pineapple pie. Sadly, the recipe did not get passed down.

The Instant Pot helps me "leapfrog" meals constantly, morphing something leftover from a previous dish into a new dish. Last week I made a roast in a smoked beer braise in the IP, there was lots of jus leftover. I put it in the fridge in mason jars. Doing a fridge reconnoiter, I saw the jus and found a head of cabbage and some mushrooms. IP Cabbage Soup! It's pretty good too.

Done and Done.

I just got back with a chunk of Kaltbach aged gruyere. Chunk was labeled $11, paid $5.50 because it was the daily 50% off cheese. So, so good. I would have probably passed on this cheese previously, because I "thought" I knew what gruyere tastes like. This is creamy, nutty, umami semi firm, addictive cheese. I am aiming for the Keen cheddar on Monday, then the Humboldt Fog on Tuesday. Ah, who am I kidding, I'm gonna show up for most of them if it's possible.

I make focaccia especially for one friend at Christmas. She gets anchovy studded focaccia that reminds her of a bread her Sicilian grandmother made her a long time ago. The recipe make enough for two batches, one for anchovies and one for olives. These were castelvetrano olives sprinkled with dehydrated kalamata bits. Turned out pretty good. I cut into it a bit too early but hey, I'm keeping this one anyway.

I did about, by my estimation, 10 doz. lemon shortbread rounds this morning. Hoo boy. I earned my hot toddy this morning. I finished my dozen Caribbean Rum Cakes 2 days ago. One more batch of palmiers in the nearish future. Just in time for the Christmas parties to start.

Now I want to do that sous vide, thanks @ElsieD. Off to find a smoked picnic. I grew up on the smoked picnics. I had forgotten about them unfortunately.

Ok, so there's this special bundle for the Joule. I'm not familiar with the Hestan Cue. It kind of sounds like something in the line of the Polyscience Control Freak appliance?

Now this is a "special" I can get behind. I'll admit, the cheese selection pre-Amazon Whole Foods changed quite markedly post-Amazon. But there is still enough variety to keep me interested, so I'll be checking the daily offering. https://www.foodandwine.com/news/whole-foods-cheese-sale-12-days-2018?fbclid=IwAR2rzqRRxHB5mycEZhPZr0X9k8UdvldTkMMtOjqBB0KV8GPWPMjVM-J6lOI

Me Too. (and I want a vacuum chamber sealer, I predict I am more apt to get the offset spatula)

I rarely bake cookies, and the cookies I make are ones that I can put away for a while if I lose my mojo during the process. Like shortbread, mix it up, chill it; if the desire to bake leaves me during the chill stage, no problem, leave them chillin'. Palmiers too, can be started and stopped without much drama and they bake quickly once started. I also can't seem to like baking in the evening, I seem to prefer the 0-dark-thirty times to fire up the oven and get to baking. I guess if I did a marathon day of multiple batches I would go nuts from the tedium of it too.

I did my riff on King Arthur Flour Caribbean Rum Cake. I don't follow the recipe exactly. I use way less sugar in the batter. I also soak freeze dried pineapple, mango and coconut in the rum to infuse the fruit and the rum. I make a paste out of the fruit and add it into the batter as the rum portion. Really nice tropical flavor. Then I use the infused rum for the soaking syrup. This is a really forgiving recipe. I am making these in waves and the second go at it I accidentally added twice the amount of butter to the batter. Didn't seem to hurt it in the least. I like the small loaf pans because it makes gift portioning the easiest. Also, I agree with King Arthur's kitchen that the cake needs the instant vanilla pudding. It just doesn't turn out right without it IMHO.

@Shelby I froze then vac packed the extra boiled peanuts I had. They were fine after thawed in hot water later.

My first impression of boiled peanuts (just salty, no spicy) was remarkably like boiled potato-ish. I dislike peanuts normally, in candy, peanut butter, roasted, toasted, brittled, just don't like them. Until boiled peanuts. Having Hawaiian friends and SW Georgia relatives gives an insight to boiled peanuts. The ones the Hawaiian's made were from dried uncooked peanuts, the Georgia ones were fresh "green" peanuts right from the field. I think the "green" peanuts were preferable, but there was not a big difference between the two versions that I could remember off-hand. I say potato-ish, I think others would describe them more cooked bean-ish. I split the (very soft) shells and suck the peanut out, discarding the shell. Very good with cold beer.

Egg Drop Soup.

I add vinegar to certain soups, like borscht, in the bowl when serving. Would that be a possible use for this type of vinegar? I like an acid hit to my chicken soup also, the Mexican way, with a squeeze of lime. ,

I'm no help with current recommendations but I was lucky enough to attend the Taste of Tasmania in Hobart once upon a time and everything offered was wonderful. If he drinks whisky, I hear that Tasmanian whisky is considered either the best or among the best in the world.

There have been a couple exploding meteors reported in the last 2 days in the SW/SoCal region. I wonder if you saw one of those. You can read about them (and report your sighting if you like) here. I've been lucky to see/hear/feel a couple of big disintegrations in the past. It is truly an awe inspiring thing once you figure out what's going on.

I like boiled peanuts too. I learned to like them from Hawaiians. I recently saw you can use the Instant Pot to make them, which saves a lot of time. Google it for lots of hits. I haven't tried it, so I don't know which one to link to.

Ah, ok, now I understand.

@Anna N I'm not sure what's available in Canada, but "Zep" Instant Spill Absorber; "Spill Magic" LIquid Spill Absorber; and "Odorgon" Powder are used for oil spills and are carried on Amazon US.

@btbyrd We like the mini wini's for quick appetizer dinner or camping, right out of the jar with Maille mustard. World Market has the french made Maille Ancienne mustard I love. Which I forgot to order on this coupon, oh well. Since there was a nice coupon, I am trying the other Meica jarred sausage for the first time. Hope we like them.

I did 12 ortiz tuna, and 6 anchovies and a few jars of Meica sausages and sundry other things. cha-ching.

I did cinnamon nutmeg palmiers with some TJ's puff pastry I found in the freezer. These are going to be a Christmas cookie gift plate addition. (I like the darker, more caramelized ones).

I remember hoop cheese or we called it "store cheese" as a round orange cheddar-like cheese that was sliced for sandwiches. It had small irregular holes. I think it was 5-6" in diameter because one slice covered the bread and then some. The entire cheese was maybe 18" long? Longhorn or colby is closest to taste to what I remember from Walt's Five Points Market back in the day. I think it was called hoop because of the form that was used to make it possibly?