lemniscate

I am focusing on shortbread for holiday cookies this year. I tested out ChefSteps shortbread recipe, I liked it, but no one else in the house liked it especially. They thought it tasted flat. So, next, I am testing out Cornmeal Lemon shortbread (following, more or less, Dorie Greenspan's recipe). The dough is currently in the fridge waiting patiently for when I feel like baking it, hopefully sooner than later. I had also read that shortbread likes to age, so I thought maybe an early start would benefit the cookie swaps for the Holidays.

I grew up on a farm and we grew acres and acres of cabbage. But we never made our own kraut. We sold to distinctly ethnic neighborhoods markets (Polish, Jewish, Yugoslavian, Russian etc). The demand for the "kraut cabbage" came late in the season, after the frost. The cabbages were heavy, hard, and the frost made them sweeter. An earlier cabbage could have a "hot" flavor and the leaves were light and loose. There were many people that had the old kraut barrels in their basements and would buy crates of cabbage for the winter. This wasn't all that long ago even though it sounds like pioneer times. I just started making kraut maybe 3-4 years ago on a whim. I cannot get the after frost, heavy cabbages here locally.

As a past Arby-ite (gah, what a horrible job that was, but paid a little way through college) the "roast beefs" were a formed meat product, they were all the same dimensions and were baked onsite. They were weighed before baking, during baking and at the end of baking to log loss. There was a certain smell to them. Like bouillon. I don't think I've eaten anything Arby's since that job. But I think I would consider trying the duck sandwich, I really like duck. But its not available in my area.

I recently saw infused alcohols using sous vide is possible. I needed some triple sec. I love a classic margarita. Fresh lime/citrus juice, touch of orange liqueur, and I prefer a mid-range blanco tequila. I do not like a sweet marg, prefer them tart. I also like a true citrus flavor, not a mix (koolaid-ish) flavor. I googled here and there and came up with half vodka/half brandy infused with dried orange peels and a tiny bit of clove. I had about a 3 cups of dried clementine peel and dried sour orange peel (this one is very fragrant). I also had 1 whole fresh clementine I cut into slices. I used 4 pint jars and parceled everything equally (I put 1-2 whole cloves per jar). I also threw a couple pieces of candied lemon peel for some sweetness in the jar. Put them in 140F water for 1.5 hours ish. Wow, nice result. Very deep orange flavor, I think the clove gave it a slightly woody undertone. Since it's not cocktail hour yet, I haven't done a Margarita yet, but I am expecting good results. I used cheap Kirkland American vodka and Christian Brothers cheap brandy. I don't think I'm going to strain it, just keep it in the jars with the fruit peels and pieces, it looks kind of pretty that way.

@rotuts Dad Cooks Dinner and This Old Gal have been useful to me for Instant Pot recipes.

I lucked into a brand new unused Harsch crock at Goodwill a while back. I just put up my first batch of sauerkraut for the season on Saturday. Two large heads of green cabbage and kosher salt and a little bit of leftover kraut juice from a previous batch. It was bubbling actively by Sunday afternoon. Fermentation rules.

I picked up a big bag of D'anjou pears at Costco. Got home and realized "What am I going to do with all these pears?" Off to internet, sous vide pears! Peeled, halved and cored and 180F for 30 min. Did not put any sugar or additions, just the fruit. OMG, like pear custard but with a nice structure. Will do this again. I was going to add them to a gorgonzola and walnut salad, but decided they were dessert instead.

Not trying to hijack a WF thread, but I had this exact issue with a WalMart Grocery order. I don't normally shop WM but they had something I wanted to try. I put in "no substitutions" on the order, and.......I received substitutions. I wonder if it is an issue with either apps or algorithms. I did not feed it back through the customer service portal since I had probably decided to not use online ordering for WM anymore. It was just an experiment.

I watched it. I thought he explained somewhere that the actual "new" Good Eats shows were still incoming and that these Reloaded shows were something like a lagniappe to "fix" things he no longer likes about the older shows/techniques for the Good Eats vintage fans. Since I now do steak exclusively sous vide, this show wasn't in my wheelhouse. But I am going to reserve judgement on the whole 2018 Good Eats until I see the "new" shows and not the Reloaded. I think that would be fair. You can watch the new episodes (with ad breaks, of course) here https://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/good-eats-reloaded

I just recently used this method with a 1lb box of cellentani and I had pretty good results. I don't remember if I use low or high pressure setting though. There was a bit more "spitting" of moisture out of the release valve but I just used a towel to keep it from splattering around too much.

Wow, that sounds wonderful. Is there particular brand/maker you use? Do they have an online store? Is it even feasible to want "new sorghum" outside of its area of production?

Truer words have never been spoken. Costco for just about everything (2 person household). I trust the Costco quality and trust their buyers. Been a member of Price Club, way before Costco came into the picture. Trader Joe's fills in the gaps, a bit of Whole Foods now and then. I have used Amazon Grocery Subscribe n Save on things I just can't locate locally, but I have to watch that carefully due to extreme price flucuations month to month. I just don't trust Amazon like I trust Costco.

I've actually increased my shopping at Whole Foods since the takeover. I am a Prime member and I take advantage of the Prime savings when I see something I like, an example was a great value on fresh cod fillets. Since I am a relatively new shopper to Whole Foods, I can't comment on the decline in quality of produce. None of the produce I have bought recently has been disappointing (ie cherries, tomatoes, greens), I think there seems to be quite high quality at my local store. The vast majority of my food shopping is Costco and Trader Joe's, but Whole Foods is creeping up. I like I get Amazon points to use from the food purchases. I also like my Whole Foods has a large beer/wine bar that I can get nice deals on growler fills. I like the app shows me the specials and I check out scanning my phone. I have not bought any of the prepared foods, it seems that is a large part of the other shoppers content when I am shopping. The Amazon/Whole Foods merge has been a win for me so far.

My TJ's just started stocking a black licorice that is in long flat strips, like tire treads. I used to be able to buy a similar Finnish black licorice called Tubi's just like this, but it disappeared a few years ago from the US and the licorice lovers in the family lamented. I brought this new stuff home on a whim (its Australian) and they tasted it and did a happy dance. They say its just like the Tubi's. Big hit here. It was on the new product shelf, sorry no pic because it was devoured before I realized it. My kryptonite is the Crispy Crunchy Mochi Rice Nuggets.

I buy it directly from the New Mexican Pinon roaster since TJ's long ago stopped carrying the whole beans. They continued to carry pre-ground, but I prefer grinding my own. Never had a problem with deliveries and they carry lots of flavors. But I am happy with the standard traditional pinon whole bean.

Great video. A different style than what my Babcia used to make, hers was a much simpler construction. Oh and, sour cream all the way! Big spoonful right in the middle. Did you do anything with the leftover meats from the broth? (Oh and, your friend ever so slightly reminds me of a cheerful David Letterman LOL)

Yes, it's better than the Kewpie Yuzu Kosho dressing. I compared the 2 and the TJ's version wins by a mile with me. Better "tanginess" to heat balance.

I have the Oster french door with the manual controls. I ended up using a sharpie and an oven thermometer to note the actual temps around the dial since the printed ones were off by quite a bit. But I love the thing. The size is perfect for my needs and a bonus is that I can use it as a dehydrator (hello Beef Jerky and Biltong!) in the convection mode at the very low temps settings. I don't love the broiler option on mine, but I rarely broil anything, so it might be operator misunderstanding. I've had mine a couple years, I got a smoking deal of $99.00 delivered off Amazon, if I recall correctly.

I thought the extra time to come up to temp was my imagination. Now I know it's not, thanks for mentioning it.

I have the Ikea TROVÄRDIG 8" egg pan. I have been using it for about 5 months. It is induction friendly, that is why I bought it. Also has a nice slope to it for flipping over easy's. It's heavier than the other Ikea egg pans. Bottom is stamped Made in Italy. Very slick and balanced for me. The SO who was a skeptic about it (SO had been a breakfast shift cook in a high volume local restaurant) even is impressed by it. I just recently picked up the 11", but haven't used it much to report. Ikea also sells a 9" version.

"Aussie Bites" have been sold @ Costco on and off for quite some time. I had come to the thought they are an Americanization of the Anzac Biscuit recipe.

Yes, I think that is maybe the right track. I did find a Kusmi tea called Russian Evening that is 75% China black tea and 25% Darjeeling black tea. Unfortunately, its out of stock at the moment (just my luck). I plan on giving it a try. Hopeful. Thanks for the suggestions eGulleters.

I have to go back into my flavor memory, but I don't remember it being smoky or with bergamot/citrus flavors. The Kusmi tea blends didn't sound close in description to me. I now found an empty box that I guess I kept in the back of the tea cupboard for reference when I realized the brand disappeared. it states "Jackson's of Piccadilly Russian Tea, a Delicate Tea. Russian tea is delicate and light in colour. It is best drunk in the afternoon and evening with a slice of lemon and a little sugar." in English, French and German. No ingredients or tea varieties are listed unfortunately. All the Russian Caravan and Russian style teas I have researched seem to sound the opposite of delicate. I've ordered a sample of Harney's Russian Country to test. I discovered this tea back when the Phoenician Resort started it's High Tea and they exclusively had Jackson's teas at the time. That was quite some time ago. edit: There is a line on one side of the box that states "A Blend of Russian Teas". Well, that's vague.

Inspired by the "old tea" thread, I have an empty tin from several years ago that is "Russian Tea" (not labeled caravan) by Jackson's of Piccadilly. I loved that tea but it disappeared years ago as did Jackson's for a time. Now Twinings owns the brand. Jackson's was famous for the Earl Grey, and that is available. I am looking for something close to the Russian Tea which I fear will never be blended again by Jackson's. I am unfamiliar with Russian blends except for that one. Any suggestions of a brand or blend that may get me close to the old Russian Tea?

Well, I went to my local IKEA yesterday, specifically to obtain the BLANDA (parabolic reflector) bowls because I like to solar cook. I thought I would experiment with the newly found capabilities. However, the BLANDA bowls, in all sizes except the tiny ones were off the shelves and out-of-stock. Either IKEA pulled them or like minded people like me bought them all, I don't know. But they seem to be gone to the public at the moment.