FauxPas

When I was still working full-time and only had the chance to do real cooking on some weekends, I would often listen to All Blues on NPR with John Kessler. Saturdays and Sundays, 6 pm to midnight, easy to tune into for an hour or two. Or more. 🙂 https://www.knkx.org/allblues

I make mango bread every now and then. I love mangoes but sometimes buy more than I can eat right away so I peel, cut up and freeze the extra ones. I have some in the freezer right now and was thinking I should either make chutney or a quick bread. Thrifty Foods had ataulfo mangoes for a really good price last week and maybe still does? I think they were $1.25 each. I don't have a favourite recipe as I don't make it that often. But I do like a mix of pureed and diced fruit. Either of these recipes would be a good starting point for me. https://www.garlicandzest.com/mango-bread-recipe/ https://whattocooktoday.com/easy-hawaiian-mango-bread.html

I like Buddha's comments on the episode. https://people.com/top-chef-wisconsin-recap-buddha-lo-episode-1-8611775

Totally agree that the camera work and/or editing was distracting. I definitely noticed that while watching the episode. I hope it calms down a bit so that we can see more of the details and in a less frenetic manner. And better food and chef shots/angles, etc. I had mixed feelings on abandoning the QuickFire challenge. As @blue_dolphinsaid, it's hard to get a feeling for the chefs in the first episode with all 15 doing their own thing. Maybe the grouped challenges would make sense and make it easier to follow each one. But then the camera stuff was so offputting, I still had a hard time figuring things out. More time for one challenge could have been better managed, I think. And then they just added a different kind of challenge on to the end. It felt like Next Level Chef a bit though. And I just want Top Chef to stay Top Chef, darn it. 🙂 In the past the QuickFires sometimes seemed so random that it felt like luck rather than skill to get the win and it seemed unfair to be able to get immunity based on that. But many of the QuickFires were also FUN and some definitely showed skills. I still want to see them but agree that dropping the immunity part makes sense. I thought Kristen was fine. It will be nice to see how she develops the hosting role.

hahahahaha 🤣 Also, totally agree about the grocery store derby. But I guess Whole Foods likes having a big old ad right in the middle of the show. I recorded it last night, will likely watch tonight.

There's also a variety called Early Jersey Wakefield that looks somewhat similar to the Caraflex. They say it was grown in 1840 in Jersey City. https://www.westcoastseeds.com/products/early-jersey-wakefield

I also see them referred to as Conehead or Caraflex cabbages. Article and recipes at Taste: https://tastecooking.com/caraflex-ultimate-cabbage-flex/ Seeds are available for home growing: https://www.reneesgarden.com/products/conehead https://www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/cabbage/fresh-market-cabbage/caraflex-f1-cabbage-seed-109.html

A local store sells "meatloaf mix" which is equal parts ground beef, veal, and pork. It's my fave mix for meatloaf but i also like it for Bolognese and for meatballs. I don't think I've ever had an issue with the texture or quality of ground pork from that store, either. Maybe you got a bit of a bad batch?

I'm glad that Il Terrazzo worked out so well! We used to like going there and especially in the summer when the patio was open. And Happy Birthday! 😄

I hadn't heard of them before now but I see that T&T Supermarket carries the Wei Long brand ones at least. T&T is a Vancouver-based grocery chain that specializes in Asian foods. They carry big ones and mini latiao but hard to know how much they sell or how many other stores in Richmond, BC (large Chinese-Canadian population) might also sell them. https://www.tntsupermarket.com/eng/51537101-wei-long-big-la-tiao-400g.html https://www.tntsupermarket.com/eng/51537001-wei-long-mini-la-tiao-360g.html

I use the Olivieri ones, which I think are wonderful. No precooking or anything - just layer and bake. They are sized nicely for most pans. I use a half-size pan to make smaller batches and these fit my pan almost perfectly. Two sheets would make one layer in most larger lasagna pans. The only potential downside is that I find they can lost some of their texture if left to sit too long after assembling and before baking. But if you bake fairly soon after layering, they are terrific and have a really nice texture. This is a Canadian company so not sure if this brand is available in the US, but I'm sure you can find similar ones. https://olivieri.ca/products/lasagna-sheets/

@Katie Meadow, hope you are not in pain and fully mobile soon!

It looks (and sounds) like a pretty stalwart appliance! 🙂 My husband adores burnt toast. Set-off-the-smoke-alarm burnt toast. Sometimes I have to open windows, even in midst of winter. Something about that smell is very off-putting to me, but seems to perk up his salivary glands! 😄

I have a garden plan in my mind. Unfortunately, it's far more generous than the space I actually have available, ha. 😄 I have offered to share seeds with a couple of friends. We did that last year and it worked out pretty well. Also shared some seedlings that we each started.

What do you two use for a toaster in the PM? If you have discussed it before, I don't remember. (and if so, I apologize) 🙂 But since your travelling partner is a toast aficionado, I wonder about his thoughts on perfect toast.

@Smithy, really hope you are feeling better! Looking at the photo right above, I keep looking for the toast. 😄

I love this: Moore and Charlee later opened Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie in 1978, when Moore was 50. The business focused on selling natural foods, and continues to thrive today. "If I had my life to live over, I would have started way early in this business. You know, I started in the middle of my life," Moore explained to CBS in a 2020 interview. I love this, too: However, by 2010, Bob's Red Mill had become a $100 million company which Moore gifted to his employees. “They made us the ultimate company that I’m proud of,” he explained to PEOPLE in 2019.

I'm not into the football very much but my husband likes to watch Super Bowl. He says he doesn't really have a favourite team this year, he just wants to see a really good game. I'll be all in for Usher, though. 😁 I'm making salt and pepper wings with raw celery, carrots, broccoli and mushrooms. Mike will have his with Ranch dip, I like to have a bit of blue cheese dressing and some hot sauce on the side. I made brownies for dessert to have with some vanilla ice cream. Mike also has some smoked oysters, crackers and cream cheese for snacking on. These are amazing smoked Pacific oysters. They are a local product and really hard to come by as they sell out so fast when they have them available. I was able to get in an order a few months ago and Mike is loving them. St. Jean's is just south of us in Nanaimo. I think they are pricey but worth it. https://stjeans.com/product/pacific-smoked-oysters/ And I'll be making Caesar cocktails - vodka, Clamato juice, Tabasco, "Wooster" sauce, and a touch of fresh lime juice with a Caesar rimmer for the glass and a celery stick for stirring. Edited to add: One of our local Comox Valley actors is in one of the Super Bowl ads for Kia. https://www.cheknews.ca/overwhelmed-courtenay-actor-plays-part-in-kia-super-bowl-commercial-1190381/#:~:text=Courtenay-based actor Steve Lindsay,'m overwhelmed%2C you know%3F

@Shelby, I have the Anchor Hocking measuring cup set (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) that @rotutsmentioned up above. (Correction: See below. Mine are actually Anchor Hocking Fire-King) I've had them for years and I really like them. They are glass but they nest/stack together really well so they are fairly space-saving. I put them through the dishwasher all the time and the numbers/markings haven't faded at all. Edited to add: Mine are Anchor Hocking Fire-King. Not all say "Fire-King" on them and I think they may be better made than the plain Anchor Hocking ones. Here are the ones I have (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). On the Amazon Canada site, one woman said: "Love these measuring cups! This is my third set of Anchor measuring cups. I only need to replace them every 20 years or so because the measuring lines eventually fade from being washed in the dishwasher." Edited again to add: Not sure why the individual ones are so pricey on Amazon USA. I can buy that set at the local Canadian Tire store for $20. So, if you are interested in them, I would suggest shopping around. Or check out the Amazon site more carefully than I did, ha.

OMG, the seed catalogs are making me crazy! I want everything and I don't even have a real garden. I just have a few small raised beds and an assortment of pots. The garden stores are tempting us in with all kinds of offers and I CAN'T RESIST! Help! 🙂

Yum, love artichokes. Did you start with fresh ones? Or canned or frozen?

I've done a quick pickle with garlic scapes, which might be similar. I think I used a recipe similar to this one. https://www.runningtothekitchen.com/pickled-garlic-scapes/ I didn't really like the end result. I realized that cider vinegar wasn't the flavour I wanted with the scapes. I think when you are pickling, you need to think about what flavours you are going for in that particular batch - how much sweetness, how much heat, how much garlic, salt, other spices, etc. I hated the scapes with all that sweetness from the cider vinegar, even though I love bread and butter pickles with lots of cider vinegar. It's just that the scapes didn't seem to work well with it. I wanted a cleaner brighter taste and a bit of heat/spice. Do you have an idea of how you want the end result to taste? Or how you want to use them? Eaten on their own or on burgers/sandwiches or some other purpose? Because that might help guide your selection of pickling spices, etc.

I'll tell Julie. She'll be pleased, I'm sure. She's also a cheesemaker so there's a bit of crossover there and makes sense she blended things, ha. It's so cool that you were able to make use of the dehydrator screen!!! That was smart. 🙂

Here's a better photo, from the local fermenting group's Facebook page, photo by Julie Matthews, who was our class instructor. You can see how the mesh holds the contents in place and under the brine.