FauxPas

Not sure anyone has mentioned but CBC has developed a Great Canadian Baking Show. The first season is almost over, but i think all the episodes can be viewed at CBC online, (geographic restrictions limit viewing, unfortunately). It's the same format as the British show, but slightly fewer contestants and episodes. Judges are Bruno Feldeisen and Rochelle Adonis. Doing Mel-and-Sue duty are Dan Levy and Julie Chan. I've watched a few episodes and enjoyed it enough that I really hope they bring it back for more seasons. Anyone interested can read about it or watch it here: http://www.cbc.ca/life/greatcanadianbakingshow

Sorry to hear about the heater drama and hope it turns out to be an easy/quick fix! That hash looks really good though...

That is a nice looking light. I see that Bega's address is in Carpinteria, CA. That's right on the edge of one of the big wildfires burning in California right now.

OMG! Oh no, such a shame that you couldn't find the tiles locally. Too bad Amazon doesn't stock 'em, ha. Can you replace that bathoom ceiling light later on with something you like better, perhaps?

Thank you for sharing! It looks and sounds tasty!

Now I want to know what all goes into that mix!

Oh, I hope this works out! Maybe things will pick up now. We had a big reno a few years ago where we had to be out of one house for almost five months, but that included raising the entire single story house and building a new lower level including a 2-bdrm suite (with kitchen and bath, of course) as well as some significant renos to the upper level (added a large deck and stairs, gutted and redid main bath, all new flooring and paint throughout, new kitchen countertops and appliances, custom built-ins, electrical updates, new water line, etc). The lot had to be significantly re-contoured to accommodate the work and bring the house level with the roadway. All new siding, new gutters and drainpipes, new driveway and more landscaping. Many other details, some too mundane to mention. A measurement error meant we could not place upper main bath shower where we had planned and the resulting changes required removing the original window and replacing it with a large skylight. We hadn't anticipated having to replace the siding. Once that decision was made, we should have had the other upper windows replaced as they were not terrific. After the new siding was on, we went ahead and replaced them anyway - at a much higher cost, of course. The original time estimate for the job was three months. It took longer, but it was pretty involved! Still, at the time it was annoying not knowing when we could move back in.

Wow, those look delicious! You just laid them flat but overlapping, right? Can you summarize the best approach for these? I agree with you that the original recipe was not terrific. The chicken seasoning sounds very tasty, too!

Another interesting article on Mr. Shapiro: https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/restaurants/food-and-drink/8-hands-farm-s-julien-shapiro-makes-charcuterie-an-art-form-in-cutchogue-1.14058878

I wish they had told us if he is competing again in this year's Championnat du Monde de Pâté-Croûte, which I believe is being held tomorrow in France: http://www.championnatdumondepatecroute.com/ Edited to add: Well, @Baron d'Apcher did say in the interview that he submitted for last year, so I guess he would have mentioned if he was doing the same for this year's competition.

Serious Eats did an interview with @Baron d'Apcher recently. Very interesting read! Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere else. http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/11/obsessed-julien-shapiro-pate-en-croute.html#comments-301216

It sounds like it turned out wonderfully! If you had found problems with the rice's texture after vacuum sealing, I see @Lisa Shock has a suggestion:

@Smithy, over on the Cuisinart Steam Convection oven thread, there is a bit of a discussion about baking stones or pizza stones for toaster ovens and when I read the reviews for some of them online, people mentioned using them in their RV ovens. Do you use anything like that on your travels? If not, would it be useful for bread baking (and pizzas, of course)?

There are also several fine carnicerias around town. I plan on checking out a couple that have been recommended recently, will let you know what I discover.

Looks like the same one - Old Stone Oven - might be available on Amazon US, currently with a coupon that lowers the price to $12.32 or so. Also, an Aroma Bakeware stone looks similar, at $17.99. And this one, from Baking Stone. $16.99 They get slightly mixed reviews, but the people that like them REALLY seem to like them a lot. Anyone have any thoughts on which one is a better choice?

Oh no! Sorry to hear that, and really hope you are healing OK! I'm surprised you are cooking and photographing at all right now, but kudos to you for that. I love your quick bread experiments!

I loved this video! Thanks for making it, it was great fun to see your process. That bread sounds really delicious. @Chris Hennes, can you tell me about your spice rack above your counter - is that something you purchased or made yourself? it looks so capacious.

Well, they do talk about the burgers, ha. I had read this article. Using an Indian name doesn't mean using it in a real or respectful manner, that is all too true. And there's a lot of shameful history with some of this stuff.

It might be featured again around Christmas. I'm going to try and watch for it then! I see it's back up to $69.99 today on Amazon.

ha, do you have a Xmas tree in your bedroom as well as your living room? I was over at a friend's place tonight and she had one in her bedroom, one in her living room and one on the back patio. She loves Xmas. PS I absolutely love the glimpses of your house, it looks so warm and welcoming.

As you know, I love the Mimbreño stuff also! I love your platter, I bought my husband the same fishes design on a mug, as he is a Pisces. And then bought four or five more mugs in that line! They are my fave mugs, nice and big. Is yours the larger 15 oz size? I bought a set of dishes at HF Coors at the "First Saturday" sale once. They are the Ahwahnee design, made for the famous hotel of the same name in Yosemite. Well, it's not called that anymore, because of a trademark issue, it's now the Majestic Yosemite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahwahnee_Hotel The First Saturday sale includes seconds, discontinued and overstock items and includes items made for various restaurants in Tucson and beyond. I paid around $25 for a set of eight dinner plates, six salad plates, six soup bowls and then various butter chip dishes and small platters. And they have the famous Ahwahnee design: Most of the dishes I bought are barely 'seconds', with only tiny imperfections. The problem I have with them is that the dinner plates are oversized and bulky and don't fit well in my dishwasher at all, so I rarely use them. But I still recognize them as a great deal and a bit of history. I wonder if the hotel still uses any of this line? @Smithy, if you go to the First Saturday sale, it is held in the factory area so you get an idea of the size and scope of their production. However, it's not the same as an actual factory tour. (I've never done the tour, and would be interested.) Also, really pleased that you found something interesting in that cookbook! They hummus looks delicious!

From Wikipedia: In 1972, Charles Fry sold the Fry's Supermarkets chain based in California for US$14 million to Save Mart Supermarkets. He gave a portion of the proceeds, approximately $1 million, to each of his sons, John, W. Randolph (who goes by the nickname "Randy") and David, neither of whom had much interest in grocery store retailing.[3][4] Instead, in 1985, they joined together with a fourth partner, John's former girlfriend Kathryn Kolder, to open the first Fry's Electronics store at a 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m2) site in Sunnyvale, California.[5] Today, Fry's Food and Drug stores are owned and operated by Kroger and are not affiliated with Fry's Electronics, although they share an almost identical logo.[6]

Not seeing this anywhere. Link opens to a price of $59. Was there a 1-hour deal or something, maybe? I'd be interested in the Mini only at the right price (already have two 6 quart ones).

@weinoo, thanks for sharing all this! I can't wait to see the finished product! Work should be complete well before Christmas, yes?

@Smithy, we had a wonderful time meeting you two AND all your four-legged companions! Your cats are lovely, PJ is an adorable puppy! I hope we have more time next time, so many things to chat about and not nearly enough time to cover them all. And there are many great places to eat and drink in Tucson, the hard part is narrowing the choices down. It was great fun to actually visit the Princess Mobile and a real pleasure to meet the folks who travel in her!