FauxPas

I noticed it also. Would like to admire it some more, can we get a better photo, maybe in use? Does it work well?

After reading the background, it is pretty funny. Why make things easier when you can make them more complicated, right?

I thought maybe it was some odd recipe that actually required the use of both towels and tin foil. Or maybe you were heating the tortillas while cooking the filling. Or some odd modernist bread proofing/baking. Ha. I think I would just have covered the top of the pan with tin foil and tucked it in around tightly enough to keep it in place but loose enough that you can remove it for stirring but still have it keep its shape. And put the splatter screen on top of it if necessary. If the pan's too wide for a single width of tin foil, I'd just overlap them a bit. But maybe I'm missing something.

@Anna N, @Kerry Beal , how long are you on Manitoulin this time? @weinoo, thank you for the Negroni tips, will have to try your suggestions!

I tend to prefer cherries fresh also. Clafoutis, jams, pies, sauces are good but not as pleasing as the fresh fruit itself. I sometimes pit and halve them and serve them with a bit of ice cream or yogurt. But many times I just pit them in my mouth.... @Anna N, how do you two like your Negroni mixed? Do you use equal proportions of the gin, Campari, vermouth? I prefer to use a bit less Campari. I believe my first Negroni was after reading about you and @Kerry Beal enjoying them and I found a bottle of Campari languishing at the back of the 'cabinet' and made a couple. My husband didn't like it that much (he loves Manhattans), but I have one every now and then. So thanks for that!

This statement makes me very nervous. I really look forward to your Manitoulin breaks!

We had meatloaf, BC Warba (nugget) potatoes steam-baked in the CSO and some steamed corn-on-the-cob. Thought about having local sockeye salmon with a maple syrup glaze but we've had quite a bit of salmon lately. Dessert was some BC cherries with yogurt - closest I came to a red+white theme.

Wow, thanks for this one, @Toliver! I just borrowed it from the library a couple of weeks ago and though I only had time for a quick perusal before I decided I should just return it (no time to really cook from it right then), it did make me decide I would buy it if I could find it on sale. And here you are, finding exactly that! Like others, I really appreciate you taking the time to seek out the bargains and report them here. I don't always comment when I buy one of your finds, but I have purchased a few!

I think you did a terrific job and I might try to do the same process. Thanks for the link and the details! 🙂

@Shelby , I REALLY like the idea of one for meat and one for non-meat! Just not sure I have the counter space for that. My first two CSO's are pretty disgusting, I'm afraid. Steam-clean doesn't get everything and some of the grease is cooked-on at this point. Not sure there is a way to really clean them up again.

That new one is SO new and shiny-looking! 😮 Mine's still in the box, but I'm still thinking about bringing it out of the storage room. Will your baking stone be used mainly for bread, pizza?

So you just bought one? I'd be interested in knowing your experience with it. Thanks! I forgot all about this and have done nothing, but am still interested.

I checked and see the US Costco price is $249.99, shipping included.

Your kitty would like that box just as much (and maybe more!) if it were empty. 😉

I bought a backup unit when Best Buy Canada had them on sale a couple of months back. I might start using the new one and keep the old one as a backup.

That sounds like a pretty good price. What is their return policy? It's a backup so you can leave it in the box and if there's a better price in the next few weeks, you can perhaps return it and buy the lower-priced one. Or get a backup for your backup, hahahaha 😄

I last made butter tarts a couple of months ago, but can't even remember what I put in them. I have a photo of them, for some reason. Pretty sure some of them had nuts. I had a friend who gave me her mom's recipe, which might have had currants instead of raisins, but I know I didn't do that. I do like a thick pastry shell, not too gooey because it's a pain to try and eat them on the go and I like them to be portable.

And share with us again....

You can make do with muffin pans.

I bought that one, also! And when I went to check out the other one, Amazon kindly reminded me that I already owned it.

It's a stunning porch/deck. I love the finishing details and it looks so spacious. What a lovely place to sit and enjoy the morning/day/evening, I think I'd be out there all the time!

All the food looks wonderful. I love the bench! And the garden is looking good, too. Perfect to have a place to sit and watch it grow. Though I know that Chum secretly believes that bench was built just for her. Would love to see the new porch, if you are willing to share a photo. How many freezers do you have?

Oh no, this sounds dangerous! I would hate to get my kitchen completely reno'd and then have to start thinking about how to store the spices. Would you be willing to share details (maybe photos or plans) here? Maybe someone would have some useful suggestions.

Ha, I worked at a cannery when I was a kid and we canned asparagus for what felt like forever! That season never seemed to end. At first my job involved separating out less appealing spears to send on to soup production. Later, I gathered the better specimens by size for canning. The area I worked in was hot and steamy and reeked and I carried that smell home with me, then desperately tried to get it out of my clothes and hair. It was years before I could eat asparagus without feeling nauseous. And then I discovered that I lack the mutated gene that would prevent me from smelling the body's breakdown of the asparagusic acid. That was somewhat off-putting as well. Now I know it's likely most bodies do the same thing, just some folk have that mutated gene in their olfactory receptor region. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-asparagus-makes-your-urine-smell-49961252/ I can and do enjoy asparagus occasionally now, but it's still not at the top of my list. I'm much more likely to prepare it for someone else than myself. It's interesting to see what people do with it, though.

I also see the Canadian Costco price at $249.99 Cdn, which is a pretty good deal for US buyers, ha.