FauxPas

Looks very nice! I found this one on the Canadian Panasonic site, is yours similar? Is it a countertop appliance? What is the water source, is it 'plumbed' or does it have a water reservoir?

It's great as a group activity if you want to make a lot of them, as it certainly helps to have several pairs of hands doing the repetitive bits! I'd absolutely make some on my own, but it would be a much smaller batch size. I might make some alone (or with the friend who joined me at the Amerind) next year for Christmas, probably just enough for us and a few neighbours.

I haven't done it myself, but I see home versions of White Castle burgers/sliders around and they often involve baking in a pan, then cutting. Like this: http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/almost-white-castle-hamburgers-109264#activity-feed Or this: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/our-version-of-white-castle-sliders/ Or this one: http://athriftymom.com/white-castle-burger-copycat-recipe-baked-in-the-oven-so-easy/ Do a search for White Castle burger recipe and you can see other approaches, also.

I am SO jealous!

It looks wonderful. I have a very bad case of drawer envy! @weinoo, when you open your fridge doors, does the left side open fully or does that little bit of wall limit it? I have a similar fridge and a partial wall on the right side prevents me from opening it wide and it drives me nuts.

Soup looks wonderful! But I'll add my wishes for your mom's quick recovery!!

I can usually find the Campari tomatoes at Costco here in AZ and they also usually carried them back in BC, though I realize some of you may not be close to a Costco or have a membership.

I hope it's a nice flight. You must be in Business Class, is there a meal?

Any special dining plans that you can share?

How long will you be in San Francisco?

We grew up in Canada calling them tea towels, also!

I have been using the same eight cotton dish towels for a few years here. I bought them from Costco and they don't seem to wear out. I almost wish they would because I am getting a bit sick of them. Here's one that I sent to a girlfriend, who was going through a dry patch for meeting men. (It may be a bit of a scroll-down image.)

They are all over the place in terms of depth, that's what makes it tricky to guess capacity by diameter. I see some varying from 3 inches to 4.75 inches deep. I'm guessing a 9.5 inch one would usually be 9 cups or so, but would obviously hold more if it's a deep pan.

It gets some good reviews! Are you going to bake that upside-down cake?

I think even some of the full-size ones would fit inside the CSO actually, though I haven't cooked anything in a bundt pan for some time. Depending on how big of a cake you want to make, you can use a 1.5 L (6 cup), 2.1 L (9 cup) or 3 L (12 cup). . I can't speak to the quality of this Nordicware 6 cup one, but it would easily fit inside both the CSO and the Instant Pot. Several reviews mention using it in the Instant Pot. So it could do double duty for you, ha! Just make sure you prep the pan right to avoid sticking. And I think most recipes would be divided in half.

And 90 calories seems awfully high for 2 Tbsps of soy milk. Edited to add: Oh, just saw the last comment. It's 2 tbsps of powder added to 8 oz of water. Makes more sense.

I just did some in the IP last night. They were medium-large and fairly fresh. I did them for 18 mins and left them for about another 7 mins before doing a release. Seemed just about right. I used to buy the smaller ones from TJs and I think I did those for 15 mins, so I added on a few more mins.

Yes, I was thinking this would be an excellent use for my Google Home, wonderful to listen to a book while I am sewing/quilting! Haven't tried it yet though....

Maybe this thread should be called "Smart Speakers in the Kitchen" as there are a few different models, all doing essentially the same tasks. Instead of Amazon Echo with Alexa, I use the Google Home with Google Assistant and I hear that Apple will be introducing a smart speaker as well. I like the Google Home because it's actually quite good at answering most questions, since it has access to Google's powerful search engine. Its sound quality for music may not be quite as good, but I'm OK with it. It's super easy to make shopping lists that are immediately shared with my Google Pixel smartphone. Timers are indeed useful. But since my smartphone has the voice-activated Assistant built in also, I can do many of the same things with it. Timers, weather, general information, etc. So I don't always appreciate what the Home is adding, other than a bigger speaker. But it's still fairly new to me, so I'll keep exploring.

@weinoo, like others here, I love my CSO so much that I could never relegate it to a shelf. I use it far too often! I'm so glad that you started the thread on the CSO here, as it gave me the info I needed to make the purchase myself a bit later. And as I recall, you were very patient and kind in replying to some of my dumb questions via message as well. I thank you for that. And maybe I should blame you that I have now purchased three (3!) of these, ha. In your new kitchen, I think I would try to make the CSO work on the stainless steel counter, so that you have lots of prep room on the butcher block. But it's hard to visualize it without a photo, does it really not fit on the stainless steel or is it just a bit bulky? Don't you have a bit of counter on the right side of your sink? I need to go back to your kitchen photos. I guess you have already considered all the options. If all else failed, I would leave it on the butcher block, store the cutting board behind it or beside it. Move it over to the right a bit to allow for working on the left side of the butcher block to accommodate your cutting style, if necessary.

I'm not Kerry but I can see that they do ship to the US, didn't follow through to see specific shipping charges, but here are the basics: http://www.tweedandhickory.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/customerservice.html#shipping They have quite the selection! I use Republic of Tea in the US, but my needs are simple and unsophisticated. They do have some Rooibus though. http://www.republicoftea.com/?q=rooibos

I'm just learning about this NY tradition and yours is so complete and looks so delicious! Also, have you shared your scalloped tomato recipe here? I think you have, but didn't find it with a search.

My first time ever for black-eyed peas! Decent provenance though: And they are so pretty soaking in the bowl! And a very tasty result, from Rancho Gordo's website, the Black-Eyed Pea Stew, but I added some luscious homemade chicken stock I'd been keeping in the freezer and upped the vegetable content. Happy New Year!

Same as the Fry's (Kroger) stores here in southern AZ, though those tend to be smaller ones. The large ones are $1.25 or you can get four medium ones in a bag for $2.99 or $1.99 each for the large-ish organic ones. I can't remember the price at Trader Joe's but it's not usually outrageous. Just noticed that the local Sprouts stores have Mexican Hass avocados for 3 for $1 in this week's flyer. Maybe I need to make a visit!

Were you happy with it cooked this way?