FauxPas

Very interesting! I'd never heard of this before. Shelby, will be interested to see what you do with it. (And I love any picture that has Newman in it.)

As to the induction burner, in the comments Dave Arnold mentions that they did the test on a "cheapie Mr Induction" countertop induction unit. It's a 1650W countertop unit with limited power control and a small burner size. And again: I don't know what we are being told other than it is best to match pan to element size. And as Shel_B says, pretty much everyone already knows that. Edited to clean up formatting.

I looked at the link for the Kenji comment and it was some tweeted comments from April, 2015. He did initially say it could be a game changer, but then said: Then the cinder people say they will get him a test unit soon. From here: https://twitter.com/thefoodlab/status/583409927668031489

I think it did. Same cofounder posted on both threads. See also: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/150863-another-new-toy-cinder/

I'ts available for pre-order now for $249 US. Not that I am interested in buying one, but just thought I would pass the info along. https://cindercooks.com/ Top Right, click on Pre-order. I'd be interested in reading a real review, once it's in production.

I know that Canada is not the only country. I just posted a quick YouTube Video link that was about Canada using bagged milk. But I'm pretty sure I had milk in bags when I lived in Norway some years ago. I just looked at Wiki for 'milk bags' and I see other countries listed also. And even within Canada, it varies. You don't see a lot of bagged milk here in BC.

Milk in bags - it's a Canadian thing.

I also think it looks fabulous. I fired off a few emails to various people involved with Fox Int'l Channels Asia and also National Geo People, based on contact info on the sites. I am not sure that I will even get a reply let alone info about being able to view, but at least they will know there is some interest in the show outside of the viewing region. But because of broadcast restrictions, it may not be possible to rebroadcast. Still, I will remain hopeful. I could not see any other way of viewing it. although someone at Chefsteps said this: https://www.chefsteps.com/forum/posts/new-tv-show-the-worlds-best-chefs

Thanks for the stepstool advice, mine may bite me yet! I will be careful. I seem to recall that Canadian Tire did try to enter the US market a few years back but it did not work out well. Still, their odd business model seems to work here. It's a bit like London Drugs in Western Canada - it's a place you go to find almost anything, but if you don't find it you aren't usually disappointed because you find so many odd and interesting things along the way plus a few really well-priced necessities that you end up spending some money anyway.

We've got too much fresh fruit in the house so I made a little bit of cherry butter. Maybe it should be called jam, but it was mostly fruit with a bit of sugar and cooked down for almost an hour, so I think I would call it a fruit butter. I've never done that with sweet cherries before, but we really liked the result. We had a little bit with some bread and cheese but also added it to ice cream and fresh peaches and that was really tasty. I think it would also be good with pork or chicken. I started with about 4 cups of pitted cherries and added 1/2 cup sugar and a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest, so we're definitely not talking about big batches here! Refrigerator storage only, though of course it could be modified for longer term storage.

It was a warm evening and we didn't really want to cook much. We had some bread and cheese and dessert became the focus. Home-made cherry butter with fresh peaches and ice cream. So good!

Beautiful photos! That spicy beef woke me up.

Very simple dinner, but some nice local produce. And very tasty little pork sausages, made by a local grocery. We were surprised how much we enjoyed this meal.

I have exactly the same folding stepstool, I think. But I adore mine and don't think I have ever been bitten. Not sure what you mean, Smithy? I keep mine at the end of a counter run where there is a bit of space before the patio door. It fits there perfectly and doesn't actually need to be folded most of the time, so maybe it doesn't get many opportunities to bite me. Also, Kerry and Anna - I love Canadian Tire. I think they could use the motto "keep Canadian Tire weird." Because they really are a bit weird. But it works. I can never stay away from there for long. And I often find stuff there that I really like. Their store here is the smallest square footage in the whole country or something and they are crazily creative when it comes to stacking merchandise. They are supposed to take over the defunct Target store and I hope that happens because I get a serious kink in my neck every time I shop in their current store.

Fresh wild salmon, caught by our neighbour. Cooked sous vide. Roasted new potatoes and roasted green and yellow pattypan squash with gremolata (with orange and lime zest as well as lemon) and some snow peas. Topped with some citrus slices and toasted pine nuts. The veggies. And the local farm corn is here. This is Fastlane, a bicolour and it's pretty darn tasty. A bit early.

Ha, no it wasn't quite the same - for me, anyway. Though I think I liked cold, icy things more than usual. I was diagnosed in late February and people did find it weird that I wanted icy cold drinks all the time and would be chewing on the ice, asking for more, etc and all in the middle of winter.

Some pretty significant parts of the world generate electricity via hydro-electric. It's not all coal-burning plants.

Also, I am interested in this because a few years back I developed a real yen for munching on ice. It was definitely odd for me, but apparently it's fairly common in folks with anemia. I didn't know I had an issue until some blood tests came back and my doctor freaked a bit and said I might need an immediate blood transfusion. I had a treatable issue, but ice was my friend and foe before the diagnosis. Friend because it really helped me feel better and foe because it can be tough on your teeth. Chewable or nugget ice would have been much kinder. But then, I don't have the same problem anymore and don't crave ice that way anymore. Still, I like a lot of ice and have a tendency to munch at times. Now I see that the ice munching may counteract the effects of anemia: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/2014/11/08/9591b4c0-6770-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html Very interesting.

I know, but I think I get it! More here at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120165510390727145

Does that area get a lot of summer thunderstorms?

Last night we started by sharing a couple of tasty samosas - one veggie, one beef. I've made samosas before, but these were purchased locally. With commercial mango chutney, which was not that great. I should have found time to make my own. Chicken cubes cooked on hot BBQ after a spicy yogurt marinade for 'tandoori-style' chicken skewers. Basmati rice, of course. And some Chana Masala. I added some cauliflower because I bought a lovely little one from the farm and my husband loves the stuff. Thought about making Aloo Gobi with the caulflower, but we already had lots of food for the two of us! (Plus leftovers.) Served with naan bread (also purchased) and a tomato-cucumber raita.

This isn't really new. Other agencies have also examined this. For example, the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) study for the California Energy Commission. http://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2014/data/papers/9-702.pdf And as Smithy referenced above: But cooking doesn't take place in a vacuum in a home. The extra heat generated by the gas or conventional electric stovetops may require additional home cooling, for example. (Of course the extra heat can be an energy savings in cold homes.) I also couldn't read past the first page of the DOE report referenced in the first post. So I don't know what type of induction cooktop they used for testing. The EPRI only used a couple of inexpensive countertop models - 1500 and 1800 Watts. Would the results have been different if they had used a full cooktop model? But as others have said, I didn't buy induction for energy efficiency. Although less heat in the kitchen certainly seems like energy efficiency to me. With a standard cooktop, I'd be turning on fans or A/C to cool the house down when the weather was at all warm. But there are so many other benefits to induction!

I am really a novice at sous vide cooking, but it helps me to try talking through some of these things. Someone much more knowledgeable than me will come along and give you some better guidance, but here are my thoughts. I hope someone will correct me if I am wrong. (I won't comment on the brining or smoking.) A brisket is a very different cut than a chop. The brisket is a tough cut that requires longer cooking. A chop is more like a steak, it can easily be overcooked. 68.2 C seems quite high to cook at chop. That puts it up at the well-done end of the spectrum, unless that is what you want. I've looked at some of Baldwin's figures, but I feel pretty comfortable using ChefSteps simpler guides to time and temp. They advise 1 to 2.5 hr water bath time for chops, depending on desired doneness. If you look at the sous vide cooking thread, there is some discussion of cooking pork chops. Also, how will your friends be reheating the chops? That will be significant.

Gorgeous colour, Shelby! I bet it tastes delicious also. Sounds like it might make a nice glaze for meats as well as toast-topping, etc. Any special plans for using it?

Sorry, should have said 'how much longer are you three there?'