Shelby

I have enough gift certificates to Amazon to buy half a sous vide machine.....that's a big purchase for me and I'm not sure about it. I need to study up to see which brand is the best. Or maybe I'll chicken out lol.

Loved reading and seeing everything this week, Lior!

Soba, I've missed you! I hope all is well and these meals are making me hungry!

I had NO idea there was a spice that has my name! (my real name is Melissa ) Isn't it fun to see candies from different parts of the world? I love the International grocery store isles at my local store. And, I like your daughters nail polish

Beautiful chocolates and I love the hedgies!!

Now I must have camel milk before I die. I got to have a fresh fig, so now, camel milk has taken it's place! BTW, the dad is pretty handsome!

Oh Lior, this is going to be the best blog ever!! I've eaten up every word.

AH I knew you all would be brilliant and have some great ideas! So, it won't hurt to re-melt it and add more chocolate to it? Great idea. I have some colored sanding sugar that would look cool over the white of the truffle. That's what I did wrong! I didn't know that about white chocolate. Thank you! I wonder if I've stumbled onto something to make on purpose next time Pouring over a bundt cake is a fabulous idea. If I run out of steam tonight--massive baking going on--I'm going to do this and just keep it for myself. See? I love a squishy candy like that, but I didn't know of all would.....I have parchment paper.. I wonder what a sprinkle of sea salt would do? Not good?

Kay! You're killing me with the tomatoes *drool*

Ok, you all know that I'm no whiz at making sweets. So, of course, I decided to make my family a whole array of different treats and send them in the mail for Christmas. Most have turned out ok, but I have a big failure and I don't want to waste it. I tried to make fudge using white chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and Bailey's Irish Cream. It seemed dang simple, but I must have done something wrong because it won't set up. It's the texture of a soft caramel. Ideas on ways to use it? I'm not asking to save the fudge because I think that's impossible, but could I turn it into something else? It tastes really good.

OMG BIT ditto here from Kansas. Seriously, were they even 1/2" thick???? Them ain't cattle country steaks for sure.

We always called it "fried cornbread". It was a faster way than waiting for a whole pan to bake. Haven't had it in years. Oh, but to have some Brunswick Stew though . Don't get that in California. And if they were flat, we called them hoecakes. Fat little ovals, deep-fried, hushpuppies. And then we get into corn mush. Fried mush was one of my father's favorite breakfasts. That's something you don't see very often anymore. Didn't Shelby make fried mush in her awesome blog? I need to try that. Thanks for remembering!!! I LOVE fried mush. Makes me want to get up and make a batch right now...smothered in butter and syrup ****drool***

Really enjoyed following you around this week! That G&T looks very refreshing.

No, it was wild. I just want to point out that unless this female bird was taken from some sort of preserve where the hunting of females is allowed, the killing of female pheasants is illegal out in the wild. I'm not the food police and I support eating what one wants, but I am passionate about the illegal taking of game. I'm wondering if your friend is a long time hunter?

Oh MY!!! This looks awesome!

Yes. A female pheasant from here in Connecticut. Not sure of the exact species. Absolutely beautiful bird. It was roasted whole. On it's side for 8 minutes, then the other side for another 8, then finally finished on its back for 8 minutes more. The breasts were carved, and then the bird was put back in the oven for a few more minutes to finish cooking the legs. It was my first time cooking something from start to finish like that (plucking, gutting, roasting). It was a nice experience. So, it was from a farm, not wild, correct?

Was this a female??? If not, what kind of pheasant?

Wow, that seems so utterly foreign to me! So interesting! Does this mean that one would literally get kicked out of their apartment if they, for example, microwaved a snack? Or, does it mean that there are no kitchens in the apartment?

Great job in the kitchen--so far. ScottyBoy has promised us his take on Bolognese. Shelby, tell us how all the duck flavors worked. They worked beautifully together. I ended up adding 5 chicken livers, too. They made the dish a bit more creamy, but definitely not too livery. Just a hint of that mineral taste, you know?

Whew, what a great meal!! Finished product: I made some homemade bread sticks and some green beans to go along side. Thanks for a great learning experience and a great topic!!!

I followed Marcella Hazan's cookbook The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking She says to cook the meat in milk before adding wine and tomatoes due to the taste that the acid would cause.

Mouth droolingly gorgeous.

Way to go! It is definitely not "gravy". And you will be thrilled with a duck version. It is swoon-producimg. My favorites are duck, pork, rabbit. I make probably a gallon a month of various kinds to pass on to grown "kids" who keep it on hand in the freezer. I use wide-mouth jars so they can just thaw the edges and turn out into a saucepan for fast-food dinner. Oh! Interesting! I've never used mason jars in the freezer like that. Great idea!

That is a delicious-sounding combination, and I thought it was interesting that you too found the liver very mild, since my sauce smells so livery to me (making things more confusing, my boyfriend isn't getting this note at all, although he has a far better sense of smell than I do, most of the time). Well, again, I didn't add any chicken liver yet. I find goose and duck (at times) to be very livery tasting, so I was scared to add the real liver. And, you are a brave woman...living with trumpet-playing in-laws lol.

Ok, so this is after adding a cup or so of milk: Milk cooked out: Here I added a couple shakes of nutmeg. After adding a cup of white wine: After the wine cooked out, I added a couple of roughly chopped up tomatoes from my now frozen garden. These were barely starting to turn red when I picked them to save them from the frost. They are no where near as good as summer tomatoes, but better than store bought for sure. After adding them, I didn't feel like there were enough, so I opened a can of these and put roughly 3 or 4 in. (forgive Newman, the cat's legs. He's a show-off) After that, I had a large moment of panic thinking I'd added too much tomato. But, I think it's ok. I dumped it all in a slow cooker: and turned it on low for 2 hours last night. I turned it off before I went to bed. Here it is this morning before stirring: It's too runny, right? After stirring: I have it on low, now and I guess I'll let it simmer there all day??? Everything I've read says that the longer you cook it, the better...... Again, should I add the chicken livers now? Some thoughts: It sure was hard for me not to add garlic. But, after tasting this morning, I don't miss it a bit. I also thought I'd miss basil etc. but, nope. This sauce is not gravy, but it's definitely going to be added to my cooking rotation. This is the richest sauce I've ever tasted. You couldn't take more than a couple of bites without pasta (IMO). Next time I make it, I'll make a much bigger batch. My husband is thrilled that we've come up with a new way to eat geese and ducks. I'm ready for any ideas and thoughts.