blue_dolphin

It’s a nice flavor combo. I was thinking of trying it as a sorbet, without the dairy. Need to think about that.

I haven’t experienced any warping. I have a gas cooktop and the flame comes up the side a ways (unnecessarily wasting energy and heating the room, of course) so it’s not as concentrated on the bottom alone which might contribute to warping.

I have the carbon steel, flat bottom wok with the metal side handle from wokshop.com. I got the 12” size which is good for me as I’m usually coking for 1 or 2. The 14 inch would be more versatile for some things, for example, I’ve made a few recipes where some ingredients were to be moved up to the side while something else got cooked in the bottom and the bigger wok offers more real estate for that sort of stuff. I already had both flat and domed lids that work so I didn’t need to buy them. Edited to add that I’m very happy with that wok.

That particular All-Clad pan is big and heavy so it’s challenging to toss or flip stuff around. If the kid is beefy and regularly cooks for a crowd, it might be a good pan for him. IMHO, the mother of all pans would be either a wok or a cast iron skillet. Both are inexpensive and would teach the kid about how to season a pan and how to cook in a way that respects that seasoning. You could get him both of those and a copy of Kenji's The Wok for a lot less than that pan. I've ordered quite a few items from that factory sale website and haven’t been disappointed. It’s great if you happen to spot something you’d like but not so much when you have something specific in mind. My only miss was a pan that turned out to be both bigger and heavier than I needed. Nothing wrong, just a bad choice on my part.

Last week we had some hot weather so I mixed up half batches of the Blueberry + Omani Lime Ice Cream from The Flavor Equation by Nic Sharma and the Lemon Verbena Sherbet from Bestia by by Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. Both are good but don’t really complement each other. The blueberry and Omani lime is a favorite and a repeat. I’ve also made it as popsicles. It’s made with kefir or buttermilk for a light tang. The lemon verbena sherbet came out right on the edge of being too floral/soapy. Likely operator error as I always think more herbs are good and might have packed the leaves more than “lightly” when measuring. I think a straight fruit sorbet would be a better partner for it than the blueberry ice cream. I was thinking mango but The Flavor Bible recommends apricot with lemon verbena so maybe I’ll repeat it when apricots are in season.

Resurrecting an old topic as I think there have been a number of books that fit this category and while I also used to scoff at many of them, I’ve found they can be useful for me when I’ve gotten into a cooking funk. Ali Slagle's 2022 I Dream of Dinner (so You Don't Have To): Low-Effort, High-Reward Recipes (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) comes to mind. I cooked a ton from it when it was the book of the month in a cookbook group I participate in and I continue to pull it out when I’m looking for ideas for something quick. The real reason I was looking for a topic about “Easy” cookbooks was to mention Easy Weeknight Dinners by New York Times Cooking and Emily Weinstein (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). It happens to be the cookbook of the month in my cookbook group and is a compilation of ~ 100 easy recipes from NYT Cooking, all of which can be accessed on line if you subscribe. I’m a subscriber so I didn’t purchase the book but have been cooking along. I've been pleasantly surprised with the results and wanted to mention it. It would be a good option for newer cooks or anyone looking for some low-effort but tasty recipes. The Amazon preview contains all the intro material, including a “recipe type” listing for those looking for help deciding what to cook and almost all of the chicken recipes. Here’s a page from that recipe listing, for review purposes: Here are some of the dishes I’ve been pleased with. Coconut fish & tomato bake (made with black cod): Blackened fish with grits (recipe calls for quick grits, I used regular) Chile crisp fettuccine Alfredo with spinach (I added mushrooms): Baked cod with buttery cracker topping (made with fresh ocean whitefish filets): One-pot pasta with ricotta and lemon (I added veg): Sheet-pan chile crisp salmon and asparagus (recipe cubes the salmon, I left whole):

Can you get by with a silicone lid? I have a 1 qt All Clad saucier that's one of my most used pans but didn’t come with a lid. I don’t have any lids that fit so that’s what I use. I’ll note that might not work as well with the arched cast iron handle on the Falk pan pictured above.

@Shel_B, I answered your question over here in a tuna topic you started ages ago!

I mentioned St. Jude tuna belly in another thread and got a question from @Shel_B about their smoked tuna so I thought I’d answer over here rather than take the other one off-topic. Note that those cans of tuna belly are small. I’d say the regular St. Jude smoked tuna is moderately smoky. If I’m making a smoked tuna spread to put on crackers, it’s perfect. If I want to make a smoked tuna salad for sandwiches, I sometimes use one can of smoked plus one can of unsmoked tuna for a milder flavor. I noticed they also have some smoked tuna processed for them in Canada that includes other seasonings including garlic, black pepper and curry powder. I included a couple cans in my last order but haven’t tried them yet.

Thanks! Tuna was oil packed but not imported. I used a tin of tuna belly from Fishing vessel St. Jude in Seattle. On the pricy side but I like supporting a small, family-owned business. I buy their regular tuna and throw in a few cans of this as a treat!

This triangle-shaped long pasta is nice. Kinda like linguine with an extra edge. Linguine with tuna, arugula and capers (Blond puttanesca) From NYT Cooking

Good food for thought. I buy most of my produce at the farmers market. They aren’t affected by the grocery store regulations and still offer plastic bags. I limit my use of them but still use some occasionally. In particular for collecting food scraps and waste that must be segregated from the regular trash but oddly, in my area, can’t go in a compostable bag. The Wirecutter found the reusable bag best at keeping veg fresh were the towel-like Vejibag that you dampen and re-spritz when they dry out. Just the ticket if you want your veg to have a spa experience. They’re also expensive and bulky but some less expensive draw-string top cotton bags also performed well. Edited to add that a nice feature of those bags for use at a grocery store is that each has a little tag with the tare weight stamped on it. I might rifle through my stash of kitchen towels (or pick up some new ones from TJs) and try stitching up some drawstring bags of appropriate sizes. I know the towels tolerate washing in hot water and bleach as I’d want for something like this. And as others have said, I routinely wash greens and store them wrapped in damp towels. I’ll report back on how this works.

I know lots of people have big Easter parties or other spring gatherings and might want a bunch. They’re pretty inexpensive compared with similar paper bags. They’d make an OK reusable lunch bag but beyond that, I couldn’t come up with a “need” for them. My mom lined up in the wee hours and bought her wedding gown at a Filene's basement event. She was very thrifty but would likely have passed on these little TJs bags!

As @rotuts said, they’re quite small. Appropriate for a little gift bag. Given the pastel colors and timing on this release, I suspect many will be used for lEaster baskets. They showed up at my TJs yesterday, unbeknownst to me. When I arrived, close to 9 AM, I noted more cars in the parking lot than usual. Inside, near the entrance, there were 2 staff members standing in front of a big bin of these bags, enforcing a limit of 4/customer. Everyone in front of me got some. I did not. Most got 4. By the time I'd worked my way through the produce, meat, cheese, and dairy, I heard a big cheer from up front, indicating they had sold out.

I can’t argue with that selection but So many blues, it’s impossible to choose one but there’s always one available. And, as noted