blue_dolphin

I have Amazon Prime. Looks like that makes me eligible for free delivery of $35 minimum orders from WF. That would be a bigger piece of cheese than I had in mind.

Me, too. One of my favorites. I got 2 of the Prosecco-washed Harbison on Saturday. I like Red Leicester (tomorrow) and the Rogue Enraptured Blanc (Wed) sounds good but not sure they are worth 2 more trips.

Thanks. I learned from that (and verified elsewhere) that the Italian Nocellara olives that TJ's been selling are the same olive variety sold as Castelvetranos

I've been feeling so isolated, I'm sure it did me more good to feel useful than anything else!

The other day, I went over to Roan Mills in Fillmore. As usual, I asked a few friends if I could pick up anything for them. One asked for a vegetarian quiche and a vegetarian pot pie, among other things. They didn't happen to have veg versions of either so with her permission, I substituted a potato tart. The guy at the counter told me it was good and only $15 instead of $25 for the quiche. "TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS???" I said (to myself) , "I can easily make her a quiche! When I dropped the stuff off, I asked her to pick a day for quiche. She was ever so grateful and picked today. Here's the bake, slightly overbaked, but OK: Spinach, mushroom & onion on the left, broccoli, red bell pepper and onion on the right. I also included a bag of the caramelized onion and cheese pull-apart rolls I'd made from Vivian Howard's recent book. She's got a stressful job, she's working at home along with her husband and 2 kids and said needing to prepare lunches and dinner everyday was pushing her over the edge so she was delighted. Hope the kids will eat them! After the holidays, I'll set up a schedule to prep lunch for them once a week or so.

The cookies are good. I'm having one with my coffee now! Thanks for the duck input. I might go back and get one. It's not really any different from a wet brine and while I wouldn't want to pay $10/lb for water, at $2.49/lb, it's not so bad. Thirteen bucks for a bit of entertainment couldn't be all bad!

Yes, I think they are supposed to be fake Triscuits. Haven't tried them yet. I meant to get plain but grabbed the cracked pepper flavor by mistake. If they're OK, I'll go back for the plain. I used to buy the dearly departed TJ's ones all the time and it would be handy if these are a good substitute.

When I saw them, I thought I remembered you mentioning that they were good. Of course, there was hardly anyone in there but it does seem quite spacious. They had the aisles marked for one-way traffic, not sure anyone was paying attention. That port wine cheese in the little brown Wispride crock was a regular holiday treat when I was growing up so I had to get it for old times sake! This doesn't taste quite as sharp as I remember but it's not bad.

The Opal apples have been sold at Trader Joe's for a few years. I've bought them there and liked them. I haven't looked lately as I've been getting apples at the local farmers market.

Yesterday was the Grand Opening for the Aldi store in my neighborhood I drove by the morning and saw that the parking lot was mostly empty so I decided to stop in. No crowds! I was apparently in some kind of porky mood as aside from some bananas that missed the photo, this is what I ended up with: It's about 2 miles away, so within walking distance as long as I don't buy too much stuff. Also, they had these whole frozen ducks for $2.49/lb. I was kind of put off by the "seasoned with approx 12 percent of water, salt and sodium phosphate." Has anyone tried one?

I put the cheeses I'm interested in on my calendar and today's Cowgirl Creamery Hop Along is the first one I marked. I also see that they are opening at 7 AM (they used to open at 8 AM here) so I will pop over shortly and report back. Edited to add that at 8AM, they had a fair number of pre-cut pieces and 2 wheels in this small “specials” case. There were more wheels and cut pieces back with the rest of the cheese.

Gin and Tonic

I haven't made either one of them but I learned yesterday that next week is Collard Week so they are on my list for sure. See my post here if you want more info on Collard Week 🙃

From this segment, on Evan Kleiman's Good Food podcast, I learned that there is an Heirloom Collard Project and that next week, beginning Dec 14, is 2020 Collard Week with a variety of presentations scheduled: I'm guessing that these presentations will end up archived on the Culinary Breeding Network's YouTube channel as I see that recent Garlic Week and Radicchio Week sessions are there.

I've used jaggery to make spiced syrups to add to Old Fashioned-type drinks or in making a hot toddy. I think it lent a bit of warmth but the ginger or black cardamom were the main flavor elements. I'm no pro, but I'd guess that a drink would get too sweet before there was enough other flavor from the jaggery alone to make a big difference. You can also find a few mentions if you search this topic: (Not So) Simple, Flavored, & Spiced Syrups for jaggery

Thanks for the reminder! I've been trying to limit shopping trips to necessities but I’ll pop in for a few of these.

I’m of no help at all but that is the cutest gingerbread man pan ever! I would buy him in an instant. Hope you will get some excellent suggestions!

Thanks for the tip on Herbdacious + Brussels sprouts, @Shelby. I'll give it a try. I was debating between LGD and Herbdacious for the potatoes below. Went with LGD but will try Herbdacious next time! Small potatoes and sugar snap peas tossed with LGD to make kind of a warm potato salad, topped with a soft boiled egg.

After @scamhi had chili crisp on ice cream over here in the dinner topic and referenced Kenji's NYT article: Chili Crisp is Even Good with Ice Cream, I went ahead and made the Sichuan Peanut Streusel, subbing in cashews and enjoyed the sundae. Now, in possession of enough streusel for 11 more sundaes, I embarked on the first of what I'm sure will be multiple attempts to use it. Sweet potato came to mind so I put one in to bake, thinking to blend the pulp with some coconut milk and fresh ginger and top with the streusel for a casserole-type thing. Went through a few other ideas in my head but decided on the version below. Sweet potato slices with spicy chili crisp, Sichuan cashew streusel and yogurt Oh, and here's the sundae. I really liked it.

Not exactly, but every time I see the thread pop up, I'm more and more tempted to stop by a local bakery that's selling them and pick up a couple!

Egg sandwich on sourdough I've been making various iterations 🙃 lately. This one had Vivian Howard's Little Green Dress on both sides of the lightly toasted bread, TJ's Unexpected Cheddar melted over that on one side. I'm not there yet, but no complaints either.

I do eat breakfast every day. Sometimes they end up in another thread. Sometimes I forget to take a photo. This morning, there was a bit of cacio e pepe discussion in a pizza topic that got me thinking in that direction but I also wanted some vegetables so I made the Pasta alla Gricia with Slivered Sugar Snap Peas from Six Seasons. No guanciale in the house so I diced up a handy biscuit slice of country ham.

@Chris Hennes did something quite similar following the recipe in Marc Vetri's Mastering Pizza and shared his result just upthread here. He had much more success than I did when I tried it. The ice is supposed to melt into hot, starchy water which turns into a cheesy sauce when you add the grated pecorino Romano cheese. Much of my crust blistered up, pushing the water into a small, deep pool in one corner. I sprinkled the cheese on and shook the pizza as directed but just got a glob of thick cheesy stuff in that pool surrounded by hills topped with dry cheese. I think I'd need a lot of practice to get it right! Edited to add this photo of my sorry attempt. I made it last year but I was too embarrassed to post!

I think eBay is the best source for a replacement. I bought mine around 1979 - 80 when they were still being retailed in the US. It's orange and has 5 metal disks. I believe the same model was also sold in white plastic. I've had to repair the plastic knob on the end of the crank and need to do that again. I used Sugru and it lasted a few years. The disks are still in good shape. I use the thing all the time. The one I grew up with was an older, all-metal version. The "hopper" area was smaller, which is somewhat limiting, and the knob was wooden.

I have learned that some sort of Aussie meat pies are available in my area. I will attempt to link the photos but sensitive readers may wish to avert their eyes or avoid scrolling through to the end as ketchup was applied. https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWoEPOnvSe/