blue_dolphin

That’s annoying! I see the book is indexed on Eat Your Books, so that’s an option

Wow - great pics, indeed! Just wish I lived closer.

Here's what came to mind after reading your preferences. You could try a sous vide confit. Most people recommend against that for duck breast because they think it should be served more rare but that's not your preference anyway. I saw that Hank Shaw thinks they can become "liver-y" and that may be so, but you could try it with just a couple and see what you think. If you liked them, there would be many options to use the confit meat. Your preference for spiced preps made me think a batch of pork belly and duck breast sausages might be pretty great. I hope to see you get suggestions from the more knowledgable peeps around here!

I joined 2 ladies for lunch today at the Lakeside Restaurant in Encino where we have dined (lunched?) before. They have a very pleasant, tree-shaded outdoor eating area that’s immediately adjacent to the Los Encinos State Historic Park. Shrimp tacos for me Salmon salad for both the other ladies

Mini salmon burgers from Dorie Greenspan's Everyday Dorie (recipe available online here) and roasted asparagus with preserved lemon aioli.

Ditto what @kayb & @gfweb said. I thaw stock, melt butter and rewarm coffee in the MW. It actually gets the most use as a cat-free bacon safe when I need to leave the kitchen for a few minutes. When I can afford it, I plan to replace my over the range microwave with a proper exhaust fan and will likely put a cheap MW in a closet around the corner

I also hold the apron with the back facing me. I hold the straps where they cross in the back and put my head through into the opening in front of that cross, then stick my arms through the sides. I feel like I need to make a video as it's easy to do but hard to describe!

Nigel Slater's cake for midsummer with mango instead of the called-for peaches and lime zest instead of orange. The peach version of this cake was a hit last summer with the folks where I get my hair cut. With peaches out of season, I figured mango would play nicely with the blueberries.

chicken stock quick vegetable stocks rice – white, brown, or risotto-like dishes polenta whole-milk "ricotta" root vegetables or winter squashes, esp for puréed soups pressure cooker ragù Bolognese (from Serious Eats) potatoes for potato salad or mashed taters kalua pork or other pork shoulder recipes dried beans come in last as I prefer to cook them low and slow but the IP certainly comes in handy in a pinch!

I made it the laziest way - 3T from a packet of salted caramel sipping chocolate from Trader Joes stirred into 1/3 cup hot milk 🙃! They sold it in a gift tin around the holidays with three flavors and I think they sold this flavor on its own as well.

Continuing that sweet theme, I made myself a small but decadent cup of salted caramel sipping chocolate to take the chill off the early morning but the real reason was to use these cups: I recently spent a week back at my late mother's house sorting through things. These little cups and saucers from a Limoges chocolate set were among the items that I packed in an abundance of bubble wrap and shipped to myself at ridiculous expense. They arrived yesterday, none the worse for the experience. I don't know what happened to the graceful pitcher that went with them but I remember eyeing the set in my grandmother's china cabinet when I was a little girl. The cups were almost child sized and I was absolutely enchanted to learn that they weren't for coffee or tea but for CHOCOLATE - it was something out of a fairy tale! I never saw anyone use them but I'm going to. Can I interest anyone in stopping by for a hot toddy?

@ddominick, investigating the individual strains of bacteria and yeast in a sourdough culture is likely to require more microbiology than is usually accessible to the average 6th grader. That said, there's a lot of great data available online from the Sourdough Project where the team collected starters from around the world and did just that - analyzed the microbial content of each. You can click on their interactive map and see the percentages of different yeasts and bacteria in each one. Here's a video with some updates on the project and some Q&A that might be interesting for your daughter. You've probably already checked this out, but if you search for "Sourdough Science Fair Projects" there are some good materials out there for grade-level appropriate measurements that your daughter could use to track the growth of your starter and maybe compare that with new starters that she makes with one or more types of flour. This link will take you to a series of blog posts where a scientist (who's also in the video) from the lab working on the Sourdough Project uses some of those materials and takes a group of middle schoolers through the process of making their own starters, choosing the best ones and collaborating with a local bakery, conducts taste-tests on the resulting breads. I've judged quite a few state and county science fairs and my best advice would be to encourage your daughter to have fun with her project!

A twist on PB&J Toast topped with roasted pistachio butter (from the recipe in Six Seasons) with pomegranate arils playing the jam role.

And we finally get a peek at your choices of flatware and stemware - both lovely!

Hopefully you will get some replies from more knowledgable bakers but in the meantime, here's my 2 cents: I believe that while some doughs are more suited to particular purpose, a single bread dough can often be used in multiple ways. Alon Shaya's cookbook, Shaya, uses the same dough for both pita breads and pizza and I have used it for both purposes with excellent results. Several members often post delicious looking pizzas made from the same bread dough that they also bake up into baguettes or other loaves.

Yes, I've seen the fee and I do find it annoying. I thought that the corporate office might have imposed price controls that prevented the owner from raising prices so a service charge was the only way to go. However, last week, I was in New York State and noticed that the pizza was priced higher back there than it is here in So Cal, by about the same 5% as that "service charge." Apparently this owner has chosen to do business in California but wants to publicly grouse about the state's business policies. I'd prefer that he call it a "whiney-ass-cry-baby charge or go buy himself 224 Pizza Hut stores in another state.

I bought the bread at a local bakery and they incorporate a generous amount of bacon in the loaf, made with a Sonora/Red Fife whole grain blend that they grow and mill. There's a picture of the unadorned toast back in this post. Next time, I'll try to capture it sizzling so deliciously when it comes out of the CSO!

Another version of Avocado Kimchi Toast, this time on toasted bacon bread with an egg on top: The basic recipe is from Julia Turshen's Small Victories

I have tried this. It's nice. It's not clotted cream.

Thanks for sharing that photo. I rather doubt that I'll find it this far south, but at least I know what to look for!

There is a nice distribution of Daiso shops in the LA area:

Avocado & kimchi toast:

Here's what I picked up on a recent visit to my local Daiso Probably not as large as the one that @Anna N & @Kerry Beal visited but still plenty of interesting gadgets to capture my interest!

I just got an email that mine is out for delivery. I just got on a plane in Washington DC so I should have a treat welcoming me when I get home!

Not my cooking, but an excellent dinner out in my hometown Duck Leg Confit & Grilled Housemade Chorizo Sausage - with duck stock reduction & apple-mango chutney, toasted potatoes & carrots. Not sure the snow peas belonged with this dish, but they were fine. Edited to add this link to the restaurant site. The chef/owner has been with the business for 30 years and many of the kitchen staff have been with him for 15, 20 years or more. He’s a childhood friend who grew up in the old ‘hood so I like to eat here whenever I’m in town. Doesn’t hurt that it’s the best food around!