blue_dolphin

Another Valentine-y cookie decorated with the TJ's Ruby Cacao: Cherry-Nut Chocolate Pinwheels Both this recipe and the Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints that I posted yesterday are from Dorie's Cookies and made from the same Do-Almost-Everything Chocolate Cookie Dough which can be rolled and cut for simple chocolate cookies or used in one or more of the 4 variations in the book. The filling in these is chopped dried sour cherries and walnuts, cooked with a bit of sugar and water until the syrup reduces.

Chocolate raspberry thumbprint cookies decorated with a drizzle of melted TJ's Ruby Cacao wafers

Dave Arnold discussed freezing bread on his Cooking Issues podcast a while back and said that freezing and thawing bread was equivalent to one day of age. I wish I could remember the source he cited. The bottom line, for me, is that it's never going to be quite as good as fresh baked but it's likely going to be better than the same loaf that's sat around for more than 2 days. I freeze bread all the time (fully baked and sliced) and I'm OK with that compromise as it allows me to have a few different types at the ready. Slices either go into the CSO for toast or defrost, wrapped at room temp. I use the CSO on steam-bake for pita or things like English muffins or sandwich rolls that need to thaw out before I can slice them.

Done! And with no ill effects. TX for the encouragement.

Made a batch of the well known Orange Creamsicle Cookies but flavored with lime zest instead of orange. I believe @Anna N dubbed these Lime Bees when she made them. I made a few with the addition of some Ruby Cacao Wafers from Trader Joes in addition to the white chocolate chips the recipe calls for. The TJ's website post says they are not recommended for baking but they seem fine. I'll try them in some chocolate cookies next.

Keep checking your Walmart grocery for the dark chocolate Oreos, @Toliver. Prodded by this thread, I found them at mine today. Looks like they were a new add as there was no tag on the shelf so I didn't know the cost until I checked out - $2.98. They are indeed very good. I usually like to try the flavors and then give the rest away but I'll be keeping these.

I bought some of the freeze-dried grapes today and to confirm @patris's answer - there is nothing raisin-y about them. Light, crisp, sweet and crunchy. No dried-fruit flavor at all. I also bought some of the ruby cacao wafers as I thought they would be fun to make some Valentine's chocolate chip cookies but the TJ's website blurb about them says not recommended for baking so I guess I'll have to come up with something else.

Yes, this calls for a "mature" cheddar. I prefer green vegetables in a curried paneer dish, just for the color contrast but the flavor would certainly be a good fit.

The rice setting on the IP is supposedly only good for white rice and is the only automatic function. It uses low pressure and some sort of algorithm to adjust for the amount of rice and water in the pot. If you're using PIP, it's unlikely to give an optimal cooking time and you'd be better off with a manual setting. This post on Pressure Cooking Today has links to the button functions for all the various IP models.

I made a small batch of the Mustardy Cauliflower Cheese from Ottolenghi's Simple and had it with some toasted rosemary bread This was OK and vegetables for breakfast is always a good thing. I like cauliflower + curry and I like cauliflower + cheese but cauliflower + curry + cheese isn't the pinnacle of my personal cauliflower pantheon.

Now I'm curious how they make their little pie holes. Sounds like they are just about 2 bites.

@pjm333, there's a demo of the mac & cheese pot pie starting at the 50 sec mark of this video. They do trim off the extra crust after sealing so depending on how much the top crust puffs up in the oven, I can see your first and third photos being made this way. Your middle photo looks different. But this one on their Instagram looks quite flat:

My cousin stopped by yesterday with a plate of pizzelles that she made. Had one with a cup of coffee for breakfast. Then had another.....🙃

I'd say you got a nice deal on that cab, @Smithy, especially in a little out of the way shop! It's $7.97 in my local Total Wine, where the Barefoot Merlot sells for $4.97.

I like the Wild Turkey Rye (101) fine in cocktails but find it harsh on its own, for my tastebuds, anyway. I never see much rye in handles either. In addition to Bulleit, Knob Creek, Winchester and Jim Beam are all that I've seen. And the Knob Creek is $60.

For a bowl scraper, I highly recommend the iSi silicone scraper that was recommended somewhere around here by @btbyrd. Sadly, it's currently only available in green (or an Amazon Warehouse black one). Hopefully it will return as I have given many as gifts and they've consistently gotten good feedback. It works as a bench scraper and will scrape out a bowl quicker than anything else I've used. I have a red one for savory cooking and white for sweets. Their slim silicone spatula is also excellent. I have but don't really care for the regular or wide spatulas.

Chinese-style eggs & tomato

@Thanks for the Crepes, the Rancho Gordo site has a lot of good recipes. Just search for the name of the bean you have in mind. There's a recipe for Spring Lamb and Flageolet Beans with a Cilantro Relish that sounds really good, as does the Flageolet Beans with Lemon Dressing. I've got some of @ElainaA's slow roasted cherry tomatoes in the freezer so I will probably use some of the flageolets with them to make something like the Flageolet Beans with Slow-Roasted Tomatoes and serve it with pasta. Yes, everyone gets the same thing!

The RG customer service people are really top notch and usually very quick to reply. I suspect they might be swamped right now with people having shipment related issues so it could take a little longer but do touch base with them if you want a full copy of that newsletter.

Sounds like MelissaH might already have done this, but I messaged you a photo of the recipe.

Did you taste the beans at your 20 min time point? I'll bet they would have been close to done, which has been my experience with this bean. The RG beans are so fresh that they all cook very quickly and it's also best to maintain a bare simmer so they aren't getting all beaten up. I love the Alubia Blanca beans, though a really smoky bacon might overpower their charm for me. I like to cook them with just a clove or 2 of garlic, a bay leaf and a couple de árbol chiles. Toss them with a little pesto or just a drizzle of olive oil and they make delicious crostini. Or use them in a white bean dip like the White Bean Spread with Rosemary and Toasted Almonds from Heidi Swanson's Supernatural Everyday (recipe available online here) to enjoy with vegetables or pita chips

Just got a message that my box is out for delivery! I also checked the RG Spoilers Facebook group so I know what's coming 😉 Edited to add that I had no sooner posted this, when the mailman rang my doorbell and dropped off my box-o-beans. It's pouring rain here so both the box and the poor mailman were thoughly soaked!

Yep, them are the ones!

@rotuts, this was my first time trying them and I was quite pleased. I was going to pick up a bag of the pork pot sticker dumplings and decided to treat myself to these instead. I followed the stove top instructions: 4 min in a pan with a little oil, then add water and steam 4 more min. I made a dipping sauce from Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp, soy sauce and a little Chinkiang vinegar. Yum!

Winter squash soup with lemongrass and coconut milk from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. A few TJ's Thai shrimp gyoza