blue_dolphin

I kinda think you're going to have to eyeball it to some extent. The 9oz box of Birdseye frozen creamed spinach says it contains two 1/2 cup servings. The recipes I've seen for using fresh spinach to make creamed spinach are all over the place as far as the yields go and some only call for "bunches" of spinach. Of those that actually specify the spinach in weights, I've found a couple that use 2 1/4 lb fresh spinach leaves to make 8 servings and another that uses 10 oz fresh spinach for 4 servings, and some that use 30 oz fresh spinach for 10 servings. Those are all pretty consistent, and although they don't state the serving size, you'd probably be fairly safe in assuming something around 1/2 cup.

Eggnog French Toast I put a glug of bourbon and plenty of freshly grated nutmeg into the egg-eggnog mixture and another spoonful of bourbon into the maple syrup. Feeling festive !

I was wondering that as well. I do see the value of having a kitchen-dedicated tablet. I've got a bunch of Kindle cookbooks on my iPad and it's great for reading but I find it a nuisance to go find it, make sure it's charged, change the settings so it doesn't power off as quickly, put it in a bag or cover the screen with plastic wrap, etc. each time I want to actually use it in the kitchen. Lazy, I know ! Just last night, I pulled out an old iPad that I'd given to my mom and I'm going to update it with the cookbooks and try keeping it handy in the kitchen.

Indeed! Here's a piece (complete with annoying ads) from the local paper describing some of the efforts associated with the recent fire: Celebrity chef Jose Andres visits Thomas Fire relief efforts in Ventura

I need a "Wow!" button for this!

I don't have a smoker and am no fan of meatloaf but I ALWAYS order some smoked meatloaf when I visit my local BBQ place.

OK. I gotta ask. What's Windy ham? Today: Spinach & onion quiche

I see $59.99 for the 3qt IP. Looks like the glass lids are expected back in stock on Dec 25. Maybe Santa is bringing them?

I think it's highly variable, depending on the facility. What I've seen most commonly is a daily menu sheet with various choices to be checked off for the next day's meals. Some hospitals (for example, MD Anderson in Houston and several where I've visited friends here in So Cal) have gone to a room service model. Patients have a standing menu and can call in their order any time. Patients who are on special diets get a custom menu to select from. The food is to be delivered within 30 min. At MD Anderson, the staff delivering the meals are actually dressed like restaurant waiters - black pants, white dress shirts and black bow ties. I thought the food was pretty good, although if someone is hospitalized for an extended period, I can see that boredom would set in. Edited to add link: Room Service offers our cancer patients culinary creations and care

A Bitter Pineapple Daiquiri The recipe and photo use a rocks glass (no rocks specified) but I was in the mood for a stem

That's so frustrating!

I like that idea! I figured it was an egg beater but since stirring is only a secondary function, it has to be something else.

I see those prices whether I am logged in (as a US Prime member) or on a different browser where I've never logged into Amazon so I assume those prices are for all US customers.

And does that function include stirring or mixing in some way?

In Gail Simmon's new cookbook, Bringing It Home, she has a recipe for Bloody Mary Eggs (recipe online here) that I thought sounded interesting. Then I remembered that I still had some of the Cocktail Tomatoes from Vivian Howard's Deep Run Roots that used similar flavors so I dipped out a ladle of them, blitzed them into a chunky sauce and heated it up. Pilot experiment with a pee wee egg: Good enough to continue with regular egg: Forgot the celery leaf garnish from the book.

@liuzhou, have you commented on @andiesenji's post about it being a sort of whisk or otherwise used for mixing? The top one in her photo certainly looks similar in shape.

Yesterday, I mixed up a new batch of coriander syrup for Dave Arnold's Cliff Old Fashioned from Liquid Intelligence and decided to try the coriander soda that he also describes in the book. For the soda, he recommends using ~ 20% less coriander in the syrup and mixing with 4 parts water. I made the full strength syrup and added 5 parts water before carbonating. Served with a generous squeeze of lime. Sort of a coriander version of ginger beer or ginger ale. I'd be very happy with this as a non-alcoholic cocktail. The syrup is made like so: 125 g coriander seeds + 550g water blended for a few sec to break up all the seeds, transfer to a pan with 500g sugar + 5g salt and heat to a simmer. Remove from heat, add 10 g crushed red pepper, let sit a few min, tasting often and strain when it gets a pleasant heat in the back of your throat.

Egg salad on whole wheat toast with crispy bacon crumbles

Yes, indeed! I grew up with very cold and very long winters in northern NY. Just before 2 AM today, I got a phone call alerting me to a cold temp alarm at my late mother's home in that area. I have it set to alarm at 40°F inside - it was 4°F outside. I got the heat sorted out but if I were living there, I would absolutely NOT be making popsicles today

Generally, yes. The "Fundamentals" chapter in People's Pops book is titled "Fruit + Sugar + Freeze." Lots of the recipes from that book infuse the simple syrup with flavorings - herbs, spices, vinegar, teas, etc. and often add cream or yogurt. Sweetened condensed milk and coconut both turn up in other recipes I've used. And of course, the occasional addition of a bit of booze. Most of the recipes don't require straining, although there are exceptions. Blackberry seeds are best strained out but I don't strain strawberry or raspberry. Concord grape skins can freeze into rather unpleasant shards and I prefer to strain. Cranberries can go either way. Roasting helps concentrate the flavor and adds a rich note, improves the texture and can help softens the skins so they don't need to be peeled or strained out unless you want to. Frozen apples and pears can be sort of fibrous unless they are roasted or stewed. Peaches and nectarines can be used raw if they're perfectly ripe but if not, they certainly benefit from roasting. Well, people make and enjoy ice cream all year

I'm not aware of any great overview websites so I'll be interested to hear the suggestions of others. I very highly recommend the book, People's Pops, which has a nice fundamentals section up front and a lot of flavor combination suggestions throughout. They operate out of NYC and use mostly locally grown fresh fruit - and the occasional vegetable. The way the recipes are written (ingredients given in #, weight and volume) and the use of a basic simple syrup throughout (I make a big batch) means it's easy to scale down the recipes if you just want 4-5 to try out a recipe. There's even a page on starting an ice pop business. Fany Gerson 's book Paletas is also very good and with its Mexican focus, includes more tropical flavors. There's less background information and about half of the recipes are actually for shaved ices and agues frescas. Edited to add: I described how I unmold the pops in this post, above.

In general, we are in agreement here. I treated myself to a Réveillon cocktail last night. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to mix up another to use in the eggnog popsicles. There were a few ml left after I'd added the max alcohol for freezing so I set it aside. By morning, the cinnamon stick had absorbed what little had been left in the glass so I made the best of the situation and used it to make my coffee look and taste a bit festive!

My actual breakfast was some crusty bread, slathered with warmed leftover tomato sauce (Marcella Hazan's recipe with butter & onion) and nibbles of parm. Now, we've moved on to dessert: A mug of hot black coffee, stirred with a cinnamon stick that spent last night soaking up the remains of the Réveillon cocktail that went into my eggnog popsicles. If the popsicles gave anyone a chill, I hope this image will warm you up !

Not a chocolate cake, so I know this isn't what you asked but Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh have a Beetroot, Ginger & Sour Cream Cake in their new book, Sweet, that uses raw, fresh, grated beets. The combination of beets and ginger appeals to me so I've been intrigued. A version of the recipe is available here on David Lebovits' blog.

Well, the 80°F days are predicted to continue for a bit so popsicle season continues with a holiday theme. I'm calling these Eggnog Réveillon pops: Trader Joe's eggnog spiked with a Réveillon cocktail (Calvados, pear eau-de-vie, St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram, Carpano Antica and Fee's Old Fashion Aromatic Bitters) dusted with toast dope . I was going use a sprinkle of nutmeg but it wasn't enough color contrast and the toast dope was handy