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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

On my last visit to TJ's, I spotted these 1 lb wedges of DOP Parmigiano Reggiano @ $14.99. As you can see below, the label says it's aged over 30 months. It's a nice cheese. Paper-wrapped wedge: Underneath the paper is a shrink-wrap: And inside, a nutty, flavorful cheese with visible salt crystals: Edited to add that the "sell by" date on the label is 4-29-2018 so I may pick up another wedge.

From today's LA Times: How the humble KitKat conquered Japan with ever-changing flavors. Anyone for sushi KitKat? The article includes an interesting little history of the brand, started in the UK, now owned by Nestlé but licensed to Hershey in the US, where we are apparently only offered milk, dark and white chocolate versions, plus strawberry. In Canada, Nestlé adds cookies & cream, chunky peanut butter, mint, orange, white & milk chocolate, cookie dough and the special edition KitKat Rubies, featuring "A special recipe of delicious truffle, fine hazelnut pieces, all draped over our classic, crispy Kit Kat wafer." Meanwhile, in Japan: Here's link to a Pinterest board with photos of some of the limited edition flavors. Personally, I'm not a fan - I'll take a Twix over a KitKat anytime !

Chicken liver + bacon = magic

Someone needs a lesson in the value of managing expectations!

Two poached eggs on pumpernickel toast just hit the spot.

Looks like the stage is set for lots of fun and yum! I am heading to a workshop on making jewelry from sea glass - I'd rather be with your crowd!

I thought I saw some rum, but must have been mistaken and without the coriander seeds, you'd be out of luck anyway. That pecan sour sounds good!

I've been enjoying Dave Arnold's Cliff Old Fashioned from Liquid Intelligence (also here in the WSJ and somewhat modified in this blog post) It uses a coriander syrup as the sweetener, which gives it bit of a spicy, holiday feel. I've been making it with different base spirits and my favorite so far was with Plantation Pineapple rum. I see you have some rum there and the coriander syrup is quick to mix up. Cliff Old-Fashioned Build over a large ice cube: 2 dashes Angostura bitters 60 ml Elijah Craig 12-yr bourbon 11 ml coriander syrup I just made a small amount of the syrup (1/10 the book recipe), like this: 12.5 g coriander seeds + 55g water blended for a few sec to break up the seeds, then transfer to a pan with 50g sugar + .5g salt and heat to dissolve. Add 5 g crushed red pepper, let sit a few min, tasting often and strain as soon as it gets a pleasant heat.

Nice discussion of 2017 books with Evan Kleiman and Celia Sack, owner of Omnivore Books in San Francisco, on the recent episode of Evan's Good Food podcast, including several titles I hadn't heard much about elsewhere. You can listen to the segment or skim through the highlights at this link.

Around here, one does not choose what time of year renovations are done. One is lucky to find a decently qualified and recommended contractor who will take a job and then one waits in the queue. Delays in one job ripple down through the queue. You can always start over with another contractor but it's the same story.

I haven't bought it yet. When I looked at the list of recipes, it seemed like a lot of the book was devoted to "homemade" versions of things that I'm not terribly interested in making - animal crackers, Twinkies, Oreos, Reese's PB cups, McDonald's apple turnovers, various Girl Scout cookies, etc. It was the chosen book in a Facebook cookbook group that I follow and a lot of people really liked it. The triple-chocolate chocolate chip cookies, the honey-roasted peanut cookies (I like the way this one has you grind some of the peanuts into a "flour" to increase the flavor), the no-stress pie crust (if you try it - use regular supermarket butter, not a premium Euro-style) and the Oreos got a lot of good reviews. Stella participated regularly in the discussion and regularly offered suggestions to help troubleshoot issues. Several people were impressed at how many of the recipes were gluten-free or offered gluten-free options. I believe Stella said 80% of the recipes fit that description. I don't bake much but often enjoy reading baking books so I could cave one of these days......

I didn't have much of a breakfast and was hungry after running errands so I stopped by my local BBQ spot and picked up one of my favorite offerings - a choice 3 sliders: My slider choices, clockwise from the cole slaw: pulled pork, tri-tip and smoked meatloaf (other options were brisket, chopped chicken, sausage, turkey, and portobello mushroom.) Hungry as I was, I came nowhere to eating all this food. Dinner is taken care of and maybe tomorrow's breakfast, too!

Early AM coffee & cookies Seasonal firelight provided by the local news. Sigh.

Cliff Old Fashioned from Dave Arnold's Liquid Intelligence Built over ice with Elijah Craig, ango bitters and a coriander syrup (which I could have filtered a bit better) as the sweetener. The red chile flakes in the coriander syrup add a nice warming touch.

For baked brie, I like something with enough sweet-tart-spicy flavors to contrast with the rich cheese: pepper jelly, cranberry relishes, ancho chile jam, blueberry chutney, peach & jalapeño preserves, that sort of thing. I also like the honey/nut combination you mentioned. I like to serve it with crusty sourdough bread or ciabatta. I usually thinly slice and lightly toast some and put the rest of the loaf and a knife out for those who prefer that.

Diana Henry's Boozy Mushroom's on Toast I cooked up these mushrooms this AM so these are sort of leftovers from breakfast. I followed @Anna N's lead and added a small lunchtime libation - a glass of the same Fino sherry that was used to finish the mushrooms. Edited to add my true confession - there may have been a refill(s) on that small glass ...

Take 2 on the eggs. Diana Henry's Boozy Mushrooms on the side. Since the mushrooms get finished with a splash of sherry, I used sherry vinegar instead of red wine vinegar on the eggs.

Holy Pig!!! I loved reading the interview and looking at the beautiful photos! Thanks so much for sharing, @FauxPas!

Was there any coffee in the mug, or just the liqueur ? Thanks for taking the time to share all of this. I know this is such a busy time for you and I'm sure it would be easier to skip the blog but it's much enjoyed here!

Congrats, @catdaddy! If you have a moment, I'd love to hear about your competition? Any very unusual combinations or entries you found interesting?

What was your protocol and was it cooked through in the middle?

At the very least, it seems you could explain why you decided to outfit the kitchen with a ceramic steel and ask him not to leave the coarse steel in the kitchen where others might use it on your knives. That might get the message across in the context of "other people" and not him. If the soup maker values sharp knives enough to bring in his own steel, then perhaps there's sufficient common ground to have a discussion about it. Or perhaps he thinks he knows more than you do and will feel attacked.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato sauce with Butter & Onion. Kenji's garlic bread from The Food Lab is on the side