blue_dolphin

@pastrygirl, thanks for mentioning Paper Source. I wouldn't necessarily have thought of them for labels. I stopped by today and found several colors of the round, rectangle and oval labels on sale for 50% off. Not the holiday red and green, of course, but I was able to pick up some that will work nicely.

I've been getting them from TJ's for a few years now and keeping them on hand for those whipping cream emergencies that pop up from time to time. They say they're shelf stable but I find they keep better in the fridge, especially if they'll be hanging around for a while.

The NYT food section has a piece titled The American Thanksgiving in which they interview 15 cooks, many 1st or 2nd generation immigrants, about their traditions for the holiday. There is a video and a recipe to go with each short essay. I enjoyed it and wish I could attend a Thanksgiving pot-luck with all these folks so I could try everything!

Thank you, @rarerollingobject! I very much enjoyed this series with your beautiful photos. The street scenes, in particular, bring back good memories of trips where I tagged along with a friend who grew up in Hong Kong. She generally spent the days catching up with friends and family so I had my days free to explore the city with my maps and book of walking tours and my trusty Octopus card, joining them at the end of the day for dinner. So much to see! So much to eat!

The move to academia, particularly in a Public Health dept, doesn't surprise me as he seems to have a fairly longstanding interest in communication in this area. I'd say that depends on how you define a course of study. Prior to the Purple Carrot, he did a 6 month stint as a visiting fellow at UC Berkeley where he lectured and contributed to the production of a food-centric video series titled, "California Matters" in conjunction with the Berkeley Food Institute and UC's Global Food Initiative. This last move is less surprising to me than the Purple Carrot gig.

I was surprised as well and would be pleased to be wrong. The video preview of the episode was posted on the PBS Food Facebook page with a comment describing it as the season finale and it was shared on the show's page. In both places, a number of commenters echoed your surprise at the short season but so far, I haven't seen any info to the contrary. I've got my fingers crossed for some sort of holiday special

It's because you live in a red state. Sorry. @Alex still has some but may find them disappearing from MI, depending on how things sort out. So close! @FrogPrincesse and I are still finding plenty, although I suspect many have escaped to @ElsieD's neck of the woods. edited to add: of course, I am kidding!

The last episode of season 4 is titled Mayo. Sorry to see the season end. They did a mayo-tasting with folks at the restaurant with Miracle Whip, Hellman's, Dukes and Blue Plate. I thought it was curious that no winner or results were given but I learned the reason today in listening to an interview with Vivan on the Eater podcast. Vivian says that there was a winner and it was initially included in the show but PBS asked them to remove it lest it look too much like a product endorsement. She also said that PBS required that the Biltmore sponsor spot that appears at the end of the show be edited to remove the smiling people. Again, sounds like it was looking too much lime a commercial. It's a good interview. Much more in-depth than some others I've heard. You can listen or read the transcript at the link above. Edited to add that in this episode, she made a dish for the restaurant that I would love to try if they share a recipe. She cooked a local fish sous vide with a lot of oil (+ other seasonings) in the bag. Picked the fish off the bones, made mayo with the poaching oil (and other seasonings) and used both in a fish salad, riffing on the classic tuna salad with mayo. Sounds like a little dab of this was served on a cracker or toast as an amuse bouche. Sounds ever so tasty. I'd imagine the fishy-ness of that oil will vary a lot depending on the particular fish with a fatty fish possibly being overwhelming but it seems like a brilliant way to concentrate the flavor of a lighter fish.

I was initially surprised to learn that fully half of the contestants are returning from previous years. Sam Talbot (Season 2: Los Angeles) Casey Thompson (Season 3: Miami & Season 8: All-Stars) Amanda Baumgarten (Season 7: Washington, D.C.) - Brooke Williamson (Season 10: Seattle) - Sheldon Simeon (Season 10: Seattle) John Tesar (Season 10: Seattle) Shirley Chung (Season 11: New Orleans) Katsuji Tanabe (Season 12: Boston) Maybe it will make the early episodes more engaging. It's usually sort of a blur in the beginning, I tend to wait until they barber down the list a bit and then go back and watch the early ones.

I'd like to try Dan Kluger’s recipe for Celery Salad with Pear, Feta, Olives and Jalapeño that appeared recently in the WSJ. A few celery soup recipes that I like from the times when my CSA was bombarding me with celery the size of a baseball bat! Creamy Celery Soup - Most of the celery gets cooked with onion, leeks and garlic before being puréed. A smaller amount gets braised gently in butter and added at the end and adds a nice bit of textural contrast. "Creamy" is in the name, but the recipe uses 4 cups of chicken stock and 1/4 cup of cream so it's not a heavy soup. Celery Soup with Cashel Blue Cheese from Delia Smith's Christmas is very yummy. I've made it with a variety of different blue cheeses I was drawn to this Celery and Pear Bisque in part by its use of dark green leek tops which I always hated to discard when they were lovely and fresh. Like the first recipe, I like the contrast of the smooth soup and the garnish, in this case, finely chopped fresh pear. And I second @Anna N's suggestion of Gabrielle Hamilton's celery toasts. I've made them several times.

Sugars are certainly important for the browning and the "toasty" flavors that result from the Maillard reaction but you also need temperatures well above the boiling point of water for this to occur. It will take significantly more heat to drive the moisture out of a moist, heavy bread than a less dense, drier slide of commercial sandwich bread.

I've requested this one at my local library. It's currently "In Transit" so it hasn't hit their shelves yet. When I get it, I would certainly join in.

Welcome, @Smokeydoke! There are many cookbook-obsessed members here. Please join in!

BLT on toasted sourdough The tomato looks sort of anemic in the photo but it's a big yellow pineapple heirloom tomato from the famers market. Very juicy and flavorful.

Nice round-up and nice local library! Thanks for sharing.

I will be curious to hear what people think of the Umami stuff. The idea of a brown paste-like condiment isn't terribly appealing, but I'm still curious. I keep ginger in the freezer - easy to grab and microplane what I need so I don't think I'll spring for that one

Many pressure cooker recipes warn about stirring gently and cautiously after releasing pressure due to the possibility of superheated pockets. I've never had anything worse than the occasional polenta burp and I'm surprised by a huge explosion after a slow, natural release as that time should let the temperature equalize. As far as heating up stock and fat very rapidly with the lid sealed, I don't think there are any safety risks. Depending on the volume, you might get a period of boiling before the pressure builds. The boiling could affect clarity but it doesn't sound like that's a concern for you.

After I suggested above that dried figs would work in that fried chicken liver/balsamic-marinated fig recipe, I went back to check the book and I see that this is NOT one of the recipes that Vivian says are good with dried figs. But I was curious, so I dug some ancient dried figs out of my cupboard, steamed them to soften, cut them up, tossed them in with the leftover marinated figs and put them in the fridge overnight. I tried them this AM, not with the livers, but with some polenta and roasted squash. My conclusion is that the dried figs should work in that recipe. It will be different, as with any dried fruit, it will be a more concentrated burst of flavor but I think still good. Another note on that recipe. I was curious if leftover livers could be reheated so I put 2 in the fridge to cool down and then reheated them in the CSO on steam bake, 375F for 5 or 6 min and they were really good - they were sizzling and the coating was perfect, crispier than when they were first fried. Of course, I didn't test long term storage but it's nice to know they can be fried a little ahead and reheated so nicely.

I finally got around to trying this pot-in-pot method and made a baby batch in a 1 qt pyrex bowl. 1/2 cup coarse corn grits + 2 cups of water + 1/4 t salt + ~ 1t butter. 15 min manual, high pressure, slow release. Perfect - no need to soak or scrape the pot! Thank you, @Anna N!

Instant Pot polenta, roasted delicata squash, balsamic-marinated fresh and dried figs with a little crumbled bacon and blue cheese. I'm pretty sure I didn't need both the bacon and blue cheese but I couldn't decide.

Penzey's has their mini gift boxes on sale for $10 each through tomorrow, Nov. 13. Regular prices for those are $14.79 - $15.95. Not bad for an inexpensive gift item. Also, free shipping kicks in at $20 instead of the usual $30.

Coming to you from well outside my comfort zone, I give you Fried Chicken Livers with Balsamic-Marinated Figs: This was served on greens drizzled with some of the fig marinade and topped with pickled red onion. The seasonings in the buttermilk used to soak and bread the livers were interesting: toasted and ground fennel, cumin and coriander seeds, ground cinnamon, salt & black pepper. It sort took me by surprise at first bite. The figs were marinated with a bit of brown sugar, fresh grated ginger, rosemary, thyme, orange zest, honey, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. My figs were drop-dead perfectly ripe from yesterday's farmers market and honestly, I think they were wasted here. They're lovely and all that but this treatment would probably work just fine with dried figs, steamed to soften and given a bit more time in the marinade. The combination of flavors and textures here is really wonderful with the rich livers, crisp coating, sweet figs, tart, crunchy pickled onion and fresh, slightly bitter greens (she suggests arugula, I used a mix from TJ's that includes spinach, pak choi and mustard greens. Along with, I opened my last bottle of the nice dry rosé from Rusack vineyards - have to wait until next year for more of that! The recipe calls for 1 lb of livers for 4 servings. Seems like a lot once they're all breaded and fried. I probably polished off close 4 oz worth but my preference would be to serve a smaller portion as a starter.

Yes, that is the only type I have seen. Something new every day!

@shain, what are the little circular things? Is that the pasta? Looks like Cheerios, but I'm pretty sure it's not

That country ham section is interesting. Not something we see around here. Always fun to see regional differences. On the most recent episode of A Chef's Life, "Heavenly Hocks," Vivian takes us to her local Piggly Wiggly where there is an entire aisle of cryovac packets of smoked, salted or dried pig parts - aka "seasoning meat." We get a few such bits and pieces but nothing like the selection they have. Thanks for sharing your finds!