blue_dolphin

In my experience, the older they are, the longer they take to cook. Big beans, even more. I dunno how much time you have or how important it is not to waste your time vs the beans but there is likely hope for the them. Today, I cooked a pot of rather vintage Rancho Gordo scarlet runner beans for longer than I've ever cooked a bean but they got there. Also a bigger bean and one with a reputation for long cook times. I soaked them overnight, gave them a good 10 min boil on the stovetop, then put them in the oven. I was shocked how crunchy they were after 2 hrs and 3. Four hours was an improvement. Six hrs and they're pretty good. Either keep going, pull them out and re-start tomorrow, dump them in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot or just dump them if you don’t have the time/patience.

I received one of these Breville Milk Cafe frothers (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) for a Christmas gift a few years ago. I drink my coffee black, have never found a use for it and have failed at every attempt to give it away. Finally found a good use! I tried Uncle Pete's improved Amaro Latte recipe from his video and it's quite a tasty warm dessert drink, if a bit on the sweet side. His template: 1.5 oz Whole Milk 1 oz Amaro .25 oz Liqueur 1 Barspoon Homey Syrup (2:1) Foam/heat with a milk frother. I used Averna and Mr. Black coffee liqueur per the video. Since I don't have an espresso machine with a steam want, I used that Breville frother and it worked very well. Would like to play around with other combos. My only issue is that I need to make a double in order to reach the minimum fill like on the frother I have. Oh well 🙃

Second day of Christmas...first breakfast: I love them, too! I have two of those Waechtersbach red tree mugs and two of the green ones with candy canes and love getting them out every year! There's a cute cat design for Christmas that I've been tempted to spring for but it's rare to find usable mugs in any of their Christmas designs at a reasonable price as they do chip easily. For example, I'd pay this price on eBay, but they're marked for display only due to cracks, etc.

Third breakfast: Eggnog (per Jeffery Morganthaler), @JAZ's spicy sweet nuts made with pecans and more coffee.

Second breakfast: Honeyed sausages with Blackberry and Caraway Slaw from Diana Henry's book, Simple, crusty whole grain sourdough and bubbles. I made the slaw for last night's Christmas Even dinner. Freshly tossed with the dressing it's a perky salad and more slaw-ish after sitting. Good both ways.

First breakfast: Christmas cookies from the tin my cousin gave me last night and a mug of black coffee. Merry Christmas!

If you're adding fruit and nuts (I'm partial to apples and grapes) to chicken salad, consider making it a curry chicken salad. Just toast some curry powder lightly to bring out the flavors and mix with your mayo.

I just watched that yesterday. Do report back when you make it!

Quoting myself here to report that I just realized that I need to go to the store for blackberries, red cabbage, and spinach. I'd expected to get all of them at Thursday's farmers market but the rain kept a bunch of vendors away. Others kept all their produce in their trucks so you had to recognize them and ask for stuff. In any case, I'm now debating whether I should try Sprouts late tonight or first thing tomorrow AM. Arrrrgh! Also, I have done zero decorating aside from setting up an Advent wreath. I thought I'd eventually get in the spirit, but it hasn't happened. The last candle gets lit tomorrow morning, then BOOM, it's already Christmas Eve! Yesterday, my cousin invited herself and husband over on the day after Christmas to exchange gifts. Do you think I can convince them that I was super-efficient and took down all the decorations so quickly? Me, who usually leaves everything up until Epiphany? 🤣

I've never done it but I'd totally be up for removing the skin, crisping it up in the toaster oven or even a skillet and using it as a decadent salad topper!

Yes, @sartoric's Indian cuisine is another whole level! The nice thing about the planned over scheme is that, once you get going, you don't need to make more than that one dish at a time. Just don't use up all your planned overs in an exact duplicate meal - always add a little something to make it different from the last one! Maybe mix up a raita or pickle early in the day. Or a simple dal. Very nice to have an Indian lunch buffet right in the fridge!

I just jumped in because I know you are sometimes bandwidth-limited! What I love the most about Indian food is also what often deters me from cooking it - I love the contrasting flavors and textures of warm dals or veg dishes, cool raita, spicy/tangy chutneys or pickles and an interesting flatbread of some sort. Works best when when I can get a "planned-over" roll going and add one or two items per day. Getting that whole ball rolling takes more activation energy than I can often muster, but once it's going, it's great!

@ElsieD, try clicking on the photo to bring up a higher res version, then save that one and crop it down. This one may not be super sharp in the feed but if you click on it, you should get something readable.

My Irish Coffee is similar to the recipe that @Alex posted above: I use about half the amount of sugar syrup but I do prefer using a simple syrup over sugar cubes. And definitely make the syrup with demerara or brown sugar or jaggery or piloncillo over white sugar. For me, whipping the cream properly, as described in @Alex's recipe, so the hot, spiked coffee can be sipped through the cool cream is key to the charm of the drink and I won't be stirring it in, though do stir away if that's your jam!

Hey @Darienne, I can't remember if you are still seeking kimchi or if your husband was able to find it locally. You mentioned elsewhere that your daughter is coming from Toronto for a visit. How about asking her to pick up a jar of kimchi for you? As @dianem noted, there are a lot of vegan versions out there if that would be a consideration for you or your daughter.

I made the shrimp variation of Nigella's Smoky Squid and Beans from Cook, Eat, Repeat. Recipe available online at this link. Rancho Gordo Royal Coronas for the beans.

French toast made from December's bread of the month from a local bakery. Ingredients for the bread are: Flour, Stiff Levain, Rye Flour, Dried Apricots, Dried Black Mission Figs, Dried Cranberries, Pecans, Hazelnuts, Walnuts

Chicken isn't a particularly unusual flavor but this package of Bluebird brand chips featuring a cute little penguin embracing a cooked chicken drumstick is interesting. Kind of a triple bird snack! Bluebird is a New Zealand brand and this photo was sent to me by a friend visiting there. They feature the penguin on most of their branded products but the chicken leg is most disturbing image to me!

Congrats on your new gear! This temp table made by @CanadianHomeChef doesn't address your specific query about simmering water, but may be helpful for other things. I keep it bookmarked!

Or peas…

I got squid in my fish share this week so I combined that with my Rancho Gordo bean club shipment and made this recipe for Smoky Squid and Beans from Nigella's Cook, Eat, Repeat. Recipe available online at this link. I also made her Scandi Cucumber Salad to go along with. The book recipe calls for jarred, Spanish judión beans so Royal Coronas might have been the closest sub but I went with Christmas Limas so everything wouldn't be quite the same color. This is a very quick and easy recipe. In the header notes, Nigella gives options for using different beans, different seafood or leaving it out for a vegan version so I'll be playing around with it in the future.

That one was my go-to olive oil for quite a few years. Before I switched to the kalamata stuff. Maybe time to try it again!

It's on Monday this year. Exactly 2 weeks from today - yikes! Advent seems so short this year. The 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve are the SAME DANG DAY!

I like those Snowdonia cheeses a lot, especially Black Bomber! Whole Foods is rolling out their 12 Days of Cheese again this year. The discount is a bit less than previous years. 28% off, 35% off for Prime members. Sadly, no Harbison cheeses listed this year. I'll probably start with some Humboldt Fog, a Mt. Tam and go from there. Dec 13 - 24.

Steak and mashed potatoes Fried chicken and mashed potatoes Pork chops with apples & onions Is mac & cheese considered to be "pasta or anything fancy"?