blue_dolphin

Pasta with asparagus, garlic, lemon and guanciale: Last week, my brother was in town and we stopped for lunch at a new-ish pizza place. I ordered the "carbonara" which arrived with about a quart of molten mascarpone/pecorino sauce, thick slices of guanciale that appeared never to have been exposed to any sort of heat, and a pretty much raw egg all atop a paper thin crust. I'm all for a very runny yolk but I'd prefer the white to be at least somewhat set. If they'd used about 1/10th the amount of cheesy sauce, I think the guanciale and egg might have cooked a bit. Since I didn't eat much, they automatically boxed it up for me. Like it was going to get better??? I removed all the guanciale, rinsed off the sauce, diced it and crisped it up for this pasta.

Ah, thanks for the derivation. I always thought it was like 'pipe dope' that would always be in a plumber's tool kit so you'd always want to keep 'toast dope' on hand in the kitchen!

OK. I have now increased my vocabulary and I am laughing at myself as well. Batticarne? What's this? Some sort of culinary battering ram? With all the talk of stew and champ, my mind was in the British Isles and I had visions of andiesenji whaling away at the meat with a big old shillelagh or fierce Scottish war club! No. Batticarne = meat pounder. Just as it says. If I'd only gone to the romance languages first .

Thanks, Smithy! I have a Valencia tree in my yard and I think they have great flavor. I haven't given it as much water as it would like and have only a few, very small green fruits so I'm appreciating the CSA box fruit we're getting. I'm hoping my tree will recover if we get some decent rain this winter. Saticoy melon, lime and blackberry: ~ 3.5 cups melon, 2 oz fresh lime juice, 2 oz homemade lime cordial, 2 oz homemade limecello plus fresh blackberries The Saticoy melon was very sweet so the lime cordial and limecello added enough sweetness. I think a regular cantaloupe would call for a bit of simple syrup. Edited: missing word

Sorta lunch, sorta brunch…. Asparagus and smoked salmon quiche: With a melon/tomato/feta/mint salad and toasted ciabatta: Garnished the salad with a few blackberries and added a glass of methode rotuts:

Thank you for bringing this up. It's on here today @ 3:30 PM (KLCS) and I'll be watching!

I'll call these Orange Negroni pops: I juiced 2 cups worth of fresh oranges from my CSA box and added 4 oz of that Negroni "marinade" that was leftover from the orange slices I tried above. I really like these. They taste like I'd hoped the orange slices would. With all the orange juice, they don't absolutely scream "Negroni!" but the flavor is there.

I love this question and Manhattans too. Many of the "highball" type cocktails I've had taste watered down so I'm curious what an ace bartender would serve based on your question. I am certainly not an ace nor a bartender but my first thoughts were along the lines of the previous recommendations. I first thought of a Dark & Stormy. Like the G&T, it's a simple, 2 ingredient drink where both the base spirit and mixer offer a lot of flavor and it's tasty over a range of concentrations, particularly with a zippy ginger beer. The dark rum has some of the warming characteristics of the rye in a Manhattan and like the drinks that Craig E and JAZ mentioned, the mixer contributes flavor and not just dilution. My second thought was something with Campari, like the Jasmine that cdh recommended because the flavor is strong enough to tolerate some dilution. I first thought of an Americano (equal parts Campari and sweet vermouth, topped with club soda) but on a hot day, I've also made a Negroni into a tall drink along those lines and enjoyed it quite a bit. Plain old Campari and orange juice (extended with club soda or not) would be another option. I'm curious to hear more ideas and what you think of them.

Looks great! And I enjoyed the sneak peek of your cookbook shelf, too!

Yes, a homemade or purchased (TJ's) cold-brewed coffee concentrate were options I considered and I think they'd be good. I was sort of using up leftovers with my brewed coffee and instant packets……as my grandmother used to say, "trying to make a dollar out of 98 cents." Edited to fix grammar

Those Vietnamese iced coffee pops are good and it would be easy to scale the recipe to make just a few. I wanted to make a swirl or layer that would be milkier, like it is in a glass of the real thing but I had to run out to meet a friend and ended up just pouring it all in the molds. I do have the rest of the can of condensed milk in the fridge so further experiments could happen. And I think the leftover Negroni "marinade" will find its way into a popsicle some day .

I think btbyrd captured the essence of the place and as Lisa pointed out, there's likely a lot of frozen, pre-cooked food. Sadly, I live in a land of chain restaurants and have a Lazy Dog outlet very close by. I have friends who like it because they can bring their dogs (patio only). I haven't eaten there. I assumed it's like the Applebees that I visited while traveling with family. My quesadilla was delivered without guacamole and the server told me that they could get me some but that it would take "a really long time to thaw out the paste." Yeah, I know that's what I get for going there but still, no thank you to "the paste!"

Hot here again. 103 deg F today so 2 more popsicle variations. First up are the Vietnamese Iced Coffee pops for Anna N. These are good and very easy. Just 2 ingredients: 2 cups (500 ml) extra strong coffee plus 2/3 cup (160 ml) sweetened condensed milk. I used leftover regular drip brewed coffee which was fairly strong but David said the coffee "should be chest hair-raisingly strong" so I supplemented with 2 packets of Starbucks instant Italian roast coffee - free samples that had been hanging around in my cupboard for some time (best by date = Aug 2010 ). I was lazy and just weighed 160 gm of the sweetened condensed milk into the coffee without bothering to look up the density (1.29 g/ml) and calculating that I should have weighed 206 gm so they are a bit less sweet (29% less) than they should have been. However, they taste fine and pack a serious caffeine hit. I'm feeling pretty hyper at the moment and will ration them to 1 per day. Next, I tried a recipe for Negroni Orange Popsicles from the LA Times. Basically, orange slices are soaked in a sweetened Negroni and then frozen on a stick. The picture online looked appealing but my result was less so. Here are the orange slices in their Negroni bath: Drained and sticks inserted, ready for the freezer: The 3 slices with the holes in the center are from a large navel orange. The other is from a smaller Valencia orange. And after freezing: These taste OK but I suspect a longer time or maybe a vacuum infusion would get more Negroni into the slices as the flavor was much stronger on the periphery of the slices compared with the centers. The frozen orange slices were hard (not surprising really ) and the navel oranges tended to break apart along the membranes. The frozen membranes were unpleasantly chewy, more pronounced in the navel oranges. I don't think I will bother to perfect these.

I don't drink milk either and find evaporated milk a useful pantry staple to keep on hand. Many brands of evaporated milk in the US also contain a bit of carrageenan that adds useful thickening properties in a dish like this.

Oh yes, please do continue. I loved reading along last time. I really enjoy visiting markets and I sadly plan lovely meals I can't possibly cook in a hotel so it was a treat to read about your experiences in Venice that incorporate the meals you prepared with local produce and dining with a "local" perspective as well.

Oh dear, Condolences on your dearly departed Eva Zeisel plate. I love her work and the Harlequin pieces are lovely. Good luck in sleuthing down a replacement!

A recent NYT article might be relevant to this discussion: Restaurants Take the Din Out of Dining From the article, "...Some diners will always be drawn to places where the music seems to be coming from the main stage at Coachella and dialogue proceeds at the sore-throat volume one would expect on a battlefield…." "This seems to be a real trend with the restaurant people we’re talking to,” Ms. Meyer (co-owner of Meyer Sound, which develops systems to fine tune acoustic environments) said. “The idea is to make a really comfortable environment.” "...Bay Area restaurants have noticed that such a granular level of acoustic comfort entices diners to stay longer, drink more and spend extra money…" The article says acoustic treatments can, "cost anywhere from the high five figures to half a million dollars," but they also refer to more low tech solutions such as an observation that a particular knife had a tendency to fall off plates being cleared and generated significant clatter. Solution - train servers not to drop knives Really! In reference to Ken Friedman of the Spotted Pig, "Originally, he wanted to lure people through the front door with the promise of a high-volume happening; now he’s more concerned with making sure they come back, and acoustic restraint plays a part in that. Toning down the din, he has discovered, has its pleasures. “It just gets to the point where I’m sick of yelling,” he said."

This thread has been making me crazy trying to figure out what I did with this thing as I'd sort of like to give it another try. I recall (and Amazon confirms) that I bought the Fasta Pasta back in early 2009. At the time, my stove was very underpowered and it took forever to boil a pot of water so I thought this might be handy. My recollection is that it worked OK however my microwave was as underpowered as the stove and it took a lot longer than the time estimated. The bigger issue was that I found it much more cumbersome to open the microwave, get the thing out, fish out a piece of pasta to taste and repeat those steps until it's right than it is to do the same on the stovetop. I'm sure if I was willing to go through the learning curve (and record my data in an appropriate laboratory notebook ), I'd find times that would work for some common shapes and develop enough familiarity to get the time right without as much trial and error. However, I really enjoy trying different brands and shapes and found a lot of variability in cooking times so this seemed like too much of a nuisance. Also, when preparing a pasta dish, I often use the microwave to steam vegetables, defrost a cube of pesto or sun dried tomato paste, etc. so having it occupied by the pasta wasn't helpful. I'm now living in a different house, with a different microwave and would consider giving it another go…..if only I could find it . I suspect I utilized the handy rectangular shape and it's being used as a drawer organizer somewhere! Edited to add: My microwave was one of the above the stove units so the above pasta testing steps involved reaching up to remove and replace a steaming and boiling water-filled unit from almost above my head so that contributed to my opinion. That said, I can certainly understand it being worth the time investment to become comfortable with its use in better ergonomic situations like the one that Andie described.

Ditto the above! It's fun to see and I can only imagine how glorious all of this must smell!

Pumpkin walnut cookies are one of my favorites. And that Dorie Greenspan holiday bundt cake (includes an optional maple glaze) is nice, even if Labor Day isn't quite the holiday for it! I like pumpkin smoothies too but they're not baked ! Edited to fix typo

Trader Joe's Brownie Crisp. This is a new item advertised in the last Frequent Flyer. Described as, "a rich brownie taste with a crisp cookie crunch." Note that the package states they are vegan and gluten free. I'm not an expert on the vegan/gluten free market but I'd say this product is for those people. In my bag, there were an assortment of sizes, relatively more of the small crumbles and fewer of the full size pieces The bag is made of a material very similar to the cat treat packaging so every time I open it, I have 2 very expectant furry faces looking up at me. You may note evidence of this above. The taste is OK. There are "vegan chocolate chips and chunks." I would crumble them up on some ice cream or try including them in some of my homemade popsicles , though if I was after a brownie with ice cream, I'd want something with some chew. I wouldn't go out of my way for these unless I needed vegan/gluten free treats.

Following up on Alex's comment, I'll throw out another cost-saving idea, even though I suspect you may be too far into things to use it. Some years ago, during her kitchen reno, my mom balked at the cost of the double microwave/oven models like the one that you described in the original post. Instead, she had the cabinet guys frame out an open, microwave-sized box just above the wall oven with an electrical outlet at the back. Her microwave oven slid nicely into that space. It's not as sleek looking as the built in doubles and there was a small additional cost for carpentry and electrical for the framing and outlet but it was still a lot cheaper than the alternative. I thought it was a good idea as the space could be used for a toaster oven or the like in the event a future user was anti-microwave. Edited to add that I replaced a busted double wall oven with the same when I moved into this house. If I'd given it more thought, I'd have gone with a single oven with space above for a countertop micro/convection oven and a warming drawer below the main oven. Hindsight - it's good!

I keep a spare sewing gauge in my knife drawer: I find it very handy for measuring the thickness of a piece of fish or meat and as a sense-check when slicing and dicing. I have a plain old ruler and a variety of implements with a ruler etched or printed on them but I find the little slider on this gadget and the mm/inch markings useful to gauge things. Indispensible? I dunno. But very handy!

Well, since I don't have an Instant Pot, I have to make up easier experiments with my popsicle molds ! I am also tempted to try some Vietnamese iced coffee pops but I didn't have another use in mind for the rest of the can of sweetened condensed milk so I tabled that idea until I have enough limes on my tree to make another batch of the lime pie pops. Also until my freezer is less full of popsicles - I need to have people over an serve them popsicles for dessert!

I can imagine this experience has been very frustrating - after spending a good chunk of money, it's reasonable to expect a quality product. I agree with you that the Blendtec doesn't function well with small volumes and I was frustrated by this as well. I am pleased that that they introduced the smaller Twister jar that does a much better job handling small volumes of chili pastes, etc. and I think it should be a part of any standard package Blendtec sells. That said, I'm happy with my Blendtec. I've never had the base "jump around" on the counter in any way. If I run a jar full of ice, the jar itself will jolt a bit for the first few revolutions but the base stays solid. I use it for a lot of vegetable purees and soups and find they come out perfectly smooth. As daveb said, I hope you will find a blender that works for you.