blue_dolphin

I'd be surprised if even those who go there every day would describe Starbucks as "so great." They're ubiquitous, reliable (consistently average, in @haresfur's words), they provide addictive substances (caffeine, sugar) that many develop strong cravings for, and offer a relatively comfortable place to consume them or make it easy to take them with you. Like @MetsFan5 said, it's an escape from an office, from home, from a car or delivery van. A safe place for an informal meeting. Pretty soon, like @heidih said, you've become a regular. They know your name and your order. It's a routine, a habit. Nothing "so great" about the coffee itself, the greatness is their marketing genius at getting so many to buy in....daily... or even more often!

A rather poor substitute for a lobster bun... ...shrimp salad on a toasted brioche bun. Not lobster but an OK lunch on a hot day.

Yes, on the frothy coffee explanation. And what's Panama Jack? Google shows me sunscreen and sunglasses, etc. Nothing I'd think to put in coffee, frothy or otherwise!

Wow, compared with @Tropicalsenior's story, mine is very tame. Not so much a specific dish, but I still remember my first dinner party ....well, I'd had people over for brunch (still a favorite) or easy pasta and salad meals but this was the first "real" dinner I remember and there were a few firsts involved. I was in my early 20's. First apartment without a roommate (though I ended up needing them financially from time to time for years afterwards). Early 1980's. My menu was cheese, nuts nibbles in the living room. Move to the dining table (like 2 ft away 🙃) for a salad of mixed baby greens. Then, the main course: salmon stuffed with a scallop and sea bass mousse, baked in a puff pastry crust (shaped like a fish, of course) sliced at the table and served with a white wine and caper beurre blanc and steamed asparagus. Dessert was sort of a layered brownie/vanilla ice cream cake with raspberry coulis and fresh raspberries. I'd never made seafood into a mousse nor stuffed a salmon but it worked out nicely. Never used puff pastry before and admit to purchasing it instead of making it myself. Never made a beurre blanc but it also came together nicely. For some reason, I got cold feet when it came to adding the sauce. I was oddly afraid that would make it look like I was showing off or being too fancy so I skipped it. Too bad, as the dish as I'd imagined it was incomplete without it. Live and learn!

Ahhh, those were the days, my friend! I can't believe they shipped those well-aged cocktails down to @Kerry Beal but how sweet that you get to share both the memories and an actual cocktail!

The recent NYT Cooking article on this drink, suggests Tempranillo as an option so it should work. They recommend a dry wine rather than sweet, which seems like a good idea to me. Their recipe is to pour the following over ice and garnish with a lemon wheel. 2 oz dry red wine ¾ oz sweet vermouth (optional) 4 oz lemon-lime soda, such as La Casera, 7Up or Sprite

You get a little smoky flavor from the dark bits but I'm sure a real grill would be far superior in that regard. The IR lamps are off to the sides so almost all drippings fall straight down into the removable tray rather than landing on any heated surface. For the charred bell peppers, tomatoes and bread that go into the dip, I put them on the IR grill for about 10 min (less for the bread), per the recipe, turning often, at which point they were tender and had some dark striping but weren't what I'd call charred so I rotated them over a gas burner to blacken them up before they went into the blender. The habanero and garlic were to be wrapped in foil and put on the grill and I think they came out fine - soft and tender with a little browning.

Grilled veggies with pipián dip from Bricia Lopez's book Asada The dip is made from charred red bell pepper, tomato, sourdough bread, habanero, garlic, almonds, oil & red wine vinegar I don't have a real grill but that little Philips infrared grill is OK for a few veg like this.

Could be hard to track down exactly as household measurements were barely being standardized in the late 1800s. This publication, Correct administration aid for oral liquid medicines: Is a household spoon the right choice? says which suggests there may have been other equivalents in use prior to then which seems to be the age of your glasses. Unfortunately, the online version of the reference they cited for that seems like it might be the wrong page or something so I wasn’t able to get anything further. They are an interesting little collection though!

Not sure which I find more endearing, that your dad had fond memories of your travels together or that you were able to produce a successful facsimile. Maybe a wee drop o' the creature later on? I had ideas for something else entirely but after seeing this: I had to have the same... ... or almost the same. Mine has a layer of chopped kimchi on top of the avocado and a drizzle of kimchi mayo.

As I scrolled through the list of winners on the Worlds Best Vineyards website, I noticed the stunning architecture appearing in many of the photos. Really gorgeous places! When I arrive at a winery like that for a tasting, my thought is usually that if I purchase their wine, I'll be paying as much for the fancy facility as for what's in the bottles. Gorgeous as they are to look at, they're not usually my favorite type of winery to visit. The only one on the list in my general area is Daou at #95. I was surprised at first, but seeing that this is basically a tourism award, it makes sense. Daou is owned by 2 Lebanese brothers who grew up in France, emigrated to the US in the 1980s for college and purchased the property in Paso Robles in 2007 after much success in the tech sector. If visibility is any clue, they seem to be cranking out quite a lot of wine as I see their lower priced offerings in every grocery store, Target, Trader Joe's and Total Wine around, surprising for a newer winery in that Adelaida area where most of the producers are smaller operations. Daou also produces bottles that command higher prices and have won awards. The brothers seem to have very deep pockets and have invested in ventures that include a big restaurant and event space near the ocean in Cambria, the former Bank of Italy building in downtown Paso, a wine lounge open during the ski season at Mammoth Mountain and, most recently, a large estate in Tuscany where they plan to build a tasting room, plant vines and make wine, in approximately that order, if I read correctly. Good for them, I guess.

That Bucheron looks good, @rotuts! I've been looking for it every time I go to TJ's but it hasn't showed up yet. Last time I asked, it wasn't in the system yet for them to order. I'll ask again next time!.

I'm resurrecting this ancient thread because the Japanese "Drops of God" manga that @prasantrin mentions above has been adapted by French-Vietnamese screenwriter Quoc Dang Tran into a 2023 eight-episode TV series of the same name in Japanese, French and English https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15282746/ It's available to watch in the US on AppleTV+. I've been enjoying it thanks to a mention by @chromedome in another topic. This got me to circle back to the original manga and I found the that English translation is available on Amazon and the Kindle versions of all 44 volumes are free in both the US and Canada with Amazon Prime: Drops of God on Kindle. The TV series is more of a psychological drama set and beautifully filmed in the world of wine while the manga has the time to share a lot more wine information and is really something that one could learn about wine from so I though I'd mention it here in case anyone is interested in checking it out. I'm enjoying it. There's a 26-volume follow-on called "Marriage: The Drops of God Final Arc" that goes into food pairing. I don't believe it's been translated into English. Maybe interest from the TV series might nudge them to license it. If anyone knows more, do share.

Thanks for bringing that up. I saw that episode a while back and was intrigued by that recipe. I'll give it a try.

Ditto that. The episodes are short and to the point. With only 2 contestants we get a pretty good look at their cooking. There's no fluff footage like drone shots of them tooling about in fleets of BMWs or careening around Whole Foods with their carts on 2 wheels like a bunch of Keystone Cops. We get a little commentary from the other axed chefs. Tom gives a pretty concise explanation of his decision, both pro and con and boom - we're done!

The Top Chef franchise may have run its course… some time ago…. and I can’t imagine any new host turning that around it but I’m still interested to see what Kristen Kish brings to the mix. Her experience as a chef-testant, battling back through Last Chance Kitchen, gives her a unique perspective. I like Gail a lot as a judge and hope to see her continue in that role rather than making the move to host. Tom is really good on Last Chance Kitchen and I’d like to see that as his main gig with a new lead judge (Gail or someone else) stepping in on the main episodes.

This Cooks Illustrated article, Using Alcohol in Pie Dough, suggests you can substitute another 80 proof spirit. I'm not a subscriber, so I had to read fast before I was blocked but it says they made crusts with rum, whiskey and gin and couldn't taste a difference. I'd think brandy might add a bit of sweetness and even though they suggest bourbon is fine, I wouldn't use anything I disliked the taste of, just in case. Edited to add that this article, How Alcohol Makes A Flakier Pie Crust: The "Proof" Is In The Pie, says:

Looks like Kristin Kish is slated to replace Padma: https://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/top-chef-season-21-new-host-and-filming-location-revealed

I've been working my way through the roasted beet variations in Ruffage. These options are just lists of 3 ingredients that might be paired with the roasted beets and it's up to the reader to decide quantities and preparation. Thus far, I've turned most of the variations into very enjoyable salads but decided I should leave my comfort zone for this last one so I give you warm Roasted Beets w/Parmesean, Dried Cherries + Wheat Berries I sautéed the beet greens with garlic, put the dried cherries and some toasted almonds into the farro that I subbed for the wheat berries and warmed the beets in some citrus vinaigrette. I didn't love this as much as the salad variations I've made but it was a perfectly decent, nutritious meal and I learned to stick with beet salads for the summer so no complaints!

Interesting. I really like these but always pan fry/steam for a crispy bottom and soft upper. Never thought of microwave or oven. Then again, I only cook one serving at a time so I can see the oven being handy if you need to cook a lot at once.

I figured all those fried chickpeas were punishment enough for you!

Today's breakfast is from Tenderheart and may just be enough to convince @Anna N not to buy it or to return her Kindle copy if she already did 😉 Salt & Vinegar Kale Chips with Fried Chickpeas and Avocado I made this with the optional fried egg and added a few dollops of the aji verde from the roasted sweet potato recipe in this book.

We all envy Moe! The other day, I made a small batch of the pickled blueberries from Pulp. The brine is a gastrique so you start by caramelizing sugar and deglaze the pan with vinegar. For blueberries, the book suggests either red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar. I used some of that delicious red wine vinegar from Katz and I have to say these are some tasty little nuggets! Going with the suggestion in the book, I smeared a slice of of toasted bread with a triple cream bloomy rind cheese (I used Trader Joe's Le Délice de Bourgogne) and topped that with a spoonful of the pickled blueberries. This was supposed to be just a taste test but I went back for another slice, then kept nibbling them until I'd polished off most of the jar and it became breakfast!

I think we've all got some amount of emotional baggage around food, eating, drinking and social gatherings that affect our comfort levels to some extent. Too much, too little, too expensive, too fancy, too cheap, etc. I do some of the things you mention, never taking the last of anything, never taking the largest piece, etc. and I have felt uncomfortable and "watched" at restaurants but that's only when I was dining alone, generally on business travel, and I felt like people were wondering if I was stood up or didn't have any friends. Silly, I know. I'm sure no one was paying a bit of attention to me, let alone making judgements but still, it was my perception and made me uncomfortable. I'd like to assure you that no one is paying that degree of attention or judgement to your choices either but your father's behavior completely counteracts my argument! After my father had a pretty serious heart attack, he changed his diet (90% due to my mom's guidance) and became a fitness nut, running, biking, hiking, playing tennis. Good for him! But he'd also comment on other people's weight or what they were eating. I'd only have to hear this during occasional visits but my mom heard it all the time. It was never directed towards her but it still bothered her a lot so I know that what we hear certainly affects us.

If you can come up with any uses for cooked fruit or a purée, consider roasting some of those plums and see what it does for them. It will concentrate the sweetness and flavor and add a note of caramelization, depending on the time and temp you choose. I cut them in half, place cut side down on a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet, roast @ 350°F, for 20-40 min. Cool and remove the pits. For a purée, you can whiz them skins and all in a blender or food processor and leave it as chunky as you like. Edited to add that I do this as a first step for any stone fruit sorbet, ice cream or popsicles