blue_dolphin

Wow - hope it tastes as good as it looks 'cause it looks great! The book is a good one. All the cakes are sized for a 9” pan. I've baked several in smaller loaf pans and they froze nicely. Several people reported good results with mini or regular cupcakes so I think they are forgiving. The Kindle version is currently $4.99 in the US but, sadly, not in Canada. Maybe it will pop up one of these days!

This Swirled Jam Cake from Snacking Cakes is very versatile. Note the blueberry nutmeg and plum cardamom cake ideas on the page. She also has a Peanutbutter and Jam Cake that's kind of fun. Not exactly a cake but this recipe for Jammy Winter Fruit and Browned Butter Bars from Midwest Made is very nice. It begins with making the jam but I've made them with all kinds of homemade jam and it works well. Edited to add that when my Facebook baking group covered this book, most people advocated using more jam, up to doubling it, so consider that to use up even more of your stash!

Good article! I think the 2nd sentence in that quote got a little mangled. Maybe too much glue in the copy/paste process 🙃 My last Jello project was perhaps even more unappetizing. At work, we were filming a an instructional video to show clinical trial sites exactly how tumor specimens should be trimmed and processed for a particular study. Wary that anyone would think we were misusing human tissue samples for making a video, I had the brilliant idea to make fake tumors from Jello. Researching various Halloween Jello recipes, I had fun making some realistic looking ones and some rather bland beige blobs which were what we used in the end. Might be some Jello from that project still in the cupboard but I haven’t been inclined to make any to eat!

This is based on the I Dream of Dinner recipe for Crispy Potato, Egg & Cheese Tacos. The header note just says, "So crisp, you could even skip the tortilla," so I did. The recipe calls for grated russet potato and Cheddar cheese. I used yellow potato, grated medium rather than large, squeezed out some moisture in a paper towel, and a mix of grated Gruyere and Red Leicester. Added hot sauce after the photo. Probably the quickest possible breakfast potato & egg combo I can imagine. I would definitely do this again. @Anna N, I'm glad you tried that one, because now I don't need to. I couldn't quite imagine those ingredients doing much for each other but thought maybe there was some magic I was missing!

I know you didn't ask me, but I can never miss an opportunity to plug Shaya, one of my favorite cookbooks. I've made his Bright Green Falafel several times. They are light and delicious. Here's a link to the recipe online Here's a post that includes a photo of the ones I made. They freeze and reheat very well.

Why no fan? And why choose only bottom heat? And more for my own curiosity, do you keep a temp probe inside the Anova? My big wall oven is very slow to preheat without convection so I always use the fan to preheat and then it turn off if it’s contraindicated during the cook time. I do keep a temp probe in the oven so I can adjust if needed. Is something like that that not possible with the Anova?

Rancho Gordo's black caviar lentils with a poached egg The source of the lentil recipe may be unexpected (Dr. Jen Gunter, author of The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto) but it's very good and I think it's worth a read even if you are not a lentil lover.

Clearly you hang with a tough crowd - I’ve heard of no dessert unless you finish your vegetables but drink your eggnog or jump off a bridge sounds a bit harsh!

Ditto that! I tipped a couple of bottles of that eggnog to my local BBQ peeps last year and they couldn't stop raving about it. Good reminder to make more for this year.

Here's a Thanksgiving 2020 post from @Kim Shook that has some good gravy info:

Used that Syrah Soaked Toscano Cheese Spread & Dip to make a toastie for breakfast. Tastes way better warmed up like this than cold on crackers. The apple is one of those Lucy Glo apples that I also purchased at TJ's. This one has the barest tinge of pink in the flesh. Still a very tasty apple.

I believe @Kim Shook is the queen of turkey gravy. I have a recollection that she did a nice tutorial on her process but I can't find it. Maybe she can point us to it.

A few new-to-me TJ's items: The TJ's label barrel proof bourbon is $29.99. I'm not a bourbon expert but thought it was very nice. Surprisingly smooth for something with that proof. No age statement. It's a limited release. I heard about it last year but didn't manage to snag any. Went back this AM to get another bottle. The Caramel Coffee Almonds aren't a new item but I noticed them for the first on this shopping trip when I was looking for the Maple Almonds that are now gone. These are nice nibble with a little caffeine buzz. They put a little silica gel packet in the bag so the coating stays crisp rather than sticky. The Syrah Soaked Toscano Cheese Spread & Dip is a limited time item. Unlike the Unexpected Cheddar Spread, which is like that cheese converted into a Modernist Cheez Whiz, this one has cream cheese, garlic and parsley added so it's not as luxuriously smooth. Seems more like a Boursin-type mixture made with shreds of Toscano cheese mixed in. I will add my annual reminder that the TJ's Reserve Brut North Coast Sparkling Wines, are back for their annual appearance in regular and rosé versions at the usual $9.99/bottle. I always stock up on the rosé for celebrations throughout the year. It generally disappears by Christmas or a day or so after. The wine guy at my store said the rosé is especially good this year.

Added these squid pieces in ink to my last Rancho Gordo order. Given the source, I probably should have served them with some white beans but I went with squid ink spaghetti instead. Nice quick pantry pasta.

That’s what I usually do, too! Picked up some nice ginger at the farmers market to make a little batch of stem ginger in syrup so I’m all set!

I’ll be getting together with my local cousins. There will be 30 for dinner. I volunteered to bring a green salad and homemade cranberry sauce. The salad will be the Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pomegranate with Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette from Deep Run Roots. Not sure what I’ll put in the cranberries. Most likely orange and a dash of Grand Marnier but maybe something different.

Great idea - sounds like the perfect mix of salty-tangy bits!

Yes, in the recipe header notes, he suggests crisp amaretti as an alternate or addition to the sponge fingers and calls for them to be “broken into chunks” which seems to me like it’s something fairly hard. Here’s the ingredient list: He does call for thinning the jam with a little water but that’s still not a ton of liquid. Though I suppose they’d soften somewhat over the 4 hr minimum chilling time.

Are you certain this UK author is using “sponge fingers” to refer to American and not European lady fingers?

The Royal Coronas are rather spectacular. I recommend soaking them for more even cooking, though I believe @Shelby had good results without. This bean confit recipe is a luxurious thing to try with those RCs. People have added sun dried tomatoes and/or marinated artichokes instead of or in addition to the olives. As to the King City Pinks, people in the bean club group have reported using them in almost every way possible, including refried so I’m sure they’ll be good.

If you're considering a remodel, I think it's worth considering how wedded you are to a range, and as @palo said, to gas. I currently have a 36-inch gas cooktop and 2 electric wall ovens. Prior to that, I had gas ranges. The cooktop is nice, though I'd also be fine with 30-inches and will certainly replace it with induction when the time comes. What I don't need (cooking mostly for myself) is a huge oven. Yes, indeed, very handy to be able to put 4 pies on a shelf and bake 8 at a time or a 30 lb turkey with room to spare for sides but isn't really my life these days. My little countertop oven gets the most use and one 28-inch wall oven is plenty big.

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I agree with the above. As long as the shelves or racks can support it and and you can give the stone or steel ample time to heat up, it should work fine.

He may already have - a lot of the locally collected urchins get flown directly to Japan!

You avoided them too long. They were better when they were fried in beef tallow.