haresfur

It would be good if stores didn't thaw the flash frozen fish. I suppose they do it because most people think "fresh" is better

My supply of American rye is dwindling, not to be replaced, but I understand that some Canadian rye, like Alberta Premium are a reasonable substitute. Some distilleries are producing rye in Australia but I have no idea how they would work in Manhattans.

Don't know your particular situation, but you probably should be aware that vanilla extract contains approximately as much alcohol as rum. I believe they do make non-alcoholic vanilla extract, which I think is glycerine-based. As a side note, some people don't mind a few dashes of alcohol-based bitters in mocktails, but others avoid them all together. Fees Brothers make glycerine bitters.

Fwiw, steelhead is called "Ocean Trout" in Australia (not that we have very many Costco stores; nearest is about 2.5 hours from me). It is usually a bit cheaper than salmon - both of which are almost all farm raised, sometimes from Norway. I like it. The best, though was when I had a neighbour who liked to catch them when they were running, but didn't like to eat fish.

Spinach is starting to bolt so I have been harvesting. Is this what they call baby Spinach?

I certainly do recall from the 1960s/1970s. But I admit my recall of that time period may be fuzzy. I have a memory of spaghetti with sauce on top and the waiter putting the parmisian on top with a heavy hand and a flourish. I think people tend to go quickly from "what we do now" to "this is how we have always done it" ymmv eta: and I wasn't necessarily referring only to what they do in Italy, but old style, what my parents always did. I actually often like having a bit of variety between forkfulls of past with sauce and forkfuls without for some dishes. I'm probably in the minority on that one.

I thought the newish trend in cooking pasta was to use minimal water to maximise the starch and to encorporate that into the sauce, since the old style draining the pasta and putting the sauce on at the table is apparently a sin now. I think draining pasta has its place as does dripping starchy water into the pan. Even if I am using tongs to transfer pasta into the sauce, draining keeps the remaining stuff from overcooking and I nearly always cook extra to use another day.

The heat drying idea makes sense. I have a small sized Kitchen Aid santoku where the plastic handle has cracked appart and about a third has fallen off. I don't heat dry, though, because I'm an energy-miser. I sometimes toy with the thought of fixing the handle with some epoxy, but the knife isn't really worth the effort and it isn't that uncomfortable to use. Btw, it is actually a pretty handy knife that serves well as a petty to abuse and as a cheese knife.

Bottom line: is there a difference in taste?

I avoid putting anything with a wooden handle in the dishwasher. That means my Japanese knives, several crappy old knives, and my cheap as chips Kiwi. I'd put the Kiwi in if it had one of the newer plastic handles. I probably wouldn't put the Victorinox chef's knife in, but I don't have final say on all the matters. I wouldn't put my carbon steel or stainless clad knives in, even if they didn't have wooden handles. I have several knives we keep around just because we can abuse them and not worry about things like the dishwasher. So it is complicated. Good knives that only I use, hand wash as soon after a task as possible. Cheap knives where anything goes. A couple of cheap knives that are hand washed because of their wood handles. I suppose those are the ones where my strategy is different from @Porthos so his post is well taken. The old club of a western chef's knife might be a good one to experiment with, since I have a similar plastic handle one if it dies. If I have a pot of soapy water in the sink, I'll tend to just hand wash the knives so I don't end up cursing the fact that they are sitting in the dishwasher, dirty. But overall dishwashers are more energy and water efficient.

Drinking up my last batch of IPA. Not as good as the previous batch because I dry hopped the first one. It is a bit under-carbonated, maybe I calculated the sugar incorrectly, maybe because the pantry is cold in the winter. Still quite drinkable.

Guardian Australia Article From lotus to lava custard: Australia’s biggest mooncake sale – in pictures

A note that the Indian restaurant has moved out of the British and American, into the centre of town where there was a pizza place. They continue to run both menus, which is a bit strange. But they have a southern Indian cook and have been trialling dosa on the menu. Tasty There is a lot of competition - it seems like almost every new restaurant is typical Indian restaurant food

Does it need to be food donations or could he raise money (which is usually better for the organisation)? Maybe he and his friends could get pledges for the number of times up the wall in a certain amount of time

How do you say "Punt minus a half ?"