haresfur

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 ?"

I did make it to Rockpool, a few years ago now, for a Buck's party lunch for a former/inactive eG member. At least one other former member was in attendance. I knew it was an all-in event. $$$ wines were flowing. The Sommelier helped the main wine-fiend guest who wanted something like some California something or other, saying, "I have this $$$$ bottle, but if you like that, you will like this $$$ bottle." Most of the people around the table split portions of most of the steak available (no Wagu, unfortunately). No problem, a slew of waiters showed up and marched around the table dropping off slices for each person. I could have used more veg, the sides tasted good enough, though. The mac and cheese with bacon is a favourite of the guest of honour. I prefer my smoked salmon version. One of our friends, a pastry chef did his usual order one of each desert for himself. I can't remember which one or ones I had, but they were good. So, yeah, it was way above my usual dining level and fun and good. I don't think I'd go again, unless it was a similar event. FWIW, Bendigo has a high-end steak place, The Woodhouse, now. I've never been.

If you want a Japanese paring knife, as opposed to a petty, you could go with this Minke whale* now on sale at Chef's Edge * Other whales also available

I hold the roti in my right hand and use the fork with my left. I was brought up with the "fork stays in the left hand" school of eating. So it all makes sense and I assume it doesn't offend anyone. In a restaurant, I will usually order naan or garlic naan. I like the wholemeal chapatis but would have to make them myself. At home I get frozen roti from Aldi and use them for almost anything that calls for flat bread except Mexican, especially kabab since the bread at my local shop is pretty ordinary. We just get a meat pack and eat it with roti like it is Indian. I use my fork concave side up. Scooping onto the back of the fork baffles me. I hold my knife overhand and the English hold from below grip seems odd.

So you mix the other food with the rice rather than using a bit of rice to scoop up the food? Is that a northern vs southern India thing? I could never get the hang of scooping up "curry" etc. with rice but do like to scoop with roti. Or, be a real heathen an use a fork to put the food in a bit of roti to eat. I can use chopsticks with my right hand if I'm trying to be polite, but I'm left handed and that just works better for me.

For what it's worth, my Sanyo rice cooker came with a separate bowl for slow cooking so you don't muck up the rice one. I think it is a big negative if Zojirushi doesn't have one

Report back if you die

I think you need to try it and report back. But imo currants are superior to raisins in butter tarts.

The "flower" part of figs is internal to the fruit and are pollinated by wasps that burrow into the centre. So bees can't make honey from them. However, fig trees can produce fruit parthenocarpically, without pollination.

Cornwall?

Depends. If you are they type who would set the dirty rice paddle on the flat top of the machine, then curse yourself out when you have to clean it, I'd get the round top '

There is an unrelated drink called Viva Maria so this has been renamed in Kindred Cocktails to Viva Maria! #2

I looked into Acacia a while ago because it was one of the few ok looking end grain boards I could find near where I live. There are a huge number of Acacia species but it sounded like the boards were likely rather hard or maybe have some silica in the wood. Don't quote me on that last bit. But the internet opinions ranged from probably ok to you can probably do better

You could try Wondra flour, but on advice from an Asian cooking show, I've stopped using corn starch and use potato starch. It's very forgiving and I plan on trying it for other non-flour thickeners. Make a slurry in water and stir in.

I will never again take a pack of frozen pierogies, handmade in a small community outside Winnipeg, and thaw them before cooking. The instructions said to boil from frozen but we were going to fry without boiling. Anyway, I didn't read the instructions and we now have a gooey mass of dough and cottage cheese to fry up.