haresfur

I understand they had to move the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring MD a few blocks to make way for development. Probably a bigger deal than it should be because diners were originally meant to be dropped into place. Shame that Ye Olde College Diner in State College PA is no more. For me the prerequisite for a diner is a waitress who calls you "Hun"

Down here I only hear "sanga"

Those are beautiful. Are they all single bevel? I'm left handed so am wary of Japanese knives.

I was about to start a topic like this but always love to revive an old one. I don't have a great knife collection but in any case will dole out any additional entries slowly to prolong the fun. In light of prolonging the fun I just received this "Dingo" utility knife from a kickstarter by 2 South Australia blokes. So I got to follow the progress through the end of the campaign, manufacture, and covid-slow delivery. The makers designed a set of "Aussie-inspired" knives that are kind of a highbred in terms of manufacturing. Quoting specs from their website: Specs: Collection: Big Red Knives Manufacturer: Koi Knives Made in Australia Blade steel: VG-10 Japanese hard steel core with Stainless Steel cladding Blade length: 200mm (7.75 inches) Handle wood: All local but varies from wood of olive trees, Shiraz grapevines from McLaren Vale (wine region of South Australia) to specially sourced wood Australian deserts. Handle length: 136mm Feels nice in the hand. I have a huge chunk of pork shoulder that I'll try it out on for carnitas this weekend

Yeah I have a wok burner on my cooktop (not the highest end one they make) and the filters on the exhaust fan get disgusting.

You can also use the Hawthorne strainer (with the prongs) for stirred drinks like martinis. If you want less stuff like ice shards and citrus gunk in your shaken cocktails pour from the cap through a mesh strainer.

I believe it is legal to distill essential oils in Australia so when you order your still from New Zealand it needs to be dual purpose. I considered it but decided not to because I don't drink enough. I have a drinking problem - when I'm stressed, the last thing I want is a drink.

Not a totally successful shopping trip. One of the staff told me the truck from Melbourne was 5 hours late, but it looked like more that a single truck being delayed. I would assume the delay is related to covid and the lockdowns.

I think my green tomato chutney from a few years ago is still good. By good, I mean it won't kill me, but the reason it is still around is that I'm not that fond of it.

I confess to never trying them, but butcher shops here sell pre-breaded schnitzels. Don't look like they use egg so I'm not sure how they are gluing the crumbs on. They must be doing something because they have to stand up to the abuse of display and transporting home. Maybe I should take one for the team.

Which suggestions did you take?

IMO your problem is that you are frying it. I've gone completely over to oven baking chicken katsu (and schnitzel/parma using the same method) using this technique. I do it in a fan-forced oven on a wire grill rack to get heat underneath the pieces. TL;DR: Toast the panko in a little oil before breading and baking.

Saw a social media post that Nick's in Australia had Smith & Cross in stock and immediately went to the website to find out that it was sold out. But it is sometimes hard to tell from the normal lack of availability. You would think that you could get Batavia Arrack since it is from our neighbour to the north.

Yeah, I guessed pork chop but from one of those weird Australian chop cuts that don't look like a little t-bone

I appreciated canned bacon when working in a bush camp with no refrigeration except a cooler stuck in a hole in the ground and were the food came in weekly if you were lucky. Yes, getting it out of the can is disgusting.

Took a few pictures of the British and American when I went back for more takeaway. Apparently dine in is open with restricted numbers now. They didn't have the Tandoori Chicken available and I asked if I should call farther in advance if I wanted it, they insisted on taking my phone number to call me when they were doing some up. So I guess I'm going to have unexpected chicken some night. Lest you think alcohol is really inexpensive, those are the prices for premix tinnies bourbon and cola so more or less equivalent to a can of beer.

There was an old Bob Hope military movie where he would use a CO2 fire extinguisher to chill his beer. You might try that.

Tradesperson/tradesman because we have to shorten everything. I didn't mention because it goes without saying, that the British and American has a BottleO - bottle shop for take away alcohol, especially tinnies of premix (aluminium cans of things like Jim Beam and Coke)

I have no photos, so gather around the radio and let your imagination fill in the blanks. We have a hotel called The British and American in a particularly dodgy neighbourhood I drive past on the way into town. They always had a sign out front advertising "The British and American - Chinese and Australian food". Didn't look like the kind of place you would be eager to check out. A few months ago they changed to an Indian restaurant, Daawat, and I eventually looked up the website since I've been pretty disappointed with Indian food I've had in town. It looked promising enough to try for the entertainment value, if nothing else. Ordered takeaway after picking up my car from the mechanic and swung into the gravel parking lot that hadn't been graded in decades. Thought I heard frogs but it turned out to be the croaking of the restaurant's exhaust fan. Walked in through the bar (turns out the restaurant has an entrance around the back, by the dumpster. The bartender pulled up her mask upon seeing mine and directed me through. The bar patrons were exactly what I would have expected. Mostly older tradies with long grey beards dressed in Hi-Vis, looking like they had been sitting in the same spots for most of their lives. The restaurant area had some crappy tables and chairs that had probably been there since the 1970s. A few Indian decorations on the wall and a big screen TV for when dine in is open or for the cooks when there is no business, I guess. There was a pass through to the kitchen and you could see the cook working the tandoor. I was about 15 minutes early for my food and saw one other person picking up an order. The food was really good. So often I find Indian Restaurant dishes all taste very similar but they were clearly doing each sauce separately. We had dahl makhani, kadhai paneer, and methi chicken along with roti and onion kulcha. The Kadhai paneer was the highlight. Portions big. Next time maybe I'll grab a pot of Carlton Draught at the bar.

Just when I think food supplies are back to normal, it seems everyone is out of Schweppes Bitter Lemon Soda. Tragic. We are into a period of on-again and-off again lockdowns (currently out of lockdown) with a 5 km travel radius allowed for essential services unless they are not available within that distance. That doesn't get me to a big chain supermarket but I do have a closer Aldi and IGA. Don't tell anyone but I have a few legitimate excuses to go into the CBD and have been known to buy groceries or takeaway coffee while I'm there (of course I would never just sneak in, shh!). I can get drinkable coffee nearby from Skip's Skateboard Shop. Heck of a nice guy who supports the community and skateboarders of all ages.

Where I live, chicken meat comes from a chook. On a small scale anyway. Supermarkets sell free range chicken and eggs from free range chickens. Although there is a chain of dodgy takeaway chicken called Charcoal Chook.

How long in the SV?

Looks great. Do you only sear the scallops on one side. I just had a dismal failure trying to sear scallops. Couldn't get them to release from the pan. What's your secret?

There's a line of hot wire because Ace kept jumping or climbing out. Shadow has been known to walk across the raised beds if he's out to eat a bit of grass. That doesn't help the vegetables. I mulched with bad hay, which was fine at first but it had enough seeds that I now have enough to bail.

Thanks. It makes sense that it did ok, then because it's winter here, which is our wet season (at least this year; some years we don't get much rain). So crops that can handle a little frost do ok. My snow peas are coming up and I have a couple of swedes that might survive. Oh, and the Italian parsley is very happy.