KennethT

I never saw it in Hong Kong but I was only there a week and had dim sum maybe 8 times. Not that I was actually looking for it mind you...

I was just going off of the instruction manual from the (albeit crappy and the motor died) vertical grill that I had (made in Turkey)... they called the ground sausage like one doner (and interchanged gyro) and they called the stacked slices version shawarma... And just about every middle eastern food truck I've seen in NYC (not that I've made a note of every one that I walk by) calls the sausage version gyro and the stacked shawarma... but I wouldn't be surprised at all if other places change the names around... They also make the distinction between gyro (or shawarma) sandwich (in pita) or platter (on a bed of rice).

What you're describing - slices stacked up is shawarma, not gyro.

I got an inexpensive one relatively recently from Amazon... I think it was made in Turkey - and in their instructions included a recipe and a link to their website with videos of how to make gyro and schwarma... So, evidently, no jerry-rigging required - just a food processor (or industrial meat grinder) to finely grind the meat (if making a gyro).

I've been thinking about this - I don't think there's a need to buy a whole vertical rotisserie unless you plan on starting a gyro restaurant. Lots of the gyro places (both brick/mortar and truck) may have the log on the spit, but many shave the meat off the log and then crisp up on the grill. So there's no reason you can make a bunch of the meat spread it pretty thin - maybe 1/8" and then grill it or pan fry. I imagine the result would be really similar.

Love those Jura wines. Were they of the oxidative style that is so typical there?

Yrs, from everything I've read or seen, it's normal to drop their leaves once it gets cooler. Logee's Greenhouses have a good video about curry plants both on their site and on YouTube.

I can't imagine shipping a gyro. Plus we have so many middle eastern food trucks here (some of which are fantastic) I'd love to get some and UPS them to you. That and a couple of the Keitt mangoes my friend sent me from LA. Let's see how many miles we can put on them!

Growing at large scale when not legal is just an invitation to getting busted or worse. There was a big grow op near my factory (it took up the whole second floor of a home) that actually burned the building down and now the people running it are in jail. No thanks.

The great thing about growing hydroponically is that it uses a LOT less water than normal... like 1/10th the water of normal because there is no runoff and practically no waste.

I'm so happy that my kaffir lime tree is coming back. I was getting worried about it for a while. A lot of leaves were showing iron deficiency, even though I have plenty of iron in my nutrient. This led me to believe that it was something else - I think it was a little too wet, mainly because of the cheap, crappy solenoid valves I got on Amazon leak. Not all of them, but like 4 out of 9.... grrrr.... I should know better than getting made in China... not that I have anything against China or Chinese people, it's just that a lot of their products are made to be cheap, not to be good or reliable. But check out this new growth, baby!!! I'm also happy to report that my new curry plant is doing really well too... check out this new growth! The old curry plant is limping along, but it's not doing very well at all. I may just cut it back completely and let it dry out. I've seen a lot of people in India growing this plant say that in winter it will drop all its leaves and at that point, you only want to water it like once a month - it needs to stay really dry. Then when the season comes back, it will come back better than ever. I know that this thread becomes less active this time of year as most people contribute to it grow outdoors and are in the N Hemisphere.... Let me know if people get sick of seeing my plants over and over again and I can slow or stop my posting... don't worry - I won't be offended! Seriously!!

Prunes will definitely make me go running.... To the bathroom!

We ordered in Vietnamese for dinner, but I had to make it feel like we were in Saigon. From the garden... I didn't even make a dent!

I just had my entry for a sweet new year.... one of the 25 keitt mangos my friend sent me from LA... much sweeter than and apple and honey!

Anything is possible - but I've never had a good one! Then again, most family members we've visited who made it aren't very good cooks in the first place...

tzimmes is gross... if neither is a fan, I say nix it!

It's hard to believe that I was involved in this discussion a year ago when we were getting ready to move... fast forward a year later, and we still haven't moved!!! (but we're making progress with renovations, finally). After using the CSO for a while, I have determined that, for our needs, we definitely do not need a microwave and have no intention of getting one. For defrosting coconut milk, stock (which I keep in a ziplock bag in the freezer) or frozen chicken parts, I used to use my sous vide rig, but now I find it's even easier to get a large bowl of warm water and plunk it in there for a bit. The english muffin defrosts and is just like out of the microwave in 4 minutes on steam bake - compared to 1 minute in the microwave... no big deal. And heating water for tea (which I used to use my gas range) I got a 2-3 cup kettle which has various temp settings for different types of tea. It will bring a small amount of water to boil in less time than on my gas range or the microwave - and unlike the microwave, I don't have to keep checking it to make sure it doesn't explode.

Upon further inspection, these are Keitt mangoes, grown in Mexico. According to what I could find online, Keitt mangoes are a late season variety typically left on the tree longer than other varieties.

A friend of mine just shipped me about 25 pounds of mangoes to me in NYC from LA. But not just any mango - he said they were the best he ever had since he left India as a young man. I have to say, they are excellent mangoes. Definitely the best I've had in the US. I've only had 2 so far, but the center of the mango near the pit is like pure pulp - you eat it with a spoon. The pulp is sweet and sour and there is not a hint of fibers anywhere. The area closer to the skin has the texture I'm used to in SE Asia - soft and no need to chew - it just squishes in your mouth. I hope I can eat them fast enough so they don't go bad!

Exactly. That's what I said to her at the time - but, she was determined to get out of the house as soon as she could and was nervous it would take a long time (the house is very non-standard). Meanwhile, it sold quickly, and one of the first things the new owners said was "we're going to replace this kitchen"... arrrrgggghhhh......

That makes sense... I wasn't saying that the salmon there were wild (they had a high fat content, so I would have a hard time imagining they were), but I was just confused by the article's sentence. The way I read it was that salmon didn't exist (farmed or not) in the southern hemisphere, but I could have into it what wasn't there.

When my mother sold her home, she updated her kitchen - as the realtor said, "most buyers want a turnkey home - they want to buy, move in and not have to change anything". I must be a weirdo - when we were looking to buy an apartment, I hated going into places that looked like they just changed out the cabinets/appliances prior to the sale. I've never seen it done really well because most people don't want to spend the money on something just to raise the selling price. Personally, I prefer finding a place (and we found it) that had good bones, but was on the less expensive side taht we would renovate ourselves - that way, we could do it the way WE wanted it and not have to pay twice to get it. But I understand what the OP is doing it as that's what most people do and I think it's what most buyers want. Good luck!!

really interesting article... thanks. My only question is about the 1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph - saying that salmon only comes from the northern hemisphere, but I had some of the best smoked salmon of my life in New Zealand, the Akaroa salmon which, aside from being pricey, is absolutely delicious.

Mine either.... we got through a 1 liter bottle maybe every month or so!

Thanks. After I posted my question, I found @Okanagancook 's post about chicken skin convection bake 425 for 10 minutes. So about a minute after the oven beeped that it reached temperature, the skin was basically done, but I was still making everything else, so I dropped it to 250, opened the oven door for a bit until it cooled and then it sat that way barely sizzling until I was ready - maybe 10-15 min. They came out great - disaster averted!