kayb

No. Mine has a plastic tank on the side where you put water when you're going to use the steam function. And it wasn't a case of not getting it seated, either. It just did the same thing. Being no fool, a folded-up bath towel jammed between it and the Keurig caught the water this time. Stopper in the tank is tightened pretty finger-tight; doesn't leak when held stopper-down, until you press on the little valve in the center.

I have had my CSO all of three hours. And it has already tried to kill me. In anticipation of its arrival today, I cleared off the top of the microwave to make a spot, into which it fit perfectly. I read through the manual. Well, I think I read through the manual, though I had to go back and look up how to set the clock. And I perused recipes. Also in anticipation of its arrival, I started a loaf of bread last night, along with the poolish for some baguettes and ciabatta tomorrow. First, I learned something. I learned when they say don't leave water in the reservoir when you're not using the steam function, they ain't kiddin'. I discovered this when I had to mop up about half a reservoir-full. Not to be deterred, I went on about shaping my loaves and putting them in the CSO on steam at 100F to proof. My 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 pans fit perfectly, side by side, btw. And I went away and left it to steam for 20 minutes. At the end of which time, I stepped away from the stove, where I'd been canning tomato sauce, into a puddle of water (another half-a-reservoir-full or so...and down I went. Fortunately, I did not damage either the healing ankle nor the previously damaged knee, though the good one now has a "tweak" in it it didn't have before. I mopped up THAT water, read the directions again, put a little more water in the reservoir, and made sure it was seated well this time. I think that may have been my problem. However, when they suggest a loaf of bread will proof in 20 minutes on steam at 100 degrees, they're talking through their collective hat. I'm now steaming again, and drinking a glass of wine. Back yard tomatoes yielded three half-pints of sauce.

Yay, Shelby! So happy for your comeback!

Peering into the fridge this morning and came out with a jar of maraschino cherries. Which I ate. The whole jar. I credit this to having purchased some vanilla-flavored Greek yogurt because Kroger had it marked down, and I had not had a chance to make any. My yogurt and granola consumption has markedly reduced, although I even have fresh peaches in the fridge. And the cherries were...there.

Shall be making my way to my neighborhood Aldi this week.

I believe the only sensible response is to have a cocktail.

Excellent dinners, everyone. @huiray, I am particularly entranced by your fried rice, as I love fried rice. May be on my agenda soon. I have had takeout for two nights (pizza last night, Chinese tonight), as I have deep-cleaned the kitchen and couldn't bear to dirty it. That will change tomorrow, as I am freezing corn. And baking bread, as the CSO arrives tomorrow, allegedly.

I periodically entertain myself by designing my "dream kitchen." Mine is moderately serviceable (I have cooked in worse). Stove, small countertop and refrigerator on one wall. Directly across from it, a divider base and hanging cabinets that separate kitchen from den (which, at some point before I moved here, was the back wall of the house). If you're standing at the stove, to your left three steps is the wall with the sink; to your right four steps, past the fridge, is the opening into the dining room. Not a lot of usable counter space, but the real killer for me is the small countertop between stove and fridge (maybe 30 inches) contains the ONLY wall outlet in the kitchen, to which I have fitted a screw-in multiplug. Lined up under the base cabinet on that wall are my KA stand mixer, my big blender, my food processor, my coffee grinder and an electric kettle. The microwave sits on the counter beside the entry to the dining room, and makes use of an outlet that is actually in the dining room, with a power strip run from it that powers the microwave and Keurig. The CSO, when it gets here, will perch on top of the microwave and use the same power strip. There is, at least, a reasonable amount of storage space, including a small pantry, and the next-door laundry room (off the den) has more storage. My Instant Pot and other small electrical appliances live in the cabinet beneath the on-counter appliances, except the Anova, which lives in the laundry room, because that's where I do all my SV cooking. If I could snap my fingers and fix things, I'd add another 8 to 10 feet of counter space in strategic locations, triple the size of the pantry, and add about a dozen outlets. Oh, and the pot filler faucet for the stove, and a MUCH better vent hood. I think, though, I'm going to adopt Porthos' suggestion for the magnetized hooks to hold small things on the side of the fridge. Right now, it holds my instant-read thermometer, several bumper stickers, and grandkids' drawings.

I picked up three dozen ears of sweet corn and half a peck of peas (purple hulls and crowders) at the farmers' market this morning; will cut off the corn and freeze it, and the peas simply get shelled, measured out in meal-sized portions in a plastic bag, and tossed in the freezer. I've done the freeze-corn-in-the-husk thing, and it's good enough, but it's a space issue for me. I use square plastic tubs which stack neatly in the freezer compartment of the extra fridge.

"my internal magpie..." I love it.

Arey, I've always found this place a good source of Cajun essentials, and people speak well of their Andouille. I tend to buy mine in bulk from a restaurant that makes their own. Ouch! Hope the damage was minimal!

I love their customer service department. I thought I'd lost my bracket that holds it on the side of a vessel, and when I called to buy a new one, they told me they didn't sell them separately, but if I wished to send them back the circulator sans bracket, they'd replace it with a new one with a bracket. Can't beat that. Fortunately, I found the bracket.

Yes. Except for one notable year when Daddy's aim apparently was off. He shot up half a box of shotgun shells, gave up, and got the chainsaw out of the back of the truck.

A favorite memory of foraging from when I was a kid: my mother and I had gone to the lake to go swimming. She tired of the water before I did, and was wandering about the bank when she found some wild scuppernongs (white muscadines). She searched the entire car for something in which to pick them, finding nothing. Not to be defeated, she took off the capri pants she was wearing (this was probably 1963 or so) and tied knots in the legs. Mama was not a small woman. We picked them full. Came home and made jelly. Most of our foraging was for fruit -- blackberries, dewberries, crabapples, muscadines, scuppernongs. And for mistletoe at Christmas.

Awaiting delivery of mine. Damn you, eGullet and all you enablers out there!

Well, excellent. I have a different charity on my Amazon Smile account, but now will contemplating switching them out monthly or some such. Welcome to the dark side. I highly recommend Rancho Gordo beans. Long as you haven't blown your budget. (...awaiting delivery of my CSO, and calculating how much eG has cost me over the years....But I can't say I haven't bought anything that I didn't consider well worth it!)

Must have been just a .ca deal. I checked several times and $218 US was the lowest I saw. ETA: Checked one more time. Still $218. Hell with it. Ordered it anyway.

Thanks, Norm. Got it. On the list! Tuna croquettes -- haven't had them in ages. May remedy that in the next week or so! A friend posted on Facebook about making souvlaki, and that's on my list, too. Along with dolmas, as I have had a jar of grape leaves in the pantry for a year-plus. @Okanagancook, I thought I had your pig quoted, as well, but it's disappeared. A lovely pig! I'm sure it was a FINE time!

I'd love to know how many Instant Pots, CSOs and Anovas have been sold because of eGullet. I believe those three companies ought to endow the forum. (I can personally speak for four Anovas and five IPs, including my own, purchased because I learned about them here and passed the recommendation on.)

By my count, that makes you a four-IP family. I wouldn't have enough counter space or outlets. The CSO is not among the Prime deals, though that $218 price continues to tempt me. I suspect I shall buy one this month. I did spring for the springform pan. It should hold about half my cheesecake recipe, which will keep me from making such Gawdawful big cheesecakes (and, consequently, eating them).

Aren't grits the greatest? Possibly my favorite breakfast in the world is eggs en cocotte, over a bottom layer of cheese grits. But I had the corn, and that just struck me as the way to go. Pureed about a cup of it to use as part of the liquid, stirred another half-cup into the grits. Could you share your cheese-stuffed potato fritter recipe? That piqued my interest.

Odds and ends. Last of the Honeybaked Ham (had it for Christmas, froze several mealsized portions, opened the last one last week). Last of a package of co-jack cheese. Last two bread and butter pickle slices in the jar. Bottom-of-the-bag chips. Otherwise known as: a ham sammich. (With sliced tomatoes from the garden, I might add.)

After the birthday eve dinner, there was of course the birthday dinner. Baby back ribs, marinated 24 hours in a dry rub, cooked via Kenji's 165F for 12 hours method in the SV, refrigerated, then run in a 475 F oven for 20 minutes with a coating of barbecue sauce, because it was Too Freaking Hot to go outside and start the grill. These were some of the meatiest ribs I'd ever seen. Very tender, but still with a little chew to them. I was most impressed with myself. We had them with potato salad, baked beans and sliced garden tomatoes, which I failed to photograph.

Scallops (which shrank dramatically during the SV step, but otherwise were topnotch in flavor and texture) over corn-infused grits (i.e., grits with creamed corn), flavored with ancho chile powder and smoked paprika and finished with St. Andre cheese; cucumbers in a dressing of rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin and ginger; grape, cherry and Roma tomatoes from the garden, dressed with white balsamic vinegar and basil olive oil and topped with fresh ricotta. Birthday eve dinner for a friend who was visiting. Very good, despite the skimpiness of the scallops.

That particular salted caramel is my all-time favorite.