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Cleared a bed and planted two varieties of hard neck garlic that I picked up from a local nursery. First time planting both of these varieties but I liked the descriptions. The varieties are Duganski and Romanian Red. I’m hoping that the wildlife doesn’t dig them up. Nursery descriptions: - Duganski is a mid-season purple stripe type. A stunningly beautiful garlic with large bulbs and an amazing flavor that matches its looks and size. Purple outer wrappers protect the violet-tinged cloves that burst with a fiery flavor and mellow out with a pleasant aftertaste. - Romanian Red is a late-season porcelain type. A magnificent garlic in every way, these huge heads contain 4-5 fat cloves with a hot, pungent, long-lasting flavor. The silken skin on the cloves is streaked with purple-red, and the heads are wrapped in creamy white. Excellent storage too.

Does the wife have a gluten free bread that she likes? Perhaps that will work for the bread in your meatballs.

Probably just a matter of time. 🙂

Could you gift some chocolates and nut pastes to your neighbor? That might make them happier about hearing the melanger. 😉

Perhaps. It does sound like something that @Kerry Beal would have at home. 😀 She has a PacoJet, Thermomix, melanger, and so much more... so why not a micron ball refiner too.

Yes, apparently a ball mill refiner will also make smooth nut pastes (and other things). https://www.selmi-group.com/micron50-spreadable-creams-refiner.html

I agree with @&roid on timing. I have a classic sized Kamado Joe, which is one size smaller. For a quick steak cook, I’m usually ready to go in 30 minutes. Brisket, cast iron cooking, etc. it is a longer setup. The other gotcha can be waiting for the hardwood charcoal to burn off the nasty smelling compounds — sometimes it is smelling good in 20 minutes and other times it is 45 minutes to an hour. Wait for a clean smelling burn and then you can start cooking.

Yikes! What a freak accident. Very glad to hear that you are mostly ok!

You are correct. The potatoes do prevent the inner side of the chicken from browning and the potatoes get a nice coating of chicken drippings. Chicken skin was nicely crisped. For last night’s cook, I added a few sprigs of rosemary under the chicken. Also, I now have a combustion thermometer so I was able to monitor temperatures while the rotisserie was spinning. Cook time was 45 to 50 minutes. I am very happy with how this turned out and need to remember to make this more often.

Came here to see my notes from the last time I cooked in the Kamado Joe basket and discovered that I did not post! So... July 2023 I made a spatchcocked chicken and potatoes. Chicken on one side of the basket and potatoes on the other side. Planning to do this again for tonight's dinner. Hopefully I take more notes but planning to cook at around 350 F with the dome closed. Including photos from the July 2023 cook.

Sweet Packaging has single layer set up boxes 8"x8" and larger. https://sweetpackaging.com

Nice to see your meals and the menus. I love your photos of the ocean, sunsets, and out of the water boat. 🙂

Anna was everywhere! Didn't know until now that all those great titles came from her but I should have known. Thank you for sharing that. Wishing you and Rodney all the best. I just looked at the list of Advisors and Judges (https://www.pastrycon.com/advisorsjudges). What an impressive group! I hope that you get chances to network and to watch some of the competitions. Sorry, no recommendations for Charlotte but I have heard good things about the area. Looking forward to your posts!

Tried one of the 2024 Summer Olympics chocolate muffin recipes. More details here... https://forums.egullet.org/topic/166869-chocolate-muffin-2024-summer-olympics/

Today I baked Kassie Mendieta's Olympic chocolate muffin recipe. Very, very chocolatey. Will try one after dinner and put the rest in the freezer. Was trying to get a feel for how large a batch these would make. Ended up with 6 regular sized muffins and 6 Texas muffins. I think that the next time that I make these I'll make them all regular sized -- these are quite rich and I am not exercising anywhere as much as an Olympic athlete!

I suggest that you look up the manual for your InstantPot model and follow their cleaning & maintenance instructions. There are a few parts that may be disassembled for a thorough cleaning. https://instantpot.com/pages/manuals-and-resources

Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace — behind the scenes from Bon Appetit. https://youtu.be/DEEEptD36mo?si=FEeCuUL2UWQIXJQg

Good luck with your search @Jim D.. FYI the import issue ordering from Cabrellon should be the same as ordering from Chocolat Chocolat. So far I haven't had any issues ordering from Europe or Canada the businesses have everything in place to export their goods and get them thru US Customs.

Social media is serving up stories about Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen and his love for the chocolate muffin that is available in the Olympic Village for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Several bakers and pastry chefs have tried to reverse engineer this recipe. Based on a segment from the Today show, I plan to try Kassie Mendieta recipe for this chocolate muffin (her website and substack are I Bake Mistakes). Has anyone else seen this muffin in their social media? Anyone else interested in baking this? Let's all share our results here! General information about the muffin and a test of copycat muffin recipes: https://www.today.com/food/recipes/olympic-chocolate-muffins-recipe-rcna165364 Kassie Mendieta's Olympic chocolate muffin recipe: https://ibakemistakes.substack.com/p/the-highly-sought-after-olympic-chocolate photo of muffin from emmymade.com (Emmy uses Kassie Menndieta's muffin recipe):

Thanks for the clarification Jim. Great to have the additional detail -- definitely belongs on eGullet. I'm wondering, would it be easier for you to get a custom 4-piece box? If so, then perhaps you could purchase a new off-the-shelf mold that will be easier to work with and meet your other bonbon making criteria. It is always interesting to see the unexpected ripple effect of our choices. 🙂

Jim, I'm puzzled by your post are you agreeing or disagreeing with my post? I was answering @pastrygirl's question about whether CW2207 and CW1157 produce the same shape and I said that they are not the same and provided the specs and links to those moulds on Chocolate World's website.

Here is a link to the CW2207 it is not the same as the CW1157. The CW2207 does not have a corresponding 1000 series mould. It looks to be a bit flat on the top. https://www.chocolateworld.be/winkel/moulds/frame-moulds/CW2207 Cavity length: 30 mm Cavity width: 30 mm Cavity height: 19 mm Cavity weight: 14 gr The CW1157 is the same as CW2472 https://www.chocolateworld.be/winkel/moulds/frame-moulds/CW1157 Cavity length: 30 mm Cavity width: 30 mm Cavity height: 25 mm Cavity weight: 17 gr @Jim D. not sure if you have contacted them but Chocolate World does make custom moulds. https://www.chocolateworld.be/blog/vormen/exclusieve-vormen Per the linked page, the minimum number of moulds for a custom order is 50.

Ouch! I'm not looking into restocking until autumn. Wondering how much I can charge for chocolates and still retain my customers. Also wondering if there is going to be a wave of closures for the small and mid-sized chocolate shops. 😞

Such a mitzvah. I need to remember these frozen crock pot meals if there comes a time when I can help a friend.

Yes, I went there for dinner and had a delicious meal! I think it was on the final day of the workshop. Would love to go back with a group and explore more of the menu.