FoodyBorris

Probably the thing that regularly irritates me the most in that some producers sell their products at prices that are not justified - ie too expensive. And the supermarkets' role in this. I know you can try something, decide it isn't worth the money and never buy it again. But why should I? These days I use the Wine Society in the UK to buy most of my wine through. They are a fundamentally different type of entity to shops, etc. To become a member of the Wine Society, you buy a share in them. They exist to buy wines on behalf of their members and to sell the wines to their members. They do not sell wines generally. They have no "profit" motive - their role is simply an average break-even point. They have buyers dedicated to the regions. If a given wine in a given year is of poor quality, they simply don't buy it. The buyers are employed on behalf of the members and are there to serve the members' interests only. A supermarket has buyers for entirely different purposes. Thus two £10 bottles (or two $20 bottles if you wish) can give you one pleasant surprise and one massive disappointment. I doubt that much is going to change here. But that would be my topic to raise with wine makers. Although the odds are that the ones present for the conversation are the ones delivering the pleasantly surprising bottle anyway!

Hey dude - sounds great! And if you're getting the covers, then doubly great! Couple of comments: 1) Personally, I have always been a sucker for eggs benedict for breakfast. Looks like you've already got ham, poached eggs and hollandaise at various points on your menu... Maybe try the regulars and see what they say? 2) As a keen foody with a partner who is coeliac (celiac, gluten free, however you spell it!), I'm always keen to encourage calling out GF on menus where possible. Neither are necessarily major revenue drivers, just my 4 cents worth

I found that silicone ice cube trays (such as these) were much more practical. But otherwise totally agreed

I don't do the pressure cooker bit, but I definitely do the freezing of the carcass after roasting. When I have 3 or 4 I make a large batch of stock and get about 10 tubs, which then go in the freezer.

My last dessert was a lemon posset. Desserts which feature cream and citrus fruit are always a winner with me. And lemon posset has a simplicity and purity that has immense asthetic appeal to me. Recipe from the Marcus Wareing book "How to the cook the perfect ...".