weinoo

When I got my large butcher block for part of my countertop, I literally spent weeks oiling both sides of it, prior to its installation.

My knives cut through paper plates. But - you do you.

On top of?

Reminds that I once cooked at someone's home - their cutting board was made of glass. Glad I didn't bring my own knives - not that I would have used them.

Another one of my plating semi-disasters. Pan-roasted pork rib chop, sliced off the bone (which is at lower left) and served with pan sauce made with shallots, mushrooms, white wine, chicken stock, mustard, horseradish and butter. Mustard greens and Jasmine rice round it out. Last night, I made dinner at a friend's apartment, a mere 9 floors below ours. Did all prep here, and brought it down to finish. Only took a picture of one plate: On top - fresh artichoke hearts, braised with olive oil, garlic, white wine, lemon, saffron and pimentón. Below, two versions of the exact same recipe for Maryland-style crab cakes. On the left, jumbo lump blue crab. On the right - Jonah crab. 3 out of 4 of us preferred the jumbo lump. Also on menu: Gildas to start, pasta al pesto with green beans, yellow beans and potatoes for the main. Blueberry/nectarine cobbler, served with vanilla ice cream for dessert. As a famous person once opined: "No complaints."

As Elaine used to say, a "big salad!" Lettuce, farmer's market tomatoes, cucumber, radish. H/B eggs, Ortiz tuna, Pickle Guys' pickled beets and pickled turnips.

A lovely Basque rose. (France's Basque country)...https://chambersstwines.com/products/ilarria-2024-irouleguy-rose

Pasta al pesto a couple nights ago. Out laSt night, fried white wild shrimp, meatballs, gravy and fried potatoes. Pan con tomate.

During the banking epidemic, which took place during the...well...pandemic, I purchased from this outfit: https://www.bakersauthority.com/ There's also webstaurant store...https://www.webstaurantstore.com/44035/wholesale-baking-ingredients.html In both the above cases, I think buying in bulk offers the greatest savings.

Stopped by the Union Square Greenmarket today, and picked up a few goodies. BLT, on Balthazar whole grain bread (lightly toasted). Assorted tomatoes (Beefsteak on the sandwich) and corn from Jersey. Duke's mayo.

It has to be toasted, if it starts out coming out of my freezer! https://www.freshdirect.com/bky/bak_bagel_knish/bak_bagels/sc/bak_bagels_plain/p/bak_pid_4651076

Bagel, Scottish smoked salmon, pickled herring, crudité. (Special plating for @rotuts and @gfweb).

I’m waiting for them to make an oven that will do everything above, plus clean up after cooking.

In my opinion, with AI, it's only gonna get worse.

After having some lunch, walked over to Essex Market, and my favorite cheesemonger. The Tour de France just concluded (today) their stages in the Pyrenees, and Formaggio Essex had just gotten in a delivery (which also included my favorite potato chips from Spain)... The Comté - delicious as always. The Pyrenees' cheeses are just fantastic.