JoNorvelleWalker

I like bluefish. It reminds me of shad, which most years I can never get. For cooking I grill bluefish. Plenty of oil in the fish. Bluefish may be cheap because it's caught locally.

The cocoa is Dutch process, I did not find it bitter at all. Plus the cocoa gently cut the sweetness of the cake.

If your question is addressed to me, in the past I have made orange buttercream for this cake -- using Tang for the orange flavor! (Though I confess I have not attempted a buttercream of any kind in a quarter of a century.) I also once frosted a three layer rendition of this cake with an Italian meringue. The Italian meringue was memorable, as while transporting my creation to a party the top layer slid off onto a quiche. For a time I investigated methods of heating the KitchenAid mixer bowl in order to simplify making a meringue. I found there was a patent on using metal tubing on the outside of the bowl. I looked into using a laboratory version of an Anova to circulate hot water. Nothing came of it. Then @Kerry Beal enabled me into getting a KitchenAid Precise Heat Mixing Bowl. I haven't tried it but the PHMB might work. Problem is the PHMB bowl is smaller than a standard mixing bowl and would not make much meringue. Perhaps enough for at least one layer. Hmm. Last night I dusted Penzeys' high fat Dutch cocoa over a slice of my cake. Simple and delicious.

There is a method for this given in Rose Levy Beranbaum's Cake Bible. Welcome @nancyotr1.

The cake was well received at work.

I can speak only for the Amazon Vine program: one does not apply. Based on unknown metrics an invitation to participate shows up one day. Presumably the invitation is based on a history of quality Amazon product reviews. But this is just a guess. It could be because Jeff and I have a degree from the same institution of higher learning. It could be because Alexa likes me. Who knows? At any given time a Vine reviewer is presented with a small selection of Amazon products to order. At the moment 12,999 -- 6162 of which are in the category "Kitchen and Dining". Almost always these are products from third party Amazon sellers, but occasionally the products are items sold by, as well as shipped from, Amazon. I can order up to eight products per day. Some days my doorway is blocked by boxes. In addition to items in the kitchen category, I shamelessly adapt industrial and scientific devices for my culinary projects. Today I ordered two more centrifuges.

I can choose from what I am offered, but unfortunately I cannot suggest.

No beaker. I don't pay for the stuff I evaluate for Amazon, but this press is not something I would recommend at any price.

First cake I've baked since my health difficulties began. The recipe is Rose Levy Beranbaum's All-Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake, perhaps my all time favorite. The batter was baked as a single layer in a 10x3 inch aluminum pan I needed to evaluate for Amazon. Because of the pan size, baking time was an hour and fifteen minutes, twice what the recipe calls for. And the crumbs are excellent.

I stand corrected. I checked the product listing and my new spatula is "Midnight Blue". Sure looks black to me though.

My mystery press has reappeared on Amazon with more information and a different ASIN: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I had a Whole Foods 365 egg roll night before last. It was OK, perhaps nothing to write home about.

I received a black plastic spatula tonight.

The more things change the more they stay the same. The first article relates that at its introduction the Toshiba rice cooker cost about a third of the typical Japanese monthly salary. Now -- after almost seventy years of progress -- my Zojirushi model is selling on Amazon for about one third my monthly salary.

I shall never again... A bit of backstory: for weeks I have suffered a plague of fruit flies. Not even in the old days of end-of-tomato season have I seen the like. The flies are biblical. I've been searching for a source without success. Today a phone company technician came. He needed access to the corner of my bedroom closet that has not seen the light of day in years. I shall never again.