JoNorvelleWalker

Thanks, but not up to cooking much. I had received a pair of Canary Japanese seafood shears, and the excuse is I had to evaluate them before writing a review for Amazon. The Canary shears were accorded five stars from me!

Thanks. Steam roasted in the APO. Wish I had noted the time and temperature. It came out really good. I might say the best lobster tail I've had. Certainly the best I have made myself.

This is how I do it. Slit the carapace and leave the meat attached to the shell.

I breached my panettone today. Filippi panettone ai marroni. Texture and flavor were delightful. Taste was a bit cloying I thought. I may assay a slice with a pat of butter and a pinch of salt to attenuate the sweetness. Main problem was that try as I might I could eat only about a tenth of it. I may be living with this panettone for a long, long time. I kept the box because it is supporting a stack of bedroom cooking gear. And because I know someone will ask, the items on top of the panettone box are a trompo, a dough proofing container, and a vacuum sealing canister.

First dinner of the year was about 2:00 am this morning. The plan had been to open a tin of Pinhais sardines and a jar of Matiz piparra peppers (I have a new electric jar opener). Sadly I did not have the energy, so dinner was cheese with water biscuits, and a forty year old port.

I am minded of @chefmd's food blog of her son's North East Chinese wedding: "every edible part made into a dish." I have met her dear son but not her Chinese daughter-in-law. I miss @chefmd and her contributions. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/153312-wedding-in-yakeshi/#comment-2058175 Coincidently as I was reading the bit about ginseng I was/am listening to Gillian Welch's Ginseng Sullivan from the album All The Good Times Are Past And Gone.

Is that the same company that imports Japanese ingredients?

Only four?

Mine too!

Do they save any of it for you?

What was in the premade mix?

Batch 33: 90g blanched Spanish almonds 90g apricot kernels 350g water 280g sugar 60ml Wray & Nephew Overproof This time I had cane sugar and I had limes. All should be good for most of another month.

The steepest island I ever hiked was Scarp. Can't say there was much food to be had there though. One kind woman invited me for milk warm from her cow. Others shared tea and biscuits. The inhabitants thought that I was English. They had never seen an American before. English people speak funny anyhow. Thank you, @BonVivant for your travelogues. They are most appreciated. And I have to say I envy you.

I used my CuisiPro less than an hour ago. I recommend it highly. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I have two Kumatos sitting on the cutting board to become tonight's dinner, along with bread and cheese.

https://dulcesdelarosa.com.mx/en/home/ De la Rosa manufactures their Mexican marshmallows from gelatin. The pink color is Red 40, otherwise known as E129 -- banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Sweden.

And when were marshmallows vegan? Peeps, for example, are made from pork.

My first ever, ever in my life attempt at baking a batard... The victim on the right minds me ever so much of a scull.

What's wrong with E120 which Mexicans have been producing for millennia?

@BonVivant, thank you, as always. Question about the low dining tables: is there any accommodation for rickety old people, of which I understand Japan has more than a few? Or does a lifetime of excruciating culinary contortion prepare little old ladies for pain traditionally reserved for Samuri seppuku?

Still tasted good though! My complaint with Campbell's is they've discontinued too many soups I like, such as pepperpot and chicken mushroom chowder.

Among living room, dining room, and kitchen I have twenty something cutting boards. Never yet have I been attracted to Boardsmith. To each of course their own. Brooklyn Butcher Blocks makes nice ones: https://www.brooklynbutcherblocks.com

The Aspen is funnel shaped. From the pictures the Hario appears to be funnel shaped. What makes the shape of the Aspen all wrong? Granted there are differences. The Aspen has a restricted opening at the bottom of the funnel which (again from the pictures) the Hario does not. The Hario filters seem to be smooth sided, whereas the Kalita filters for the Aspen have a wave pattern on the sides: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

I seem to have outed myself.

Experiments continue! Since last I wrote I've acquired an Aspen pour over dripper: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) It looks like the Aspen is similar to, if not identical with, a more expensive product Fellow offers: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I wasn't sure what to expect with the Aspen but keeping all other variables the same I thought the Aspen coffee was more than good. Better than the quite satisfactory result I obtained from the Japanese ceramic filter. And with much less mess and clean up. (Though I'm still pleased with the oilier coffee I got from the ceramic filter.) The next day I brewed I forgot to put the pitcher on the scale to weigh the water as I was pouring it over the grounds. The result was less water, even better coffee, and much stronger. I'm delighted with my little Aspen and I gave it a correspondingly exuberant Amazon review. The Aspen accepts Kalita 155 paper filters, which are not all that expensive.