JoNorvelleWalker

Last night I finished Eating My Way Through Italy by Elizabeth Minchilli. While there are recipes, she escorts the reader on her journeys to certain obscure and less obscure culinary corners of Italy. Twenty destinations, all in all. Minchilli describes herself as culturally Jewish. She does not eat horse. But there are pictures. She doesn't eat raw mussels either. Two of my favorite tidbits were the Milanese restaurant, the Latteria, where "Everything is cooked in silver pots and pans..." And the town of Nuoro in central Sardinia, where only a few women still make the pasta Su Filindeu. Su Filindeu is traditionally served in broth during the Festival of San Francesco di Lula, to pilgrims who reach the mountainous Sanctuary of San Francesco above Nuoro, outside the village of Lula. Pilgrims are first offered coffee and cookies. Then Su Filindeu. Finally meat and potatoes which were used to make the broth. Edit: oh, I forgot Granarium, the organic seed to loaf establishment in Umbria. They grow and thresh their wheat, mill the grain and bake the bread on premises. Wood-fired ovens.

I'd give my other thumb for that. (The first thumb went for the last time I made the recipe.)

Today I was able to give away two of the Atlas tomatoes! Picked again when I got home. One Atlas tonight was 806 g (1.8 pounds). Mountain Magic is still my choice for taste and texture. Had six of those for lunch. Picked Ramapo as well. Right now snacking on what are probably the final blueberries of the season. I saw a strawberry but I didn't feel like reaching for it. Couldn't leave the door open too long because the moonflowers are trying to get in the house.

Almost tempted (OK, tempted) to get a larger pizza steel. Nothing wrong with my current pizza steel except it's hard to hit the target. Though it works wonderfully as a baking steel in the CSO. Living in an apartment the RoccBox is not a possibility.

Spice House has half off grains of paradise today.

@nathanm says he sometimes has to wrap his hands in aluminum foil to get his photographs. You can do it.

One way to increase your circulation.

I ordered a peel with a longer handle. Now I'm resting before tackling the inside of the oven. What's for dinner tonight may depend on how well I do. Fortunately other than on the oven door the burned pizza slop was contained by the foil lined sheet pan. Maybe I should take everyone's advice and get a larger pizza steel.

Depending on how big* it is I'd be interested in the Breville. *let's be honest, heavy.

As did I.

Thanks. When I was making pizza in the CSO I tried using parchment. The parchment certainly helped get the pizza off the peel. The problem was bits of paper in the pizza. I gave up on the CSO for pizza because I couldn't get the steel hot enough. Last night the oven was over "615F - 630F" and I don't know how well parchment would last at those temperatures. Not to mention things happen really quick.

Possibly the best pizza I have eaten, without exaggeration. A three minute pizza, nicely blackened. However all was not beer and skittles. A third of the pizza stuck to the peel. And a third of the pizza stuck to the window of the oven door. (Which I had just cleaned from the last attempt.) There must be a way of keeping pizza off the oven door. Worse, after scraping the remains from the steel (and good they were) the oven went into failure mode F2. I had to throw the breaker. Failure mode F2 indicates an oven temperature above 615F - 630F. Suggestions welcome. Sorry, no pictures.

Supposedly I get the NY Times for free from work (our library system) but the recipes don't function. The library pays a lot for this. The NY Times can stuff it in my opinion. They charge but they do not deliver. In contrast the Wall Street Journal site, also through the library, works flawlessly and I can access all their content. Thankfully the current NY Times recipes are not what they were and it's no big loss.

The year I popped. I don't recall ever cooking macaroni and cheese or having been served it. Kraft or otherwise. Maybe someday I shall try it.

Sometimes I'm glad I don't eat breakfast.

Beautiful! But copper works with induction? You mean I don't have to throw my Falk away?

How about a bain marie in the bath? Or if you can get by with a smaller volume and not as perfect temperature regulation, a KitchenAid P.H.M.B. Cheese I have not tried but it works well for yogurt.

I once enjoyed a better menu on an eastward crossing, Italian line prima classe. But not by much.

I thought everything was extremely poisonous down there?

Cuisinart is replacing my old CSO-300N under warranty.

I shall never again...let me preface this by stating I intended mashed potatoes. Milk, how shall I say, had turned. Anyhow, I shall never again drop my hot baked potato in the sink.

Tonight I pitched my two year old okra.

'Tis the season when I can have as many tomatoes as I dream. Today I picked my first Atlas... Probably the largest tomatoes I have grown. On a small bush in a small pot. For comparison here is Ramapo. Which I think of as a large tomato. And of course my old standby Mountain Magic!

Sugar was on sale. But if you use sugar do you still add oil? Edit: and now that you're home, what do you think of the micro-batch?

Mine is going through an initial steam clean now!