JoNorvelleWalker

I got my tomatoes in. Only vegetables this year. Edit: this could be ambiguous. Tomatoes (Atlas, Mountain Magic, Ramapo) are my only vegetables this year.

According to nuts.com yesterday was National Walnut Day. I told a friend my dinner was going to be Georgian beef and walnut stew. But I didn't finish gardening till well past the end of civil twilight and I knew the stew was not about to happen. Fear not, dinner was Georgian and it involved a lot of wine and walnuts.

I should give my 18 qt one a try. Worst case I scald myself and my downstairs neighbor.

What brand?

My bushes are adorned in abundant hope -- an infinity of little hard green berries, about 2mm in diameter. We all know who will get them. And it isn't me. Meanwhile a friend made me a present of a pint of store-bought berries. Very lovely store-bought berries. As I recall they are from Carolina but I am too lazy to get up and check. Too soon for local berries. What to do? I made up a batch of batter. The pancakes were like cardboard. Two days later and the pancakes were ethereal. The batter needs time, either for the gluten to relax or more likely for the nitrous oxide to dissolve. Maybe both. I had no sour cream. I'm trying to get up off my ass to make some. So I used butter. This batter was thick enough to work with one layer. I could have used the @lesliec two layer technique to make cakes monumentally thick indeed. But I did not. Stack of four. Good stuff.

I spy a Precise Heat Mixing Bowl! Whose is it and for what are they using it? I employ mine for yogurt and ice cream.

I use my hands. For squeezing spinach that is, not for juicing limes. For citrus I recommend a counter top rack and pinion unit. Granted some here may possess more strength.

I just looked at both my pots with inserts. I each case the bottom of the insert is about an inch above the bottom of the pot. The problem I think is that the system is working like a percolator. Bubbles in the confined space around the sides are pushing water up and over the top. So far I've not tried the larger pot for pasta but I can't help but doubt it work any differently than the Fissler.

Half full and my Fissler with insert boiled over.

Wish I were into chocolate and driving!

How do you prevent water boiling all over the stove?

Byzantine. Still I must believe something has changed. In my about to be seventy years experience with New Jersey markets I have never seen alcohol purveyed next to groceries before, ever. Except once. That was at a small Greek market attached to a Greek restaurant.

Because of the exposed copper.

This was wine (and I think I saw vodka) on display all over the store. From years ago I remember a Shoprite I used to frequent sold alcohol from a separate entrance. I most remember Ortlieb's beer at 35 cents a quart.

I would not put that All-Clad in the dishwasher. (And yes I see that WS says it is dishwasher safe.)

What's the difference between a Spanish tortilla and other tortillas?

Well, the ThermoWorks 15% off sale is still going on. I achieved quite a discount but I had to let the idea of a high temperature USB data logger go. However now I could probe an alien.

This afternoon a friend came and took me to McCaffrey's, the market down in Princeton that @chefmd shared about above. It's the first time I'd been to McCaffrey's since then. Plus it was "senior day", five percent off, as well as the usual card discounts and such. McCaffrey's has nice stuff* but I didn't overdo it. One thing new since my trip with @chefmd -- they are now purveying wine and alcohol! I had thought it was illegal in New Jersey to sell alcoholic beverages in grocery stores. Maybe the law has changed? *duck legs, @Anna N, no problem.

@Lisa Shock and @andiesenji I don't have low proof vodka. This is 191.2 proof Industry City Technical Reserve vodka: http://technicalreserve.com/ I was tempted to ask @chefmd to assay this vodka for me when she was here to visit but she had an event to attend that afternoon. Bormioli Rocco Fido jars are what I use in the kitchen. I have a 1.5 liter available but that seems too big (even though I have enough vodka!) for half a pound of beans. Now I'm thinking I might just stick the beans right in the vodka bottle.

I drink so much from leaded crystal I fear it is a bit late for me. Personally I've never tasted Everclear but it has a reputation of being a bit rough. I was hoping some enabler would talk me into the $40 bottle. But I do intend to leave my beans whole for this experiment.

Thermoworks sale is still on! Another 30 hours or so and I can order.

But it's such a pretty brandy bottle! Seriously, would the very narrow neck be a problem?

Over four years ago I purchased a half pound of Mexican high grade beans for this experiment. Vodka too. But I didn't have a container to put them in. I've been putting off thinking about the project. Anyhow, from (re)reading this whole thread, it seems what one wants is an air tight vessel of light resistant glass. Checking amazon, people are asking $40 for one apothecary jar! (Not that I haven't spent outrageous sums on kitchen toys.) I was thinking of using an old brandy bottle but the neck is narrow and the glass is clear. Another alternative is glass jar with a silicone seal. But again the glass is clear and I'm uncertain if given enough time the alcohol would react with the silicone. Suggestions?

You can't afford it?

Tonight... Red Cooked Pork From Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees.