TicTac

The cocoa bean.

Interesting and ironic as we have recently been talking about trying to track down a 2 burner 'griddle' to put on a gas (wolf) range. Primarily to cook tortillas on (takes a while 4 at a time in my carbon steel pan and estimate I could double that with a 2 burner setup!) tbh. I had thought about trying to use my modernest pizza cooking steel but it is too square shaped to be efficient.

So many good things to do with these guys. Grill them and serve them as a salad. Roast and make a paste in a mortar and pestle and use as a pizza base. Paste them add potato flour and make gnocchi. pickle them. That should give you some food for thought...!

The waterfall pics are absolutely magical. I can only imagine the tranquility one would find in that setting. Waterfalls have always been a favourite of ours. On various trips we would track down a local secluded one, get a coffee (or some beverage), take our books and park ourselves right by (and sometimes in) the waterfall for hours at a time. Great shots.

Love it. Beautiful. It is what we would call around these parts, an Inuksuk - a traditional monument or landmark used by the Inuits of North America. Curious if they have any history Down Under?

"Honey, trust me, I am not sleeping on more than half of the bed, look, you have half - and I have half.....But darling, look at all that meat which is clearly on MY half of the bed!" (I have heard this one in various incarnations over the years!)

Like Ken said, that looks like either over (see; root rot) or under watering. It could also possibly be blight, though the spotting is not that dark brown....did the other veggies suffer a similar fate? You can try to get blight resistant veg strains.

Inherited from my grandfather - Because every good Polish/Israeli Jew needs a honkin Chinese cleaver!!

Looking forward to this @shain - thank you for taking the time to share and take us along for the journey. From my limited experience taramasalata usually has little discernible fish eggs in it - my grandmother, (Austrian/Israeli descent, not Greek; mind you) used to make it with flying fish roe. Was sooo good!

No need for apologies! Life is tough for everyone right now and little things can easily set us off (which previously would never have). I think over the last 24 months we have all had our fragile moments (I sure have) and it impacts everyone differently. Kudos to you for being able to identify whats going on - many would simply internalize and continue on. Oh, and another fun Canadian-don - I have had numerous people in various travels around the world ask if we live in Igloos and eat seals/polar bears. Go figure

In agreement with Duvel and hoping others realize that the OP had no ill intent in their post. If we cannot find humor in food traditions (or even atrocities - see; doughnut encrusted deep fried burgers and the like :shudder:), especially in this day and age when the tone is so serious out in the 'real world' - then I believe some fresh air is certainly in order! As a proud Canadian, you are welcome to stereotype us with our poutine, maple syrup, fried beaver tales, back bacon, raw seal blubber, etc etc etc - I take no offense. In fact, in all humor there are slivers of truth. Our food culture would partially consist of Poutine, topped with beaver tales, grilled back bacon, drizzled maple syrup and perhaps some fried moose balls to top it all of. Granted for those who wished to truly understand us and our food traditions they can dig deeper below the surface and the generalizations to find (and enjoy) a lot more, but that is up to each individual.

This looks REALLY good. Love the layers of flavours that one can enjoy in Indian cuisine. Can you share more about the Kale Tomato Saag? I have some Swiss Chard growing that I might have a go at this dish with....

Got a call from my local Japanese fish guy, he knows I love kanpachi collars and they just got in a very large wild whole fish and asked if I wanted him to save them for me (it pays to make friends with people in the food industry!) - what a guy!! Big ones but sooo good! Wild ocean trout sashimi as well.

Both plants look quite healthy @liuzhou albeit a bit mangled due to endured shipping bondage 😝 Surely garden related, I bring forth the rock balancing challenge (something we have started around here for fun) - A while back I saw a video of a lady somewhere in Europe balancing huge gorgeous rocks above the surface of a lake which inspired me to try it and while not easy certainly possible to get some very unique set ups...who’s in?! 😉

Inspired by a suggestion from @liuzhou - I expanded slightly on it.... Not much to look at (besides a bit of yolk porn) but....certainly tasty! Hash browns, with Lions mane mushroom steaks and a fried egg. Little chicken jus and fresh picked spinach.

1000%

Never seen dried whole Lion's Mane. From what I understand they are often used for medicinal applications (all of the 'brain boosting power' of this mushroom is purportedly best consumed in a dried ground form). Fortunately these are from a local 'gourmet' mushroom farm which will be able to supply year round. Good idea with the fried egg, might have to try that one.

In my accelerated last minute research, I too read that duck eggs make the best baked goods/pastries/desserts. From said research it also suggested that the healthier the diet of the duck (natural - not processed) and the more bugs it eats, the thicker the yolks might become. I was quite shocked and concerned at first, as any yolk I have experienced when poked would simply ooze out. This one just held its shape!!!

Look closely. And still some still claim global warming is a farce. It’s almost June ffs!!! 🤦‍♂️

Could not get a hold of her. But I asked another relative that gets eggs from her as well and he said he has had similar experiences. With the limited reading I did in the last 30 minutes, it seems it is normal for free range ducks who eat lots of high quality bugs and other proteins (which I know these buggers do) to have very thick yolks. They were delicious, rich and very 'eggy'.

I was given a dozen duck eggs from a friend who recently started a farm. While I have had duck eggs in the past, I have limited experience cooking with them and could not recall the last time I did. I went to crack 8 of them just now and nearly all of them had yolks that were essentially malleable, they were so thick and dense!! Is this normal?!

Local organic farmers market. Not sure the legalities of shipping shrooms cross border, but if you want to investigate, I am happy to send some down south

Fresh.

I use the paper bag method every week for Avocados - works like an absolute charm, 4-5 days and they are perfect. Curious if the same can be said for mangoes.