Midlife

I got an Anova Pro for Christmas and was turned off that they DO now charge for the app. It’s US$9.99/year, but the Pro can be controlled directly on the unit without the app. I sprung for the app because that’s pretty cheap and I’m lazy and because it does give you access to cooking info (though I think the Joule’s app is much better for that).

‘Technically’ yes, but that wouldn’t make very much starter. You don’t need a whole lot but you do need more than that.

My local store says the Bleu Cheese Potato Chips were a seasonal item only and will not be back. There was some degree of internet mixed reaction to these, but I became addicted. Gonna need some counseling.

Just paid US$2.99 for a dozen large white eggs here in SoCal. Prices seem to be all over the place. Must be regional as supply has been affected.

Read this book recently. It, and the octopus documentary mentioned above, kinda made me take octopus off my food list. https://www.thornwellbooks.com/book-reviews/remarkably-beautiful-creatures/

Spicetrekkers appears to be in Canada and I’m in the US. Not sure about how buying from them would work.

Penzey’s has a salt-free Tuscan blend that I’ve been considering as an alternative if nothing more promising turns up.

My wife and daughter spent a week in Italy last year and I was gifted a bag of a really good Italian spice blend they bought somewhere near Milan. I’ve run out and, sadly, didn’t keep the bag. I’ve found a few possible subs on Amazon, but thought I’d reach out here to see if anyone has a great reference for a product I can buy in the US at a reasonable price. There are lots of US-made blends around, but the one they brought me seemed to be way more flavorful than any I’d used before. TIA!!!!

Ouch!!! I need to check if my Joule works in our new home. Have a similar issue when we moved recently and had to resort to a T-Mobile 5g Gateway for internet (only reasonably priced choice here). Our Epson printer does not like 5g and T-Mobile customer support has been unable to find a work-around even though they say the gateway has a built in 2.5g capability. If we want to print anything from our phones we have to email it to a laptop that is hard-wired to the printer. Annoying!

Been using this for a while. It’s not a true aged balsamic at all, but it’s a simple, easy way to brighten up some veggies with dinner.

cooking wine, msg, chicken bouillon powder, water, soy sauce, maltose, granulated sugar, salt and potassium sorbate. What, in that list if ingredients, woujd be “burning hot”?

I think I’ve got it now. I think the majority (maybe only) of the time I see “broccoli” on a Chinese restaurant menu it’s in Beef w/ Broccoli and at a “Chinese-American” restaurant or a Panda Express, and is definitely western broccoli. I just assumed it was because the restaurants were playing to American preferences. Come to think of it, Gai Lan IS served as a separate dish with a sauce. So my issue is really simply whether or not the place has Gai Lan on the menu, with Broccoli Beef being legitimate.

Interesting. Would you happen to have a thought as to why it seems that Western broccoli is served almost entirely at ‘Americanized’ Chinese restaurants in the US, and you don’t usually find it at the more regional cuisine-based Chinese places? At least that’s been my experience. I’ve been known to judge a place’s ‘authenticity’ by the type of broccoli served. Am I wrong?

Is it grown for export or consumed locally?