Midlife

I tried this last week and we thought the potatoes were the best we’ve ever made. Be sure to dock the potatoes before brining.

Absolutely agree per my own far less comprehensive measurements above.

No.

So I just measured Lior against Diamond Crystal. 1 teaspoon of Lior weighed 6 grams vs 4 grams for DC. That’s a bit different than the ratio I’d been given for Morton’s vs DC, which was 3:2 by volume or, converting, 5.3 grams of Morton’s (if my math is right). All this just underscores the importance of using weight not volume where Crystal size varies. Unfortunately the 2nd Avenue Deli pickle recipe gives only a volume specification. 🥴

As long as we’re cool here with Diamond Crystal I need to ask if anyone is familiar with the Lior brand from Israel. I couldn’t find Diamond Crystal and was making pickles so I bought it at the Persian market where I buy Persian cukes and dill. I know that Diamond Crystal isn’t as salty as Morton’s but does anyone know how they compare to Lior. The pickles came out pretty much like the ones I make with DC, so I think I’m OK. I was just wondering if anyone knew for sure.

Thank you. There’s a link to part 1 at the top of that part 2 page but clicking on it only took me to the EG main page. I’m sure part2 will be very helpful. I’ve been using the Joule maybe 3 times every 2 weeks for a couple of years and am happy with everything except the poor fat rendering with ribeyes. I’ve gone back to grilling them.

I find pretty good tenderness at 140° but may give 130° a try next time. What’s interesting is that the Joule shows the same 1.5 hours for BOTH temps.

I am somewhat baffled by the huge variances I see posted for temp/time with sous vide. I have a Joule and it specifies 140°/1.5hrs for 1.5” pork chops. I’ve done them that way many times with very good results. That temp is higher than those discussed above, but the time is way less. Is the temp difference offset by the time?

My wife loved Candy Dots (or buttons). Long, narrow sheets of paper with dots of candy along them. When I was a kid my aunt and uncle owned an old fashioned ‘candy store’ in Coney Island. It had a counter you could order at and one end was full of bins of all the candies we now find in stores that sell only that. I remember wax bottles, banana candy, and so much more. My most vivid memory is of my uncle making frappes with a cigar hanging out of his mouth.

Any thoughts on whether what appears to be (to my admittedly uneducated self) an incongruity between what I’d thought was a routine employed in full/classic restaurant kitchens and what seems to be a beef sandwich shop? The frenetic pace and terminology seems like what people like Bourdain have recounted, but the place seems to have just a few tables and no front of house staff visible. Regardless, the show did get my wife to ask why anyone would want to work in such a place. Carmy is from that environment but it just seems out of place.

That’s the one thing that I find to be a problem at 99 Ranch. I love the place but need just a few bok choi or gai lan for a stir fry or such. They do only sell them packaged, with enough for us for 3-4 meals. Luckily they’re pretty cheap so I buy them anyway.

About two weeks ago I posted that I was concerned that my three tomato plants weren’t getting enough sun. They’d been in their large containers for 2 months and were 3’ tall, had many flowers but no fruit setting at all. Two weeks later…….. there are something like 25 tomatoes, in various sizes, most on the Champion (which has the shortest fruiting time of the three). Patience little brother….. patience.

The crumb looks and feels a bit dense. Rise was good but I don’t think I’ve been getting strong gluten development lately.

Comments please.

Below 50% can cause corks to shrink and let air in. Above 70% can result in moldy corks and labels.

Everything I’ve been told or read over many years associated with wine says that consistency is more critical than a short variation of only 8 degrees. That said, 60° is a bit higher than optimal (generally in the mid-50s) but if it’s consistent you should be OK. If, as you say, the bottles stay at 60° I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Light and humidity are associated issues you should look into if you’re not fully aware.

There’s plenty of light, just not DIRECT sunlight on the plants. The same space has produced tomatoes earlier in past years. I’ve ‘flicked’ the flowers to try to encourage pollination per online suggestions. Also…… I’ve been unable to find a meaning for “mol” per day in several searches. ??????

I grow tomatoes each spring/summer from 3” potted plants - one plant each in a 14” container here in SoCal. The only place I have for them gets almost no direct sun. This year the plants have grown to almost 3’ tall in around 60 days and all have a lot of flowers but no tomatoes so far. My Googling has made me conclude it’s the lack of direct sunlight, but if they can be grown in a greenhouse, I’m wondering if it’s something else. A friend bought a 3” plant that already has a few tomatoes on it (one is maybe 2” already) but those plants get direct sun. Do I just need more patience?

Is that the “steel plate” in your photo or a rack you’ve transfered the pizza to?

First time I've been able to stand her for more than a couple of minutes. Not that I'd watch it if you hadn't posted this though.

Huh? I wind up bringing home Panda maybe once every ten days as a simple way to have something I wouldn't be able to get otherwise for just myself. I don't confuse it with 'the real thing', but it's not that bad for what it is. But.............. "new menu"???? Nothing's different down here in the OC and their website still shows the same entrees, though they do have a couple of items that change from time to time. Is this different on their home turf?

There are two US national franchise wine retail operations that have been doing this for years. They present their inventory by flavor profile (sweet, fruity, etc.). As a somewhat knowledgeable wine consumer I am really turned off by this mostly because it's based on someone else's decision as to what the dominate palate profile of the wine might be. But............. I don't pay much attention to where I find the bottle anyway, so I guess the issue for me is that I have to look almost everywhere in the shop to see what they have because that flavor presentation is useless to me.

If your experiences with staff recs have been good that's all that really matters. Overall, Total Wine doesn't get great reviews for staff wine help, but the only thing that's important is calibrating your own palate to someone there you then learn to trust.

Total Wine has perhaps the largest selection of wine, beer and spirits of any store.............. period. That means they have a lot of very good product and a lot that is not so good. Their pricing is usually very good, but you need to know what you like as you're not likely to get much good help from their employees. A big rap on their staff is that they're highly 'incentivized' to push sales on their house products (since their margins are highest on those). When a 20-something guy in a shirt and tie tries to tell me that a Pinot Noir I've never heard of, from a region I know is not usually great, is better than one from a winery I respect......... my BS antenna goes up quickly. But, if you know something about what you're looking for.............. you can do fine in their stores. The selection is much better than TJs and BevMo combined...... at least here in SoCal.

I work at a place that is part retail food/wine shop and part wine bar now. When the wine bar was set up the owners' first inclination was to deduct their credit card processing fees from employees' tips because it didn't make sense that they should have to pay a service cost on dollars they don't keep. i actually agree with that logic, but the practice is illegal in our state.