AlaMoi

and no one knows how thin is "thin"

the recipe calls for dry white wine - not a problem. not being a French souse, I don't stock cognac. certainly I could buy some, but it would be a long time before it's 'used up' it would add some twang to the flavor, methinking along with dozens of other 'flavoring' ingredients, might not be missed.... dry vermouth for Manhattans, that I got . . . any opinions on "sweet onions" vs yellow? experience counts. internet theories simply suck.

so, how thin is thin?

so, , , , I've done this several times - each a semi-to-full-blown disaster. salvaged the cheese, tho.... DW wants another . . . . the favorite seems to be yellow onions. the prescribed slicing is pole-to-pole, not 'rounds' some add sugar to help with the browning . . . some abhor sugar . . . I'm thinking (real) maple syrup? I do 'glazed carrots' with real maple syrup - thunderously good stuff.... the slice thickness: egads. everything from 1/8 inch (~3.2mm) to 'the only way to make ...' using 1/2 inch (~13mm) slices. have mandolin, can control.... the input of experience solicited . . . time isn't an issue - I have days to caramelize onions,,,, if needed. using the classic Julia Child's recipe - "sliced thin" is the text . . . I might skip the cognac.

Fish is actually one of the more better options for airline food, methinks. since everything on a plane is "reheated" - fish dishes can be "pre-constructed" such that the reheat cooks the fish "perfectly." example: salmon 'steak' comes out very nice - par-baked, kept at a known temp, reheated at a known temp for a known time . . . much hard to reheat red meats - and chicken is the worst for reheating to edible . . .

butterflied shrimp tempura prep with pan toasted orzo . .

uhmmmm, the length of slot for teaspoons is typically shorter - to the point dinner forks will not fit . . . a friend asked . . . .

we've attended the Kutztown FolkFest since the early 1980's - it's always a fun trip! funny story about the crock . . . I have a collection of black cherry wood stuff from cpbasils.com - he's a regular at Kutztown. I have very few metal utensils for cooking, so one year I bought the Kutztown crock, chiding him that he really needs and Chester P Basil crock. and next year,,,, they appeared! the crocks are from a local potter - check out the ears on the Hirschfelder crock (from Germany) and the Kutztown design . . . the heritage continues.... his wood wares are superb - my first are easily 20 years old - no cracking/splintering . . . excellent form to function.

I have a pair of oven mitts with silicon "ribs" - they get a good grip on the overturned bowl with ease.... cabinet space, otoh, is in shorter supply (g)

heehee. perhaps someday when I run out of things to do....

interrestin . . . having not found a commercial knife block that accommodated my 'stable' - and as the Boardsmith declined to do customs blocks . . . - i did my own. and enroute I decided to make accommodations for stuff I have zero tolerance to dig thru the junk drawer.... holds the knifes, the hone, measuring spoons, kitchen shears, analog and insta-read thermometers.; since added blank fillers for the empty holes - so I can at-a-glance see if anything is 'missing'

the cloche you already own . . . does a real good crackle on No-Knead

yes - and it is a valid point! we have an outside exhausting hood in the kitchen . . . there is heat spilled into the kitchen but a lot of it gets exhausted outside. I always wanted a brick/stone oven (bread baking fan here....) I helped out at an event where we had to start the colonial era-style beehive oven from scratch - i.e. cold. that cured me of my desire - it takes a long long time.....

such a nice idea . . . $500+/- for a doohickie I have to get, fire up, put away . . . after taking three minutes to bake a pizza....? my oven & stone goes to 550'F - works for me....

always keep chunks of a dark roux in the freezer.....instant gravy thickener-upper....

bivalves than don't attach permanently to an object move by flapping their shells, creating 'water jet' propulsion. eg https://www.facebook.com/TheView/videos/scallop-shuffles-across-sea-bed/1210715645803754/

it's a thing... https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/18/accidental-discovery-that-scallops-love-disco-lights-leads-to-new-fishing-technique

1980 thru 2015 I did an outrageous amount of flying. mostly international. I often cited my "occupation" as "professional airplane seat tester" my normal routes were Phila to Frankfurt (Germany) with the odd London/change/Nordic destination or Amsterdam... during those times, BA was absolutely tops (business class) - creature comfort and food service. LH was tolerable - but schedules indicated stopping in Boston, and LH never ever got off the ground on time in Boston. working all day, flying all night, a 2-3-4 hour Boston departure really made arrival behavior miserable.... but - everything has changed. what was true has morphed into legend - what is true: they're all terrible.

doing an egg to desired perfection is actually duck soup easy. (1) keep the eggs in the same place in the fridge. keep them in the fridge until ready to drop into already boiling water. (2) put the egg(s) into already boiling water for m:s minutes/seconds. timing is a trial/error/experiment data point. in this method, the only uncontrolled variable is the boiling point of water as varied by atmospheric pressure. if one researches the difference in water boiling point by the extremes of high/low atmospheric pressure, one learns it's a non-issue. if one researches the congealing temperature of egg white and egg yolk, one will rapidly learn stuff like sour vide - i.e. bring the whole egg to one temperature - simply cannot work - and doesn't. the white or the yolk is going to be over/under cooked - not matter what saturation temp is used.

I give up on the lame software, so . . . after you pull out the needed length, and push down to cut, the film edges remain 'grasp-a-ble' this is the 'cut off' piece with notch marks

heehee.... the major 'biggie functional advantage' of the Stretch-Tite dispenser is keeping the 'last cut edge' of the stretch film available to grab. it has two flapper jaws the film passes thru, when the film is cut, those two flapper jaws keep the film from 'retracting / disappearing' so at the next use one does not need to rethread, refind edges, etc etc. I outlined the 'notches' with black marker - here's my left hand pull, right hand camera shot....

there are little notches/cut outs on the 'inner lid' - where you can grab the film to pull it out

iffin' you haven't guessed, the "cash back rewards" come out of the seller's hide. not the credit card bank/company.

one of the biggie bennies to the Stretch-Tite dispenser is 'holding' the cling film in the thumb notches, ready for the next pull/use. that function sorta-kinda depends on friction and static cling - two aspects that may/will/probably don't 'occur' with alum foil . . . . if the leading edge of the foil 'falls back' into the dispenser, one can't 'grab it' - one has to 're-thread' the dispenser. the steel serrated clamp-to-cut methinks can't be 'harmed/dulled' by alum foil. having searched high and low . . . I'm thinking to buy a new dispenser, have that 'at the ready' and 'convert' the old Stretch-Tite dispenser to foil and - heh, see what happens! I got three kids so pretty sure I can find a home for the 'extra' dispenser if it does not work out.

I've had the slide cutter type dispensers - long term they don't work all that great imho.....