SLB

I don't SV; I may be the only person on here who does not. I was thinking, the old-timey pressure cooker. That may be a bad idea with such a lean cut.

Over thisaway, an eye of round just went into Ruhlman's brine recipe; pickling spice from Penzeys, fancy pink salt from "Eric Ripert and La Boite", which I remember walking a million blocks west to acquire pre-pandemic. I might cut the meat into chunks, it's 10 cm at the widest end. I hope it works out. The cattle farmer I buy beef from tops me off with cuts that he has in surplus because he knows I'll cook almost anything; I don't have the heart to tell him that I've had it with round. Also, turning down meat seems crazy . . . anyway. I hope this corn concept works out tasty.

Costco Harlem (NY, USA): 5 dozen in two flats, $22.49. Not organic, obviously.

I hated milk as a child and since school dictated the boundary of how long I could be made to sit at the table, the unfinished cup was placed in the fridge only to be put in front of me at breakfast the next morning. This was before ultra-pasteurized, I believe, and after a couple-three days, things started to smell and my brothers joined forces WITH OUR MOTHER to get me to drink it to relieve everyone the foul. You see why I live far away from home? Anyway. I also hate water chestnuts. I will not eat them at all, I behave like a child and pick them out and make a pile on the plate, even in nice restaurants. It would very much shame my aforementioned mother.

I irrationally dislike shrimp. I mean, I like shrimp, sort of. But I am afraid of them. Almost 30 years ago, I had a negative response to a shrimp in a pasta dish at a restaurant called Carrabbas, which was a promising new option in Montgomery, Alabama. The revolt was immediate, which is to say it wasn't even all that disgusting! But since then, any shrimp that has been cooked to any texture other than exactly perfect is gag-inducing. Which is unfortunate, because shrimp dishes can be quite good, and also shrimp is comparatively cheap. I've never eaten at a Carrabbas again, either. The other food I can't stand, a feeling that I think is genuinely rational unlike my shrimp aversion, is jelly donuts. I don't get it at ALL! I can work with a lemon curd donut, but even then I usually discard 2/3 of the lemon curd. But cold jelly by the gob? Sweet surrounded by sweet sprinkled with more sweet? And at least here in the United States -- they are GIANT-size!! Are there grownups out here who can really eat such a thing?

Chile'. I am in the "LITE" version of the club, which was on offer for, like 90 seconds, a few years ago. And it's still more carbs than I really need. Yes, @Laurentius, the fiber helps. But only so much. It turns out that "healthy" is a spectrum, not a binary. **Especially if your carb load includes [non-negotiable] wine.

Oh, I know about bluskillet beauty. They lost me with that lottery, though. I can't put myself through that, month in and month out.

The strawberries are done this way, up through Step 4 on the actual recipe: https://foodinjars.com/recipe/urban-preserving-small-batch-strawberry-vanilla-jam/ I put them in the pan, slowly melt the sugar, and cook until the strawberries are soft. Then drain, sometimes for days. Then into the dehydrator. The leftover syrup is great in cocktails. Also? I have been known to leave it in the fridge for a year and then use it again to simmer/candy the new strawberries. Possibly this is gross.

Two comments, one question: In an adaptation from a recipe from "Food in Jars" lady, I preserve strawberries as follows: a slight candy in a heavy sugar syrup with vanilla, drain thoroughly, then dehydrate. It goes in my homemade trail mix, but is generally divine anywhere you might want a dried fruit. @Smithy, I'm nervous about that dangling tag on the venetian blind behind the stove! Are your darling's beloved camp skillets cast iron, or some other material? I've decided that I'm in car camping way more than I was ten years ago. And if I hadn't mentioned it, I'm REALLY into that griddle that you showed here some time back, it goes on top of a regular kettle grill or a fire pit. Alas, I have no use for one, but it was so beautiful I keep wanting to give it as a gift to friends with actual houses. This has nothing to do with the skillets, I'm just sayin'. Maybe I just really want an outdoor kitchen . . . Meanwhile, over thisaway I'm making your darling's superburgers this week. They seem exactly perfect, especially since I have so much sausage in the freezer right now. I'll raise a glass to this life you've lived, with gratitude for what I've gotten to learn about myself from seeing it here.

What she said. 🙃 I don't usually deploy emoji, but I don't have enough words for what it feels like to read these reports.

It means a lot to hear this validated. Sigh. Meanwhile, I think this door problem has been going on for awhile; while I didn't notice it (embarrasingly), I have notice mind-boggling gas bills, and in fact have called ConEd to review them. I use the oven usually a couple of times a day.

Report from the Uptown Manhattan Bluestar: oven door no long closes fully!

The handles browned a little bit; I greased them, and also I did 3 15-minute rounds in a 500 degree oven. I'm committed to testing donut recipes for my best friend's teenage baker-entrepreneur, so my theory is to fry the test donuts in this pan (I'm testing for how different fats work, since I'm the only person in his circle with lard in volume . . . anyway). My theory is to fry a whole lot of donuts in this pan over the next month. You sure are right about its beauty. I'm thrilled. And -- it isn't as heavy as I feared, either! Part of my Darto-apprehension was the sense that it didn't save a whole lot of weight; my theory of slowly converting to carbon steel was that as I age my larger cast-iron pans may not be manageable, making the case for good ole' Matfer. But I'm weak for art, is the truth. Especially metal art. And metal art doubles as a tool? I'm <daid>.

I bought myself a Darto last week, the No. 35 paella pan. Because, company! On revisit of this thread, I can report that they seem to have elevated their grade of cardboard; the box was untraumatized, even having been opened and resealed by customs. I got no bag, which I was ok with (too many bags in this modern world. Really, people. We don't need any more bag swag). It was just the gray pan in the box, with the bill of lading. I did the full 10 rounds of seasoning, most over the stovetop but a few in a 500 degree oven. Although there's some visual blotch, the surface feels entirely smooth: I'm a little concerned that the blue-ish portion isn't uniform. But not concerned enough not to start frying food. New chapter in life, new backpack -- a whole other community -- new pan. Onward. Still eating.

I just [hopefully] closed a chapter on my life (work related); and I got me a Darto. The Darto arrived on my last day on the job. Which was so perfect it felt divine. As soon as these rounds of seasoning are done, I'm gonna post a pic in the Darto thread. But the thrill goes here, as far as I'm concerned.