SLB

I *always* thought those cooks were rockstars. https://medium.com/@theodoreross/meet-the-short-order-cooks-so-fucking-good-waffle-house-officially-calls-them-rockstars-caf47c31912?fbclid=IwAR1U7rW2z4go4spN89_Oi1Rhymly1Gs9W6JOvr2Q5Z6mOb88T_5iW_pby9M

I'm with Weinoo, I think this list is targeted specifically at millenials, or whatever the current 25-year-olds are called. The clue for me is the baking-heavy (which is how a lot of young people get seduced into the home-version of things). Once that crew subscribes en masse to Fine Cooking, the magazine can keep paying its printing bills, and lure them into the deep dive . . . .

A new and beautiful contender in this class is Whetstone: http://www.whetstonemagazine.com/ On cooking mags, I second the Fine Cooking rec, and I also enjoy Saveur. And I'm with rotuts on the C. Kimball nightmare (even though I learned a fair amount from him over the years). That said -- MilkStreet has a podcast which I listen to; on some level it's less tolerable than the magazine, but on the other hand it's free.

The citrus fruits are coming in here (I mean being imported in), and I'm kind of going nuts with the ideas of stuff to try. I am definitely going to do that preserved-lemon vinaigrette (after I get my preserved lemons done, I mean). But I have a question about a different kind of preservation -- freezing. I freeze vegetables as well as meat, and after I got a deep freezer, I started studying in earnest about how to freeze stuff to best protect its quality (instead of just throwing it in a ziplock bag). The reference books give blanching times for each vegetable, and more pertinent -- headrooms for the bags. The headrooms prescribed for vegetables are about off-gassing (as opposed to the headrooms for fruits, which seem to be about expansion of freezing water). But none of the reference books I have are talking about vacuum-packing the vegetables, just regular bags with most of the air pushed out. I do not have a fancy vacuum-sealer, just a cheapo FoodSaver. The FoodSaver manual instructs to freeze all vegetables solid before sealing them, in order to avoid the challenge of off-gassing after sealing. The question is directed to those of you who freeze vegetables -- is the vacuum sealing worth it, after you take the step to open-air freeze the vegetables? [I'm sure it would be worth it if you have flash-freezing capabilities.]

On blackbirds, he says: "There's a French proverb that goes 'For lack of thrushes, one eats blackbirds.' Forget this proverb; blackbird doesn't tastes great". I'm still stuck on the thrush-melt, tho. Stuck hard.

So, I asked Santa for this book, and Santa came through! It is very interesting, and I like le Caisne's sense of humor. There is some stuff I'd never heard of before, like the concept of resting the meat before you finish cooking it. And I've enjoyed learning about the different breeds of beef and pork and whatnot. But there was a moment in the game section that threw me, the section at p. 97 on the Song Thrush. He notes: "This is without a doubt the best type of thrush, but like the others, it's illegal to sell it. The only way to eat it is to hunt it or have a hunter friend. You don't eviscerate the thrush. Only the gizzard, crop, and eyes are removed. The intestines melt during cooking and give the meat a unique flavor". Although I pride myself on having no unexamined squeamish, I admit that I had to put the book down and nearly take to the bed. Is "melt" a, uh, hunter's term? Or did I read that right, you eat the [presumably full] intestines???

@Shelby, are you using olive oil with that Spice House mix?

Well. Now that you mention it, I'm quite sure that what I was using was the steel-cut oats. The ones commonly found at the grocery store. [I confess that I didn't even notice the whole "stone-cut" thing. I am duly embarrassed. ]

Speaking of oatmeal, I am making a coconut oatmeal cookie this Christmas which I learned about on the Anson Mills website: http://ansonmills.com/recipes/425?recipes_by=grain In the past, I've used very fiery cinnamon to good effect. I have also used other [more affordable] brands of stone-cut oats; if you're doing that, you're going to want to up the liquid a bit. I've also made them with regular rolled oats -- I didn't like the result as much, but I admit I can't remember why.

Freezing was what I was going to suggest, as well.

Smithy speaks for me. I'm settled in, ready for wonder. Basically, I'm like Chum over here.

Pumpkin is *really* not my favorite vegetable, but unlike most of the other winter squash, it is nice and low-carb, so: Pickle-palooza. Plus one got roasted for ravioli. Cause I definitely do like pumpkin ravioli. [Really, I like any ravioli . . . .] One thing -- the first time I ever bought pumpkin for savory eating -- 1995 or so in Somerville, MA -- they were 25 cents apiece. Now, at 1-2$/pound, I just can't think of them as a cheap vegetable anymore.

@lemniscate Thanks for those links!

I don't know if this helps at all with reconstructing the technique, but for what it's worth, the grease is also decidedly orange:

Girl, do it.