SLB

I *almost* did it with Wolfert's "Slow Mediterranean Kitchen". It was the year after my mother died, and I was clearing out the house. [Yes, I now realize that other people undertake this process in a matter of a few days; but it took me seven months.] Anyway. I was closing a door, pretending that my life was something other than horrible, feeding my brother, soothing myself. Really, I could not have made a better choice.

Order in.

You know, when the rivets holding the oven floor failed last year, the technician said the corrosion was the sort that one would expect to see if the range had been sitting salty seaside for a decade. This metal here could perhaps have corroded similarly. Hunh. I haven't heard back on the price, the entire thermostat assembly will need replacing, and not just the post for the knob. I am unhappy, people.

My latest BlueStar problem: the metal post which holds the oven knob broke last night while I was turning it off last night. I spent a half hour trying to turn the nub of the post with some pliers, and finally had to flip the circuit to get the oven off. I am so, so sick of this thing.

What @gfweb posted is my favorite. But I confess to entering a bit of a frenzy during a period in my life where I was enthralled with clay pots. I purchased these two during said frenzy: The Simmer Mat: https://bramcookware.com/product/simmermat-heat-diffuser/ And the Ilsa: _______________________________ I never was able to experience any advantage to such heavy fancy gear.

It's fall, and we've got HungryChris up in 'da house:

I do, but I don't have any either. And the place where I'd been buying it -- Zabar's, NYC -- has confirmed that they don't carry it anymore.

Patiently waiting for a Try Me Rondeau.

Meanwhile. I have been eyeing a Falk piece, waiting for a sale. Well. I spent the weekend not looking at email, and missed it. It was only 10%, but I can eat for a week on 10% of a Falk pan. Sigh. Maybe they have a holiday sale.

EXACTLY!!

Look at that face!!! @Duvel, as a chronically anemic, meat-at-every-meal person, I am downright inspired over here. And I'm behind rotuts, if you need more people in the rotation of eaters.

@DianaB, right??? These Preserving threads changed my life! Meanwhile -- this is a cross-post of mine from the Muscadine thread an hour ago (which may be against the rules) -- A good friend in AL sent up some juicy muscadine wonders, via overnight shipping: I'm not going to be able to eat all of these, and am considering options. The dehydrator thread has got me thinking -- a one-off muscadine leather. But -- pureed skins or pureed with no skins??? I could also freeze them and deal later. But -- aren't they pretty? The aroma hit when I slit the box open. I'm feeling loved! Like, loved best.

A good friend in AL sent up some juicy wonders, via overnight shipping: I'm not going to be able to eat all of these, and am considering options. The dehydrator thread has got me thinking -- a one-off muscadine leather. But -- pureed skins or pureed with no skins??? I could also freeze them and deal later. But -- aren't they pretty? The aroma hit when I slit the box open. I'm feeling loved! Like, loved best.

I'm going to try that. Altho -- like @Darienne, I often make way more fruit leather than I actually want to eat. I have several interesting ones in the freezer, and do recall that my current faves are apple/walnut/coconut and mango/orange. But I don't really pull them out as often as I imagine I'm going to. They're a good hiking snack (which is basically what I make them for); but they get hard in winter hiking, and I've cut way back on the summer hiking because I'm paranoid about ticks. Anyway. I'm gonna make that lime situation, that sounds like a fabulous addition.

"Bean by Bean" is my go-to. Those recipes are so reliably delicious that I follow them -- the meatist variation, when offered -- 100% of the time. The Time-Life Bean book from the series is the first one I ever looked at, in the kitchen of a vacation rental in Ocean Grove, NJ. Seriously -- I brought it to the beach with me. It was so wonderful that it (along with some subsequent research here) induced me to buy the whole series off of ebay the following week. No regrets. I've given "Grist" as a gift, and I like the author's voice. But I haven't cooked from the book.

This exact same shock, over here. I put off ordering them until I was in the middle of my August vacation, trying to time the delivery. And then when I got to shipping I about fell over dead. Nope. At the time, I thought I was going to be stopping in Denver on my way back from vacation and just figured I'd put a pile in my suitcase. But then I didn't make the stop, so . . . . The truth is, there are lots of interesting chilis here, so I'm just going to have to buckle down to some experimentation.

Good advice. It's unlikely, @AlaMoi, that the cost of an expert restoration would be worth it to me. The cost of a tablecloth, on the other hand . . . . @weinoo -- very tippy top of Harlem. I am on a bluff and get very nice light.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/t-magazine/eating-early-new-york-restaurants.html

@AlaMoi Thank you so much! On reflection, I have a cousin who does some pretty fine woodworking, I might try to import him . . . I mean invite him and his wife and kid up for a [Working] Trip To The Big City. I actually do like things looking a bit aged/patina-ed; I just don't think that really works that well with this type of style (which you indicate as book-matched-veneer; plus all the edge texture, and the big ole' statement-legs . . .). On the chairs, we got rid of them way backalong, they had that old caning on the backs and were just a disaster. But I hear you on the sideboard, which is displaying some extremely weird decay along its edges. No one living from my family of origin approves of my chair replacement, but they do eat the food here. And I think my mother might've been at least a little piqued (yes, therapy, I got it).

DIFFERENT FORUM!!

I've been away, this was so much fun to come back to! Hope your leg heals up soon, Shelby! And, Lord knows, if you, uh, need some help out thataway . . . .

I now have my mother's table, which I would not have chosen for myself and which holds some not-altogether-pleasant memories, for both of us. It was her formal dining room table (with matching sideboard). I don't think it's the very best anything, but it was solid middle-class stuff from 1970. It's now my everything-table. When I got it, about 3 or 4 years ago from my brother who didn't want it anymore, I resolved to reject its care with flourish, with the exception of basic cleaning, and barely occasional oiling. Part of the reason for this is my inner child's enduring sulk; the other part is, I really do want a very different table to anchor my dining. Also, it has rounded ends, and I hate rounded wood anything. Basically, I want a very nice picnic-style table. And I kind of thought that I would eventually get that, in my next. home or something. Well. I realized about a year ago that it was not likely that my life is going to actually involve me purchasing another very large table. Because I am now middle-aged enough to be thinking, how much more shit you gonna buy?? With what money?? And -- why, again??? And I have concluded: this is gonna be the table for the duration. I mean, anything can happen. But, what is probably not gonna happen is, me buying the 8-9 foot table of my dreams. So then, I took a look at what I had done in the few short years that the thing has been in my possession. The finish has scratches now. DEEP scratches! Some places, the finish looks like it has straight-up crazing! You know, like with old ceramics?! The half of the thing that sits in the morning sun looks . . . different. My mother is so, so, so angry with me, assuming that its allowed in the afterlife. THROO!! She took so much pride in this table, I remember being tasked with taking the Pledge to it WEEKLY as a child. Repeat: WEEKLY. Sigh. So now I am studying tablecloths. I want a nice one that fits the whole table with all the leaves (I have some -- my mother's, all nice and white, some with lace -- which fit the smaller version). I don't want the tablecloth to live on the table; I just want to have an option. It's a hard purchase, it turns out. Anyway, I also decided to get some placemats, since I'm going to behave like a grownup at this table now. I got some nice linen ones, for company. They don't match -- that was a bridge too far. And I got these rubber-plastic ones from MoMA, for every-day: Doodle: And Scratch:

I have a little niece/god-daughter (we haven't figured out what we are to each other, besides in love -- her mother is my best friend, and both of her parents have become kind of shattered in the wake of their divorce, so we spend a lot of time together with me loving her up. Especially with food -- ) Anyway. I gave her the Kenji book, and while I often rue the fact that it's TOO LONG FOR A BEDTIME READ, AAARRGGGHH -- its plot makes magical sense to littles who live in New York City buildings, where so many children live wondrously multi-culti lives. And NYC -- parts of it anyway -- is still a place where small children can end up at some neighbor's table for a snack without it being, you know, an Administrative Project. The book's refrain "we need more data", is now our shorthand for eating some more food. We love it. I'm ordering all the other suggestions, right this second.

@blue_dolphin, it sounds like you have landed in the good life! Meanwhile, I've recently developed heartburn, which is entirely avoided by dinner at 630p. It can be hard with work and the New York version of socializing, which is meeting out for dinner at a restaurant considerably later than 630. But I aim aim at 630 as often as I can. Heartburn is for the birds.

I have the Atlas, I generally prefer a handle to the twisting (something unresolved in an old cubital tunnel problem). But I want the Weber moulin, damn.