MokaPot

@shain, the white-ish, round discs look like cheese. Is it cheese?

I have the Kuhn Rikon garlic press. It looks very similar to that OXO but it doesn't have the red cleaner / unplugger thing. My garlic does tend to get stuck in the holes and I lose a couple of cloves to the press.

Ojai does look inconvenient, considering the two other locations (Thousand Oaks and cherry farm).

Andouille (sausage)? (I pronounce it on-dewey.) What about Polish sausages?

Beans look really good, @mgaretz.

I think Cutco did make butcher's knives. I did a search on eBay and there were lots for sale, including "vintage" ones, like this one:

How does it taste, @Kim Shook? It looks good to me as well.

Green bean casserole, the one people serve / eat on Thanksgiving. Never tried it and, frankly, I'm not interested in it. (No offense intended to all who have fond food memories of this classic dish. There are a lot of sketchy foods that I grew up with and still like.)

Another non-fan of French toast, but yours look delicious, @shain.

@shain, what's in the bowl / dish, below the bread and the lemons?

What about cast iron (no enamel)? Salt is recommended as a cleaning scrub for cast iron, so I'm guessing salt doesn't harm cast iron.

@JoNorvelleWalker, your baked potato does look really good. What size oven do you use? Also, have you ever not used a bed of salt? If yes, how did the potatoes come out (no bed of salt)? When you say "timing is not critical," are you talking about the 45 minutes (when you poke your potatoes) or the 2-hour total cook time? Thanks!

Maybe I'll start posting my breakfasts so that people can feel better about themselves.

Thanks, guys. I ended up ordering this Hasegawa soft cutting board. It's synthetic with a wood core (three visible layers). The wood is supposed to keep the board flat and, also, reduce the weight of the board. Don't laugh, but I also ordered the special sponge / scraper to clean the board.

I like bubble tea and think it's worth the trouble to try it. @Sid Post, I've never seen it in canned form. You would definitely need the mochi balls. I'll look around and see what I can find that's available for order. My favorite flavors of bubble tea would be Thai iced tea, matcha (green) tea, and honeydew melon. Coffee would probably also be good. ETA: Actually, I think the balls are tapioca. Just searched Amazon and did see bubble tea in cans.

Pasta salad with tomato, Kalamata olives, block of feta cheese in the middle.

Hi guys / ladies, has anybody tried the Sani-Tuff (NoTrax) brand cutting boards? I'm currently using a Japanese, synthetic cutting board. I bought it a long time ago, but it's now starting to slide on the counter. I have been using a towel underneath, but prefer not to have to use a towel. Any other advice / info regarding soft or gentle cutting boards is very welcome. Thank you in advance!

Aside from dashi and mirin, the ingredients for oyakodon are not super "exotic." Americans are maybe used to using chicken breast more than chicken thigh. IME, oyakodon uses the chicken thigh. I guess the one thing you couldn't leave out would be the scrambled egg that holds everything together on top of the rice (or whatever grain you wanted to use).

Thanks for the reminder, @blue_dolphin. Bing cherries are one of my favorite fruits. I'll be on the lookout for them.

If they know what rambutan tastes like, you could say lychee tastes like rambutan. Here's a photo (not my photo). IMO, lychee is a lot better than rambutan, though. Maybe I just have never had a good rambutan.

I like walnuts. An underrated nut & not crazy expensive! Even made a good "pesto" out of it.

@patti, was it mostly Cajun foods that you all were serving?

We still have McDonald's hash browns.

That potato dish looks really impressive. I think gratin calls for a topping of breadcrumbs and/or cheese. (I see that cheese (optional) is listed in your recipe.) Your dish seems, to me, more like a very organized scalloped potatoes dish.

Have been cleaning out freezer, fridge, and pantry. So I won't feel guilty buying new food. Corkscrew pasta, frozen peas, grated Parmesan cheese.