Gotten any fun stuff lately?

[liuzhou]

On 8/17/2022 at 9:11 PM, DianaB said:

That’s a beautiful plate!  Sure the lime will be lovely too.

 

You are not the first to like my teardrop plate. I have a bigger one, too. @Anna Nis a big fan. I'd show you a picture but I haven't done the washing up yet!
 

Edited September 17, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[DianaB]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

You are not the first to like my teardrop plate. I have a bigger one, too. @Anna Nis a big fan. I'd show you a p[icture but I haven't done the washing up yet!
 

Is it a service available in Europe?  @Anna N has excellent taste.  Villleroy & Boch did/do a pretty service known as “wave” but your plate seems very much nicer.

[liuzhou]

Just now, DianaB said:

Is it a service available in Europe?  @Anna N has excellent taste.  Villleroy & Boch did/do a pretty service known as “wave” but your plate seems very much nicer.

 

I don't know. I haven't lived in Europe for 25 years. Sorry.

[liuzhou]

A set of six chili themed chopstick rests and a plate to store them on. I'm easily amused.

Edited August 21, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

This makes me smile. It arrived today.

 

 

OK. You may be thinking that's just a bowl and you'd be both right and wrong. That is a bowl from 景德镇 (jǐng dé zhèn) in Jiangxi Province in eastern China.  For over 1,000 years, Jingdezhen has been the centre of ceramic production in China. For much of that time, it exclusively made porcelain ware for the emperors. Some examples have sold for up to 32 million dollars USD.  Mine was slightly cheaper at $3 USD.

I visited Jingdezhen in 1997. They had, I hope still have, a working museum making ceramics in the traditional way - all hand crafted and hand painted etc. I found it fascinating. Sadly that was pre-cell phone cameras or digital anything, but here are scans of the only three pictures I can find.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

This makes me smile. It

I can understand why. It is a most attractive bowl. 

[lindag]

On 12/20/2021 at 10:01 AM, paulraphael said:

 

 

New coffee grinder (for brewed coffee only). Fellow Ode.

 

 

@paulraphael  How easy is the Ode to clean?  I've had the Encore for about six months and it's clogged and I can't get it cleaned out.  I need my coffee!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

2 hours ago, lindag said:

@paulraphael  How easy is the Ode to clean?  I've had the Encore for about six months and it's clogged and I can't get it cleaned out.  I need my coffee!

Maybe some help from the source?

[&roid]

I’ve had a kamado joe Big Joe for a long time and love cooking on it over the summer. Lately I’ve been fancying their smaller joe junior but the price tag (£499!) put it well out of reach. 
 

For a few years Aldi have sold a full sized  kamado for a lot less than KJ do. these have been very favourably reviewed on the bbq forums I dip into. 
 

Lo and behold, this summer they’ve come out with a joe junior knock off too. Initially this was going for £120 which is a pretty good price but a few weeks ago they went crazy and dropped the price even further. 
 

Today I took delivery of this little beast, and it cost me just £49! Can’t wait to try it out, who knows if it’ll be any good but it certainly looks and feels the part. At one tenth the price of the Joe Jnr it’s a steal. 
 

 

https://www.aldi.co.uk/gardenline-mini-kamado-bbq/p/710257597550500

[&roid]

I absolutely love this thing. I don’t think I’ve spent a better 50 quid on anything. 
 

It heats up really quickly - 10-15 mins and it’s ripping hot, uses hardly any charcoal and it’ll fit in the back of the car no problem. 
 

Here he is with his big brother:

 

 

 

 

First cook was a few nice sardines that mrs roid picked up at the fishmongers. Couple of minutes each side and they were perfect

 

 

They didn’t last much more than that once cooked either!

 

[paulraphael]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:45 AM, lindag said:

@paulraphael  How easy is the Ode to clean?  I've had the Encore for about six months and it's clogged and I can't get it cleaned out.  I need my coffee!

 

It's pretty easy to clean. Not as easy as the grinders that come apart without tools. Much easier than my old Baratza (which I cleaned about once every 5 years, whether it needed it or not!)

 

Despite fellow's attempts at anti-static engineering, the thing is pretty staticy and retains some grounds. You can solve this with a couple of popular tricks. The first is to add a bit of water to the beans before grinding. Either a spritz with a small atomizer bottle, or just wet your finger and swirl it around the beans. This dissipates most of the static. People use this technique with many grinders. The 2nd trick is to wait about 10 seconds after the grind cycle is done. Most of the static will dissipate. Then hit the knocker a few times. I have no idea how staticy my Baratza was, because I never thought about it and almost never looked inside there.

 

You need a screwdriver to actually get into the burr chamber. The nice part of the design is that you can do this without messing with the calibration settings. Just pop the whole front plate off, take out the rotating burr, and then it's wide open. You can get in with a brush and clean everything. Only trick to reassembly is making sure you get the grounds off of all machined surfaces, so you don't mess with the alignment.

 

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Husband has been snitting that we have no microwave safe bowls in the country.    Yesterday we fell over a batch sat s garage sale.    Trying to decide how many to get, he asked the price.   “Here.   Fill this box.  Heaping full.   $5.”    So, 24 bowls in three sizes plus a new micro plane and two novels.

 

[lemniscate]

1 hour ago, &roid said:

I absolutely love this thing. I don’t think I’ve spent a better 50 quid on anything. 

 

I would buy that in a hot minute in USD.  Aldi is new to my area, but it looks like this item is not stocked in the US.

Shame.

 

 

[&roid]

30 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

 

I would buy that in a hot minute in USD.  Aldi is new to my area, but it looks like this item is not stocked in the US.

Shame.

 

 

They're a great store - they sell what they sell and that’s it, not the same selection as some of the bigger/more expensive supermarkets here; but their prices are great and they often have little bargains like this bbq. 
 

The other great purchase I’ve had from them recently was back at Christmas time - they had a beautiful premier cru Chablis at £12.99 a bottle. At least 40% cheaper than it would have been elsewhere. 
 

Hopefully they’ll start branching out in the the states and stocking some of their non food items too. 

[liuzhou]

I don't eat them often, but always keep a supply of these instant noodles on hand for emergency snacks, usually in the middle of the night.

 

 

Often, they come in lined cardboard pots in which to 'cook' the noodles, but it is easier to store them when they come in packs and require you to find you own container. For some time I've ben improvising with a soup bowl and a small plate to act as a lid.

 

So, recently I bought this dedicated noodle bowl with lid. It even came with a pair of chopsticks.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a souvenir photograph from its maiden voyage!

 

 

Edited August 29, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I don't eat them often, but always keep a supply of these instant noodles on hand for emergency snacks, usually in the middle of the night.

 

 

Often, they come in lined cardboard pots in which to 'cook' the noodles, but it is easier to store them when they come in packs and require you to find you own container. For some time I've ben improvising with a soup bowl and a small plate to act as a lid.

 

So, recently I bought this dedicated noodle bowl with lid. It even came with a pair of chopsticks.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a souvenir photograph from its maiden voyage!

 

 

Two things — I have to take you down from your pedestal where I had you firmly esconced. Instant noodles — you? Never.

Then I have to admit that you find the neatest things. I eat lots of instant noodles and would love this. 

[liuzhou]

17 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Two things — I have to take you down from your pedestal where I had you firmly esconced. Instant noodles — you? Never.

 

As I said, Rarely. Survival!

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

As I said, Rarely. Survival!

Well I don’t see anything quite as attractive as you are able to source. But I found this

 

 

and multiple ceramic mugs with lids designed for instant noodles. Too ugly to even contemplate owning though. 

[kayb]

Oh, it's going to be a tasty Labor Day weekend at Chef Brockwell! My annual order from Dartagnan came today.

 

Duck breast. Smoked duck breast. Duck sausage. Tasso ham.  Pate. Duck liver mousse. Duck fat! Toulouse sausage for cassoulet this winter.

 

Yum!

[weinoo]

I've always been a fan of most things D'artagnan...that garlic sausage is very good.

 

They have been acquired by a huge company, so it will be interesting to see how the quality keeps up.

[Norm Matthews]

As per requested, the dumpling maker has been used. It came a while ago but I first used it today.  The biggest problem I had was with the home made dough. I'd love to find some premade ones that I didn't have to order. I rolled out the dough and let it rest while I made the filling but they shrank and had to be rolled out again to fit and then I had to trim the excess.  Other than that and the learning curve of how much filling to use, it works just fine.

Edited September 4, 2022 by Norm Matthews (log)

[lindag]

On 12/20/2021 at 10:01 AM, paulraphael said:

 

New coffee grinder (for brewed coffee only). Fellow Ode.

 

A nice step up from my trusty old Baratza, that just broke for the 2nd or 3rd time. The great thing about Baratza is they sell all the replacement parts, and post all the DIY videos. But the gizmo I need is out of stock for a few weeks, and we need coffee now!

 

My friend who owns my favorite coffee shop (and does all the roasting) recommended this one. He roasts very light, which is a challenge for grinders that don't have burly motors and burrs ... possibly why my grinder kept breaking.

 

I plan to repair the Baratza and give it to my mom, who has a Capresso that doesn't work right (and that company doesn't sell parts). 

Disgusted with my Baratzs Encore which clogged up and stayed clogged, I also bought the Ode.  It is fantastic!  Quiet and fast it's d a dream to use.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

 

"In grateful appreciation for 15 years of service...for faithful performance of duties, thereby furthering the cause of good government."

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

For fifteen years I wasn't expecting a gold watch or an anti-griddle.  But couldn't they have sprung for Vollrath?

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

29 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

For fifteen years I wasn't expecting a gold watch or an anti-griddle.  But couldn't they have sprung for Vollrath?

 

Interesting to consider the thinking of the person who chose this gift.  I've always thought that a gift should be something that the recipient would consider a splurge, regardless of how much was spent.   Something the recipient would never buy for themselves.   A tiny box of exquisite chocolates; a bottle of undiscovered wine or a piece of extraordinary cheese.    In this instance, not mixing bowls or a case of limes.