Gotten any fun stuff lately?

[Smithy]

I won this as a door prize at a holiday party last night.

 

 

 

 

Looks interesting, doesn't it? I don't think I've ever had nitrogenated coffee before.

 

I'll report on it later, somewhere, when I get around to trying it. It's a bit cool right now for me to get excited about deliberately chilled coffee. (I confess: my 3rd cuppa of the morning often gets cold before I finish it. 😀 )

[Smithy]

Another door prize, at the last holiday party of the season (that I'll be attending, anyway). There's a bottle of Pinot Grigio in there.

 

 

I complimented the member who'd crocheted this and a number of other door prizes. Check out the base! 

 

 

She figured out how to do that so the bottle would sit squarely on the counter. Darned clever, I think!

[Shel_B]

This moning, while at the Berkeley Bowl Market looking for some pasta-specific items, I came across this wondeful treat in the cheese fridge. I've had it before - it's not always available - and it's delicious. A baked, lemon-flavored, Italian ricotta cheesecake made with buffalo and cow's milk ... in-effin'-credibley delicious.

 

Edited February 5 by Shel_B (log)

[Shel_B]

On 12/25/2025 at 2:12 PM, Shel_B said:

My sister sent me these salt samplers, which I receved yesterday. Opening the tins released an incredible and delicious aroma. Can't wait to try the samples ...

 

 

I liked the Bacon Chipotle salt a lot, and bought a large jar an Amazon. (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

 

[weinoo]

The Rice Factory just got in a shipment from the 2025 rice harvest. So I had to indulge.

 

5 lbs. of Hokkaido Yumepirika  - 50% milled

 

5 lbs. of Minamiuonuma Koshihikari - as white rice (100% milled) - this is the classic sushi rice

 

Some pickling mixture to push the total above the free shipping level.

[haresfur]

Going to put this here, although improving my sharpening skills is only one of the uses, along with looking at mineral specimens, and building things with microcontrollers.

 

This is a Nikon stereo microscope so you can look at things in 3D. Really helpful seeing some of the problems. 

 

Not without its issues- my eyes are very narrow set so it is hard to get the stereo. That was a problem back in my geology days so it isn't just this scope.

 

Local university branch campus was suddenly and sneakily shutting down their science programs ☹️ so a ton of equipment went to an ewaste recycling centre, who were flogging them off.