weezy

I took the day off yesterday and spent it baking but was disappointed with the results overall. My various butter cookies all spread much more than usual. I think there has been a lowering of butterfat in the butter, as well as my eggs were probably too large. All that extra moisture made for screwed up cooking times and ugly cookies that all ran into one another. The flavor tasted a bit washed out as well. Made a note for future baking to separate the eggs and only use half the whites (and add macaroons -- not macarons --to the repetoire), as well as buying European butter for the higher fat content.

I pulled a pack of Thanksgiving leftovers out of the freezer to reheat and will steam up some broccoli and do a little lemon butter to go on that. I know I'll be snacking on cookies at work, so no dessert tonight, maybe slice up a pear and sprinkle it with cinnamon and call it good.

You can put it in ziploc bags and pull it out and squish it around a bunch of times during the freezing process

Thanks for the accurate, albeit unhappy, news.

South Korean study of Covid and airflow in restaurants https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-12-09/five-minutes-from-20-feet-away-south-korean-study-shows-perils-of-indoor-dining-for-covid-19

I just ordered it. Thanks for the recommendation.

Saw this cake being discussed positively, and I've never made anything like it, so I may just have to give it a try https://www.steenssyrup.com/post/syrup-cake-with-satsuma-sauce

At the Falls Church Farmer's Market on Saturdays, there is a fellow that sells olive oil pressed here but from his dad's farm near Sparta, Greece. He also sells a really good balsamic from their neighbor's farm, in the 15-20 year range. I always get a bottle of that balsamic for a friend for her December birthday....which means I need to get a bottle next weekend.

Tim Carman's piece on his own experience with Covid-19 https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2020/11/29/food-writer-covid/

Lobster Maine-ia out in Chantilly carries them as well, I think.

Stachowski's, you can get it from his shop, or it may be available at your Harris Teeter. They carry some of his sausages, but it varies by store

FYI, I believe the Popeye's fried turkeys are sold fried then frozen, and you need to thaw and then reheat (for a couple of hours per recommendation) for serving, just for timing issues.

I'm really starting to get the hang of the air fryer oven that I bought and I am very happy that I got it. My wall ovens have the convection feature, but size-wise for one person cooking, they don't match up well. I'm actually a little surprised that it has so quickly become a favored appliance. Last night I made Brussels sprout chips, only took 10 minutes including prep. Delicious and no hot grease smell permeating the place.

made a variation of the Bollywood chocolate using cream and coconut milk. Extremely rich, dense stuff. It would make excellent fudge pops.

Resurrecting an old topic. I put in a sizeable order of beans today, getting prepared for heartier winter meals. Was hoping for a greater variety available since it's harvest time, but either they sold out quickly or the new crop hasn't arrived. Still had several mainstays -- pinto, black, lentils, chickpeas.

I don't know if it's a Kelly Bronze, but Stachowski's Market is carrying Heirloom Bronze turkeys at $5.49/lb

the take-out menu is still $48 and is 4 or 5 courses. You can see the daily menu on their Facebook page

I made this cake with some tweaks, and I really liked it, will definitely keep it in the rotation: https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-magic-apple-cake/ First, as a cook's note, I would reserve a couple of tablespoons of sugar and the salt and add that to the chopped apples before mixing into the batter so they are well macerated. I mixed & waited & mixed as directed in the recipe and my apples didn't give up enough juice through that process to make a batter, it was more of a dough, and the cake was a bit tough as a result of the gluten development from the extra handling. I didn't make the frosting, so I cannnot comment on that. I did a quick streusel instead, as I wanted something less sweet and more coffee cake style and easier to freeze one layer. I also added some raisins and chopped nuts and a bit of cardamom because that's how I roll.

Stopped here last night to pick up some cumin lamb tacos at Balo Kitchen to go. Pretty early, about 6:00, and I'm happy to report there was good social distancing, mask wearing, and sanitizing going on throughout the facility. As for the food, the tacos are served on roti flatbread; they were tasty and traveled well, but I think I like the pork belly tacos just a little bit better.

Have you been noticing the graphs on the front page of the Post online edition of states with the highest rates? North Dakota has been going steeply up since July 4, but for the past couple of weeks it was rising thru the high 40s- 50s cases per 100k population, but 4 days ago it was 56, 3 days ago 58, 2 days ago 60, this morning 66. I know it's not a very populous state, but I wonder why we aren't hearing anything about such a rural, spread-out state having such an exploding rate of spread.

Wasted peaches, sorry to say. Not much flavor, texture was gritty and just unpleasant. The muffin mix never absorbed the peach juices or steam while baking covered or the butter dotted on top. Obviously that needed to be mixed up and treated more as a clafoutis than a dump cake.

woke up too early this morning, discovered my peaches needed to be used stat, checked the pantry, ended up using a Jiffy cornbread mix and doctored it with some extra sugar, and made a small peach dump cake with a sweet cornbread top. Smells great. I'll find out tonight if it was more of a waste of peaches than just tossing them out

had some cream and milk I wanted to use up, but it turned out I was low on sugar. So I used brown sugar and made a batch of ice cream using a tempered B&J base to which I added about 1/3 cup natural cocoa, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cayenne, and 1 tsp fresh ground black cardamom. I'm calling it Bollywood chocolate. The fresh cardamom really sings with the chocolate, but it's so strong it drowned out the cinnamon. I would reduce it to 1/2 tsp in future batches. Otherwise, I think it rocks.

Hank's Oyster Bar in Old Town

Made a basil ice cream using the B&J base and steeping a big sprig of fresh basil in the cream. It is marvelous with fresh peaches.