Thread of What You've Eaten, Cooked and/or Drunk Lately

[Fungo Squiggly]

Pressure cooker stock. Saves hours for nearly identical results.

 

[DubCoffman62]

Strained out the bones and aromatics, now it's just a matter of reduction

 

[DubCoffman62]

Frozen. To be clear. Lol

I cook my broth down to where it becomes gelatin when cooled and I do freeze it in certain quantities. I like extra concentrated broth, you can always add a little water later.

 

[DubCoffman62]

Pressure cooker stock. Saves hours for nearly identical results.

That's pretty cool

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I cook my broth down to where it becomes gelatin when cooled and I do freeze it in certain quantities. I like extra concentrated broth, you can always add a little water later.

I wasn't gonna brag.

 

[jwinslow]

Been able to travel a bit for work (and fun) lately, and wanted to recap some of the best stops

Din Tai Fung (Pasadena, CA) - November

When I asked my taiwanese friend where to go and what to get, they raved about this place (as did multiple locals).
- Excellent dumplings
- The cucumber appetizer was unique
-The Old Fashioned stole the show with the flame-smoked orange peel
.... it may have also ruined all future old fashioneds

Kavalan Taiwanese single malt whiskey, house-made Oolong tea syrup, orange bitters, and Luxardo cherry.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Pressure cooker stock. Saves hours for nearly identical results.

That's pretty friggin cool. Thanks for sharing that. Gonna have to give it a go, for sure.

 

[jwinslow]

For vacation last month, we usually prefer nature and solitude (and found that later), but being big harry potter fans, we stayed at one of their fancy universal resorts and tried out BiCE one night. We're also not upscale dinner people.

The 10-15 miles of walking in the park beforehand may have tilted the scales a bit, but this was hands down the best pasta dish I've ever had

 

[bigdog3300]

Been able to travel a bit for work (and fun) lately, and wanted to recap some of the best stops

Din Tai Fung (Pasadena, CA) - November

When I asked my taiwanese friend where to go and what to get, they raved about this place (as did multiple locals).
- Excellent dumplings
- The cucumber appetizer was unique
-The Old Fashioned stole the show with the flame-smoked orange peel
.... it may have also ruined all future old fashioneds

Used to live and travel out that way often, Pasadena was my favorite spot in Cali....hope you enjoyed it as well.

 

[jwinslow]

Used to live and travel out that way often, Pasadena was my favorite spot in Cali....hope you enjoyed it as well.

We stayed in Monrovia, and almost every place we ate was fantastic. Merenge Bakery, Café De Olla

Maybe the best part was the amount of whole food shops serving healthy salads or mixed bowls (and unhealthy too), which were shockingly affordable in LA. Was able to eat out for less than buying any of those supplies at aldi or kroger.

p.s. My friend is first generation american from Taiwan, and spends large portions of each year over there. I think they just stop out in Pasadena a lot for fun and food, so it sounds like you had a similar experience.

Had a lot more fun Jan 1, 2025 for football coverage (much better weather, and first bowl game ever for me overlapping with the greatest OSU offensive performance maybe ever ). The past two november trips have been to photograph a horse show rebuilt inside Santa Anita racetrack (where the olympics will be). Great event, but it's absolutely poured the past two years, to the point where I had to buy rain slickers (never needed them in KY where I work outside 80 days a year). Both years were wet, but we were there for the national news covered storms

One fun part was hitting so much traffic when we landed, that it just took us through surface streets all the way from LAX to Pasadena. We drove through compton and every bad part of LA, so we got a full feel of many of the areas. For as much as LA gets a reputation for being shallow, their architecture is remarkable, and not just in the nice areas. Previously I had only seen the beaches and Orange County, which has to be one of the least creative places on earth for architecture.

 

[jwinslow]

We took our staff trip to Glacier this fall. Tthe wife and I spent most of the week was spent leaving hours before dawn, hiking and snacking and then having whatever for dinner before collapsing.

With the closures (to rebuild), Many Glacier Hotel was booked out for 1-3 years, as were the other ways to get on property.

We lucked out and not only got a last minute reservation for a few nights, and then made it onto the will call list for the boat to shrink the Many Glacier hike. So much wildlife on the east side of the park.



The meals overlooking Swiftcurrent Lake at sunset were magical, but one of my favorite parts was one of the best steaks I've ever had being a sirloin (formerly it's always been filet or NYStrip), and sending us down a rabbit hole of sous vide experiments at home. We're just getting started (maybe 4-5x sous vide baths in?).

I have no idea what I'm doing yet with sous vide, and if it's this good while I am a novice I can't wait til I figure it out.

Especially the ability to prepare 6-10 steaks at once and then have a quick heat up entry a week or two later.

 

[calibuck]

An old trick used to use (when wife let me cook) was to take an old fashioned ice cube tray, if one can be found, and put your broth into it. When you need some, just pop out as many cubes as needed, and put rest back for next time.

 

[bigdog3300]

One fun part was hitting so much traffic when we landed, that it just took us through surface streets all the way from LAX to Pasadena. We drove through compton and every bad part of LA, so we got a full feel of many of the areas. For as much as LA gets a reputation for being shallow, their architecture is remarkable, and not just in the nice areas. Previously I had only seen the beaches and Orange County, which has to be one of the least creative places on earth for architecture.

Yeah the architecture is great, probably makes for fantastic photography. The art deco (?) style is fantastic....I remember moving out there and starting out at Union Station, seeing the building, the art, the palm trees and my Ohio mind was blown. But now being a parent and sometimes taking my family out there, I pay a lot extra to avoid LAX....the shuttle, traffic, area, encampments at the gas stations...too stressful for me nowadays.

 

[jwinslow]

Yeah the architecture is great, probably makes for fantastic photography. The art deco (?) style is fantastic....I remember moving out there and starting out at Union Station, seeing the building, the art, the palm trees and my Ohio mind was blown. But now being a parent and sometimes taking my family out there, I pay a lot extra to avoid LAX....the shuttle, traffic, area, encampments at the gas stations...too stressful for me nowadays.

I wasn't expecting as much substance from the home architecture, particularly in the less affluent areas, but those builds predated the economic climates (or fleeting hollywood frivolities) that followed.

Then on the flipside, we drove through Beverly Hills (and surrounding areas), and played guess the zillow price. The architecture was diverse, but in more of a pick your americana way (with ultra cultivated landscaping).

Sure the houses were unreal, and people chose to park 6 figure cars on the street. But what amazed me were the gates. They were almost all unique. The one that took the cake was a 7-10 foot tall sliding slab of polished marble (or some similar elite stone). It was built out of the giant blocks you see on the ground level of a skyscraper holding a bank or courtroom or other stone meant to last centuries with style. I can't imagine the cost or engineering to get that thing to move.

 

[DubCoffman62]

We took our staff trip to Glacier this fall. Tthe wife and I spent most of the week was spent leaving hours before dawn, hiking and snacking and then having whatever for dinner before collapsing.

With the closures (to rebuild), Many Glacier Hotel was booked out for 1-3 years, as were the other ways to get on property.

We lucked out and not only got a last minute reservation for a few nights, and then made it onto the will call list for the boat to shrink the Many Glacier hike. So much wildlife on the east side of the park.

View attachment 84774

The meals overlooking Swiftcurrent Lake at sunset were magical, but one of my favorite parts was one of the best steaks I've ever had being a sirloin (formerly it's always been filet or NYStrip), and sending us down a rabbit hole of sous vide experiments at home. We're just getting started (maybe 4-5x sous vide baths in?).

I have no idea what I'm doing yet with sous vide, and if it's this good while I am a novice I can't wait til I figure it out.

Especially the ability to prepare 6-10 steaks at once and then have a quick heat up entry a week or two later.

I had the pri

We stayed in Monrovia, and almost every place we ate was fantastic. Merenge Bakery, Café De Olla

Maybe the best part was the amount of whole food shops serving healthy salads or mixed bowls (and unhealthy too), which were shockingly affordable in LA. Was able to eat out for less than buying any of those supplies at aldi or kroger.

p.s. My friend is first generation american from Taiwan, and spends large portions of each year over there. I think they just stop out in Pasadena a lot for fun and food, so it sounds like you had a similar experience.

Had a lot more fun Jan 1, 2025 for football coverage (much better weather, and first bowl game ever for me overlapping with the greatest OSU offensive performance maybe ever ). The past two november trips have been to photograph a horse show rebuilt inside Santa Anita racetrack (where the olympics will be). Great event, but it's absolutely poured the past two years, to the point where I had to buy rain slickers (never needed them in KY where I work outside 80 days a year). Both years were wet, but we were there for the national news covered storms

One fun part was hitting so much traffic when we landed, that it just took us through surface streets all the way from LAX to Pasadena. We drove through compton and every bad part of LA, so we got a full feel of many of the areas. For as much as LA gets a reputation for being shallow, their architecture is remarkable, and not just in the nice areas. Previously I had only seen the beaches and Orange County, which has to be one of the least creative places on earth for architecture.

Many members of the Manson family were from Monrovia. Also, I was fortunate to see places like Compton and Watts in the 1970s. They were rundown but they had their charm. Now all of SC LA looks like any town strip mall USA