Interesting - haven’t seen it here in San Francisco Bay area
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We were honored to witness our HK buddy and his boo tying the knot on a lucky numbers day (8/8/25) in a very small, intimate wedding ceremony in their backyard ministrated by another longtime friend of the groom. A champagne brunch followed, after which we made our way back home.
Not much to do but wait around until 5pm, when festivities continued with a cocktail hour & toasts. My PIC and I gave the first one, quoting our buddy’s elaborate covid emails somewhat relating to our poker game that we continued online, but mostly relating to his testes (don’t ask, and most of us had forgotten about them entirely, entertaining as they were at the time). He’d even gone so far as to compose lyrics to a blues tune, which I “performed” a cappella before we got serious & expressed our joy over their union, and our decades-long friendship 
The party was catered by an outfit that also runs a restaurant 25 min away, and I don’t think we’ll be making that trip any time soon.
Chicken satay skewers I didn’t try, mini crab cakes that were alright, floppy spring rolls, and cucumber rounds with tiny shrimp were offered on trays for the cocktail hour. The main event was Korean beef bao, tofu fried rice, and sea bass fried rice. The beef was nice (I don’t like baos, and these fell apart immediately), and I can only assume that the Chinese guest contingent was equally disappointed by the fried rice.
This is a long way of explaining the lack of pictures, never mind the distraction of a very fun party. A bartender was also hired to make weak martinis, which was probably a good thing bc we took the Vespa 
We were hungry when we got home & tossed the rest of the Detroit pizza into the air-fryer, then went to bed.
My band is playing a benefit for the local homeless shelter tonight, so my guess is dinner will be from the food truck set up at the brewery where the benefit is taking place.
Looking forward to cooking again tomorrow night!
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Last night we had gochujang chicken (keeper) with short grain brown rice and quinoa plus smacked cucumbers and a little salad with sesame dressing.
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They both look great, but what a dapper looking gentleman! I might be partial but I love small weddings.
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Gilda got checked out today, to the tune of $1300. Ouch. 
For a 13yo with 159,000+ miles on her, she’s done OK by me. But it might be time to start thinking about a newer used model. Will see.
Went with TWO new recipes today: I’ve been craving coconut shrimp, when I’m not a big fan of coconut. Go figure. 
I found an easy semi-panfried recipe and tried it out with 5 Argentinian large red shrimp and 3 jumbo shrimp from a BJs package, sourced in India. Pretty good! Maybe a bit more salt in the flour mixture is in order. I made a dipping sauce of Thai chili sauce, apricot preserves, and lime juice that worked perfectly.
I also had a personal-sized watermelon, but didn’t want it with feta. I thought “what about mint?” and found a recipe for a very simple and refreshing salad with cubed watermelon, slivered fresh mint, and fresh lime juice.
A V&L alongside. Yeah, it was lemon instead of lime, but it still tasted good!
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You can, but it also contains veal. Look for “meatloaf mix.”
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I made a steak for dinner tonight using @linguafood 's cooking suggestions in the WFD thread and advice from a friend in another cooking group, I took the steak out of the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for haf an hour before dinner then seasoned it with salt and pepper. The friend suggested cooking it on high heat on one side for four minutes then three minutes on the other side then rested it tented in foil for 10 minutes. Taking the steak out of the fridge and bringing it to room temperature and letting it rest after helped. But I started cooking it on a medium high heat at the beginning and it was cooking faster than I would have liked so the steak got a little well cooked around the edges. I turned the heat down to medium low. I proceeded to cook the other side as instructed. The result was a medium cooked steak as opposed to medium rare as I wanted but I think the cut of steak was the problem. It was an eye of round marinating steak and Google tells me it’s a tougher cut of meat. I don’t eat red meat very often so I think the choice of steak was a poor choice on my part. I’m shopping at the farmers market now so the next time I buy a steak I will get it at the market and ask the farmer for help in selecting a steak.
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You might try cooking it straight from the fridge – the center stays cooler longer. Also cut against the grain for tenderness.
Eye of round is definitely chewier and has little intramuscular fat.
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Meatloaf mixes are also surprisingly rare to buy here - they are quite good with the extra gelatin from the veal
Never foil/tent your meat, it steams it and ruin any crust on it, plus when you remove any protein from the heat, it continues to cook so take it off earlier than you think you should. My favourite cuts of beef are strip loin, ribeye and flank. But prices are ridiculous these days so only treat myself occasionally. The thicker the piece, the rarer you can cook it.
Also maybe invest in a good meat thermometer if you don’t already have one.
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Or tent only very loosely.
An instant read thermometer is very helpful.
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No reason to tent a small piece of meat, even large cuts don’t really benefit from tenting.
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I kept my vehicles on average 10-12 years. My husband, daughter and later on my granddaughter objected saying I needed a new one. I liken myself to Deets in Lonesome Dove. No sense in giving up on something just because it has a little age on it. But there does come a time when you have to trade for a new one.
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Steak night.
Wagyu top sirloin served with a scallion-and-Yukon-potato gratin, roasted green beans, corn on the cob, and a sour-cream-and-chive sauce.
Veggies and herbs from the garden. 
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It didn’t quite make it to 100 degrees today, it is now a very pleasant 80. Salad is WFD. Cannellini beans, haricots verts, Gold Nugget and grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, sweet onion, pesto dressing, grated parm and poached shrimp. Mushrooms, shallot, splash of marsala and melted taleggio crostini. There was a nice icy cold Daiquiri.
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We enjoyed some of our favorite dishes at Cafe Panache,In Ramsey, NJ, including ribeye steak; butter poached lobster with sweet corn agnolotti; octopus with eggplant caponata; tuna tartare. It all went great with an excellent Priorat and Shiraz.
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Agreed. I kept the Good Old Girl (born in Kentucky in April 1999) for 15 years and over 206,000 miles. Gilda has done me good, but when the repairs start adding up, it’s time to put them out to pasture. I was told a decent trade-in amount for Gilda, so I’ll begin exploring opportunities.
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Crabcakes, and a cod shrimp patty Honest burger topped with bacon and cheddar from a place called Honest Weight in Toronto. It was my first time ordering a shrimp and cod burger. I guess I would prefer a lemony mayo/ aioli, or a basil mayo on it, rather than the cheese.
A scoop of Mint Chip on the way home from an ice cream parlour called Ruru Baked.
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