Yes, that is a large 8" mortar and pestle purchased from ImportFood.
In English, the greeting has become Happy Ramadan. So reads the banner at my kid’s school. However, I think your well wish far better captures the essence of the traditional “Ramadan Mubarak.”
Tried making some sous vide duck leg confit. Tried two ways - 68C for 36 hours using this seriouseats.com recipe from Daniel Gritzer, and around 12 hours at 80C using this Douglas Baldwin recipe, minus the brining.
Heated up the 36 hour version for dinner tonight in the oven and then under the broiler, with some Yukon gold potatoes and onion fried up using some duck fat and gelatin from the sous vide bag, along with some fresh thyme. And a simple salad. The 36 hour leg came out pretty well. Very tender, moist, and flavorful. Fall off the bone tender. I could have crisped the skin up a little more.
How did the 12-hour recipe turn out?
Haven’t tried it yet - trying to spread out confit dinners to keep from getting bored of it 
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Very nice! (Mr. Happy). Duck legs are 1 of the best things to SV, ever.
I tend to make mine per Chef Step. I have tried several other recipes and they also turned out fine. And no, I am still not tired of SV duck legs 
Try filling soft tacos with shredded meat. Or in Banh Mi.
Bmorecupcake, looking forward to hearing about your typical Ramadan eats.
Maria, gimme your flour tortillas. That’s all we’ve got here. We have no idea what real Mexican/Latin food tastes like. Pearl before swine, I know. Need to make a trip to Mexico or central America one day.
My favorite five year old became my favorite six year old the other day! Today was his birthday party and his mom called me in a slight panic this morning because she had just found out two of the attending guests were allergic to dairy for a total of four dairy free guests, but the cake and ice cream both had dairy- and also to ask me which dairy free cheese wasn’t gross.
She had at least a million other things to do and i insisted to help. I ran to get some Miyokos nut cheeses and baked the simple nostalgic magic bars using sweetened condensed coconut milk (!), non dairy butter and chocolate chips.
Horrible photo alert! It took some practice to get pretty clean cuts. I of course forgot to take a photo of the pretty plate or the table at the party (indoor picnic since the weather didn’t cooperate)
They were gobbled up by everyone 
Dinner was an Everything Salad- lots of salad greens, some leftover roasted potatoes, chickpeas, olives, red bell pepper, radishes, scallions and a wonderful tahini miso salad dressing (1/4c tahini, 1big tsp mild miso, 1 garlic clove, juice of half a lemon, splash of water, blend. Enough for a few salads). Lemon ginger kombucha a la carte
That is so lovely of you! I’ve been in that position, needing to make a last-minute adjustment for a child’s party. It is so important that they be made part of the happy event without feeling separate. This post makes me happy, because it proves “People are good!”. 
What did you think of Baldwin’s 80x12 method? And where did you find such nice duck legs. Jealous
Made chaat yesterday. Where our parents are from, saying just “chaat” implies fruit chaat. Traditionally, it was called samar (pronounced summer) chaat.
Everyone always laughs that I take an hour making chaat, but it always finishes fast. And the kids who supposedly can’t handle heat just gobble it up.
Speaking of which, I still vividly remember a friend’s reaction to chaat when I was in high school. “Why do you guys have to put spices in everything? Even in fruit and eggs!?!”
Getting the table ready for iftar (breaking fast.) Those five spears of blanched asparagus make it healthy.
Thanks it felt like the least i could do to help her out. And I can’t even tell you the last time i had a magic bar so that was a bonus!
I would be very into a fruity chaat- except for the spicy part! Hahaha. Good looking spread there- and now i want popcorn and fruit salad…
Dinner tonight is turkey enchiladas and a black bean/avocado/corn salad. That should take care of dinners for a few days! We’ve had so much rain that it’s a challenge trying to find a dry spell in order to accomplish anything out of doors.
(Turkey = 1 freezer packet gone!)
Tonight was pulled pork and home made tomato and mango salsa tostadas with lettuce and sour cream and a roasted corn bean salad on the side. (and wine 
)
Yesterday was spent doing errands, and a visit to Dali with some friends. Tapas were Patatas Alioli (fried potatoes in tomato sauce with garlic alioli) Gambas al Ajillo (garlic shrimp), Chuletillas (lamb chops with a peach sauce), Chorizo a la Plancha (Grilled Spanish Sausage w/Onions & Butter Beans), Queso de Cabra Montañes (Baked Goat Cheese with Tomato and Basil), and Grilled Octopus. No dessert, but plenty of sangria, followed by a couple of martinis for one friend, white port for another, a port tasting for the first (but we tried some too) and my beloved Cuarenta y Tres for me. No pictures, as we were too busy scarfing up the food as we talked.
It was a very good night. <3 Just what I needed.
Today was a quiet day spent relaxing, reading and watching stuff I had saved on Amazon Prime.
Dinner was a bone-in pork chop seasoned with Penzeys Tsardust seasoning, pan-seared, finished in the convection oven, and then an apple cider sauce to spoon over top.
Toasted orzo, and sauteed green beans, onion, radishes, and red bell pepper with thyme and Aleppo pepper.
There was some wine to end the evening. And all of next week to be on vacation. I’m kinda liking that.
Have a relaxing vacation!
Haven’t tried the 80x12 legs yet, will report back once I do - the nice thing about sous-vide confit is that it lasts for a little while in the fridge. I got the duck legs locally from a Mollie Stone’s grocery store. They’re from Mary’s, which is a poultry farm in California http://www.marysducks.com/
Zuni chicken and bread salad tonight - first time making it at home. i’ve had it at the restaurant before, and truly didn’t think it was ALL that - i’m partial to Thomas Keller’s roast chicken recipe. But the bread salad, while a bit fussy, was pretty killer, and makes the dish. with a champagne vinegar vinaigrette. Yumz.
Your dinner out last night sounds fabulous in every way! Happy vacation week!
There was sunshine!! After rain every single day lately i was thrilled to get out on a long bike ride. Found some vegan ice cream too
Dinner was…random. We can pretend that this is newsworthy. I picked up a mini watermelon that was actually pretty good- and then I discovered that it’s even better with Everything on it! Haha. Sides were sliced smoked tofu, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and trader joe’s white bean hummus. Bubbly kombucha a la carte.
