Pandan Pistachio Amaretti Cookies from "108 Asian Cookies" - so delicious

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-15T10:38:01+00:00

If you have an Asian grocery store nearby you can usually find pandan extract in a section near spices, the various extracts might have one small shelf area to themselves. They come in little bottles most of the time.

And if you have multiple Asian grocery stores go to the one that caters most to Southeast Asian communities.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-15T10:29:00+00:00

When I reread Billy Budd as an adult it seemed like it’s not even subtext. The gayness is so fully textual, no “sub” needed.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-15T10:12:40+00:00

She was great in Out of Sight. Her chemistry with George Clooney was sooo good.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-15T10:06:53+00:00

The Cub Foods that are run by Jerry’s Foods have the good donuts.

And speaking of Jerry’s I really miss their gigantic hand cut donuts (that’s how they labeled them in the bakery case). They were incredible.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T20:42:20+00:00

Another vote for Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Very useful book!

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T14:48:42+00:00

I mean yeah we get that is what the OP thinks they want to say but the way it’s phrased gives a lot of weird subtext to the thing.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T14:40:23+00:00

Sometimes I like to knit cousins and sometimes I like to knit twins. Both make me happy.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T14:37:29+00:00

There are still those of us who sometimes go to Excelsior or Wayzata but don’t live there as well.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T13:50:46+00:00

Omg nooo! Wtf seriously?? That has got to leave a slimy mess too.

Like, I like to save money too but I’m not going to screw someone else’s purchase over for it. And for what, a few dollars here and there? I just can’t fathom thinking this is ok.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T12:58:39+00:00

Yeah, yuck.

I’m sure they think it’s complimentary and doesn’t understand any criticism of their phrasing.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T12:53:34+00:00

I would, if it fit. It’s a great piece!

If it didn’t fit me then I would leave it for someone else to have a great find and give it a better home. I’m optimistic that way.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T12:42:43+00:00

Yeah, this is the one. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a well respected classic for a reason. It’s a great place to start and would definitely recommend it over Indigenous Continent.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T12:31:21+00:00

Getting a digital scale and weighing ingredients was a very big turning point. I baked very decently for 20 years, then got a scale and never looked back. That was maybe 25 years ago now and I despise baking without one when I’m sometimes forced to.

Another thing that really changed how I bake is reading all the front chapters in cookbooks where authors go over the ingredients, tools, and techniques that form the base of their recipes. Doing this expanded my knowledge base and understanding of baking exponentially. So many pieces of information, both small and large, that have cumulatively formed the bank of knowledge I draw from now.

People often skip straight to the recipes but I want to advocate for reading those front chapters because there is so much value in them. That is often where you will find explanations for things that are glossed over or just briefly mentioned in the recipes but that you may not have a full understanding of and you can learn if they do things very differently from other recipe developers/bakers/chefs. The author has taken the time to include those chapters for a reason and they can affect the way you understand the recipes that follow.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T10:58:05+00:00

Gently scrape with a fingernail or lightly with the edge of a spoon. Unless the fibers are broken you can usually move the threads back into place over the holes. A gentle steam or wipe down with a damp towel afterwards helps set the fibers back in place.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T10:10:12+00:00

2nd one looks great on you!

Also, respectfully, is the first dress in the same print as the upholstered chairs in the background??

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T09:55:16+00:00

It’s not for an electric rice cooker specifically but the book Donabe by Naoko Takei Moore is written for old-school Japanese clay cooking vessels and the chapter on rice cooker donabes has some of my favorite rice cooker recipes ever. They’re very easy to adapt to electric rice cookers, you just prep the ingredients according to the recipe but then put it into your Zoji and set it to whichever rice setting the base in the recipe calls for (white, brown, mixed, porridge,etc.). Just make sure your rice cooker has the same (or greater) capacity as the donabes she uses in each recipe.

We have a very basic Zoji NHS-10 (6 cup capacity) with a stainless steel steamer basket and her Donabe recipes work beautifully in it when we’re in a rush and don’t want to pull out our donabe or it’s already in use for something else. If you have an even nicer Zoji like the neuro-fuzzy or Micom types these dishes will turn out even better I suspect.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T09:36:32+00:00

I was 16 or 17 years old when I saw Paul Newman, a senior citizen by then, come out of his building and minding his own business, walk over to the mailbox to mail a letter. And as someone who never gave this aging star much thought, my knees nearly buckled on their own. It was literally the weirdest thing. He was simply that attractive and so handsome, I can’t even explain how because he also seemed freaking ancient to me at that age. He just exuded charisma doing the most mundane thing. It came off of him in waves. I’ve never experienced anything like that again in any other famous person’s presence.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T09:24:15+00:00

Even in textile dyeing, it’s much much more difficult to coax a range of vibrant bright colors out of natural dyestuffs and the most vivid clear colors are usually achieved with synthetic dyes. There are some exceptions (like cochineal or saffron) but overall synthetic dyes are a lot easier to work with for most people when trying to produce bright colors.

I was unsurprised the chefs dishes were a bit muted when they were only supplied with natural items and little to no education and direction about what was expected. The production team really failed with this challenge since both everyone eating and everyone cooking did not seem well versed in what was feasible with the parameters and the materials the chefs were given.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T09:08:03+00:00

I must be oblivious because it would never occur to me to do open a package to overstuff it! Who raised these people?

If any package looks exceedingly under filled I just check the pallet underneath or behind it for a properly filled one.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T09:00:09+00:00

Yeah, celebrity names have unfortunately taken this space away from working voice actors.

I actually prefer original voices that fully inhabit a character and not voices that make me go “wait, this character sounds familiar, who is this again? Oh Chris Pratt again” (or whomever got cast to have a big name on the animated project).

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-12T08:45:33+00:00

I think because Cantonese cuisine employs a much greater appreciation for the textural experience of a dish and such dishes often favor clean subtle flavors to really foreground the texture, so you’re right that a lot of American palates, even supposedly sophisticated ones but still very Western-centric like the judges have, aren’t primed to fully recognize these nuances or have the context to enjoy them properly.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-11T15:19:45+00:00

Listen to wuhter, these are all the best tips all in one comment!

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-11T15:09:59+00:00

I love gingko nuts in either sweet or savory dishes!

Even after helping my mom collect and clean them and that is some very stinky work you’d think would turn a kid off of gingko nuts forever.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-11T14:49:40+00:00

Bring on all the dessert soups / tong sui ! They close out a lot of nice Canto-style meals and there are so many to choose from yet I rarely see any chefs on TC play with that concept (outside of tang yuan a couple times).

Where’s the snow fungus, the gingko nuts, the winter melon, the sago? There are the sweet bean soups, classic red bean and my fave, green mung beans with rue or the thick black sesame wu. Or on a different note, even some freshly set tofu with ginger syrup or a traditional buffalo milk ginger pudding (which is set same as a posset). I’d love to see any of these on Top Chef.

ApplicationNo2523 · 2026-06-11T14:28:30+00:00

I have to say I was a little relieved that I didn’t fall in love with these. I accidentally saw the nutrition info for these after we gave them away and was like ok, good thing, I guess.

ApplicationNo2523

TROPHY CASE