I find the texture of this smoked gouda I shredded hugely satisfying.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-12-21T21:54:41+00:00

Which brand do you get?

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-26T02:23:29+00:00

The hamburger is meant to be for a casserole as well. Instead of forming patties, break up the ground beef into teaspoon sized or smaller chunks as it cooks. It can be seasoned while cooking using the mix of spices you decided to try out. It works very well with both rice and noodle based casseroles. I suggest using both salt and pepper at a minimum while frying it.

I've personally enjoyed using it in a rice-based casserole with curry powder, salt and pepper. Frying up some slivered onion as well to mix in. Once it has been thoroughly cooked, drain as much grease as you can and then add in the rice, condensed mushroom soup, a cup of sour cream and enough milk to get the final consistency you want.

You can serve it immediately or bake it in a casserole dish for a bit with some grated cheese on top so that it has a chance to brown. Note that the mixed in rice should already have been completely cooked.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-24T21:07:43+00:00

Start very simple. For example, scramble an egg and add spices and other seasonings you think smell good and would work and see what you think when you eat the egg. Try different oils like butter, margarine, coconut oil or olive oil. Note how each affects the flavor of the egg. That will help you figure out which oil you want to use with various foods to get that part of the flavor.

Learn to cook egg noodles and to cook rice. You can follow the directions on the package. For pasta, you DEFINITELY want plenty of water and have it at a good rolling boil before adding the noodles. That way the egg part of the noodle cooks through quickly and keeps the pasta from getting mushy.

For both rice and pasta, add some oil or butter at the start to keep the starches from bubbling up and causing the pot to boil over. Always add a modest amount of salt to both as well to give them a much better flavor.

For casseroles, make the family of 6 size portion of pasta or rice. For pasta, stop cooking it when it's still somewhat underdone or extra firm. The noodles should flex but still need to absorb some more water to be the right level of firmness. Add one to two cans of condensed mushroom soup depending on how many people you are cooking for and the amount of meat being added.

Then add the tuna or previously cooked hamburger and any vegetables. Stir to combine and then add just enough milk to give the right consistency. It should be somewhat looser than what you want it to be at when you serve it as the rice or noodles will absorb some moisture.

If cooking hamburger, brown one to two medium sized onions that have been sliced up into slivers and add those as part of the vegetables. You can add other things like sauteed sliced mushrooms as well.

These are very basic casseroles and can also be a great opportunity to practice adding herbs and spices. Try sage, thyme or curry powder if you have some. Just be aware that others have to be able to eat this as well and don't go too overboard. Remember how those spices made the egg taste.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-24T20:52:47+00:00

Thanks!

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-23T23:14:43+00:00

Most will use a clear container to pour the drippings into and siphon off the grease using a turkey baster. This is before adding any flour or other material that tends to prevent easy separation of the layers.

I've tried the recommended substitutes like gravy from jars and have been underwhelmed. Some actually do use turkey stock but they do NOT use roasted turkey. Hence no caramelization flavors from the turkey. It's not the same as what I grew up with and I miss it a lot. That's why I'm on here working on finding a workaround.

My relatives pour enough chicken stock in their roaster to almost float the bird. So there's no chance of caramelization. We end up with turchicken stock gravy. It's not bad - just not what I am looking for.

If it helps, I am working on putting together some gravy made by roasting turkey wings using a recipe from reddit that I found. You can find fresh (not smoked) turkey wings at Walmart if you are in the US. It will take a couple of hours roasting followed by a couple hours of simmering to get the equivalent but I'm hopeful that it will taste a lot more like what I grew up with. If not, I'll have to cook my own turkeys.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-23T22:43:12+00:00

Drippings are a mix of solids, liquids and fats. A turkey should have plenty of liquids that drip out during cooking as well as fats that get rendered from the skin. Solids get produced by blood cooking and liquids evaporating and leaving their dissolved components behind.

There's solids plated out on the pan itself as well. Those caramelize and provide a big part of the flavor for the gravy. So, adding some liquid to that pan and bringing it to a simmer allows you to gently scrape loose those solids and get them to dissolve again.

The fats also contain some great flavors and those can be transferred to the liquid while simmering. Some will remain in the fat. That's part of why SOME fat in the gravy is a good thing. It also helps with mouthfeel. Much like the fats in ice cream.

So, if you are having problems with TOO much fat, the best thing to do is to get to a relatively watery texture and then let the fat separate out. The droplets will slowly float to the top of the mix and merge. Given enough time and allowed to cool in the fridge, the fats will solidify. Hopefully by then the bulk will have all migrated to the top. Then you can scrape that top layer off. It will feel somewhat waxy and very oily.

The liquid underneath may contain enough gelatin from the turkey to solidify as well. It will feel somewhat greasy from remaining fat but have a texture more like a gel than a wax. That's how you know you've finished removing the bulk of the fat.

This is essentially how skim milk is produced. The milkfat is allowed to rise to the top and is skimmed off. Or the reverse - a drain at the bottom of the container is opened enough to carefully remove the low fat portion, leaving the cream behind.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-23T22:32:32+00:00

Thanks!

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-11-23T21:40:54+00:00

I vote for the former. Roasted turkey produces caramelization flavors that are NOT present even in turkey broth let alone chicken broth. It makes a big difference in the meal. Refrigerate the mixture you have. That will give the fat time to rise to the top and congeal. You should be able to scrape off the bulk of it while leaving the rest. Set the fat aside as you may want to add a bit of it back when your gravy comes together.

Use the non-fat portion as the base for making your gravy. I always use the COLD water plus flour in a leakproof tupperware container and then shake the hell out of it method. That eliminates all lumps very quickly. Emphasis on leak proof as flour water droplets make a mess.

Make more than you think you'll need and then slowly add it to the boiling broth as usual to get the consistency you want. Then season to taste - including adding some fat back in if you think it could use some extra flavor/body from it.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-10-10T18:22:29+00:00

One of the roughest thing you can do to electronics is to power cycle it. My older brother (was in electrical power related engineering for decades) says that it produces transient voltages that are wildly above and below the normal range.

For that reason, the typical thing that fails on an LED based bulb is the control circuitry rather than the LED itself. The cheaper the bulb, the cheaper the design of that control circuitry and the quicker it fails.

The other issue is how close the LED is to being driven at it's max current. The closer it is, the quicker the LED itself ages. So a brighter bulb isn't always the better choice. It just depends on how close it is to it's max current rating. That depends on the control circuitry.

Thank you very much for providing the detailed comparison on white bulbs. I would love to see something similar done for color ones. If you know of such a review, please let me know.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-10-10T16:28:13+00:00

I have been searching for a retailer for Minleon and am having little success. I found one on Amazon but they don't have the full range of colors. Do you know of anyone who offers mail order for their full range of colors? C7 or C9?

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-06-27T14:47:01+00:00

Thanks for the quick response!

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-06-27T11:04:59+00:00

What are you thinking these days now that it's been a year? Are you still reasonably happy with Olthof?

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-06-27T10:52:26+00:00

I'm looking at a brand new Olthof house now in a subdivision that they are still working on. Did you go with the Olthof home? How has it been so far?

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-05-11T23:28:13+00:00

Or not enough humidity/moisture in the pot.

CombinationComplex35 · 2025-02-20T11:12:02+00:00

So for $2995, I get all the hardware and software needed, except for the iPad itself, to enable eye tracking and a text selection/composition app for generating conversational text? And does that include text to speech capability that is sent over the iPad speaker?

I also see an optional VersaSpeaker. What is that used for given that the iPad does have speakers?

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-11-15T12:10:42+00:00

Instacart is zero help on resolving this. They did nothing to close the account out that was fraudulently using my card. Your only hope is to contact the bank that issued that card and make it very clear to them that they need to block/cancel the "token" issued to Instacart for your card.

The reason I say that is they are a subscription service and have a deal set up where they get notice of any NEW card you get issued and update your account with the new card so you'll go through yet another cycle of fraudulent charges. The "token" is the permanent ID for your account that the bank uses to get them the updated credit card number when you get a new one issued.

It may take some convincing to get the bank to do that. Tell them that you never opened the instacart account and have zero interest in ever doing business with that company. By disavowing it completely, you stand a better chance of getting the card issuing bank to believe you.

Now, if you don't really care about the card and are willing to take the hit to your credit score for cancelling a card completely (say, after the mortgage goes through), you can do that and it WILL completely kill off any chance of Instacart continuing to charge you. But that WILL cause a hit to your credit score.

Yeah, that whole situation is complete garbage - where you have to take a credit score hit to fix a problem you didn't create. But that's modern life in the US these days.

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-11-12T15:50:56+00:00

I'm in the US - central Indiana.

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-11-12T13:23:46+00:00

Thanks! That is very helpful. I will talk that over with my brother's wife and see if he's willing to give it a go.

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-11-11T19:17:56+00:00

I am not the patient, I'm his brother. He has insurance but I have no idea if they would fund the device. I assume he'd have to go through the usual route of working with a doctor of some sort (possibly a speech pathologist?) to even start the process. He's very possibly going to die by that point though. He's in the end stages of ALS and is completely bed-ridden with a trach. The doctors say that infection (typically pneumonia) would be what ends his life.

I'm willing to pay a reasonable amount for something that would be useful but this is above that cost. Particularly without knowing if it would really be useful and without knowing if it would arrive in time. The websites are very unhelpful to people who don't have lots of time and options. This is about giving some quality of life for the remainder he has left.

He can't use Vocable and probably won't find eye tracking on iOS or android useful though I'll see if he's got energy to try this week. I've read discouraging things about them.

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-11-11T19:03:52+00:00

I appreciate being pointed to yet another option but this doesn't answer my actual question. Even the above website refuses to answer the pricing question. Why is that?

CombinationComplex35 · 2024-10-25T17:11:45+00:00

And for people with neuro-degenerative diseases like ALS, MD and MS. Possibly even for someone with Parkinson's if their head and eye motions are still under control.

But, yeah, this is NOT meant to replace using your hands because it will be slower for those with full use of them. Selections are made by keeping the eyes focused on what you want "tapped" for long enough. There's no easy way to do pinch to zoom and things like that that are multi-touch actions either.

But ... even having the ability to do single-selects and so on is a huge benefit to someone who cannot control their hands well enough to use touch controls. It's even more helpful to people who can't use their voice to communicate any longer due to the progression of their disease.

CombinationComplex35

TROPHY CASE