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matcha, steak, bacon, honey, and more

Flannery Beef's dry aged ribeye steak, California Holstein

Just a list of food I've been buying online lately. Flannery, Dandelion, and INNA Jam are Bay Area companies but still easier to buy online. It's nice to have access to all sorts of great food like this and not be restricted to local grocery stores. I feel better ordering directly from companies too.

Haven't figured out what food items Internationally would be great to order (although I did order a Katsuobushi block that hasn't arrived yet). If you have any ideas, send them over.

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bananas and tomatoes

Looks like banana and tomato prices are holding steady in these inflationary times. Eat up, both are good for you anyway.

Some of the best tomatoes and NorCal famous are the Early Girl dry farm tomatoes (Dirty Girl grows them well) and definitely worth the premium. Of course the common Cavendish banana is good but I do like candy apple bananas if they're around.

Nice to know Wall Street and Fed don't really care to manipulate the banana and tomato market like everything else (for now at least?).

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a couple favorite dishes

Probably the best thing I made and ate last year was this white truffle risotto (recipe from the French Laundry cookbook). It's a simple dish and it really is good. I got the white truffles from Market Hall. Folding in whipped cream, the white wine, the amount of butter, the small amount of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and onions versus shallots, surprised me when I was making it. I think I made risotto correctly for the first time — I used fewer ingredients and paid more attention to actual cooking with some toasting and a lot of absorbing and stirring that needs to happen to maintain the integrity of the rice.

The second decadent thing we ate recently was this Hokkaido snow beef from Chateau Uenae. "Hokkaido Snow Beef. Located in the Hokkaido Prefecture, about an hour outside of Sapporo is Chateau Uenae. Cattle is raised in sub zero temperatures in the pristine Hokkaido countryside."

It's an A5 BMS 11 wagyu that's over the top. The superlatives of rich, fatty, melt in your mouth I heard about are all pretty true. The fat coats your tongue but it's a delicious fat. I got these 4 ounce steaks from A-Five Meats which is close to our office near the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. This is supposed to be a "holy grail" type of steak and it is good and I would certainly buy and make it again.

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my cookware recommendations

pots and pans – Mafter Bourgeat

Go with Mafter Bourgeat and get one of their black steel pans (the 11 7/8" one) and get the remainder from their stainless steel collection: the 9-1/2" and 11" fry pans, the 1-3/4 quart and 4 quart sauce pans, the 7-1/2 quart stock pot, and optionally the 4 quart saute pan. Altogether, these should run you about $500-$600.

There's a small detail with these Mafter pots and pans that's not in most cookware. The handles are attached in a way where the rivets don't go through so the interior is clean.

Also:

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King Cake season

King Cake from Haydel's Bakery
King Cake from Haydel's Bakery

We love us some King Cakes.

Haydel's Bakery is our favorite. We always get the sugar only (the sugar + frosting is pretty sweet) and we get the package with the coffee, bead pack, etc. because why not!?! The high costs of these cakes are due to FedEx shipping but good luck trying to find a legit King Cake outside of NOLA. Buy NOLA and support their economy!

Antoine's and Gambino's are pretty good too.

I have yet to try a filled King Cake which is usually cream cheese but there's lot of different options (flavored cream cheese, brownie filled, praline, German chocolate) so a bit of choice overload.