Ruth’s Chris Buttery, Melted Cheese Potato Delight

Included in our Christmas dinner (which we more appropriately call a feast) is the potato casserole shown below.  Gourmet Chef Elaine used a mandolin to make perfectly thin slices of potatoes and combined heavy cream, whole milk, and shredded Gruyère cheese, shredded sharp white cheddar, and grated Parmesan into a creamy sauce.  Garlic powder, salt, and black pepper were the only spices.  Plenty of leftovers that yours truly did not let go to waste.

As often happens, the first time you make a dish, you learn how to improve it the next time, and the chef wants it to cook a little longer and use our oven in convection mode.  I can't wait!

You can find the recipe at the Instagram link below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DR6HgL1j5qG

Volcan Tequila

Not only is the Volcan shown below a delicious tequila, but its 14.5" tall bottle is stunning.  It comes from the western Mexican state of Jalisco, where tequila is thought to have originated.  When we finish it, we will add it to our small collection of repurposed liquor bottles, which we fill with water and serve at special dinners.

Big shout-out to our friend Janet for this tasty treat!

https://www.volcan.com

BBX Pro

Forget a motorized wheelchair.  This guy is fishing at the Lincoln Park Pond in Kettering, Ohio, from the comfort of his BBX Pro.  That's short for Boomerbuggy X Pro, a micromobility scooter with an enclosed cabin, climate control, and safety features.  The Short Range model will set you back around $6,000 with a battery with a range of about 30-35 miles.  Still, you have to admit, that's pretty cool.

https://medium.com/evolve/discover-the-bbx-pro-a-mobility-scooter-that-redefines-independence-1a64a93b2b65

Radio

For no particular reason, my brain decided it needed to know why it's called a "radio", like Gourmet Chef Elaine's Sony shown below.  At first, I figured it might be an acronym like "laser" or "scuba", but that's not it.  It's derived from the Latin root word "radius," which means a spoke of a wheel or a beam of light, and words like "radiate", "radial", and "radius".  

At first, "radio" was used as a prefix, for example, a "radiophone" or "radio-conductor", anything that moved in "rays" or "radiated" energy.  While initially called "Wireless Telegraphy" and preferred across the British Empire, "Radio" was the preferred term in Continental Europe and the United States.  By the early 1900s, "radio" was crowned the worldwide winner, although still as a prefix.

By the 1920s, as broadcasting became a massive public medium for music and news, people dropped the "telegraphy" or "telephony" suffixes. The shortened version, radio, became the standard noun we use today.

Changing GMail Address

Google has announced that its Gmail users will be able to change their email addresses.  This is great news for people who have legally changed their name, for example, brides.  It could provide relief for people who regret choosing some goofy name long ago.  While you could always just set up a new email account, it's a hassle to get everyone to change your contact information and migrate calendar entries and files.  Now you can keep your single account, and both the old and new email addresses will deliver to your one Inbox.  Read the details and restrictions at the link below.

https://www.howtogeek.com/google-is-finally-letting-users-change-their-gmail-address

Standing Rib Roast

Gourmet Chef Elaine made the 6-pound Standing Rib Roast you see below, resulting in the best prime rib I've ever eaten.  The day before, she coated the meat with kosher salt and put it, uncovered, in the refrigerator overnight.  Using the reverse sear method, she set the oven at 225 degrees and let the meat roast for a little over three hours until the internal temperature reached the medium-rare temperature of 125 degrees.  The roast came out of the oven, and the temperature increased to 500 degrees.  Back in the oven for 7-8 minutes to sear the outside.  Be careful when you open the oven door, as there will be spitting going on.  All the details can be found at the link below.

We bought the roast at our local Dot's Market, where the butcher removed the ribs and then tied them to the roast.  That kept the extra flavor that the bones provide while making it much easier to carve.  Pro tip!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/how-to/packages/food-network-essentials/everything-to-know-about-prime-rib

2002 Château Lafite-Rothschild

I recently had the bottle of 2002 Château Lafite-Rothschild, one of the five First Growths, the highest classification of wines in the Bordeaux region of France.  I've been holding onto this for fifteen years, and the story of how I came into its possession is one of those rare, right-place-right-time stories.  

Back in 2010, I was searching for a 30th birthday present for my daughter, and thought one of the First Growths would be appropriate.  I searched and searched but could not find a bottle at any reasonable price.  Two days before her birthday, I decided I needed a "plan B", but as a last desperate try, I visited one of our local Arrow Wine stores.  I inquired if they had any First Growths, and was not surprised when they said they hadn't carried them for years, as the demand for such a pricy wine was nil.  He asked me if I wanted him to call the other Arrow Wine store to see if they had some. I  almost said "Don't bother", but a little something told me to have them check.  He called the other store and asked.  They said they did.  He asked how much.  His eyes widened.  When he hung up, he told me they had two bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild for $180 each.  I was shocked and made the drive in record time.  I looked around the store for glass cases, sure they would be locked up.  No so.  I found them on a shelf out in the open, and as I stared at them, I thought to myself, "You have to buy both of them."  One made the birthday gift I had hoped to give, and the one below waited for the right occasion to open, which was this last Christmas family dinner, shared with Elaine's youngest son and his wife.  It's the most amazing glass of wine I've ever tasted.

https://www.lafite.com

XHose Pro

Filling up our hot tub in the winter just got way easier with the addition of a Big Boss XHose Pro that I picked up at our local Greive Hardware store.  It's a twenty-five-foot, expandable hose that comes in a compact, 8.5" x 8.5" x 4" box.  It replaces a fifty-foot hose that is nearly impossible to unwind/wind when the temperatures sink below freezing.  I have one just like it permanently attached to our water heater, making a quarterly sediment purge easy to perform.  It's a really cool invention and I love it!

https://www.doitbest.com/product/702616/big-boss-xhose-pro-5-8-in-dia-x-50-ft-l-expandable-hose-702616

Light Ring

The latest addition to our home office is the light ring you see below, mounted on top of the TV that serves as the monitor for my Mac Mini.  It provides a light shining towards my face, highlighting the entire surface, instead of the natural light coming from the office's two windows, which makes half of my face dark.  This will be very useful for a couple of video calls I take in the office.

The light in the picture below is not on.  I took a picture with it on, and the glare coming through the camera was not a pretty picture.

Thanks to my lovely wife for this wonderful Christmas gift!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YJPJLFV

Using AI For Gift Ideas

If you're struggling to come up with a gift idea, AI can help.  The response below was generated from the request, "Recommend 5 stocking stuffer gift ideas for a five-year-old boy."  I like that Google's Gemini chatbot not only came up with suggestions I probably would have never thought of, but also included a brief explanation of why it would make a great gift. 

https://gemini.google.com/app