Kayakado

Now I AM now officially freaked out! I never thought about teflon being in candy wrappers or chip bags???? I feel so naieve and clueless, avoiding teflon in cooking isn't enough. I heard an NPR program the other day about a company that tests people's bodies for toxins. They had tested Ted Turner, his daughter and grandchild and were interviewing his daughter. Ted had high levels of mercury and lead (suspected mercury source: fish, suspected lead source: his old house) Daughter had high levels of synthetic musk from cosmetics and healthcare products. Grandchild had high levels of teflon and flame retardant Suspected source for teflon: food wrappers on greasy food, appears the packaging is coated with it. Suspeced source for flamer-retardent-- children's clothing, they are absorbing it through their skin.

my favorites so far are Sisters stew- I made this about a year before the book was published and loved it, whetted my appetitie for the book. Sansa's Lemon Cakes/Cookies (medieval recipe) these were a big hit, open the cookie jar and it smelled like lemons sticks. I iced them with 10X, lemon juice and a little egg white powder to make a harder icing for storage and shipping. My princess-wannabes loved them! Shrimp & Persimmon Soup- very good! Great use for the frozen persimmon pulp in my freezer and the local shrimp. I have a glut of persimmons every year and hope to make the persimmon wine at some point

I got a idea from an ATK recipe for goat cheese rounds. To achieve the extra crispy coating they wanted they used crushed melba toast. I've been using it with good results on fish and other coated fried items.

I store those small jars in a drawer too but I use a paint marker to label the tops of them so I can tell at a glance what I have. I keep refills/bulk spices in a box in a high cabinet, those spices that I have refills for are marked with an X on top so I know I can refill it. If I was really good... I had a computer program to track my inventory.

I discovered a product that seems to work better than Aloe. I find if I use it on a burn immediately, it really makes it hurt less and heal faster. Here;s the blurb: Cactus Juice Miracle Gel is a clear cactus-based gel made with the natural plant derivative of the Prickly Pear Cactus. They also make a product we have found to be a great insect repellent that is non-toxic and safe for babies.

The next batch is the series by Diane Mott Davidson, as each book contains recipes as well as a good mystery.

I am almost finished "As Always Julia" the letters of Avis Devoto and Julia Child. It is a fascinating glimpse into the 1950s. They discuss recipes but also topics of concern for the times. Julia also gets her intro into the literary world through Avis and her husband's contacts. Fascinating for even someone not interested in Julia's books or cooking.

depending on the recipe, I add lavender flowers to butter or or liquid to disfuse it flavor (cookies, marshmallows)and strain the flowers from the liquid. Some recipes I can put the flours and flour or sugar in the food processor and whirle them to break them down (cookies and cakes)

I have two of those big commercial kitchen bins (rubbermaid touchless flipper top 23 gal models), 1 in the kitchen and 1 on the porch to the garage for recyclables. I wanted something that was big enough to only need emptying once per week, The recyclables I only need do once per month. I use plastic bag liners with both. I had to get a large galvanized trash can in the garage to hold trash, if I missed the pickup or had smelly shrimp shell garbage. I live in an urban area along a river and rats are a problem. I even had to buy a small metal can to store grass seed away from little rattie teeth. Plastic trash cans in the garage or outdoors was just inviting the rats for a catered banquet. Heck, they even chewed up a neighbors plastic kayak and made a home in it. Finding the galvanized cans took numerous trips around town to locate them.

You might want to wade through this - lots of savory marshamallows and applications http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/40358-homemade-marshmallows-recipes-tips/

I like the stats showing how many others have a particular book in their library. Right now Mastering the Art of French Cooking sits on 666 bookshelves besides mine.

I got an email with an updated release date of Sept 16, 2010

I thought about an ISI, but too much plastic for my taste. I bought a Liss, totally stainless. I have 2 tips (regular and tulip),2 heads and 3 bottles (½ pt, pint, quart). It gives me plenty of room to experiment or just make appropriate size batches for the portion size I need. Liss was also ATK's best choice.

I would think seriously about wrapping it in a heavy bath towel before unscrewing that lid. If it did come off the heavy towel might prevent it from too much collateral damage

Great idea but I think I can make one for a lot less $$