jaynesb

Some of the Max Burton plug in units have a temperature setting. I don't know how accurate it is though. (You can choose temperature or power mode.) Here's the link to the induction site review of the countertop units: http://theinductionsite.com/countertop-induction.php And a link to some more information about Max Burton units: http://theinductionsite.com/induction-makers/maxburton-induction-hobs.php (The website has a lot of helpful information on it too.) Jayne p.s. Yes, in terms of the question about the cast iron plug in, mine is similar but the brand I have is Broil King.

In 2008, I purchased a high-end brand induction cooktop when we did a kitchen renovation. I was very happy with it and at the time, gas wasn't an option because my neighborhood didn't have gas lines. I bought a small induction plug-in that we used during the renovations and it worked really well for us. I also bought a small cast iron plug-in unit so that we could still use our Whirly-Pop popcorn maker and a small Greek coffee pot since these weren't suitable for the induction cooktop. For the most part, I really liked the induction cooktop for the first 2-3 years but then, the cooktop started flaking out on me. I had numerous service calls and but I was getting more and more frustrated. It would stop responding and start flashing error codes while I was in the middle of cooking and it got to the point where almost every day, I had to reset the circuit-breaker in order to finish making dinner. All coils and boards in my unit had been replaced by this point in time too....I needed to replace it with something and heard that our neighborhood was getting gas service. So we struggled along, using the cooktop as best as possible and using the cast-iron plug-in unit as an alternate. Now we've got a gas cooktop and I'm very happy to not have electrical issues interrupting my cooking. I think that my case isn't everyone's experience though. That said, the things I miss are (1) How quickly water came to a boil (2) The fact that only the pan and food get hot, not the entire kitchen (3) the very-low setting that meant that I rarely needed to pull out a double-boiler. (4) easier cleanup. Jayne p.s. We're not getting rid of the plug-in units..... They do have their uses but we don't use them for everyday cooking.

My local Crate and Barrel is selling the 1 pound tins for a discounted $14.95 (original price $29.95) Jayne

I like the Cambro containers. I recently learned that the polycarbonate (Camwear) ones do contain BPA so if that's a consideration for you, Cambro does make other types that do not contain BPA. http://www.cambro.com/uploadedFiles/Content/General_Documents/BPA%20Information%20from%20Cambro.pdf Jayne

Food52 recently did a write-up on them in their Genius Recipe column. They used the Cook's Illustrated's recipe and there are some pretty good descriptions and photos. This version is adapted slightly from the Cook's Illustrated original. http://food52.com/blog/10431-cook-s-illustrated-s-blondies Jayne

I was there in 2012. http://www.legendseafoodhonolulu.com I went off in search of a vegetarian place and it ended up being closed. It was in a complex that I think was the Chinese Cultural Center but there were tons of people across the hallway trying to get into a place with large tables. There was a man who kept trying to put up a sign that said "closed" to try to discourage more people from walking in but it wasn't working. My husband and I were the only non-Asians in there. People really were enjoying what they were eating and we had to work to convince our server that we wanted strictly vegetarian food. In the end, we had an amazing meal. Almost all tables were for large families but there were a few smaller tables. Lots of drama and celebrations and families did have their kids there. I believe that this is where it was. It helps to have a car because we had to get taxi service and in the later evening, there weren't so many cars on the road so you couldn't hail a cab or anything. For higher end, we enjoyed Alan Wong's restaurant. Have a wonderful time! Jayne

My local Costco is selling Nature Nate's raw and unfiltered honey (American bees) in 2.5-pound plastic bottles. I bought it in the last 3-4 weeks. Not sure if it's a permanent offering or not. I can't remember the price. Here's a link to Nature Nate's website: http://naturenates.com/ I think it was $13.99. Jayne

We sometimes make it into pesto. There's a recipe in Mario Batali's "Molto Gusto" cookbook. It's basically blanching and shocking the broccoli rabe before using a food processor to help make a pesto from it. The one interesting addition is some dijon mustard to add back some of the pungency. Someone put a copy of it online http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978462925 I use the full amount of olive oil called for and usually use toasted walnuts instead of the pine nuts. Another thing is to blanch and shock it but instead of sauteeing it in olive oil/garlic/etc., we make a garlic-infused olive oil, maybe with some crushed pepper flakes and then dress the broccoli rabe with it. (This can be refrigerated overnight and served room temperature.) Jayne

I recommend Josselin's Tapas Bar and Grill. 2829 Ala Kalanikaumaka St. Poipu, Kauai, HI 96756 The menu is small dishes for sharing and everything we had was really good. (Good enough to go back 2 days later for another meal!) http://www.josselins.com Jayne

If anyone is looking for All Clad, there's a sale on now at http://www.cookwarenmore.com/ , an outlet for both first quality and irregular (i.e. maybe a tiny scratch or something) It will run from Sept 28 through Oct 27th. There are good deals all year long but the sales are even better. Also, I want to add that even though I've got regular saucepans, the saucier is a very useful pan. I've got both the 2 quart as well as the 3 quart saucier pans. The site also sells Wusthof knives (including irregulars on these also.) Here's what the website says about the irregulars they are selling: "The irregular items have minor visual imperfections, such as a slight surface scratch or blemish that do not interfere with the use or long life of the item. Because of these cosmetic flaws the factory identifies them as “irregulars”, rather than full first quality. All items are personally inspected by us and must meet our approval before being shipped." To give an idea of the prices, for the 1.5 quart (with lid) D5 being discussed above: List price: $ 190 Cookwarenmore.com Irregular price $ 91.99 (this is a special) Irregulars that are not considered specials are an additional 20% off during the sale with the promo code on the website. Jayne

I had similar problem with pound cake sinking with a ricotta pound cake (by Gina DePalma) http://bleedingespresso.com/2007/11/dolce-italiano-contestricotta-pound-cake.html What I did notice when I made it might relate to the pound cake you are making. Pan size (or alternatively, how much batter I put in the pan) made a difference. Maybe even the difference between a straight brick-shaped pan as opposed to a pan where the rim is wider than the base could make a difference in how much batter is in the pan and how the structure forms during baking. After a couple of ricotta pound cakes that sank or overflowed and then sank, I decreased the amount of batter in the pan I was using and used the excess to make cupcakes (always a good thing!). (The ricotta pound cake recipe also has an interesting instruction in terms of baking instructions but it doesn't really apply since you are using a cold over start. The cake bakes at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and then the pan gets rotates and the temperature is lowered to 325 for the remainder of the baking time. Note about that recipe in case anyone tries it, lots of online comments show that people found that extra baking time was necessary..) Jayne

There used to be a mailing list called fatfree.com where members discussed fat free vegetarian and vegan recipes. (Below a certain amount of calories derived from fat was the way fatfree was defined for the list.) It dates back to the early 1990's and I don't think it's active anymore. However, the archives of discussions from 1997 onward are still available as is a recipe database at http://www.fatfree.com/. There's also an FAQ there with a lot of information and resources. I realize that the website might be of limited use since the recipes themselves don't have the comments or ratings that are present in many current recipes websites. Also, some of the information can be out of date. There were a lot of creative cooks out there so you might like some of the recipes. Very often, people were trying to modify a standard recipe to be fatfree. (Some attempts were more successful than others.) Jayne

I just saw this link to a video: http://newyork.grubs...ating-eggs.html (The video is credited to the Chinese website Jifenzhong.) If for some reason, the video is removed or not available, basically, what you are seeing is this: A woman breaks an egg into a bowl and then inverts an empty plastic water bottle over the yolk and basically slurps the yolk into the water bottle by squeezing the bottle gently. (Bottle looked to be about half-liter size.) She then plopped the unbroken yolk into a separate bowl. Jayne

I'm not quite answering the question but thought I'd jump in with a suggestion for what to do with those favorite pans that aren't magnetic. When we switched to induction, we had a few non-magnetic pans that really aren't made in an induction-suitable version. I wasn't as happy using the conversion disk. Specifically, the pans were (1)a Whirley Pop aluminum popcorn pan and (2) an ibrik (a small copper and tin pot for making Turkish coffee.) So we bought a single portable electric burner/hot plate. I think it's by Broil King and we got the ceramic kind but I think they also make a coil version. It's kept stored away for the most part. We typically aren't using it at the same time as the induction cooktop. So for popcorn, we typically put the burner on top of the cooktop surface so we can use our ventilation system. I think we also used it during our kitchen renovation and in theory, it is also an extra cooking surface if we ever need it. This solution works for us because both pans didn't have very wide diameters. The portable unit wouldn't have helped much if the cookware had been a large skillet. Jayne

You could also check the Harold McGee's article Curious Cook Baking Soda article for additional information although the recipe for alkaline noodles there is different from the one in Lucky Peach. Jayne