natasha1270

fyi... I do not know if this applies to the commercial Vita-Mix blenders but I believe they are having a Mothers Day Factory Sale at the end of the month (April 30).

This page has very nice reviews of the Manual Torchio, Lello 2720 & Dolly extruders: http://www.allaboutspaghetti.com/extruderpastamaker.html eta: I've read mixed reviews about the Kitchen Aid Pasta Extruder attachment but it might be a more affordable option to try out.

My favorite seasonal holiday treat hit the stores a few weeks ago - Mary Sue Pecan Nougat Eggs. I especially like the small 3oz size - perfect nougat to pecan ratio. Have heard they are pretty great if you microwave them 30 seconds but mine never seem to make it that far. I know I should wait until after Lent to indulge but they are so perfect and fresh right now I can't help myself! My other Easter candy weakness are the insanely expensive Medicis Almonds at Williams-Sonoma. I limited myself to 2 boxes and plan to dole them out sparingly. Also, recently picked up a carton of Milka Chocolate eggs (sucker for cute packaging!) - they were pretty good. Any other seasonal confections to be on the lookout for? ps. Chris - If you have a World Market nearby, they carry the kinder hippos too.

Perhaps because the cellophane noodles are sometime referred to as 'long rice'?

Add some bunches of oregano or rosemary to coals when grilling. Or similar to Heidi's suggestion you can lay them on the grates and place meat on top.

Do you recall the Air Core infomercial cookware line? It was a similar concept but probably not all that well executed. Just did a search on Amazon and there are a few similar items available by Thermos & Sunpentown.

Maybe this is a good time to experiment with dried seafood and preserved/dried meats? Not sure if this is at all helpful but pot-in-pot refrigeration seems like an interesting cold storage concept. http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pot-in-a-Pot-Refrigerator

I'm kinda like jsmeeker - I've heard of combi & cvap but don't really know what they are all about. I did see this Westinghouse CSV oven on HSN recently - http://kitchen-dining.hsn.com/westinghouse-tritec-csv-steam-oven-with-accessories_p-6199921_xp.aspx Where does this fit in? Is it a type of gateway steam oven?

Another barefoot in the kitchen victim here. Once opened the door of overstuffed freezer to have a frozen solid 24 oz block of West Virginia Bacon slip out and fall immediately onto the top of my right foot. Very painful, perfectly rectangular shaped bruise but luckily no broken bones. Also have a particular spot on my right forearm that always hits the top oven rack.

In Northern Va, Lurpak (Smor, Kerrygold, President, etc) is also around $3.99 sometimes on sale $2.99 Kerrygold was just on sale for 2 for $5. I'm always floored when I hear how expensive KitchenAid Mixers are outside the US and that people are apparently willing to pay.

Just another thought: I'm wondering if microwaving the canned coconut cream would speed up the 'cracking' process?

Haven't been to the vending machines at work in a while but I used to crave gardettos. Another guilty vending machine pleasure would be the cheddar ruffles potato chips.

I've seen packets and small cans of coconut solids at Grand Mart. Maybe you could use a combo of oil and solids to replicate this or perhaps try with frozen coconut milk?

I too have never made it, but the internet suggests that if you soak the rice beforehand, steaming only takes 20-30 minutes. This definitely works. I do the pre-soak/steam sometimes when making biko (filipino coconut rice treat) and usually add a few pandan leaves in the soaking water.

I remember reading the ghost chili is being developed into tear gas hand grenades in India.

Only caught an episode or two of Take Home Chef and he seems harmless enough. Judging from his bio on Bravo.com, he would seem to have a bit more in the credential department than his Top Chef counterpart, Padma. Will wait and see how that translates on Top Chef Masters. editted to correct link.

The tetra pak are the closest to the real thing I have tasted. Obviously, straight from the source would be optimal but I wouldn't want to pack a coconut in my lunch box or gym bag for a post-workout refreshment. re: frozen. I like the frozen juices as well but the few varieties I have available here also contain sugar (in my freezer I have one that lists 8% sugar) and in some cases artificial flavoring. These asceptic packages list only coconut water or coconut water/vitamin c in the case of vita coco.

Last week, I happened to catch the last bit of the previous weeks re-aired episode and noticed they re-edited the Padma/Blais exchange. Makes you wonder just how much they are messing with the contestants that doesn't make it to air?

Oliver - I've seen a few tomato/tomato juice based smoothie recipes (usually along the lines of a bloody mary or gazpacho with cucumber or onion & tabasco and maybe yogurt) and savoury lassis - Salt Lassi (yogurt, chives, salt, cumin, ice).

Jealous of your strawberry and raspberry stash! Maybe jam or fruit leather? Just found this strawberry bbq sauce recipe that sounds interesting: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Strawberry-BBQ-Sauce-358990

I purchased a vitamix a few weeks ago and have been smoothie-ing almost daily. Also, purchased this book: 100 best smoothies and juices because it seems to have a lot of nice flavor combinations I wanted to try. So far we have run through a few of the jamba juice clones which are essentially lemonade, sherbet, frozen fruit and soymilk (I like the 8th continent brand), mango lassis and yesterday was fresh squeezed cara cara oj, bartlett pear & candied ginger - should've added some ice but otherwise very nice. We tried a mango/kiwi/pineapple (i think) that was a little less successful - I didn't blend long enough for all the kiwi seeds. My kitchen is beginning to look like a smoothie kiosk.

Great timing. Just the other day as I gingerly opened the freezer door to avoid falling objects, I decided to write down everything in the freezer on a dry erase cling I have on the door and start using up my freezer pantry until most are crossed off. If this works, I may adapt the list to use full time since I am terrible at managing the grocery shopping. For your stock, maybe a pot pie, risotto or rice pilaf?

The really big difference is in the full-fat versions. Probably around 300 cal for Fage & 160-170 or so for regular.

This is a fun little cookbook: Entertaining Hawaiian Style For a Tiki/Trader Vic vibe maybe Teriyaki Meatballs or Rumaki, Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken Long Rice. Why not macaroni salad? Poke is very popular, too. I picked up this recipe for Huli-Huli Chicken from some magazine long ago and we love it: Huli-Huli Chicken 3/4 c ketchup 1/3 c soy sauce 3 tbsp packed brown sugar 3 tbsp lime juice or mirin 1 tbsp grated giner 4 cloves garlic Marinate chicken or pork 20 min to 24 hr. Bake or Grill. serve with sauce (reserved pre-marinade) & lime qtrs.

I have a dualit 4-slice and am pretty happy with it. Much happier than it's predecessors from Krups & Kitchenaid although maybe I just have low expectations. There was a brief article in Washington Post home section a few weeks ago on toasters which reminded me of this topic: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022304623.html "Heating up. The first cycle of a toaster takes the longest. It's sort of like preheating your oven. The second and third cycles won't take as long." Do most toasters compensate for this? Do you find subsequent toasting to perform better? Thankfully (uh, to my knowledge) I have never experienced the cat/toaster issue?!