Smithy

I haven't seen anything about Prime Day this year. Under the current circumstances I'd be more surprised if it happened than if it didn't. Still, I'm curious as to whether Amazon has addressed the question either way. Has anyone seen an announcement?

That's exactly what they mean: 3-prong, and don't defeat it by tying the ground and neutral together, or by plugging into a 3-prong to 2-prong converter. I'm sorry for your discomfort. You're quite right that the instructions are oddly translated. I think they're hilarious - but if I'd just reacted with "laugh" you might have thought I was laughing at you. It's a lovely-looking machine!

So, does that mean she gave bad advice then, or that there are better techniques now, or tastes have changed, or...what?

Let's see if this works... https://youtu.be/gmxHmuV4vTU

Until this post, I didn't know about The Duke's Mayonnaise Cookbook! It looks like fun. A cookbook with a forward by Nathalie Dupree is off to a good start.

I've put in the updated spreadsheet; it's still pinned to the top of this forum.

Well, Jo could always pretend the jalapenos are zucchinis, and treat them accordingly. Leave them on someone's doorstep in the middle of the night. Put them in a guest's unlocked car. Ask @Shelby, she has dozens of such tricks!

Yes, I need to try this. More info, please! It looks like a good gluten-free crust idea.

I have never even thought about using cactus in salsa! Since I have a bag of frozen, chopped nopales that bought on impulse much too long ago, I'm all ears to this idea.

Thanks for the input, folks. In looking back at my post I realize I was unclear about when I had problems. The wet hands trick definitely worked for the initial stretching and folding (maybe I didn't do enough of that) and I don't remember having issues with stickiness then. The dough rose beautifully during that first rise, too. The problem came after that, when I needed to cut and shape the dough. (This batch was for 2 loaves.) My lessons to date have said that at that stage - the final shaping - to put the dough on a floured counter and use floured hands. That's where stickiness was an issue. Should I try doing the final shaping and proofing on a wet counter with wet hands instead? I have visions of the dough incorporating more water and getting sloppy.

My latest batch of bread: sourdough, using half bread flour and half heritage (Barrio Blend, from Tucson) flour. I'm pleased with the flavor. I still need some adjustments in time and temperature, though. This was done in the CSO on bread cycle. It almost got too brown on top at 450F for 40 minutes, so I had to lower the temperature for an extended time to get the interior to cook. It's still a bit chewy, as though the interior could have afforded just a few degrees more. Here's my real issue, though: how the heck does one keep the dough to sticking to one's hands? This dough is about 78% hydration. Despite my best efforts (heavily floured hands, heavily floured counter) the dough kept sticking to my hands while I was trying to shape it and tighten the surface. This loaf deflated somewhat; its counterpart boule got more handling, stuck more, and deflated a lot more. I finally tried oiling my hands instead, but by that time the damage was done. Grr. Shouldn't flouring my hands have worked? What else should I try?

Ripe summer tomatoes, freshly-sliced red onion, freshly-picked-then-chopped basil; good romaine lettuce; grilled marinated artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's. Cubes of last week's bread, toasted until dry. Red wine vinegar vinaigrette, heavy on oregano. There would also have been mozzarella pearls, slices of salami and proscuitto, and slices of freshly-baked sourdough bread on the side, but at some point my darling woke up and said, "where's the meat!?" We had grilled smoked Polish sausages instead. He grilled them, so I can't complain about extra work. Still. This hybrid salad (inspired by 2 recipes, thwarted by 1 husband) was darned good. I hope tomorrow's leftovers live up to the original.

@Kim Shook, I'd say a husband who can read your mind on an unspoken dessert is a real treasure. That sundae looks wonderful!

I laughed at this because of the amusing last line in your post, but in fact that rubber band is there to support a couple of toothpicks that are suspending the green onions off the bottom of the jar. Are you saying it won't hurt them to rest on the bottom?

I finally got around to trying this, and it's working well for me too. The interesting thing is that the greens grow at different rates. I cut all the onions to the same height the last time I used some, late last week. Look how uneven they are now!

A good tamale is a wonderful thing, and a reliably good tamale-maker is a lovely resource. I have lost track of the number of times I've been disappointed by having a huge slug of masa surrounding a miniscule few shreds of meat. The solution, of course, is to make my own...maybe someday.... David, is that the main difference between Mexican oregano and the "standard" (Greek, I assume) oregano, that the flowers are left on? I always assumed it was a different variety. I confess I've never looked into it. Comparing the Oregano Indio (which may or may not be Mexican oregano) that I have from @rancho_gordo with the organic oregano from the grocery store shows a visible difference, I admit. The Rancho Gordo stuff is on the right in this picture.

I am having serious apricot envy out here in Minnesota. Blenheims in the stores? Not a chance. And it's been years since I've been in California during the summer months. Ain't happening this year, either.

Thanks, @kayb. I usually get the fisheye if I try to work squash into our diet, but I may try to sneak some in via this method.

I'll add my opinion to those who went before. I'd agree that American scones seem a bit like southern American biscuits, but firm and not especially moist. I loved scones when I traveled in England and Scotland. It's been a long time, but I remember them as having enough fat and flavor that they were tender - not as tender as a muffin, but more so than what we call a cookie. The scones I have bought here seem more like overgrown and dry cookies. Disappointing. I haven't tried making them, but if I do I'll look for a British recipe.

Recipe links, recipe links. I've just been down the rabbit hole, looking for that recipe and wondering what I'd missed in the last few weeks. Now it looks as though it's an older reference (whew! I'm not losing my mind...yet....) Am I correct in thinking that you used @Jaymes squash recipe for the technique only, then added the crackers to make more of a casserole? I've been poking around @Shelby's writings and found a reference to this recipe of Jaymes' in the Squash Cook-off topic. Your treatment seems to add another step to make it into a casserole. I found this recipe posted by @Mayhaw Man, credited to @Marlene that seems close kin: Delta Delight Squash Casserole. I'm not trying to pick nits; I'm just trying to save other readers some search effort. There are a lot of squash casserole recipes in these forums!

I rarely post to this topic because our breakfasts are same ol' same ol'...yogurt and/or fruit for me; cereal and fruit for him. This morning, I simply couldn't face any more yogurt. Scrambled eggs with cheese, tomatoes, avocado, and some leftover sausage from last night's dinner. We made inroads into a very old package of corn tortillas. That stuff that looks like ketchup is a very-cooked-down salsa that turned thick and sweet from the cooking-down. Hot sauce needed; I have some from Tucson thanks to @FauxPas. (Well all right, the other reason I rarely post to this topic is that other posters' photos look so much better than mine! )

I mentioned earlier in this topic that a batch of our salsa cooked down so much that it's more of a tomato jam. We're into one of those jars right now. This morning's breakfast featured eggs scrambled with cherry tomatoes, some chopped sausage, cheese, avocado and that tomato jam. Nothing crunchy about it as with pico de gallo, but a nice complement to the meal.

Wow! I think I paid an inexpensive $0.75 yesterday for a generous bunch. One wouldn't expect cilantro to bolt quickly in northern Minnesota, but it does anyway. I like the look of David's pot-worth.

Welllll......that's what happens when I try to post before my 2nd cup of coffee. I missed out on the 2 largest ingredients: 16 c tomatoes (cubed) 4 c chopped onions. So sorry! Here is the entire correct recipe, complete with photo of the original family-venerated sheet of paper. Lauri's Cousin's Garden Salsa 16 c tomatoes (cubed) 4 c chopped onions 1 c chopped green pepper 1/2 c chopped jalapeno pepper 2 c white vinegar 12 oz can tomato paste 2 tsp chili powder 2 tsp black pepper 3 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp cumin 1/2 c sugar 1/4 c canning salt Combine all ingredients. Bake at 350F for 2 hours, uncovered, stirring occasionally. May add cornstarch to thicken after baking for 2 hours, if necessary. Load in clean canning jars, observing the usual requirements for sanitation and head space. Process in water bath for 20 minutes. Makes about 10 pints. Thanks (seriously!) to everyone who questioned the original, both publicly and privately.

Some years ago we arrived at my husband's daughter's house for the Labor Day weekend to find boxes of tomatoes, various peppers, and onions, accompanied by premeasured spices. "Nancy," said my DIL, "I know you love to cook. Our cousin has a bumper crop in his garden, and he brought over stuff to make salsa, according to his recipe. Want to help?" We had to go buy a few supplies: large roasting pans to cook the stuff; canning supplies; cheap white vinegar; tomato paste; gloves to handle the hot peppers. We had a lot of washing and chopping and conversation as the work went along, and we had help as friends dropped by and got involved. The results were so good that the next year, when no free bumper crop materialized, we went to the local farmer's market and got the necessary supplies. It's become an annual tradition. We can quarts of the stuff, in various jar sizes, for our families and friends. There are more pictures of the event in the What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? topic. This is a very forgiving recipe as far as proportions go. Over the years we've experimented with adding more or different hot peppers, or more onions (or both). We're careful to label the "extra hot" jars. We have learned that the style of cooking it down matters. This salsa is cooked down in a large shallow roasting pan, in the oven. When we tried it over the stove top in a stockpot, the surface area was too small for the salsa to cook down efficiently; it took a long time and a lot of stirring to get more or less the consistency that came without effort in the oven. Last year I learned that if you cook it down too long you can end up with a rather sweet "tomato jam"...still good, but thicker and sweeter than we usually like. Oh, one final note: this is one of the very few times I use the dreaded green bell pepper. Can I taste it in the final result? Not that I can tell. Does it help with the texture and color? Yes. Lauri's Cousin's Garden Salsa See note below! 1 c chopped green pepper 1/2 c chopped jalapeno pepper 2 c white vinegar 12 oz can tomato paste 2 tsp chili powder 2 tsp black pepper 3 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp cumin 1/2 c sugar 1/4 c canning salt Combine all ingredients. Bake at 350F for 2 hours, uncovered, stirring occasionally. May add cornstarch to thicken after baking for 2 hours, if necessary. Load in clean canning jars, observing the usual requirements for sanitation and head space. Process in water bath for 20 minutes. Makes about 10 pints. The salsa in the roasting pan, before mixing, then after roasting: Some of the bounty: This sight makes us feel very good about our work! Note: the recipe as originally posted omits 16 c tomatoes (cubed) and 4 c chopped onions. The recipe is forgiving, but not THAT forgiving. I've corrected it in a follow-up post.