Smithy

Infested? In Palm Springs?! What pest, do you know? There should be an ag extension advisor to help, even if you have to reach across the pass to UC Riverside. Have you tried them for advice? You should be able to find someone who can give solid guidance, given your location. At any rate, good luck with the ordered olives!

Well. Sometime long about mid-October I was given a large head of cabbage from a friend's garden. I washed, shredded in the food processor, and packed it into a 1-gallon glass canning jar. I followed the instructions above regarding the amount of salt - overall, I think that head of cabbage got 3 - 4 Tbsp of salt packed into the leaves at the outset. I used some of the large outer leaves to hold the rest down, and filled up the rest of the space with a Ziplock ™ storage bag full of water. In order to make sure there was enough liquid to cover the shredded kraut I added some water, and then in order to ensure that the brine was salty enough I added more salt. (In other words, the salt/water/cabbage ratio wasn't very scientific, but it leaned toward salt overkill.) I didn't seal the jar, but instead topped it with a silicone lid that makes a nice tight seal for things trying to enter but allows gases to escape. Somewhere after 2 weeks I lifted the lid and sniffed. It smelled like kraut. I let it continue. Sometime after that I had to seal the lid for transport. So far, no explosions. Tonight we had our first dinner of sauerkraut and potatoes, with some pork chops. How gratifying! The flavor was excellent, and we have half a gallon left. I'm very glad I got around to trying this!

I'm traveling now and disinclined to pass up the interesting local foods that pop up where we are, so I can't participate much in this topic at present...at least not until I start running low on staples and need to find substitutes from the traveling pantry. However, I'm cheering you all on! I'm very impressed with the creativity I'm seeing here. @Michaela, I've used whole milk powder in bread recipes, but I suppose that doesn't help you on several counts. Meanwhile, I laughed out loud at your description of the chocolate cake recipe and its potential uses. Coma, violent children, indeed. :-)

What Annabelle said. Meredith, the one piece of advice I can give you - because your wedding party already sounds lovely - is to remember that this is YOUR party - that is, you and your new mate - and you should please, please have an excellent time yourself! Everyone else is there to celebrate with you and help you launch happily into a new life together. Bringing that around full circle to the original topic: do make sure you have time to eat!

I'm amazed and amused at the website...even without watching the video, I can just hear the excited voices! How can I not buy this to try it out!? Actually, for 20 bucks I'd be tempted to try it out...except that I'm not fussed about the carbs and calories in standard pasta, and I'm happy doing the occasional shred or julienne with what I already have, and I'm busy unloading stuff instead of adding. Still...I'm tempted. Let us know how it works out, Shel. :-)

That's exactly the advice included with my most recent Rancho Gordo purchase: "eat more beans". DH swears by soaking the beans in water with baking soda for some hours before cooking. We can both see bubbles generated during the soak. We haven't agreed on whether it influences the final digestive, er, outcome.

I think this topic falls squarely in the realm of First World Problems. Having said that, I'll say that we always cut grilled cheese sandwiches on the diagonal, nongrilled sandwiches crosswise, and - in DH's case - road sandwiches not at all.

Given that I have to stand on tiptoe to get the right angle and slam my weight down, I suspect you have a point. Nonetheless...if I ever meet Shel_B, I don't plan to challenge him to an arm-wrestling match!

Hmm. The books I've offered to Amazon have been worth peanuts compared to what I paid, and their "small cut" has been rather large. I wonder what I've done differently than you, JAZ? Ah well, I console myself with the donation to the "Friends of the Library" booksale, or to friends' collections, and the knowledge that I enjoyed the books until I decided to find them another home. (But still...what did you do differently? )

Soy sauce? A mild mustard? Grapes or grape juice or another fruit juice, to compare with the mandarin?

I keep checking back for more photos, comments on the celebrations, comparisons of the traditions in Mexico and Ecuador....and we've passed through the dark of the moon and celebrated our ancestors, with no further posts that I can see. Did I miss some announcement?

The reviews look great. Think I might have to get one of these. My wife bought one. It is a PITA to get clean. I won't use it. I've not found it to be at all difficult to clean ... just some hot, soapy water and a good faucet stream, and Bob's your uncle. Well, I've ordered it. I love onions but hate chopping them, so I'm looking forward to getting it. As for cleaning, I'm hopeful I can just stick it in the dishwasher. My parents gave me one as a stocking stuffer one year, and I use it fairly often. Yes, it goes into the dishwasher and comes out clean. I suspect that the dishwasher isn't doing the cutting blades any favors - any more than it would any sharp knife - but that hasn't stopped me. On the other hand, if I'm handwashing other items I'll just handwash it - my experience is the same as Shel's with regard to easy cleaning. The one drawback I've seen is that I have to cut the onions into quarters or eights to get them to fit the grid, and for me to get enough leverage. It's still less knife work, and a fairly even dice, and it controls the pieces and tear-inducing juices.

My mother had a Pur system on her faucet, and we all thought it was fine. The one funky thing about it was that the "filter life" light seemed to be intermittent. As a rule my sister or I just changed it on a regular basis, and everyone was happy. What have been the issues, either from reading or from experience?

Good for you, Vlcatko! Do keep at it, and keep us posted! You may help some of us other impulse-buyers to work our way down through the stock. I had a good start at it late this summer: after my sister and I spent weeks emptying our mother's apartment and throwing away or giving away (as appropriate) food, I came home inspired to do the same at my house. It worked for a while. I had the small chest freezer about half-empty, with the goal of emptying it before the year was out... ... then I went to the local farmer's market and realized I was running out of chances to buy the good locally-grown chickens, since they'd all been slaughtered and were soon to be sold out. There are now 6 large chickens occupying that newly-made space!

I am terribly sorry to hear the news. I thoroughly enjoyed Dave's voice, wit and thoughtful posts on eGullet. His last food blog gave a glimpse of an interesting life, very well-lived, with good family and friends. I know that he'll be keenly missed in our virtual world, and I know that the loss will be even keener for those in his real world. Linda, it was very gracious of you to tell us what happened. Thank you for taking the time to think of us. I take a lot of comfort in knowing that he lived a full life, right up to the end, and died peacefully without pain. Godspeed and comfort to Dave. Condolences and comfort and blessings to Linda, Rupert, and your extended circle of friends and family.

I generally buy my wild rice from one of the local stands (and I'm sorry I'm not in a position to just bundle and ship some to those of you looking!) but I don't know which of the bands harvests it. I do see, however, that some of the listings in rotuts' link provide hand-parched wild rice. I'd select that over the not-parched rice; in my experience it cooks up a bit more quickly and comes out more fluffy.

Sylvia's onto something. I'd add lamb: kebabs, stew, roast. Oregano and mint both go well with that meat.

I assume the photos you provided of making the colada morada were from this year. When do people start drinking this? Is it rather like a Tom and Jerry, or possibly eggnog, in the USA where people start drinking it whenever the holiday spirit moves them? Or is it more of a ritual drink that is consumed only during the festival days? If the latter, how long does this drink keep? You're making it well in advance. Thanks for the information about the naranjilla. (Now my mind is moving along tomatillo lines.) I appreciate greatly your including botanical names for your ingredients along with uses, tastes, and so forth.

Thank you!

More even cooking. Also I perceive a bit quicker.Perhaps because the convection dries the veggies' surface more quickly than in a non-fan oven?

This is lovely stuff. What's the charge for shipping some of those guaguas to Minnesota? I've gone back through your glossary to no avail, and haven't gone to Google with regard to ingredients. (1) Which are the naranjillas? That name tells me they should be orange, or look like oranges somehow. I've struck out. (2) Something there looks a lot like persimmons. Are they? By what name are they known there?

Y'all are making me think I need to check out the garage sales and thrift stores more often!

I love those comments: the oversized pretty but flavorless strawberries have no soul, and if you're using imported blueberries you're cheating your ancestors. Good for Fidelina. That colada looks like quite a drink. I love the color. What's in the plastic wrap in the next photo down? Sorry if you said and I missed it.

I haven't thought about baking stuffed mushrooms for quite a while. Most summers I do a few grilled portabellas. Brush with olive oil, grill gill-side down briefly to start them cooking; remove from grill. Stuff with a mixture of herbs, bread crumbs, maybe some crumbled sausage; sprinkle with grated cheese (usually something fairly dry like parmesan), and grill until mushroom is soft and cheese has melted. It's been a while. I like the sound of the flavor combinations y'all have posted upthread. Hidden back in some cupboard is one of those impulse buys I do from time to time, and then wonder what to do with it: in this case, peeled chestnuts. Mjx, you've given me an idea. Thanks!

Wow. Wow! Maybe I'm going to have to get one of these. Please, keep the stories and photos coming!