andiesenji

I have a couple of smallish heaters, including one like this for heating small areas. It is inexpensive and has worked nicely for me. If I want to heat my rather vast kitchen, I have a barn heater designed to heat large open areas. Using the oven to heat a room is not wise. The oven is designed to operate with the door closed and you can put the thermostat controls totally out of whack, which will require a visit from a technician to recalibrate it and will probably cost you more than purchasing an inexpensive heater. This one has a tip-over shutoff function and while the fan may seem a bit noisy when you first use it, it quickly fades into the background and I now don't notice it at all. (and I have very sharp hearing.) There are also radiant heaters, ceramic, with no fans which will heat just a small area but I get too warm with them at close range and feel warm only on the side facing the heater.

I have an emergency supply of Lin Hong Kong hot and sour soup which works for me when I am feeling a bit rocky. I haven't had a cold or the flu for years but this stuff is like magic when I have aches and pains.

My understanding is that you CAN filter out the organism but CANNOT filter out the toxins, which is the part that causes illness and possibly death. The organism itself can be consumed and persons who consume raw root vegetables, no matter how carefully cleaned, probably consume a fair amount on a regular basis with no harm. It is when the organism is held below the specific temperature for an extended time period, in an anerobic environment that the toxins are produced. I believe some of the commercial "natural" non-canned garlic containing products steam-sterilize the garlic prior to adding it to the other ingredients that are going to be held in the dairy case and have an expiration date. The "Greek Guys" who sell at our local farmers market told me that is how they treat fresh garlic that is going into their dips and spreads.

Fried cheese (in a non-stick skillet) combined with apples, either slices of fresh apple or with chunky applesauce. Just about any cheese that melts smoothly (without turning grainy) will work.

I'm partial to the Viva brand of paper towels, also select-a-size. I find they are handy as "hankies" also because they have a soft smooth surface but are tough. Much more absorbent than Kleenex.

THIS is a biggy! My husband, the engineer, has begged me for decades to keep "lab notes" of my kitchen endeavors. One can cook with gay abandon...or one can keep lab notes! I wish you well but have no intention of joining your resolution. I get so involved in my "experiments" that I forget to write notes, so I got one of the voice-activated recorders and as I often talk to myself anyway, it's not all that difficult to describe what I am doing and the amounts I am using as I go. I am often surprised when I transcribe it because by then I had forgotten that I added a particular ingredient or used an unusual implement.

One of the large self-retaining retractors would seem to be ideal for holding the cavity open while working inside a meat "envelope" or inside a bird.

Can you expand on how you use the towel clamps for trussing and other kitchen uses you have found for them? (Kerry shared some with me!) I use them to secure the flaps of skin together, working from bottom to top, they lock in position and are easy enough to grab and unlock even with oven mitts. They are not affected by oven heat. I'm away from home right now, will be home tomorrow, and when I get home will see if I can take some photos to show how I use them.

Quite a few years ago I got three of these Backhaus towel clamps which work nicely for "trussing" poultry of various sizes - one or two for chickens, all three for larger birds. They are cleaned and disinfected in the dishwasher or with boiling water. It's surprising how many kitchen tasks I find for these surgical instruments.

I have a silicone kneading mat that is similar, quite soft and far more flexible than the Silpat types. I also bought a pan liner of the stuff but it really doesn't fit my baking sheets. The size stated on the Amazon product page is not correct. 1t is 11 inches wide, not 12 and I have noted it in the review I posted. It doesn't have a wire frame.

I agree with the use of Silpat mats, or the cheaper equivalent by Fox Run I wrote about in another thread, parchment and etc. However for the intricate baking molds, Bundt pans and such, that need help to keep the contents from sticking, I use a home-made mixture that is better than any of the commercial sprays, including Vegelene, which I used to use but new formulation is not as good as the old stuff. There is something in most of the sprays that irritates my nose so I try not to use them. Possibly it's the propellant. I'm away from home at the moment and the recipe is not on my Macbook - I will post the formula for the mix I make when I get home.

I spent the week prior to Christmas (and the day after) in Livermore, CA, visiting my daughter and her family. I was treated to several lunches and dinners at a few places in Livermore and one in San Francisco. First we went to Rainbow Market which I read about in Cheesemonger - bought a lot of cheese and some other goodies. We then went to Samovar on Page street, San Francisco where I had the English Tea Service. Excellent quiche, scone was okay. They do serve real clotted cream, not the ersatz stuff. In Livermore we had dinner at Zephyr Grill. I had an excellent burger and the best fries (shoestring) I have tasted in years. Next was lunch at El Sacromonte. I had the tortilla soup which was very good. They also have an appetizer that is a large block of grilled cheese that would be a full meal (with the lovely crusty bread) for anyone. I highly recommend it, if you are in the area. With the soup it was too much for us so it was taken home for later attention. Another lunch was at Wente Vineyard We opted for the charcuterie which was excellent. I tried the beef sausage sandwich with pickled cabbage which to me was okay but not exceptional. One dinner was at Swirl on the Square which is similar to a tapas bar. I had an incredible grilled cheese sandwich and had no room for the other little dishes.

I received gift cards, which will be spent sometime in the future when I decide what I simply "can't live without!" A surprise gift arrived in the mail a few days prior to Christmas - a pomegranate seeder-gadget, from a couple of eG members who are also "gadgeteers." It's really nifty! Otherwise no kitchen stuff this year - like others, I have no room until I shift some things or sell or donate some. My favorite Christmas present was a visit with my daughter and her family in Livermore, CA. I was treated to dinners and lunches in several restaurants. I'll have to get her to send me the names so I can post about them. The food was just about perfect in each place, all different.

They are like the little spice tagines, only much smaller. Possibly a toy, My spice tagines are 4 inches in diameter.

The new Lodge Logic cast iron works fine with cooking acid foods, you just can't leave it in the pot for long-term "storage." I have a very large "camping" Dutch oven I use outside in the barbecue to roast tomatoes and there has been no problem all all, the "seasoning" it comes with is still fully intact and the price is certainly right. This is the one I have. I need help to lift it when it is full!

Looks like Balboa Park.

I've been to many a chile-field and I've yet to see a thin cloth or anything protecting the chiles, which is why a wipe with a damp paper towel is always a good idea! RG, I cover the ones I hang out on the deck with nylon netting because we have ravens who seem to think I hang them out there for their personal attention. They are very large birds and can pull an entire string of peppers off but seem to be wary of the nylon netting.

I'm bumping this topic up because there has been some mention of it on another forum (among Australian members) and I guess I missed this topic when it came up a couple of months ago. As far as I can tell, Crio Bru is just cacao nibs that have been roasted and coarsely ground. I buy organic raw cacao beans, roast them, remove the skins and use the nibs in various ways - not to make chocolate candy, but to see how I can use them without it triggering an allergy that I have had for many years. Dutch process cocoa does not trigger the allergy so I am able to cook with it, no problems. My allergist can't explain why I do react the way I do but he has seen me during an episode, relieved with an injection of a rapid-acting steroid. It sounds interesting, but a bit expensive at a dollar an ounce.

I just string several on dental floss (the unflavored kind) and tie it into a loop and hang the loop in the kitchen during the winter. During the fall, when it is still hot, I hang them out on the deck during the day and bring them in at night. If you have a lot of birds around, you can cover them with nylon netting - the stuff it cheap enough at a fabric store and lasts forever. I just cut it into squares, nip a hole in the center, put the string through the hole and hang the loop, letting the netting drape over the peppers like a semi-closed umbrella.

It's funny you should mention this. A few days ago I came across a Christmas card sent to me by a friend who passed away several years ago. He was a sculptor and worked mostly in the beautiful Madoc marble that is quarried near Niagara, Canada. He worked for a monument company and carved designs for tombs, vaults and the occasional angel or other religious piece. For his own amusement he carved animals, dogs, horses, sea mammals. The marble slab in my kitchen came from Vermont. On the unpolished underside there is a stamp that identifies it as a "natural product of Vermont."

I do give cookbooks to people who have specifically asked for a particular one or have given me a list from which to choose. I have given my daughter several cookbooks, after asking if she wanted them. Otherwise I give gift certificates so they can choose their own or something else. I give a lot of Amazon gift certificates and they are always much appreciated. I receive many thank-you notes with a report of what was purchased. It also saves a lot of wrapping paper or gift bags! And I don't have to trek down to UPS, FedEx or the PO.

In my experience with making yogurt for the past fifty years or so, your incubation temperature is too high. The optimal temp for the best flavor is between 85 - 100° F. (30 to 37° C.) There are multiple strains of bacteria that contribute to the development of the yogurt consistency and flavor and getting the correct balance is most important. I have different types of yogurt makers. The electrics maintain the same temp throughout the incubation period, about 95 degrees F. The insulated types start out at about 100° F., and the temp gradually drops over the 12 hours I usually leave it to incubate. The flavor is consistent with both methods, the texture depends on the type of milk used. If you use light cream (half & half here in the US) you will get a product as thick as Greek yogurt - no straining required. If you use heavy cream, you will get a result similar to clotted cream, perfect for spreading on toast, split scones, date-nut bread or ??

You didn't mention what SIZE package...

It's just a 15 x 20 inch bus tray on which I have put labels, leaving space for the size of the little containers I use, either the disposable cups or the little glass or metal ones used in commercial kitchens. I have stacks of them. If I'm doing a lot of baking, I use the disposables. If only one or two items, I just use the regular ones. It's gotten a lot of use this past couple of weeks. I have another tray for perishables - milk, butter, eggs, fruits and etc., currently it is in the fridge chilling some ingredients for later use.

I've had several KD scales, currently using a KD7000 and the KD8000 which I bought specifically because it has the Baker's Math/Percentage Weighing function. I always check a new scale against my triple beam precision balance scale with certified hanger weights. And from time to time I check the calibration using the old scale to be sure they are still correct and so far none of the KD scales has been inaccurate and they are in constant use. I've found they are accurate even with very small amounts. I use disposable plastic "sample" cups for weighing spices and etc., I think a sleeve of 125 costs less than $2.00. A few years back I bought a case because I have many uses for them, not just in the kitchen. At that time the case price (still on the box) was 29.95 and there were 20 sleeves in the box. I have a tray with stickers identifying the various ingredients and as I weigh them out, I put the cup on the sticker as that way it is easy to check the cups against the list to be sure I'm not missing anything.