andiesenji

Not all "cheesecloth" is the gauze type, loosely woven fabric. Real cheesecloth is also known as "butter muslin" and is reusable and I have some that has been in constant use for many years. Williams-Sonoma used to sell it at very high prices. New England Cheesemaking Supply carries it and so do many other online vendors. I also use regular lightweight unbleached muslin - it is 100% cotton and shrinks a lot but it works. I usually buy several yards at a time. It is used by clothing designers to make up trial patterns as, depending on how it is cut, it drapes much like other fabrics. I also buy the 100% cotton "flour sack towels" that are sold by some vendors. Smart & Final sells them and I have also found them at Sam's Club, usually seasonal - for holiday baking.

Me too. I have one fridge in my van, a trip there would necessitate loading in an extra.

I lent my TM31 to a friend who lives (and does catering) at Mammoth Mountain and her home is over 8000 ft. She had it for ten days. She didn't report any problems with the various things she prepared in it, including risottos, steamed vegetables and fish in the varoma, curry dishes, etc. I don't recall that she made any stock. She did use to to make several cakes and "slices" from recipes posted on forumthermomix, from mostly Australian members. There is another member who also lives at a high altitude, I think in either Switzerland or Germany. Some of the recipes in the EDC cookbook do contain more salt that I like so I cut way back on it and substitute herbs to get the flavor.

I've got a couple of these that work great with slack or very soft doughs and I have even used them for quick breads. One is a very old Griswold but I also have a newer, very inexpensive one similar to this that was made by Lodge. They discontinued it but from time to time one shows up on eBay and is worth getting if the price is right. When it is preheated in a hot oven, the oven spring is terrific and the crust beautiful. I just make a "hammock" of oiled parchment and roll the slack dough into the hot pan and shove it back into the oven.

Naturally it cracked! It knew you were going to take a photo..... Actually it looks like it is smiling. I can practically smell it. I'm not going to bake brioche today but I am going to bake a loaf of bread from some ready-made mixes I have to use up.

It's an ancient film (1944) but I am sort of addicted to TCM so a few days ago recorded and watched "The Canterville Ghost" which has some very funny scenes. The platoon of GIs, (Rangers) billeted in the castle, are invited to tea by the owner, 6-year-old Margaret O'Brien. The difficulties the GIs had with handling a teacup and saucer in one hand, a plate with cake in the other and attempting to eat and drink had me giggling and eventually holding my sides with laughter. There is a more recent film that has some funny kitchen scenes (also a vegetable garden scene) that I enjoyed: "It's Complicated" However, the best food-related scene is when Jane (Meryl Streep) takes Adam (Steve Martin) to her bakery and prepares chocolate croissants.....

That looks incredibly easy. I love brioche and my recipe also requires resting in the fridge overnight. Much more flavor.

I use a lot of sugar snap peas interchangeable with pea pods. One of my favorite recipes is this simple base to which I add what veg I have on hand. I generally use equal amounts of meat/peas and I use a lot more garlic (4-5 large cloves), and I slice it and after cooking it in the oil, take it out, reserve it and add it back at the end of cooking the rest. I used to have a great recipe for Garlic Beef with pea pods but lost it and I like this one better than some of the others because it does not restrict one to particular ingredients. I also add scallions or regular onions, in larger chunks, - quartered small onions, larger cut in wedges so everything is about the same size. You can blanch the snap peas first but I like them quite crunchy so usually don't bother. You can also use other meats. I have made this dish with pork, venison, chicken, turkey, duck and even goat.

I'm bumping this topic up to report on a problem with a pod machine. My friend Jeanette got a SimpleHuman pod machine abut three years ago and this morning it exploded - or rather part of it blew off while it was operating and she has severe burns on her neck, chest and upper arms, fortunately it missed her face. She is hospitalized and as I am not a family member I can't visit but her son phoned and gave me the news. He said the machine has been working okay up to now, although it has not been producing a full cup so one has to do two cycle to get a full one. They have been careful about cleaning it on a regular basis and always use filtered water. I tried to find some online info about this brewer but apparently it is no longer being sold. Amazon has a product page but says it is currently unavailable. This post is mainly a heads up for anyone who happens to have one of the SimpleHuman pod brewers.

You can also pickle green mustard pods. The green seeds are much milder than the mature ones yet have a tangy flavor that complements many foods. Especially nice with roast pork. In fact, I pick them, blanch them and include them in the stuffing when I make a rolled pork roast. When I was growing a lot of mustard, because there was no handy source for the black and brown seeds, I had a couple of patches but they did cross-pollinate. Here in the high desert and also in the SF Valley, where I lived for many years, mustard grows like a weed and I could get three crops a year, sewing the seeds in the early winter for the spring crop and so on. The beauty of this plant is that you can pick the greens, as long as you don't pull more than half the leaves off any single plant, cut off some of the side stems with the green pods and leave the rest to mature and dry.

I'm bumping this topic up because I came across this exceptionally tiny kitchen while doing a "Stumble" search in the Food/Cooking topic.(lots of fun sites) and you thought you had a small kitchen! My pantry is larger than his entire apartment, Tiniest Kitchen Ever? Jack's Micro Home

The easiest way to separate the links is to twist the casing at the end of the stuffer when the length you want has been filled. I get someone to help me - I have them feed the sausage meat into the stuffer while I catch and form the links. I used to try doing it alone but found that I didn't have enough hands to keep it going efficiently and it took way too long. I could process four times as much in the same amount of time with an assistant.

I do have trouble with manual can openers and I have the "One Touch" from Sharper Image (no longer available) And I have "a few" vintage electric can openers made by Sunbeam, West Bend, Waring, Sears, etc., and some wall mount crank type made by Dazey, Swing-A-Way, Rival and Can-O-Mat. Here's a Sunbeam on eBay I've picked up a lot of these at thrift stores and yard sales for so little that when they die I toss them and bring out another. Anything to keep my arthritic hands from developing pain.

Your blog is terrific and the photos excellent. Love your depiction of sausage stuffing. There are so many varieties of sausage that it is almost impossible to run out of combinations. I used to prepare a lot of wild game sausage when I had an arrangement with some hunters but as most have moved away, I now have very little chance at it. I am a big fan of the San Diego area and used to get down there a couple of times a year at least, either for dog shows or for visits to friends who live down that way, Lemon Grove, La Mesa, El Cajon, National City and Imperial Beach (all Basenji owners). I also recall some wonderful meals at various restaurants but unfortunately can't recall the names, except for the Beach grill and a Mediterranean place that I think was in El Cajon. I also recall a dinner at a Nepalese/North Indian restaurant in a little strip mall, next door to a UPS store in which the food was excellent but the service a bit rattles because there were nine of us and it was somewhat confused until the tables were arranged and everyone settled. There were three servers working our group, which caused a bit of confusion in itself but as I said the food was well worth it. You are correct that San Diego and the surrounding area does not get the kudos it deserves, especially since there are more really great restaurants in a much smaller area than in the L.A./OC area which means a lot less driving. It is also great that there are some terrific farms and fruit growers not too far away to make it difficult to drive out to the farm stands. One of my friends owns an avocado grove in Vista but doesn't have a roadside stand, she sells to a co-op that in turn sells at local stands and to restaurants. I simply can't wait to see all that you have planned for this week to delight and inspire us. Phoned my friend who lives in El Cajon. The restaurant is Himalayan Cuisine and is on El Cajon Blvd in La Mesa. The Mediterranean restaurant is Haritna Mediterranean Restaurant, also on El Cajon in La Mesa. She says the baklava is the best she has ever tasted and she has traveled extensively in the middle east. She says that when you visit, have a big appetite because the portions are extremely generous.

I got one a couple of years ago, used it twice, returned it. Shoddily made, took too long to heat up and did not maintain heat after food was added. Certainly not worth the price. A gimmick not really up to par.

Don't forget curds. Fruit juice or puree (seedless) that is thickened or "jelled" with egg yolks. Jelly can also be made with wine, technically a fruit juice, cordials distilled from flowers (elderflower and rose, for instance) &etc. Marmalade counts as "preserves" - the original being made from marmelos, quince in our language.

I like most bagels toasted. The only exception is the pumpernickel bagel when very fresh. The first time I tasted a bagel was when I was 19, in San Francisco while I was stationed at the Presidio. One of my roommates was a Jewish girl from Long Island who ferreted out the location of a Jewish bakery on Arguello Blvd., in the Richmond district. They were hot from the oven and after buying an assortment, we walked down into Golden Gate park and ate them plain, feeding some to the squirrels, who really seemed to fancy the ones with salt. It was probably two years later when I first got one that had been toasted and was served with cream cheese, (At Nosh-A-Rama in Studio City, CA) and never looked back. I like them lightly toasted and anointed with butter AND cream cheese - at home I mash them together - because I like the combination of flavors. There used to be a deli on Ventura Blvd., in Woodland Hills (now the site of a big hotel) that toasted split bagels on the grill, in butter if you asked, and those too were very tasty, toasted only on the cut surface and served with breakfast. They produced bagel sandwiches filled with pastrami, roast beef, chicken salad, egg salad, and salmon mayonnaise - the latter something I have not seen on a menu for decades. Geez, now I have to look up a recipe.

With that type of deck rail you can use the "saddle" type planters and some have their own drip trays or are self-waatering. Some are deep enough to grow the small(short) varieties of carrots, radishes and onions and are great for Shallots that are actually grown mostly on top of the soil. See them here. and some different types here.

I'm still buying from the same place and have never had even a minimal complaint. I use a lot of saffron but I also share it with family and friends who don't need so much. Last fall I came across this recipe for saffron cheesecake, loved it, as did my guests, and have made it twice more with great results. - I use a generous 1/2 teaspoon saffron. The first time I didn't have any ginger biscuits so I used amaretti biscuits (cookies) as I had a tin someone had given me and they needed to be used. I've also made the cheesecake with Danish sugar cookies - also from a huge tin someone gave me (coals to Newcastle gift) and they too needed to be used and being a diabetic, I don't consume many cookies make with sugar. They worked just fine.

Sorry that I did not see this question earlier. Caviar should be consumed as soon as possible after opening - if you must store it in the fridge, it has to be used within three days at the most. It is extremely perishable and even more so if it is allowed to sit on a table for a couple of hours, which is why it is usually served in a dish nestled in a bed of crushed ice.

There are several versions of "Flannel" cakes, some are made without leavening and are not as thin as a crepe, not as thick as a griddle cake or flapjack. This is the type served at Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood. At one time IHOP served this type. The thicker version I grew up with was made with oatmeal - I really don't have a recipe, it is one that I have made for so long that I just throw it together. A recipe that is essentially identical to mine is here. I was once told that the term "flannel" is derived from the Welsh and means a flattened cake baked on a "bakestone." But I've never been able to find an exact definition or source.

Today's Gear Patrol email included this Propane Coffeemaker by Coleman. Just the thing for the coffee fan(atic) who can't cope with instant or "campfire" coffee. Somewhat pricey but I do know a few folks who would use it early and often.

It is much easier to mix buttermilk with regular sour cream, half and half, blend well and that will give you the fat you need for the correct texture. I've done this with just about every kind of cake, quick bread and etc., with good results. Old recipes for these types of cakes call for "clabber" or soured milk which had not had the cream separated out.

Maple syrup for regular griddle cakes. Often over crumbled crisp bacon, no butter. Sorghum molasses mashed into soft butter for buckwheat or corn griddle cakes. For the thinner "Swedish" pancakes or similar (not quite crepes), currant jelly, strawberry jam, etc. For oven pancakes - Dutch Baby - puffy types, apple compote with cinnamon and sometimes mixed berry compote. For "flannel cakes" it has to be apple butter or pumpkin butter topped with toasted pecans.

Vinegar is measured with a pH meter. More precise than test strips commonly used in the past. There are many types of pH meters, fairly inexpensive. Some info here. And here You don't have to spend a huge amount on a pH meter but you do have to calibrate it often to be sure it is accurate.