andiesenji

I too have phases but mine tend to be seasonal. Right now the snacks weigh heaving on the Mediterranean type. Dolmas, since I made a bunch last week and they keep well. A small portion of a crusty, artisan bread dipped in oil. Occasionally a bit of cheese with fruit (my favorite caerphilly). I too like saltines with peanut butter (homemade) but I also like a stack of saltines with nothing but a glass of milk. As I am still on my weight loss project, I am severely limiting my baking and consuming of biscuits, scones, muffins, tea cakes and (sob) cornbread. It's either than or give up my homemade butter for the duration and I would rather have a little butter on an extremely high fiber slice of toast than give it up completely.

I don't wear a wrist watch in the kitchen. I often wear gloves when working with dough, raw meats and chicken and various other tasks and the watch face would be covered and I'm constantly taking it off to wash my hands and often forget to put it back on after drying them so it may spend some time laying around doing nothing. Also I nearly ruined a somewhat expensive watch several years ago when I caught it on a faucet handle when reaching for something behind the sink. (no longer have that faucet - watch repair costly and also made me realize not to go puttering in the kitchen wearing items incompatible with kitchen tasks.) The clock I pictured in my earlier post is just above eye level - the timer is at eye level and I am just under 5'8" in my shoes.

As you probably know by now I have a lot of old (vintage) junk that gets brought out of storage from time to time, used for a while and then put away and something else takes the stage. It's fun to rediscover how nicely some of these old appliances work - made when things were expected to last for years, if not decades. I have one of the old Russell Hobbs kettles with the round plug in the kettle - purchased in 1977, still works. I got it because it had an automatic shutoff switch. Sunbeam made a nice kettle but it had to be unplugged and would boil dry if unattended.

He's got several books about regular cocktails, and a hand-written book his dad got from a friend of his who was one of the long-time bartenders at the Polo Lounge. I want to get him something that is more of a novelty. I ordered the book anyway, I consulted with his wife and she thinks he will like it. He's got all kinds of shakers and other bar stuff - I got a set of tiki torches for their patio because they have similar decor out there but haven't got around to getting the torches.

This has been a terrific blog, Heidi. The photos and your descriptions are so vivid that I am considering a trek down that way for a shopping expedition. I've a friend who lives "between the freeways" in Carson and has been inviting me to visit for some time. (Another basenji owner - non foodie.)

There are lots of time pieces around the kitchen but I have this battery-powered one that is also a timer (long-ring) that is quite loud. I can hear it when I'm out on the deck or in the driveway. I can easily see it from the other end of the kitchen. This is a newer model - comes in several colors - is cheap.

What gets me is when she scrunches up her eyes and grins, showing all her teeth - usually when talking about her boys - that's what got me thinking about Goldie.

A friend's husband has a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks and as he has done some work for me and refused any payment, I want to get him something fun, along with another gift. He is an enthusiastic amateur bartender and likes experimenting with unusual things. I know he has another book, published a few years ago, that includes some simple jello shots, but has nothing newer. I thought this looked like it has some newish tricks of the trade. I would really appreciate hearing if anyone has seen an advance copy and thinks this would be appreciated by someone who likes playing with liquor.

I have a black, French polished table, not presently in use, that suffered serious damage to a section in the center in the '94 earthquake. I didn't have another table at the time (that would have fit with my chairs) so I got an oval marble slab, gray and white, stuck a panel of felt on the bottom and used that for several years. Not only did it cover the marred area, it allowed the placement of decorative things that would have damaged the surface of the table. It worked fine for ten years. Your solution looks to be brilliant. My table still has not been repaired. I would have to have it transported to a place down in L.A. and the cost, for something I don't intend to use anytime soon, is considerable. I bought a new dining room set for less than refinishing would have cost.

I read the article "The New Geopolitics of Food" and found it very thought provoking. Thanks for posting the link.

Doesn't her accent and delivery remind you of a certain SNL character created by Gilda Radner? I know exactly what you mean. However my memory goes back a bit further and I was reminded of a very young Goldie Hawn on Laugh In when she would deliver a sort of gurgly giggle and follow up with a spot-on delivery of the punch line.

Not a problem if you have complete control of your child or children. Very young kids are attracted to the pretty labels on bottles and this can be a problem. I was in a local market in the wine aisle when a little child, carried in a backpack, grabbed a bottle off a shelf and dropped it, breaking the bottle and spraying the mom's clothes and my new, pale green, slacks with red wine. What annoyed me most was the woman just started to walk away until I called her back and suggested she get someone to clean up the mess - there was broken glass all over the floor. She seemed offended that I made a fuss. Her answer was that "he doesn't know any better" and "he likes shiny things." The clerk who came to clean up suggested she put the kid in the basked but she said "He grabs for things when he is in the basket" Gee lady. He grabbed for stuff from the backpack which put him much closer to stuff on the shelf than he would be in the basket. The cleaners were finally able to get the stains out of my slacks (silk and linen) but it cost me quite a bit.

I've had a couple that are quite good (and I am fairly picky about my tea). I like the Decaf black sampler from Adagio Because the "flavors" mask the "cardboardy" taste I note in most decaf teas - particularly the blacks. The decaf Earl Gray is also quite good. Republic of Tea has an excellent British Breakfast decaf tea and my favorite of all "flavored" teas, the Blackberry Sage decaf - which comes in tea bags I have served both of these to pretty picky tea drinkers and they had no idea the teas were decaf. The Ginger Peach Black decaf is okay but is not as good as the Blackberry Sage. I haven't tried any of their green decaf teas. I was given a tin of a decaf green tea from Serendipi Tea last year and have been slowly working my way through it. It is excellent but I am not a huge fan of green tea to begin with so have not brewed it as much as I have the blacks. It's the plain one from Korakundah Estate.

I've got the Wusthof come apart shears Inexpensive and hold up very well.

I've been watching Pati's Mexican Table on a local PBS station for the past three weeks. She is very enthusiastic and fun to watch.

That's one of the ones I posted about in my earlier post - although a different vendor. I do like Gourmet Sleuth too and have purchased many items, but haven't purchased vanilla from them.

Isn't there a "classic" French dish of poached salmon with a cheese sauce?

Do you mean teabag teabags, and are you joking? Because I don't think you will develop much of an appreciation for tea drinking floor sweepings. teachat.com is another good resource, if you haven't seen it. There are some very good teas in tea bags. They are not all "sweepings" - I have some from The Republic of Tea which are very good. Amanzi produces tea bags with premium teas and there are several others.

In my earlier post I should have posted the link to the site where you can join the Teamail discussion group which is an excellent resource for information. There are many very knowledgeable members - John Harney is a long-time member, as are other owner/managers of commercial tea businesses. There is also a very extensive list of tea shops all over the world. Not all the shops are still in business because these listings depend on updates by members, but corrections are made when the site owner is notified. I joined in '98 and I get the Teamail messages via digest, in a group, rather than individual messages. And there is also a Tea Blog that was begun in '07 and like my blog, does not have regular posts but the ones that are there are often very informative.

Handling lasers can be extremely dangerous unless in very controlled conditions. I know several artists that are using laser-cutting equipment. This is not something you do offhand. I have one of these which is a handpiece much lighter and easier to control (although you do need an air compressor to operate it) than a Dremel or even my dental engine. I used it for engraving in glass and crystal and for gem carving.

Geez! Now I'm hungry for bratwurst!

I have exactly one source to buy it from. But thanks for all the information, as usual. I don't go for the dried so much but desperate times require dried epazote. If you can get seeds you can grow it and it's a weed. I've found it by our train tracks. and it survives freezing winters. Or it comes back from bolted seeds. I've grown epazote from seed, although it is usually available in the local Mexican markets. Some of the plants are not as vigorous as others. My best results have been from this vendor.

Earlier this morning I went to a local diner where I watched one of the cooks prepare soft-boiled eggs in the shell, in egg cups, for a party of women (not all had the eggs). I couldn't figure out what he was using to remove the top part of the shell and asked. He showed me how he used one of these Jewelers saw blades clamped in a small needlenose vise grip, to SCORE around the shell, using the top rim of the egg cups as a guide. He then used a piece of tape - I think it was the paper first aid tape, to lift off each shell cap without disturbing the white part of the egg. He did it so quickly I had to ask him to show me with another egg (I paid for) step by step. He told me before he "retired" to part time work and moved up here, he worked in a hotel kitchen and that's the method he was taught years ago. I think that's a pretty clever way of doing it. The exterior of the white was firm, the inner part was still soft and the yolk was runny - perfect for me.

I've only owned two Microwaves with handles - my original Radarrange where the handle was part of the door frame and another one that also had the handle as part of the door and if the handle broke, the door would be inoperable. The ones I have now are push-panel opening.

That sounds like the one my neighbors have - theirs is SS and it came with a stacking grid so two plates (or Pyres pie plates) can be heated or cooked at the same time.