andiesenji

Speaking of coffee fetishes, I met a person yesterday who told me she had two coffee brewers and an espresso machine that she uses every day. One is for "breakfast" coffee, one is for "dinner" coffee because she doesn't want to "cross-contaminate" the brewers with different types of coffee. I know this kind of thing makes sense with teas that are so different (green, oolong and black) but this is the first time I've heard that coffee residue from one type can affect another type. I mean, it is possible to clean these things so they are fairly pristine. Both of the coffee brewers are the Technivorm, the breakfast has a thermal carafe, the dinner a glass one. I haven't paid much attention to the discussion about this brewer so didn't realize, until I got home and checked, how expensive they are. It reminded me of the Jack Nicholson character in The Bucket List.

That particular idea was from a study that has since proved to be spurious. The idea was that foods with a lot of acid would leach aluminum into the food and this was a possible cause of Alzheimer's disease. (same thing said of deodorants, baking powder and other products) This has been completely debunked. The form of aluminum that was found in the study did not come from either cookware or food ingredients, it occurs naturally in nature and actually had noting to do with the development or course of the disease, it was just an incidental finding. Fact sheet here. One of my aunts, who just celebrated her 98th birthday, has been cooking with "Guardianware" cast aluminum since at least the 1940s and not too long ago gifted me with a couple of pieces for my "collection" of cookware. Her brain is still sharp. Use and enjoy your Dutch oven. If it is does not have the non-stick coating and gets discolored on the inside from cooking something with a lot of acid, such as tomatoes, there is an easy fix. Fill it past the discolored area with water, bring to a boil and stir in a tablespoon of cream of tartar and boil it for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the discoloration disappears. It should return to its shiny state. The simple way to maintain the non-stick coating is to avoid using metal utensils. I've got a couple of non-stick original Calphalon skillets that are fifteen years old and still have their coating intact but I have always used wood or more recently silicone utensils.

I still fry my chicken in lard. Ditto corn fritters and hushpuppies. It has to be hot, as noted above, to keep the food from absorbing too much of the lard. If done correctly the food will not absorb much at all.

Got this Made in USA enameled cast iron pot for $3.00 last Saturday. Still trying to figure out the maker. Love the color. Those side handles are like the ones on my much older cast iron Dutch ovens, made to hold a wire bail. The handle is quite different - obviously no problem with high oven temps, it is cast iron too. Made In USA

Drain them, add italian dressing, and they'll marinate quite quickly. I use either the canned or frozen, non-marinated, artichoke hearts all the time in a strata or similar breakfast/brunch casseroles. I chop them roughly, etc. I also use them as filling in crepes, also chopped and combined with some kind of cooked meat and for those who can eat seafood, I include them in dishes featuring scallops - they go very well together. Think of something similar to Coquille St. Jacques and substitute them for mushrooms for folks who don't like or won't eat mushrooms.

My neighbors brought me back two hot sauces from their last trip to Mexico. One is Tamazula Extra-Hot and it is and it is very flavorful, not just hot. Recently I mixed a few drops into my cream cheese/sour cream/horseradish sauce for braised ribs (no barbecue flavor) and it was terrific. The other is Salsa de Chile Chiltepin, made by Chilteca and is quite hot but also has nice flavor, more complex than many hot sauces. I looked them up and they are both available from MexGrocer.com I've tried another Chiltepin sauce but wasn't impressed and tossed it. I have all of the Yucateco habanero sauces (my local Mexican supermarket carries them) but the one I use most is the Mayanik Orange Habanero hot sauce. It has an incredible flavor and is absolutely perfect on pork.

That's such sad news. Yet again a sustainable crop being run over by something that may have more immediate cash returns but will eventually do more harm to the land. I have a sufficient supply to last for some time but I did place an order for some others on which I am running low. Have used quite a lot of the Kampot in preparing some delicate pickled peaches and apricots. The flavor really comes through and enhances the flavor of the fruit. Much better than "regular" peppercorns.

Plum Tart said it all, as far as I am concerned. I am guilty of just about everything mentioned in this entire thread. However, I don't think I am going to Hell for it, I simply decide, after a certain number of items have accumulated, that I am "collecting" and that is it. In other threads and in my blog I have written about collecting peppers and salts but I also have "collections" of other spices, spice mixtures, and God, have I got a lot of condiments. My "collection" of hot sauces pales in comparison with a guy in Valencia who has hundreds and has carefully constructed custom shelves to hold them, fronted with a plexiglass section to keep them safe in an earthquake. (He lost a few in '94 and is determined that it won't happen again. So don't consider it a waste, consider it an advantage!

They sell this kind coffee stir straws at Smart & Final. They are cheap. I've purchased them for parties. They are hollow, inches long and are also used in bars for mixed drinks. Are these similar to the ones you mention?

Quite a few years ago, when I lived in the Valley, a couple of neighbors from the UK would have Daddies sauce shipped to them because it was difficult to find in the US back then. Frankly, I never saw the attraction and I don't care for the so-called "steak" sauces because to me it ruins good beef. Now if the meat is somewhat "iffy" I can see that it would be an advantage to mask the basic flavor of the meat.

Katie, do try looking at A Year of SlowCooking here Scroll down nearly to the bottom of the page and check out the Best Brussels Sprouts ever. I made the recipe and they are wonderful. I do like the little cabbages, but these are better than any I have prepared in the past and I have been handling them for many years.

One of the 'older' men in my reading group (mystery book club) brings his own lunch because he doesn't care for the food where we usually meet for our "brunch/lunch" meetings twice a year (at a Honduran restaurant that lets us have a small "room" for free. His sandwiches are inevitably egg and bacon or egg and ham and are multi-stacked like a club sandwich. The last one was a triple-decker, that is, three layers of "filling" - four slices of toast. He says he has one of these every day for breakfast or lunch. When I say older, I mean older than me (71) I was born in 1939, he fought in WWII so I know he is older but is very cagey about his age! He always buys a salad to go with this construction. Frankly, I don't know how he keeps it together but so he does. And also uses a combination of condiments that are somewhat unusual: butter PLUS mayo, hot sauce on the eggs, and when topped with ham, a dollop of mustard on the ham. No ketchup but he has at times used what I would call "cocktail sauce" as it contains horseradish. He doesn't like the usual fare at the restaurant because he says "spicy food" does not agree with his digestion. Good God - I can't imagine anything being more of a shock to the digestion than those sandwiches. He is also quite tall and fairly thin so the calories haven't had an effect.

My friend got his Kamado from the company in San Diego and was able to pick it up at the warehouse so avoiding freight charges. His experience was excellent and several professional chefs have them in restaurants in that part of SoCal, which is where he first saw one. I think it may be a different company from the one referenced. And they are available by phone and do beautiful custom work. My friend's is a combination of Emerald and Cobalt blue. Kamado in San Diego He has the # 9 with 25" diameter grill and has a lot of the accessories - uses the meat hangers a lot.

Kay, your fruitcake looks beautiful. Do keep us posted.

Sweet Bay or Laurel nobilis does very well once it is acclimated. I have several well established tree/bushes. The first three years I protected them from the harsh hot winds by wrapping them with shade cloth when we had a wind event during the hottest weather. Now they are hardy and propagating like mad. I grow several varieties of thyme, sage grows like a weed. Some grow quite large and produce spectacular blooms. If you can find Cleveland sage, it produces beautiful flower spikes that dry beautifully and will keep for months in an arrangement. I grow a lot of pineapple sage as it attracts hummingbirds. Anise hyssop grows nicely. Any of the herbs that evolved around the Mediterranean sea will do well in your area and they all grow well in pots. Once established they should not be bothered by dogs. My dogs have always left them alone. Not so much garlic - most of my basenjis have had a great affinity for garlic and will dig it up and eat is as soon as I plant it. "Walking" onions grow well in the desert also. I grow them in large shallow planters - the same as the garlic. I grow almost everything in planters and pots so I can use drip irrigation and not waste water. If you have a shady area, you can grow borage, oregano, marjoram, parsley. They will grow well with less sunlight when you live in the desert. Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I wondered about that also and I think that is why the lid was sealed with dough for cooking the ribs - which were left for 9 hours while Leila was at work. She mentioned that a whole chicken was just a bit dry after prolonged cooking and figured the lid wasn't tight enough to keep the moisture from escaping. I read some of the reviews and the earliest ones from when it was first introduced mentioned "hot spots" in the bottom. I'm not sure if they have changed the heating elements. She bought it at Bed, Bath & Beyond when they were on sale and paid $29.95 as she figured at that price it wouldn't be too much of a wrench if it didn't work as advertised. I think they are starting a new round of sales now. She said that she also saw it a Macy's but it was priced higher and they were on closeout so she ended up at B,B&B.

I'm bumping up this topic because last evening I had dinner with neighbors and she recently got one of these Three-in-One Slow Cookers and has found it to be much more versatile than the 4-quart she had been using. (Dropped the crock and broke it.) She told me that she had not been using the old one as much because so many dishes she would have liked to prepare were either too small or too large for the 4-qt, and this way she has the exact size she needs for the size of each dish. Also the crocks nest when empty so the footprint of the appliance is almost the same as her old one. A very clever design for those of you who have limited space and who were wondering what size to get! She adapted an idea from one of her cookbooks and sealed the lid with dough when braising meaty ribs. They were absolutely delicious.

I do the same thing. I think it keeps the coffee warmer than that stirring business, and I swear I can taste the wood of wooden stirrers. +1 Save the planet. Cream in cup first, then coffee. Lordy, talk about obsessive fetishes. Let's hope that the folks who like coffee this way don't run into a similar thing that has long occupied tea fan(atics). Sometime after the turn of the last century there was some brouhaha about "Milk in First" and "Milk in Last" and the supposed "harm" there might be because it wasn't "sanitary." Or some such nonsense. My great grandmother, a very aristocratic Victorian lady considered that to be some kind of idiocy because she preferred having the milk in her cup first because it mixed well and it was safer for her delicate bone china cups. The milk was always warmed but not hot. The milk we had was actually more like what we know today as half & half as it was from Jersey cows and the butterfat content was much higher. Anyway, I like the cream in my coffee first and I like it warmed and I know exactly how much cream is in my coffee this way because I can see the level in the cup.

Well, you can perhaps order some from Amazon, as a last resort. Also, call Walmart and ask if they have the whole Embasa green chiles. My local store also carries that brand and they are also very good. The can I have identifies them as Anaheim chiles, which I can buy fresh but keep some canned on hand for those times when I need something and don't want to run to the store. while chiles, 24 cans These are grown in the Mesilla valley in New Mexico and that is where Hatch is located. I get the Herdez chiles in the big cans 28 ounce. I also have two cans of poblano peppers, 30 ounce, San Miguel brand. I got them at the Vallarta supermarket here. I know that MexGrocer.com carries them because I have recommended them to people in the upper midwest where Mexican foods are not easy to find.

If you want some excellent Mexican food, I recommend Blue Agave Southwestern Grill in Yorba Linda. I've had many meals there and never been disappointed. I posted about it here. and included some photos. The portions are very generous and I can guarantee you probably won't have room for dessert - I never have. Here's a link to the MENU

It all depends on the fruit itself. Some need only five minutes of steaming and others, especially if they have been sitting around for awhile, need more time. I test with a sharp bamboo skewer, when it penetrates easily and the fruit looks more translucent than when I started, and it has a soft, chewy texture, it's ready.

I have just a few minutes to read and post but thought I would mention someone who I met this morning while volunteering at my local polling place. This was one of the other vols., who took exception to the coffee, declaring it "cheap, filthy, trash" and the fact that it was prepared for the volunteers was insulting. Well, it did come out of a Farmer Brothers can but it was freshly ground, good quality coffee beans from Trader Joe's and everyone else, including me, had pronounced it very good. This person also was critical of both the powdered creamer and the half & half (also from Trader Joe's)- she wanted Land-O-Lakes Non-Fat 1/2 & 1/2 - also the disposable cups (cardboard, not styrofoam) and apparently the way the doughnuts had been arranged. She departed after less than an hour as she had "an important appointment" even though, like the rest of us, she had signed on to work a certain number of hours. Of course her complaints about the coffee did not stop her from drinking two cups of coffee while she was present, eating three doughnuts and taking a full cup and a doughnut with her when she left. Obsessive with reservations, I guess...

Try steaming just some of the fruit before dousing it in the booze. I think you will find it takes up the booze easier and it certainly improves the look as many fruits will look like stained glass after a little steaming.

There are coffee shops and "COFFEE" shops and they are so different as to be on different planets. Southern California has a plethora of the latter, devoted only to coffee (sometimes tea) in its myriad forms and with a seemingly unending list of variables and additives. I have to admire the order takers and the barista/servers who can remember all those combo names and get them right almost every time. I can't understand paying the astronomical prices charged by these places when the costs, when one adds up the "ingredients" are essentially a tiny fraction of the final price. Now the Starbucks drive-thrus (we have several in the Antelope Valley) have lines just about any hour of the day and well into the night. I drive past one on my way to my bank and have seen this first hand. I can understand the fervor with which true coffee fans await the arrival of the new crop of varietals and special roasts but the attraction of the generic stuff sold in the "COFFEE" shops escapes me. There is no such thing as "regular" coffee here - ordinary coffee shops and cafes offer black coffee with a battery of tiny half&half containers and a selection of sweeteners.

Gee Kerry, I think we must be related in some manner. I am also a cutting board junkie, even though I have a kitchen with a lot of butcherblock counters that are used as cutting boards, I don't cut chicken or meat on them, or stuff that tends to stain deeply (like beets and those purple carrots that have a component that acts like stamp pad ink). I have several of the glass cutting boards but never use them for that purpose. The largest exactly fit the width of the steel wire shelving I have in the pantry and keep small things from tipping and keep things with legs from dropping through the wires. I have wood bread boards that are used only for bread and woe be to anyone who tries to use it for anything else. I like using the more attractive boards for serving cheese. I have some cheese "plates" but can't stand the sound of the cheese knife impacting the marble - in one case - and the porcelain in another. I even have one that is made of cast aluminum, very fancy decorated with grapes and stuff, but just thinking about the sound of a knife on that makes me cringe. It is this one. What can I say, it was a gift! Besides, I think of cleaning all those little nooks and crannies and thus it is a no-go. I have a very old cutting board that has a hollow along one side. I'll have to take a photo. It has begun to split and I have to have it repaired before I use it again, but it was one of my favorites for a long, long time. I have several of the color-coded large cutting boards purchased at Star Restaurant supply and several wood cutting boards of various sizes, one reversible with spikes on one side for "carving" and some end grain, some edge grain and a couple of bamboo.