andiesenji

Thanks Andie. I never really thought about the 'history' of crockpots. You are truly a font of all culinary knowledge...as is also demonstrated in your wonderful new blog! Count me as an enthusiastic fan! Part of the history bit is because I am a "collector" and I am one of those obsessive types that just "has" to know the history and pedigree of the things I collect. Much of the information was collected long before the internet and I have stacks of notebooks with information I copied at libraries and some hand written before the days when libraries had copiers. See what I mean about obsessive? While a lot of the info is printed, it is surprising how much dwells in my memory, totally forgotten until something sparks and it pops to the surface. That Everhot roaster is a classic, Art Deco design, never used, and the "jewel" of my collection. Manufactured in the late 1930s. Never used and I have the original box. Isn't it pretty?

I have a perfectly nice, fairly low calorie and should be satisfying dinner planned. Now I am craving latkes, cheese, roasted or smoked and every other darn thing you have pictured today and I didn't even go back a page. Have I mentioned about the drooling? Now I need a bib!

I have several Crock-pots and slow cookers, ranging from two of the tiny 16 ounce "Little Dipper" Crock Pots - perfect for keeping hot dips or sauces hot, to the biggest that actually has a crockery lining, a Gourmet Pro 10-qt that I bought at Walmart three or four years ago. (Big disadvantage, it weighs 25 pounds empty!) And I think all the sizes in between, however I just gave two away (3 qt and 6 qt) to a young neighbor who is coping with her husband being gone (military) and raising her own daughter and her sister's two children. Anyway, I am pretty sure I bought one of the first Crock Pots that came onto the market - the crockery liner was not removable - and loved it. Unlike most of those made today, it was deeper than wide and the heating coils were only around the sides, none in the bottom - stuff simply did not stick to the bottom. A good sized chicken would fit with room for a few vegetables. Ditto a pot roast, stew meat and so on but it was either on or off and the 'ON' was not hot enough to boil (which was the whole point). It produced many, many meals and went on to its just reward after years of constant use. Did you know that the idea of the Crock Pot actually came from an engineer who was trying to develop a way to slow cook beans the way his mother did in the "deep well" burner on her electric stove? Hotpoint introduced the deep well burner in 1946 and was marketed toward the women who were continuing to work outside the home after the end of WWII. (Most kitchen range production had ceased during the war as the manufacturers were turning out military goods) The engineer worked at Naxon Utilities, a company that made sun lamps and some other small appliances and the company patented "The Beanery" (unfortunate name because it made it sound like a one-purpose appliance). Then Rival bought Naxon (for other patents) and discovered this possibly useful small appliance. Their engineers and designers tweaked it a bit and the Crock Pot was born. My mother had one of those Hotpoint ranges with the deep well burner - push a button and the burner dropped to the bottom and the small stockpot that came with the stove would fit perfectly into the "well" and the low setting would cook a pot roast (or beans) over a period of several hours, using less electricity. Anyway, I have always been a fan of Crock Pots and their various named siblings. I follow the blog of another Crock Pot fan: A Year of Crockpotting and subscribe to email updates. Just got one day before yesterday. I also have a couple (or three) of the electric roasters that work about the same way as a Crock pot but they have metal "pans" and racks and some came with extra interior containers so one could cook multiple items at the same time in the roaster. (Actually, I have four - a Pink Westinghouse, a "Harvest Gold Hamilton Beach, a white Nesco (my grandmother's) and an Everhot.) This "old" idea reappeared a year or so ago with a slow cooker made by GE that has two sections. Divided GE Slow Cooker What will they think of next? Probably a version of something your mother or grandmother had.

There are a couple of people here in California that make vinegar from honey and also from mead and I believe the principle should be almost the same. I know the guy who is in Tehachapi and he learned how to make it when he was in Jamaica and learned how to make vinegar from cane molasses. This web site has instructions for making vinegar from Honey.

I recently got the Pourfect Whisk-A-Bowl from Chefs Catalog for my KA 600 and like the way it beats egg whites and whipped cream. I haven't timed it exactly but it seems to produce a finished product faster than the regular wire whisk. Of course I have also begun using a stabilizer for the whipped cream ChantillyFix which this vendor sells to individual in manageable amounts. I used to use "Whip-It" but I could only get it in those little packets and far too often it would be outdated and caked solid in the sachet. (I also bought some of their fruit powders and some Pink Pectagel but haven't tried them yet.)

Yet again I have drooled all over my keyboard. Thank goodness for the Pure Touch Protector. I've been following this thread with great envy. I can't cook any of the dishes right now because I have a long list of things I have to prepare for some volunteer events with which I am involved. This time next week I should be finished and able to cook what I wish.

Frankly, if I put something up on my blog, anyone is welcome to it. If I want to keep something private, I won't release it to the world at large. I have had copyright problems in the past with people stealing my artwork and profiting from it. Fortunately, I had copyrighted everything and had kept tight records of all of it. Also, some of my work simply was not easily copied and as most was specific to certain subjects and I was known in those groups, people were always quick to let me know when something was going on. I sued a couple of times and one museum, who had one of my paintings, and prints of it were being sold on the internet, sued the perp on my behalf. Since I no longer make a living from my artwork, I don't care as much as long as it isn't a big company or a foreign company making money from my art. If an individual uses it for a one-off needlework piece, they aren't going to hear from me.

I have a folder that lives on my Mac desktop and has for years. The title is simple "Recipes - Interesting" and at present it contains 735 items. Most are recipes, some are photos that accompanied the recipes and they all are dishes that seemed interesting when I read about them or heard about them and then searched for them. Some are folders with groups of recipes under a specific heading and one of these folders is titled simply "Food, etc." and it contains 656 items, none duplicating the recipes in the main folder. Another folder is "Christmas Recipes" and it contains 487 recipes, all related to Christmas. Some of these many recipes are scanned from my collection of cookbooks (long before I joined this forum) and some are typed from notes I took while talking to someone. Many are from the internet and from user groups when all I had was Compuserve, before the internet as we know it came into being. I will never live long enough to try them all because there are always new recipes and ideas falling into my notice. In fact, I was looking through this folder earlier today to find plantain recipes as yesterday my neighbor picked up a bunch from the Mexican market and when she got home learned that her husband and sons wanted to go fishing in Baja, so she gave me some of the perishables that won't keep till they get back and she isn't going to cook them just for herself. So, I'm going to make Plantains with stewed pork. The recipe sounds interesting and a bit different. It was dictated to me by one of the patients that came to my boss while I was still working. I added it to the folder in June, 2002. PLANTAINS with STEW Recipe from Mickey Delooie, from Grand Cayman 3 yellow plantains (close to ripe) 1 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup chopped onions 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tsp. chile powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin (or more if you like the flavor) 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice, ground 2 lg. red tomatoes 1 cup cooked chicken, pork or beef - cut into bite-size pieces Peel plantains and cut into 3/4 inch slices. Heat oil in deep skillet or saucier, then fry plantain slices until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and transfer to a covered dish. Pour hot oil into a heat-proof measure, discard all but 1/4 cup. Turn burner to medium, return 1/4 cup of oil to the pan. Add onions, saute until just translucent Add salt and spices Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly Add chopped tomatoes Add chicken, pork or beef. Cook for 15 minutes. Pour over warm plantains and serve with a green salad. So that's how I get inspired to cook something new and different. I've decided that I am going to convert this recipe (except for frying the plantains) for the Thermomix.

You are probably too young to remember the odd diagnosis of "can-opener thumb" that was so prevalent some 35-40 years ago. I worked for an orthopedic surgeon who saw a lot of patients with a peculiar symptom in the right thumb (if right-handed) even worse in the right hands of people who were left-hand dominate because the right hand muscles were weaker and they did not manufacture left-handed can openers. My boss recommended an electric can opener and the symptoms cleared up after a few months. He usually treated them with a cortisone injection into the affected joint and that relieved the symptoms while they were waiting for nature to heal the area.

Those are beautiful Kerry. Just another reason having an allergy to chocolate makes me sad. I am increasingly amazed at the things you and Anna produce. So, where's the recipe for the Boirotte au Pomme? Now that, I can have.

I can get a super tender, moist and flavorful turkey without all that manipulation. The trick is to have a heavy-bottomed roaster, with a tight fitting lid, that can be used on the stove top (two burners if it is BIG turkey), and a sturdy rack to hold it above the broth that is going to provide the steam that cooks it. No stuffing in the bird - one orange and one onion, studded with 10 cloves each, go into the cavity (along with the liver, unless you have other uses for it). The largest turkey I cooked in this manner weighed just under 35 pounds and was cooked in the largest of the Magnalite roasters. Seasoned with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and a sprinkling of granulated garlic and a couple of bay leaves inserted under the skin of the breast, it was joined by two cups of turkey broth (you can use chicken broth if that's all you have). It cooked for 4 1/2 hours over a medium flame. Both the breast meat and the thigh meat were completely done with an internal temp of 155 degrees. (Now I would use one of the remote probe thermometers set to alarm when the desired temp was reached. Back then I had a meat thermometer stuck into the thigh and began checking after three hours or so.) It was then uncovered, the exposed skin brushed with 1/4 cup of melted butter into which 1/2 tablespoon of seasoned flour had been mixed then into a hot oven (450° F.) for 30 minutes to brown. (Temps then 165° F) And then was removed from the roaster and covered with foil to "coast" for half an hour while I made gravy from the lovely, rich liquid remaining in the roaster. My guests were surprised to learn that I had not been up half the night cooking the turkey because ordinary roasting would require somewhere around 10 hours, or more. It was explained to me, by a food "engineer" that dry roasting drives moisture out of the flesh while the steaming method "exchanges" the moisture in the flesh with the moisture of the steam and actually carries soluble flavors deep inside. I don't know if this is true but it worked well for me. At the time I had two large ovens and 8 burners. I needed both ovens for other things and was advised by a chef friend on how to do this stove top method. He had retired from the Huntington Hotel so I assumed he knew the subject.

Those artichoke hearts (sliced) are a lovely addition to a strata, along with ham, cheese and caramelized onions, layered with slightly stale bread and soaked with savory egg custard. I don't have a recipe, I just wing it when putting one of these together. Here's some suggestions; stratas.

I'm allergic to chocolate. How cruel is that? I use it to prepare foods for friends and family but can't even taste it myself. The aroma is almost intoxicating and sometimes it is difficult to keep it away from my mouth.

I guess I am terminally prejudiced. I love my VitaMix blenders and have ever since I played with the one my mother had, purchased in 1951. I got my first one in 1969 (3600). My husband got that one in our divorce settlement so I bought a new one for myself (the 4000) in 1978. I still have it and it still works. (I even have the original plunger, a rather crude item made from what looks like a couple of wooden dowels.) It has the stainless steel jug. I got the 5000 (Total Nutrition Center) when I had my kitchen remodeled in '94 and it is still going strong. I've used it for every task you can think of. It came with the extra dry grinding container and it has handled a lot of wheat, rye, oats and etc., over the years, until I got a dedicated grain mill. A few times, while blending mustard, which gets pretty stiff, the motor would stall but after allowing it to cool down for the required time, it would start right up again with no problems. I've never used a BlendTec, although I did have one of the grain mills made by this company (K-Tec grain mill) before I got my Nutrimill. The K-Tec did not survive my pickyness. I wanted flour or meal that was even in consistency and I didn't get it with that mill. I returned it and had some problems getting a refund and was rather put off by the attitude that it was my fault the machine did not work properly.

Just got "Now Eat This" by Rocco Dispirito (150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods All Under 350 Calories) Love it!

I have a solution for this task. The sleeve-type storage containers for round crackers work nicely. Just drop all the pieces into it in a stack and stick the skewer down through the center. One of my friends lets her kids do this, rather than chance them sticking themselves with the skewers doing it the usual way. Works very well. In fact, with things that are to be marinated, she just adds the marinade to the containers. cracker & cookie keeper

I got one of the new silicone springform pans with the tempered glass bottom. So far nothing has stuck to it and the sides of a triple layer cheesecake/mousse came out perfect with not even a hint of smearing except at the spot where the "latch" is and that was very easy to fix. It does not leak either in or out. I tried it with pecan sticky buns and the result was lovely - However I did use a parchment paper round on the bottom, which peeled off nicely while the buns were still fairly hot. I have a lot of springform pans, from the very small to the large rectangles and I may retire them all and use just this one. silicone springform

To me, it is a tie between bread baking, apple pie - also baking and homemade sage-flavored sausage frying in a cast iron skillet. There are other wonderful aromas but these are my favorites.

I can't tell you exactly why your results are the way they are. I can tell you that in the south, sour plums (split and pitted) are slow roasted to bring out the natural sugars that seem to be locked up, even in very ripe fruit. The plums have to be treated this way if they are going to be used in a tart or other dessert, otherwise they have a bitter flavor that can't be disguised by any amount of sugar. Without this treatment, they are used in relishes and sauces where the sour/bitter flavor is desirable. I have some very old recipes hand-written in a composition book back in the '40s with recipes for sour plum sauce, sour plum "cordial" and some others that I can't recall at the moment. My grandmother roasted them in a very slow oven (probably about 200° F.) for two or three hours. Unlike other plums, these have a denser flesh and held their shape fairly well. I don't know if your plums are similar to those, but you can always try it with just a few to see if the results work for you.

For folks in the New York area, there is a TM31 listed on Craig's List The price is about $200.00 more than it costs when purchased from the Canadian vendor who sells to the US. It is a Euro model but the seller is including a transformer so it can be used on US electrical current.

From time to time I have volunteered at our local senior citizens center helping to teach people with handicaps how to handle foods and cook for themselves. For stroke survivors that have little or no use of one arm and hand, the main problem is holding something in place while cutting it. A "Swedish" cutting board has prongs onto which a vegetable, fruit or piece of meat or poultry can be impaled, thus holding it in place. An electric or battery operated knife is essential. It takes very little strength to operate it and will slice just about anything. For chopping, the gadgets like the "Slap-chop" or whatever it's called, work well with one hand and one doesn't need precise control. The kitchen at the center uses strong bar magnets on the grids of the stove top to keep pans and pots in place while stirring or using a spatula or similar utensil. Swedish cutting board This web site had numerous items for one-handed use. One of the seniors had her son make her one of these cutting boards. He fastened suction cup feet to one side of a plastic cutting board, drilled small holes and forced slightly larger stainless steel nails through so they stuck up about 1 1/2 inches on the other side - he covered the nail heads with a thin piece of plastic fastened to board with screws to keep the nails in place. It works as well as the commercially made one for slicing but doesn't have the vise.

This type of pear is ideal for making Pickled Pears such as these from The Splendid Table. I have an ancient recipe for pickled pears - also the hard winter pears - handed down from my grandma but I tried this one a few years ago when I was reading through The Glass Pantry. (neat book) These go beautifully with almost any meat or fowl but are especially good with duck, goose and game. I originally made them to go with a roast of wild boar. You can use the same recipe for Asian pears - they are about the same structurally and hold their shape nicely. You don't have to can them, you can reduce the size of the recipe and hold them in the fridge for several weeks.

Velveeta. There was a time when this was a staple in my kitchen because my kids loved it. Especially for grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles. I didn't care a lot for it because I liked (and still like) sharp cheese in my sandwiches. A few days ago I visited a neighbor who was making a dish with Velveeta and I ate a small cube. Gah! This stuff is practically tasteless. a soft, plastic mass that is also oily and bland. What have they done to it. I'm sure my memory is not that bad that I can't recall how the stuff tasted back in the '70s.

I don't understand that effect either. I love risotto but I rarely prepared it because it does take a lot of stirring to get the desired result and the arthritis in my arms and hands made it very difficult. I doubt that I prepared it more than three or four times a year. Last November I got a Thermomix and since then I have prepared risotto at least once a week. As well as the Thermomix stirs the rice, it doesn't break it up unless I increase the speed and I certainly was never able to break it up when stirring by hand.

Lovely combination. I often buy whole guinea hens at the Mexican supermarket and I loosen the skin, tuck orange peel and a couple of small sprigs of rosemary under the skin, and stuff some inside with half a lemon, and roast slowly in a pot sealed with dough. The flavor gently permeates the fowl, without becoming overpowering, and the drippings are a wonderful base for a very flavorful gravy.