andiesenji

Several of my friends have had success using eBid - the fees are less than eBay and they have short term seller+ specials up to 3 months flat fee if selling many items. No additional fees. You can check it out here: http://us.ebid.net/help_main.php I've been considering joining myself as I have a ton of books to unload, early Sci-Fi books, etc., as well as a "few" cookbooks.

Looks like a caffe latte to me, Jmahl. Looks delicious too. Wikipedia has expanded their entry regarding this subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte And have also corrected a few errors that were in earlier contributions from people who apparently did not know as much as they thought they did. I love the milky drinks in all their various combinations, no matter which title they have. My favored drink at home is hot, foamed milk with a cup of coffee brewed from my Senseo. I do have one of the super automatic espresso machines but am too lazy to use it on a regular basis (and it IS a bit intimidating). Well, it's not the using that is the hangup, it is the cleaning after. I haul it out for parties because I do have friends that are espresso fanatics but they do all the cleanup afterward. (I learned early on that it develops odd odors if not cleaned completely before being unused for a month or so.)

I made a batch of mayonnaise this morning and yet again I got rather mild lemons and I really didn't want to add more lemon juice because the consistency was exactly the way I wanted it. I added just a pinch of citric acid and the flavor improved exponentially. I may just incorporate this ingredient in the batch of aioli I will be preparing later today.

Great replies. I forgot to mention cheesemaking. I do use it for that and for sour cream. Some pie fillings are way too sweet for my taste and I have found that a pinch or up to 1/4 teaspoon produces a more complex flavor and no one ever guesses what I have added. (Pecan pie filling, for instance, is just too cloyingly sweet for me. Coconut and banana cream pies, ditto, and also others with caramel based fillings.) I also forgot to mention that I include it - near the finish of cooking and adding only a tiny bit at a time, until I reach the flavor I want - in a goat-meat based chili. The original recipe called for "reduced" lemon juice and because not all lemons are equal, (and one time I forgot to buy them) I began using the citric acid. It makes a huge difference.

ambra posted the following in the Low-iodine diet topic: "I thought you could use [citric acid] to help out your sourdough starter as well. I remember reading that somewhere." Rather than answer in that topic, I thought I would start a new one related to this interesting ingredient. Citric acid is also known as sour salt and is always found in the Kosher section in most supermarkets. (Unless the market is in an ethnic area, it won't be with the regular salt and/or spices.) It is indeed useful in sourdough baking but also in regular yeast baking. It also has been used in non-yeast baking as noted in this link, which I came across some months ago (while hunting for low-sodium recipes) and have been using the citric acid as indicated. http://users.tpg.com.au/pschamb/baking.html King Arthur flour includes it in a sourdough recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe There are several sites with traditional Jewish recipes that specify sour salt or citric acid. Here's one: http://www.foodista.com/recipes/KVCMQCKR/sour-salt I bake a lot of yeast breads with whole grain flours and also with whole grains, nuts and fruit. These are often a bit on the heavy side (dense crumb) and while there are commercial "dough conditioners" I haven't had such good results with them. I add my own "conditioning" ingredients - can't recall where I got the "formula" but it is (per standard bread loaf recipe) Liquid lecithin added to the water - 3/4 teaspoon. and added to the dry ingredients: Vital wheat gluten 3 tablespoons (If using "strong" wheat flour I use 2 tablespoons.) Citric acid 1/4 teaspoon. And of course I use a heaping teaspoon per quart of water for acidulated water for bathing fruits and vegetables to keep them from turning brown. I have used part citric acid in some of my pickle recipes - when pickling peaches for instance - otherwise they are just too sweet. I have it in a shaker for sprinkling over sliced eggplant - instead of salt as I am trying to cut more salt from my diet. I rinse it off before cooking. A pinch in a dish that seems rather insipid helps a lot. If you keep it handy, you will find you use it more. Does anyone else have ideas for its use?

The photo is good enough to document your successful result. Much easier on the hands, eh?

Citric acid is very useful in baking - especially breads that need a bit of a "boost" to keep from being heavy. I use it all the time for an acidulated bath for vegetables and fruit. I have some in a shaker to apply to certain things such as sliced eggplant - to be rinsed off before cooking Also works for the more "mature" zucchini (the big bomb type) which are sometimes a bit bitter.

Being a curious creature, I just had to spend some time investigating the subject of iodine depleted soils (and other minerals) and found some interesting articles, some of which were so technical as to numb my brain. I did find this site which has apparently compiled most of the scientific information and put it into easily understood language. While there is information about the other nutritional elements, iodine has the largest amount of data at the bottom of the page. http://www.becomehealthynow.com/hair/hair_min_documentation3.shtml In the discussion section the effect of glacial melting is considered the reason for the low iodine soils in the Great Lakes region and as this extends into New York state, I would assume that soils there were also affected. Another site, one of those more difficult to understand, noted the increased incidence of goiter in Egypt due to the annual flooding of the Nile and speculated that the same occurs in areas of China but there have been no studies conducted by western scientists since 1948 and none published by Chinese scientists in western scientific journals. It's interesting just how important iodine is and how many parts of the body are affected by either too much or too little.

During part of my teens, I lived in Wisconsin in an area that has very little iodine in the soil and vegetables are all very low in iodine, as was grass and the silage fed to dairy cattle during much of the year. In the elementary schools, children were given iodine tablets once a week or so because the incidence of goiter was much higher in that area than in other areas and many people refused to use iodized salt. I attended the last two years of high school there and apparently teens were exempted because I was never offered the tablets. I know there are other areas where these same conditions occur. I don't know if it was caused by the glaciers or not, I haven't studied it. However, I am sure someone has. Again, I have to say that you are a very strong individual.

Be sure and post about your results with using the mini-processor. Interested parties are awaiting your review. I still like my old wood bowl and the chopper I inherited. I can sit with my feet up and chop away while watching the news. They don't make them like that any more but it is still a good design and I can use it left-handed.

I have been following this with great interest as I have an allergy to iodine but only in greater concentrations - I get a "butterfly" rash on my face almost immediately and know enough to stop consumption of whatever I am eating. I can use sea salt in moderation but use kosher diamond flake for most of my cooking. Shrimp and other shellfish that concentrate iodine and rockfish seem to be the foods that affect me the most. I avoid fish from the ocean, freshwater fish are no problem. I can't have soups made from kelp but a tiny amount in seasonings doesn't bother me. Few vegetables bother me - I have to use caution eating radishes and have had a mild reaction to watercress, spinach and some of the mesclun varieties. Your discipline is remarkable, I doubt I would be able to maintain such a regimen without someone standing over me with a whip!

Terrific story and very true to the traditional history. I too remember eating pasties in Minnesota during the time I attended baking school there in the mid-1950s. It was in an old-fashioned diner - looked like a train car, with a long counter with incredibly uncomfortable stools. (To speed up turnover.) I can't remember what kind of meat they contained but do recall that they were very tasty. Of course the first "hand" pies I ever saw were filled with dried fruits and often nuts, but sometimes the cook prepared pies for the men who worked in the fields or the loggers as they would be too far away from the house to come in for dinner at noon. They would have meat, poultry or fish with vegetables at one end and dried fruits at the other. I don't think they would have survived being dropped down a mine shaft but they did survive being carried around in a flour sack or sometimes a lard can.

I second this recommendation! The multimix is my go-to appliance for a variety of prep. Processor attachment is definitely a good nut chopper. Makes good breadcrumbs, too. Easy to clean (dishwasher!), and lightweight. I agree also. I have this one - posted pics in the Basic condiments where I prepared aioli in it. Later I bought the Wolfgang Puck unit with similar attachments and bowl because there was a super deal on it and I have seen it deeply discounted several times. I gave one of the much less expensive Nesco units (looks almost exactly like the Bosch) to a friend as a housewarming present (along with a few other little necessities.) She reports that it works very well for making salsa, to which her husband is addicted! In my opinion, these multi-purpose units are more versatile and useful than the small stand-alone mini-prep processors. My friend who lives in Niagara reported back to me this morning that Caynes has the Kitchenaid with all attachments for 69.99 and she has seen the Braun at an automotive discount store for less than 40.00 Canadian. (Didn't note the name.) I have no idea why an auto store would be selling an immersion blender but stranger things have happened. Maybe I should check Pep Boys more often!

Maybe a moustarda with dried fruit. You can also grind them with nuts and make very nice confections. You can add coconut or whatever that is dried and less perishable. I make several varieties. I put everything through a meat grinder and knead it until everything is well mixed. I started doing this many, many years ago when I was trying to make a cookie filling similar to Fig Newtons - only with apricots or other dried fruits. I have a friend that is always happy to get part of any batch that I prepare. She combines it with granola, forms it into bars and makes her own "healthy" snacks. Lots of fiber there!

I think you mean one like this: http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-International-Heavy-Duty-Chopper/dp/B0007ZEU2W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1265768524&sr=8-1 I have them. I have old ones and newer ones like this that have the measurements marked on the jar. I've given them as "stocking gifts" or included them in gift baskets to new homemakers (both male and female, moving away from home for the first time.) They are inexpensive and they work. You put the nuts in the hopper and crank in one direction for coarse chopping and in the other direction for finer bits. It works best with the softer nuts - sometimes raw almonds get a bit hard if they are old, and may not chop as easily but blanched almonds are no problem. The way I mostly use it is to put the nuts into the jar and turn it upside down over whatever the nuts are going to be applied to and grind away, moving it about as required.

I think the SB cocoa is natural - the container I have is - it's okay but it doesn't have quite the depth of flavor that I like in a cocoa that I use for baking. I'm rather picky and I like the Dutched process cocoa and the darker cocoa - I often use a blend of King Arthur's black cocoa and double Dutch. I found another container of cocoa - Green & Black brand. I've used most of it and get a total blank when I try to recall what I made with it. It's dated 02/09 so it is now a year since I bought it but it still has great aroma.

I've used Rademaker Cocoa as well as all the King Arthur varieties. Rademaker has been producing cocoa (and a lot of other cacao products) longer than any other processor in Holland. I think it is better than Droste, it is less subject to clumping and is very good in baking as well as for drinking. My local health food store began carrying it about a year ago and specifically because some patrons had asked for a Kosher Certified cocoa and the distributor could deliver this brand quicker than any other. They were offering a coupon for it so I tried a box and liked it and have since purchased more. I just checked in the pantry and in addition to the Rademaker Cocoa, I have several containers of different cocoa powders, including King Arthur's Black cocoa, Double Dutch, Callebaut "baking" cocoa powder in a 2 pound bag, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger Natural, Guittard's "drinking chocolate", an unopened canister of Godiva's Dark, Barry Extra-Dark, and an unopened bag of Frontier Dutch-process, certified organic and Fair Trade, ordered from Amazon just last month. I haven't tried the Frontier yet, but have been very pleased with their other products, all ordered from Amazon, especially the decorticated cardamom seeds and the roasted ground chili pepper powder.

It is a strange case of deja-vu. I seem to recall seeing some of those items recently........ Arrrrrrrgh!

They are also great for small servings of chips, pretzels, etc. Cheaper than paper towels, and better portability than a possibly breakable or lose-able bowl! And for lining a sieve to strain used fats, etc. And if you can find the extra-large commercial ones, they will hold much more. I buy a sleeve of them at Smart & Final about every two years. I don't know how many are in a sleeve, but it is a lot! And they are cheap. (The sleeve says these are 2 GALLON filters, are about a foot in diameter and 5 inches deep.) I estimate there are probably two hundred left in this sleeve and I purchased it in August 2008 - shortly before I went on a trip and was stocking up for the stuff I would need on the trip. (I visited gfron1 in Silver City, NM on that trip.) I use them for fried foods as they are very absorbent - totally lint-free (unlike paper towels) and hold together better. In fact, two of them stapled together make an "emergency" microwave popcorn popper - the metal staples are not big enough to affect the microwave, never a spark! They are also good for polishing glass because - as noted above, they are totally lint-free. I have a convex mirror that shows every tiny blemish and the only thing I can polish it with successfully is one of these filters.

I've cooked a lot of crockpot recipes, mostly when I was working, had a very long commute (70 miles each way) and was not partial to having to fix a meal when I arrived home, fatigued from the drive. I still use them but not as much as I used to but they are terrific during the summer when I don't want to use the oven so much and heat up the kitchen. I use several cookbooks - the "Not Your Mother's" cookbooks. I also refer to a couple of web sites, most notably, http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ and http://www.my-crockpot-recipes.com/Crockpot-Cheese-Recipes.htm Although there are a lot of crockpot recipes on the second site, I have been working my through the cheese recipes. I'm trying to use up the large amount of cheeses I received as holiday presents.

I totally agree about the meatball grilling "basket" because I like mine a certain way and wouldn't think of trying any method that might dry them out and I think that would do it. I did see something this morning that I thought was totally useless for most people, expensive and taking up otherwise useful space. (Unless one has a huge kitchen.) I was up early and had breakfast with a friend who wanted some help packing up a bunch of foods that she is taking to a food bank. Mostly she wanted company as her husband passed away in December and she is disposing of the stock of "emergency" foods he insisted on stocking and which are good for years. (It took four of us 1 1/2 hours to box and transfer everything to her van.) In mid-2008 her husband had a built-in pasta cooker installed when they got a new sink, dishwasher and etc., a partial kitchen renovation. It's part of the sink. He saw it at a home show and had to have one. He liked pasta and cooked it perhaps once a week. She and I agreed that unless one has a large family, who eat pasta almost every day, it is rather a waste and takes up space that could be put to better use. It was very expensive and she worries that when she tries to sell the house, most people won't want it and will see it as a negative. Potentially, this is a HUGE waste of money.

I've made this version of pandowdy from Martha Stewart two or three times. It is closer to the version I knew as a child than some others. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/apple-pandowdy The only significant difference is that when I was a child, the apples and other ingredients were cooked on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet, then the top was dotted with the pastry and put into the rather hot oven, so the pastry on top would bake and crisp. It was removed from the oven and while still hot, slices of cheddar cheese were applied to the top. I happen to like it finished with cream cheese instead, but both are good. I use a combination of Jonagold and Macintosh.

Oh goody, someone else who found this was a waste of time. It was a gift and the only time I use it is when this particular friend visits while I am preparing something with fresh herbs. She also gave me one of the multi-bladed rolling herb mincers (double jeopardy) which I also didn't use. I gave it to my neighbor who found a use for it. She makes little figurines from that colored plastic clay, rolls it very thin and uses this to make long skinny strips that become fur or ? on her creations. Works fine for that. I'm still using the 100-year-old wood choppin' bowl inherited from my grandma and the "star" chopper that she used for most leafy herbs. Other herbs get snipped with scissors - chives, for instance.

A friend who owns a local bakery and small café has a Waring commercial spice mill. He grinds his spices daily. Unfortunately he is off on his annual fishing trip to Florida and his sister, who is running the place while he is away, has no idea how much it cost but is sure it was under $200. - purchased at Star Restaurant supply.

Omigawd. I think I have fallen in love with the Williams-Sonoma Chopper Jeez, Darienne, you have led me into temptation! I didn't buy the chopper but I just HAD to dig around for "interesting stuff" and ended up ordering one of these: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/floating-mulling-spice-ball/?pkey=cspecialized-kitchen-tools|ctlsptspc I have a bunch of herb and tea balls (one rice ball) so they have now become a collection and should look nice hung in a window that recently was cleared of an "egg-crate" frame that used to hold part of my collection of custard cups. More light and less stuff to dust! I also ordered one of the Chop Nutter Nut Choppers for a gift for a friend who recently broke her vintage one and one of the microplane box graters for me to take the place of the three different ones that have handles at one end. I note that they now offer a ratcheting garlic press but theirs doesn't have good reviews. I love the one I got from Lee Valley. I also found a ginger peeler! Like a spoon doesn't do a perfect job! Anyway, I am now somewhat poorer after my trip through WS but on a brighter note, last week I sold my 21-year-old set of the Oxford English Dictionary so have some change with which to play.