andiesenji

Aha! Thanks for being a personal spell check, mkayahara. I might clarify that I'd like to make something that incorporates the vanilla beans if possible....but will keep the lovely suggestions of crystallized ginger and candied peels in my pocket, just in case. (as well as other great suggestions on the artisanal gifts thread). I realize that vanilla foodstuffs are typically going to be sweet, but somehow feel weird giving a present of sugar to a person who has diabetes. (Though I know full well that she manages her condition well and enjoys her sweets on occasion, she doesn't like to partake a lot and she's mentioned before that the overwhelming array of sweets during the holidays is challenging to her.) Sorry I wasn't more clear before about incorporating vanilla and the consideration of the sugar idea. Will definitely look more into using glycerinE as a solvent.... Another idea I just thought of was using the vanilla pods to permeate some good coffee beans ? She does grind her own beans in batches, so she would use the gift several times, I think..... ← If you go to post # 108 in the vanilla extract topic, you will see a note about xylitol - a sugar "alcohol" - not a true alcohol and it is considered halal. This liquid will extract the essential flavorings from chopped vanilla beans with less heating and effort than required with glycerin or glycerine . The process is similar to alcohol extraction except that you do need to give it a kick start by heating the mixture after it has been combined for a few days and after three or four months you add an equal part hot water, allow this to set for a couple of weeks, then strain off the liquid and use it in something to test how strong it is. Or you can prepare the vanilla paste, which I describe in that post. It keeps very well.

I'm not terribly fond of iced drinks in general but I do often prepare chai "latte" for friends. I prepare the chai in the traditional way, simmering the tea and spices in a little water, then adding the milk (whole milk, sometimes half and half) and continuing to simmer it until well infused. I then strain it and store it in the fridge until ready to serve. I place at least a pint of the chai in a blender, add crushed ice and blend until frothy and the ice is very fine. I top it with plain (unsweetened) frothed milk as that is the way my friends like it. I tried the chai mix from Trader Joes but found it to be too grainy when hot and even more so when cold. The flavor is okay but the mouth feel was not to my liking. My spice mix for chai is very simple, I use Republic of Tea's Cardamom Cinnamon blended with a malty Assam or one of the Nilgiri teas. The CC has a very nice balance of spices.

I've reached that point too re: from scratch.It's a lot of work and, I have to admit that for some things I'm starting to wonder if it's really necessary, if what's on hand at the supermarket is really that much worse. If I read the label and see stuff that I can't pronounce, ya, I'll make it myself. But I tell ya', I'm getting to the point where I'm reconsidering my obsession re: from scratch. ← Have you ever seen my Cornbread, southern style, from Scratch? I'm not quite as obsessive about certain things as I used to be.

The description of the Kusmi tea is here.

I phoned my friend of many years who was born and raised in Lebanon and grew up speaking French as well as Lebanese and English. She said that other than some regional celebrations, the "traditional" cakes served at most parties, weddings, and so on, were French in origin. She said they could be any shape or size, were often genoise layers filled with a very rich buttercream or even a mousse and covered with rolled fondant. The traditional decoration for certain occasions would be almonds coated with gold foil, candied fruits and flowers. She orders cakes from this place to send to her family members still living in Lebanon. These are all very modern designs but are popular.

How about a Sunbeam Hot Shot 16 oz Check the size - it is very compact. I think someone else mentioned it. One of my friends packs this in an overnight case (with a travel mug fitted into the open space of the Hot Shot) to brew single-serve coffee bags - she is not a tea drinker. I bought one of these for my granddaughter to take to camp - doesn't have an exposed heat source and shuts off automatically which was the only way they would allow this kind of appliance. It survived two weeks of being used by a group of 14-year-old girls! I think it is fairly sturdy.

I posted this photo last year while I was traveling as this is the tea "kit" I have found that is the most useful to me, along with an electric kettle. This is the larger of the two IngenuiTea tea makers - I also have the 16 ounce but it only produces 12 ounces of brewed tea while the output of this one is at least 20 ounces. It dispenses the tea out of the bottom when it is placed on top of a mug or other container. It comes with a base on which it is placed while brewing or when you don't want to dispense it. It is virtually unbreakable - this one has fallen from the top of a high shelf and bounced across the terrazzo tile floor in my kitchen on more than one occasion with no damage. The screen filter in the bottom will discolor over time but a few drops of bleach in water, allowed to set for a few minutes, then drained through the bottom, will take care of this problem - rinse it a couple of times afterward. When I travel from place to place, I carry a 1-3/4-quart teakettle like this one However, when I am going to be staying in one hotel for several days, I use this one, also posted last year during a trip to New Mexico. Everything fits into a roll-on case that fits the "carry-on" size criteria, although I have never carried it onto the plane but have sent it along with the rest of my checked luggage.

You would have much better results if you trap the birds and grain them for a couple of months and keep them from flying so they will fatten up a bit. You do have to be careful with their waste and the dust from their plumage. A very good friend of mine became very ill and was finally diagnosed with histoplasmosis and another fungal infection after trapping and handling some pigeons that were nesting in the recessed windows of his downtown L.A. office. He was quite ill for several months. Wear a good high density particle mask (not the painting masks) whenever you may be exposed to the dust from dried droppings and from the birds themselves.

I can easily spend that much on pepper. Check Pepper-Passion.com for some unique peppermills as well as some extremely interesting varieties of pepper. I recently ordered some Talamanca Del Caribe and it is everything they describe and more. peppercorn varieties

I'm obsessive about my copper pots and pans and the antique cast iron cookware I inherited from my grandmother and great-grandmother. I too have separate cookware for "others" who have no business fooling around with my good stuff. (Ditto my knives!) One of my ex-husbands accused me of having a knife "fetish" because I simply was unable to pass by a cutlery shop without buying something. On one occasion, to shut him up, I purchased an enormous Bowie knife for him - it was very costly and then I had his name engraved on it and as I recall it cost close to $200. and that was in the early '70s. I never heard another word about my knife purchases.

I recently had a long conversation with Arnie Niebold (age 91) whose farther and grandfather owned a deli in the old Gashouse district of New York (razed to make way for Stuyvesant Town in the late 1940s). It was called the Gashouse district because during the first three decades of the 20th century the area contained a large (and leaky) gas distribution works and the smells were awful so it wasn't considered a very good place to live but was mostly populated by lower class working Americans. Many of the houses had small backyards and they kept chickens so eggs were fairly plentiful. The workingmen who left for work very early in the mornings would carry the bread with them to street vendors who would cut the hole, fry the bread, add an egg and cook it till it was hard - none of the runny yolk business we like. The resulting "sandwich" was wrapped in paper and carried to work. Arnie says that most of the street vendors had small pushcarts that had just enough room for a small brazier topped by a square metal plate and they often got their fuel by stealing from the coal wagons that trundled around the streets. As a small boy in the 1920s he remembers being spanked for trading a small piece of ham from the deli for one of the "gashouse eggs" because the man wrapped it in newspaper and Arnie got the ink all over his face and his school shirt and tie. After the family business was displaced in the late '40s, they relocated to Stapleton, Staten Island where they stayed in business until 1974 (Arnie's Deli) when the family relocated to California. I thought "Angels on Horseback" were oysters or scallops wrapped with bacon and then broiled.

Andie, that's an impressive collection to say the least. I love the vinegars that I have, but I'm nowhere near the intervention level others may have achieved mostly because I've lost plenty due to shelf-life expiration, spillage, fruit flies, etc. How old are the very old vinegars, and will they keep getting better? ← The oldest bottle of balsamic vinegar I have is 60 years old. It was a gift. I have never opened it. I have half a bottle that is 12 years old and I have been using it sparingly for a couple of years. Usually I buy the stuff that is between 5 and 10 years old. I have found that it is a lot like fortified wines and keep for a very long time if kept tightly sealed and I store the bottles upside down so as to keep oxygen away from the liquid.

Up until about three years ago, I was making a lot of cheese, some semi-hard and while I have a couple of cheese wires, I was losing my grip (due to arthritis in my hands) , and found the Wusthof two-handed cheese knives were easier to use. I use the big pizza knife mostly to chop large batches of herbs when I am going to dry or freeze them. I have several mezzalunas but this big one is much easier to use on a big chopping block. The people who used to supply me with milk, that I pasteurized myself, moved too far away to make it easy for me to get sufficient quantities of the non-ultrapasteurized milk which is much better for cheesemaking than the stuff in the markets. So I stopped making the hard cheeses. I still make fresh cheeses, cream cheese, sour cream, etc. I also buy a lot of cheese and prefer to buy it in full wheels (as long as they are not enormous) and cut it myself as a big chunk keeps better than the small portions.

Excessive? I consider most are necessary! Vinegars, many varieties, including home made red, rosé and white wine. Sherry, palm, raisin, coconut, honey/mead, balsamic - several brands and including a very old one I have yet to open, Salts, many varieties from all over the world. I also have several varieties of peppercorns, most purchased from Pepper-Passion.com. And there is definitely a difference in flavor from one to another. I probably have too many knives: here are some, but not all. I tried to count the number of flours I have in the pantry and in the freezer but lost count. Ditto rice varieties. Have nine varieties of beans currently on hand. I have several olive oils - plus various other vegetal oils, including avocado, walnut, grapeseed, coconut, palm, tea, sunflower, safflower and rice bran oil. Currently my favorite olive oil is a Spanish extra virgin oil from Olivar de La Luna, however the Abbae De Quiles is a close second.

Thanks for the heads up on the garlic press. My current one is dinky and hard to clean. Takes forever if you don't peel the garlic first. The Lee Valley one seems like a dream come true. Do you really not have to peel first? ← Nope, no need to peel - however I do cut the tip of the base off if it is large and hard, but with fairly fresh garlic with small bases I just toss them into the hopper as is.

With some fruits, peaches for instance, I pull the tray out when they are about half done and using scissors clip two or three places around the perimeter where it is beginning to curl, in particular if I am going to be going on to glacé the fruit. Otherwise I just leave them. Some plums will actually roll into a cylinder but as long as they dry completely - I uncurl them to check - I find they store easily. I also dry long strips of zucchini and to keep them flat I place a wire cooling rack on top and this will keep them from curling. I haven't tried this with other fruits and veg but it should work on them also.

I have scraped tons of ginger with a slightly rounded teaspoon but occasionally use a grapefruit spoon if one is handy. I prepare large batches of candied/crystalized ginger, often 10 to 15 pounds. A few eG members have been on the receiving end of the stuff I prepare. Occasionally I come across a batch that resists the scraping and I dip it into boiling water (using a fry basket) for thirty seconds or so followed by rinsing in cold tap water. That usually makes the skin easy to remove. If I need just a little ginger pulp for a recipe, I either use a suribachi bowl or a ginger "grater" - one with the sharp little bumps - as this will give me just the pulp and juice and none of the fibers and I don't bother to peel it as the skin is simply pushed aside during the process.

I have some "super" super magnets that will hold anything to anything steel or iron. I bought them at the feed store and they are called "cow" magnets. The purpose is to be fed to a cow so the magnet will settle into her first stomach and attract and hold any bits of metal that she may ingest, such as nails, pieces of wire fencing, etc., and thus protect the rumen. They are incredibly strong - the one I use on the pantry fridge will hold a thick stack of papers. The only place on the kitchen fridge that will take a magnet is on the side. You should be able to find them at your local feed store - I usually get the "ceramic" ones but do have a couple of the alnico round ones. cow magnets

I'm very happy with my new extra-large garlic crusher thingy from Lee Valley Tools (Many thanks to Judiu who sent me the link, which I immediately used.) I know, I know, one does not need a garlic press but this one is very handy for me because I do have arthritis in my hands and some tasks are difficult. The way this one works makes the task extremely easy. While at the site, I also "discovered" measuring pourers. Egads! These are terrific. I bought the set, which included Teaspoon, Tablespoon and Ounce, and also ordered the Two Ounce. After I got them and used them, I ordered three more sets for myself and one for my daughter. pours They are as accurate as I need - in fact they are more accurate than two different sets of measuring spoons I have and the best part is they don't have to be cleaned after every use or between ingredients. Especially with oils, vinegars and syrups because they stay on the bottles I use all the time. I'm going to order another couple of sets, because I find I have more and more uses for them. I presently have the tablespoon ones on olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar and sweet soy. The teaspoon ones are on rose water, orange flower water and vanilla (homemade). The ounce and two ounce pours are on various syrups. I do have a few that are yet unused. One of the two-ounce pourers in on a bottle of Verjus and I find that I am using it more often since it is so handy to pour. I bought a couple of the Trudeau Elite Graviti Battery Operated Pepper Mills from Amazon, gave one to my best friend for Christmas, then ordered two more for myself because I use several different kinds of peppercorns (from Pepper-Passion.com) and I love these mills. The business end is at the top and when you tip the mill it starts to grind and stops when it is again upright. It is easy to clean, doesn't pick up yucky stuff from the counter as do the ones with the grinder at the bottom so I don't have to have them on a tray or each with its own little saucer. I love these!

For the very soft fruits, unless they are very unripe, they will not candy, they will simply cook into a mush - fine if one wants preserves or jam but not if one wants candied segments. Once the fruit has been dried, the structure is much more stable and it will remain in the same form as when it was sliced or cut. Steaming the fruit just prior to placing in the syrup will open the cells and speed up the glacé process. I don't know for sure, because I have never seen the commercial process, but I have been told that some of the commercial producers of glacé fruits use this method. The people who several years ago gave me this information had toured a company in Italy and while they spoke no Italian, their guide spoke some English and when asked about some large stainless vessels, got the reply they were "a vapore" a prelude to the "stewing in syrup." Previously they had seen trays of fruits that appeared to be dried or partially so - they were outside a wall of windows overlooking the processing room so couldn't check more closely. They found the term "vapore" in their Italian/English dictionary referred to a steamer. Since I was already using a steamer to prep the ginger I was candying, I tried the process with fresh fruit - a disaster - then tried with dried fruits. Actually, since I had just harvested a tree full of apricots and had dried most of the crop, I tried them and they turned out pretty good. I have had some glitches but on the whole have been fairly successful. Sometimes I get a batch that simply does not turn out well - too dark, gummy texture, etc., but I chalk that up to the vagaries of atmospheric conditions, disruption of magnetic energy or perhaps the gods are angry! In my 70 years I have learned that sometimes things just go wrong and there is no explanation.

I dug out my old recipe that was passed along to me by one of my Brit friends, his mum's recipe, modified for me as the original recipe specified cake yeast and wholemeal flour. I think they used honey because his dad kept bees. I have always used fine pinhead oatmeal because the one time I tried US type oatmeal I had a soggy mess. Staffordshire oatcakes Makes about 15 using muffin rings. 3 1/2 cups milk and water -half of each 1 generous tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon dry yeast 1 cup pinhead oatmeal (fine) 1 cup unbleached AP flour (can also use whole wheat flour) 1 teaspoon table salt (I use 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt) Warm milk and water gently - no more than 98 degrees F. Stir in the honey In a cup dissolve the yeast in a little of the liquid and add back into the rest. Set aside covered until the mixture is bubbly. (About 30 minutes.) In a large bowl mix together the oatmeal, flour and salt. Combine the liquid with the dry ingredients and mix well. Cover and place in a warm area for an hour. Bake on a hot griddle - I use muffin rings to keep the batter from spreading too much. When you see holes appear on the surface, use a spatula to flip to the other side and cook until done - about 4 minutes each side, depending on how hot the griddle. Wrap in a tea towel to keep warm.

You are correct. I just want something that will hold cheese and egg or sausage and egg. Brushing them with butter keeps them from getting too crisp.

They are intended for snacks - they are in the dehydrator and when just tacky will be tossed in granulated sugar, same as the ginger. I'm preparing stuff for a sojourn to Tempe, AZ in two weeks (a convention for Discworld fans) and am taking a supply of goodies for friends on the Terry Pratchett forum. Like all thin-skinned fruits, tomatoes, peaches, etc., a brief dip in boiling water and into ice water will allow the skin to slip free quite easily. I always wonder, when I see chefs on TV peeling kiwi fruit, why they don't use this method. Surely I am not the only person to have noticed that this works...

My original recipe was for a batter that required the use of "muffin rings" to keep the batter contained but for the past few years I have been using this recipe from Recipezaar: Oatcake recipe It's very easy and they are very good. However, I bake them on a griddle instead of in the oven. Because I don't plan to store them, I brush one side with melted butter as soon as they come off the griddle.

I'm bumping up this topic because the fruit I candied over the past couple of days is not a citrus. I was given a sack of kiwi fruits and since they were just short of ripe, and I doubted I would be able to use them within the next week or so, I decided to try candying them. First I sliced and dried them in the dehydrator - took photos but when I uploaded the pics from my camera to computer, I managed to discard the first set of pics. However, I did save the later photos. After they were dried, I steamed them for about 30 minutes to make it easier for the pieces to absorb the syrup. I prepared the syrup and did all of the processing in the microwave in a large Pyrex bowl. Here is a shot of the kiwi in the bowl of syrup after a total processing time of 3 hours over a period of 36 hours. Each session of heating lasted 20 minutes with cool down intervals that varied from two hours to overnight. Here is the entire batch spread on a wire grid. Here's a closeup to show the translucent appearance that indicates fruit is ready. Another closeup that shows how the center part remains opaque and an end slice that is completely translucent.