andiesenji

If you have a middle eastern store in your area, check there for grapeseed oil. The prices are usually much less than in regular markets.

I have several pairs of the kitchen scissors but arthritis in my right hand limits my ability to grip the handles tight enough. If a cap is really resistant to opening, I use an old-fashioned metal nut cracker, which is used for nothing else except stuck caps - it's the only way I can get the little cap off one of my "bitters" bottles. It always seems to be glued onto the bottle. They also fit into a pocket without doing damage to clothes or any part of the anatomy!

I just returned from spending several days visiting with my daughter, her husband and my three grandchildren at Universal City. We stayed (it had been recommended by friends) at the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn right on the border between North Hollywood and Studio City. They provide free shuttle service on the hour to and from Universal City. My family and I were all very impressed with the large rooms, very quiet, in spite of being right next to the freeway, the extremely friendly and courteous staff and most of all with the fantastic food in the hotel restaurant. We had tentatively thought about eating at other restaurants in the area but were so impressed with the food in the restaurant that we had breakfast and dinner there every day. I also had lunch one day when the family went to Universal City but I did not feel up to it. The servers were quick, and very understanding of those of us who had food allergies and dislikes (teenagers, you know), and had no problems with asking the chefs about ingredients in sauces and making substitutions. Every request was answered with "Absolutely!" The soft drinks, lemonade, teas, and etc., are refilled as many times as requested, no charge. Also coffee. I don't think I have ever stayed at any place that gave me such a feeling of comfort and ease and where I found the food 100% excellent. The restaurant opens at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast and the room service charges are extremely reasonable. On my floor there were visitors from Belgium, France, Germany and South Africa, all with several children in tow. I recommend it without reservations. Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn

The large Cambro containers and lids are sold separately. I have found the best prices at Smart & Final, King Arthur marks them up a lot. I have every size from 1 quart to 22 quart and use them for everything. I posted this photo in Jan '05 in some topic but don't recall which one, it shows a few both in use and empty. I use the big ones for everything from dough proofing to making cheese, as well as storage. They can go through the dishwasher, unlike much of the Tupperware stuff. I take a container full of soup from the freezer and defrost then heat it in the microwave with never a problem.

The very best thingy for opening those perforated bottle caps, is a small square or rectangle, that you cut yourself from a roll of the waffle-pattern, thick, shelf and drawer liner. This stuff has dozens and dozens of uses. A piece that lines the bottom of a tray keeps everything in its place, keeps boxes from sliding around on the floor of my van, keeps me from sliding off the top of a slippery bar stool (I have some with stainless steel tops which are very slippery) and various sizes that can be tucked in a pocket for opening things or holding slippery bottles and jars. When I am going to be opening multiple bottles of wine and/or soda and other things, I tuck a small strip 1 1/2 inches by about three inches under my watch band, so it is handy. It's this stuff shown here in white but I buy it at Wal-Mart, Costco or Sam's club and other stores. It comes in many colors from white to dark green or dark blue, pastels, ivory, and a sort of olive drab. I throw it in the washing machine with my towels and hang it on the deck rails to dry when it begins to look a bit grungy. Especially the stuff I use in my van. I put a layer between things that get stacked, such as Cambro containers and coolers and they stay in place better than when just bungie-corded.

andiesenji- I have seen this one at my favorite appliance store. May I ask how long you have had it? I always feared I would end up like baroness and it would break down before a year is up. ← I bought it in late 2005 and it is slightly different than the one available now. I think the newer one looks nicer as mine has a stainless steel frame on the door which gathers fingerprints easily and requires some effort to polish. I also sprung for the three year extended warranty, something I usually do not do, because I have found that if something is going to go wrong, it will be within that period. After that I figure I will just replace it with a newer model. The fact that the Avanti is rated for commercial use is what prompted my decision to buy it instead of another unit that was a bit less money.

I use it as I would arrowroot. I like to experiment with various types of thickeners and like the results I got with kuzu (or kudzu) - it was recommended by the owner of the health food store. here is a reference to most thickeners. and here is another site to which I referred. when I first bought the product. Wickipedia has a fairly extensive entry on kudzu.

I think I know what you are trying to achieve. A couple of months ago I made a strawberry curd, molded it in a terrine as I needed to slice it so I could layer it with slices of cake to make dessert sandwiches. I used Kuzu root starch, recommended by a friend who has been experimenting with various "setting" agents, and likes the silky texture this thickener produces, while keeping the product stable. I used not quite double the amount called for in "regular" pudding and the results were as perfect as I could wish for. I used it also in a lemon/cheese layered pie and had none of the weeping that has plagued my lemon meringue pies in the past. My local health food store carries it in bulk and sells it by the ounce. But it is widely available on line here is one vendor and I do buy from them.

Dave, you are an inspiration. I love to play with the "shoulder clod" as it was once known to lovers of pot roasts. And have long bemoaned the long-forgotten "round-bone roast" which was apparently too difficult for more recently trained butchers to attempt. Happily for me, there is a real, old-fashioned, meat cutter/butcher in Rosamond, who will, given enough advance notice, produce any cut of meat one could desire. Sometimes he laughs when asked if he knows about a particular cut, certainly some of the more obscure French or continental bits and pieces, but he will patiently look at diagrams from ancient cookbooks and attempt to satisfy......For a price! Your topic has reminded me that I still have 1/4 of a steer stored at his facility that needs cutting and packaging. As he bills for the rent only twice a years, it does tend to slip my mind in the interim months. Now if I could just remember which section is remaining... At 69, my memory isn't what it was. Thanks for giving me some incentive to have some fun with this flavorful part of the steer.

In a word, YES. I have a small wine cooler in my pantry in which I store hard cheeses at 55-60 degrees and where I keep the butter for regular use (butter bought in bulk usually stored in freezer). I also find it is ideal for placing things that need to be defrosted over a period of several hours - faster than in the regular fridge and no problem of it being on a counter (where the dogs can get at it). Other things - yogurt and kefir that is "working" after the initial warmer process. Soft cheeses that need to "ripen" prior to serving. Some pastries that stale rapidly in the regular fridge but keep much better in the wine fridge. I have this one. I personally cannot drink alcohol, however I do have friends who do so there are always a couple of bottles of various wines that are supposed to be served chilled in there, along with some exotic beers tucked in by another friend. Old Peculiar Yorkshire Ale, for instance.

My grandmother called it a "Victoria" sponge and hers was different from other sponge cakes. I remember she used a pound of butter and a dozen egg whites PLUS 1 1/2 dozen YOLKS! The flour was sifted several times - although after cake flour appeared at the end of the '40s, she used that. She also made the sugar finer by running small amounts in a blender - so I guess that superfine sugar today would be the thing to use, creaming the butter and sugar together before incorporating the egg yolks. It was denser than most sponge cakes but wonderfully buttery. I remember that she beat the egg whites until she could turn the bowl upside-down without them falling out, then folded them into the batter and did not use baking powder. I have tried numerous times to duplicate it but have never quite succeeded. She did not use a recipe and did not always use the exact amount of flour. She added it until the batter looked "right" (it would look like a ribbon when she would pull the spoon out of the bowl) - only then would she fold in the egg whites. I think the amount of flour varied with the amount of humidity in the air, but I am not sure. It has been sixty years and while I have a pretty good memory, some details slip by.

Andie---I learned to make the thinnest Melba toast from a nice man who worked for Chris' Dad down South. His greatest conversation gambit was to mention that his Mother had been a cook in the Royal Household of Sweden. And since for such a big gruff guy he knew how to prepare odd little dainty food, I believed him. He would make a slice of toast, cut off the crusts with a serrated knife, then run the knife through the still-soft center bread to make two slices of the one. Then he'd lightly toast it again. But he didn't know what I meant when I said "Melba Toast." It was "Tea Toast." ← My post #17 in this thread has a photo of a slice of bread, sliced in half with the odd utensil I pictured in the first post. When I was a child, my grandpa's cook would bake long round loaves in an ancient pan that was held together with baling wire. It was made of copper but was almost completely black and she never allowed the kitchen help to touch it. She also used it to bake a type of sponge cake that I wish I could duplicate. It was delicious, sliced thin and made into sandwiches, filled with lemon curd.

It is a very nice bread pan and was especially made for a type of bread that had a dense, fine crumb that was suitable for extra-thin slicing to make melba toast. (Note that I have a melba toast slicer! in case one is unable to slice thinly enough the first time, a regular slice can be sliced in half.) Besides the onion and cheese breads, a favorite was a nut bread often served for tea. P.S. In fact, it looks so much better than the old ones I have that I went back and bought one. It fits nicely in my Cadco convection oven, without the rack - it hangs on the side rails the same as a half sheet pan. (In case anyone is interested.)

I would like to report that I have used the Soyabella soymilk maker during the past couple of days (and today), and it works beautifully. The first thing I made was almond milk from raw almonds - did not bother to skin them as I wanted to see how it worked on them. The almonds were soaked in cold water for four hours. I discovered a couple of tricks for making it thicker and richer. The second batch was a combination of blanched raw almonds and raw sunflower seeds. Again, an excellent result, far superior to anything I have ever been able to prepare with my Vita-Mix. Don't get me wrong, I love the Vita-Mix, but the nut milks made in it are always too grainy and require straining. The Soyabella produces a smooth product with only minimal, extremely fine particles that settle out after it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours. Lovely stuff. I have tried flavoring it with vanilla and agave syrup (I'm diabetic) and the result was excellent. I had some on my cereal this morning and found it better than the two commercial brands I have tried. I've ordered some raw soybeans and will prepare a batch of that when the package arrives. That process takes 15 minutes instead of the less than 5 minutes of the nut milk process. Meanwhile, I have some barley soaking as I want to try preparing barley "milk" - not mentioned in the appliance brochure, but I sampled some at a health food store a couple of years ago and they wouldn't tell me how it was made............. Maybe this is the secret.

Andie, if you please, how does the water measure doohickey on top work? It looks intriguing. ← The red disc in the tube moves when you turn a wheel at the closed end of the tube, moving it up or down to hold more or less water for soft to hard eggs. One fills the tube to the rim and dumps the measured amount into the cooker, adds the eggs either in shell or in the poaching cups, applies the cover and plug it in. An earlier model came with a separate measuring cup which apparently was often misplaced - thus the upgrade to one that remains permanently attached. (I have lost the measuring cups for newer poachers (West Bend and Oster) so it was probably a good idea.)

Yes, they are silicone and yes, water does get into them as one has to cover the pan because the level of water is below the cups. Hot water from the lid drips into the cups. The only advantage is that they are easier to handle than the other "floating" silicone poachers. However, my old-fashioned tinned-steel poachers, with the perforated cups, work better, in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, I collect egg-cooking things, including some "vintage" electric egg cookers that are sort of cool. This is just more junk to find a place to store, or display, if the spirit moves me. Here's one from the '50s.

I had to try them once, just as I have all the others. Actually the ones I like best are the paired yellow and white ones that look a bit like half an egg shell. The material is thinner and when holding an egg, sits well down in the water. These are held above the water and one uses a lid, so the eggs cook rapidly. In fact, the ones pictured were too done for my taste.

It's been a while since I posted pics of newly (somewhat) acquired gadgets, and I received a couple in a package yesterday so thought it was time to show and tell. Firstly, something new on the market: A plum splitter/pitter - who knew! I have yet to try it but it looks like it can do the job okay. Since I split and pit a lot of plums for drying, it might be handy. The other item is a very handy ladle/strainer I came across a couple of months ago and have used extensively. A good idea and I wonder why it wasn't thought of long ago. And now for some misc. gadgets. The cone-shaped thing on a stem is a "honey dripper" which works quite well, better than the other type and the hollow cone holds more than clings to the ones with the ridges. The dough scraper is similar to many others but has ruled markings which make it quite handy. The red poaching cups (I have a bunch of poaching thingys) hang on the side of a pan so are easier to use than the floating ones but unlike the others I have, eggs stick to the material. Strange. The yellow silicone ring is for eggs on a griddle or ? or muffins or ? one wants to have shaped like a disc. The thing with a blue handle is for coring/seeding pears - I have an old one I purchased in an art supply store for shaping clay or wax... This one is new and shiny! The old one is hereby retired to the junk box. The thingy with the black handle has several parallel blades (very sharp - I learned quickly) for producing parallel slices of strawberries, cornichons, or other small things. (I know, I know!) The seed and stem remover is one of the things I received yesterday (from KitchenKrafts.com) not because I need it but because it is "cute" and I wanted it. And then there are the new grinders I have accumulated during the past few months. The Peugeot is the salt grinder (battery powered) of a set given to me by a friend. The others are ceramic grinders for various spices - the smaller ones are available in fine, medium and coarse - and the red top one with white peppercorns is one of the newer "vase-type" ceramic grinders. I also have another grinder that I got just for long pepper - however it is hiding somewhere so did not make it into this picture. It is similar to a nutmeg grinder because long pepper does not play well with regular grinders. (unless one chops it into smaller pieces with a nipper - with bits and pieces flying all over the place). Nigella, Grains of Paradise, pink peppercorns in the the middle ones. The other thing in the pic is a "Peanut butter stirrer" and they come in several sizes. I bought one just because it looked cool. I make my own nut butters so rarely have it stored long enough to separate. Also in yesterdays shipment is a Soyabella appliance - to make various types of nut milks. I am not a big soy fan but wanted something that would produce almond milk easier than the method I have been using. It also makes rice paste. I have not yet taken it out of the box but will post photos when I use it and if I get a positive result. Or not! And if that is the case, a consumer warning will be forthcoming. That's it for now. Here are the poaching cups in action.

I love brunch. I think the first time I experienced a true "brunch" was sometime in the early '60s at a restaurant in Malibu that had both a buffet type or sit-down-and-be-served brunch at a fixed price.(Not cheap.) Over the years I have served brunch to friends, had brunch at the homes of friends and at many eating establishments. The best, by a long shot, is the Sunday Champagne Brunch served at The Ritz Carlton in Laguna Nigel (note: that is pronounced "Nee-gel") I do not drink alcohol so have to skip the champagne but I have been told by others that it is a good one. The first time I had the brunch was sometime in the mid-'80s and I can't recall how many times since, but I try to get down there at least once a year. When they list a "wide" selection of Pastries and Cakes, they are not kidding!

I haven't posted in this thread because my lovely apricot and plum trees have NO fruit this year. The heirloom apricot, which almost always produces a lovely crop of very large fruit and the elephant heart plum, both bloomed at the same time although we had had very cold weather and while in full bloom, we had a hard freeze overnight. The next day the ground was littered with the whole blooms, not just the petals. A sad year.

I use both pickling lime and pickling salt - both are available at my local Wal-Mart so I assume that most of their stores will carry them (right next to the canning jars). pickling lime is simply food grade calcium hydroxide. I have one of the HG fermenting crocks - I think it is only 5-liter but it is a handy size for me. I made a nice batch of pickled ginger the last time I used it and it turned out better than when I made it in a glass jar.

If you want something sweet, instead of savory, you might try one of my old "down-home" favorites. Green tomato pie. It may be a regional Kentucky specialty, however I have met someone from Georgia whose grandmama also made green tomato pie and "pie-pockets," which I think were more like a turnover, from his description, baked instead of fried. They also sounded like they were made with a type of puff pastry instead of pie dough.

Gourmetsleuth has a smaller one. However, you can ask them and they may add the larger to their stock. They have added different Mexican items when they were requested.

I have those in two different sizes. The one I saw on the TT show looked to be at least 12 inches tall overall, maybe more. The pestle was probably at least that long, comparing it to the size of his hand as he gripped it. I liked the appearance and would like to add one to my collection. Esthetically, it is attractive and it appears to be very useful for pounding such things as ginger and galangal (which is what he was pounding).

Close but the one in the picture is smaller and the sides are straighter. Also the one he used was a sort of greenish gray, not as dark as some others I have.