andiesenji

My daughter sent me a signed copy of Alice Waters' new book, "The Art of Simple Food." I also received several gift cards for various cooking stores. (My friends say I am an "impossible" giftee.) I believe I will retire my ancient Bron mandoline and try one of the fancy new ones. A friend and neighbor, who is a weaver, gave me four beautiful tea towels. She included a note that I must use them and not just put them in a drawer. I also received a rather extravagant tin of caviar from friends who are on a round-the-world cruise and the gift was a complete surprise. I don't even know how to contact them as they are purposely incommunicado during this "second honeymoon" trip.

In my experience, the Dutched process cocoa is much more stable and can be stored far longer than "natural" cocoa. As long as it is stored in a tightly sealed container, at low humidity (I stick one of small silica gel packs on the underside of the lid in the containers I use), and at less than 68 degrees F., it should keep for at least three years and I have used some that was older and had no problems with it. Most flour products now have a "Best if used by" date stamped on them. As long as it is plain flour, with no additives, such as "self-rising" flour, you can stretch that date by 6 months or so. Taste is a good indication, take a tiny bit on a spoon, dip a slightly dampened finger into it and taste. If you can detect any hint of bitterness, it is past time to dump it. Whole meal flour has a much shorter storage life than all-purpose. Cake flour, even more refined, will last longer. Again, these have to be stored in an airtight container (I always transfer any grain products to Cambro round containers) and away from any moisture, heat and light. I store whole wheat, multi-grain and similar products in a freezer.

It is true that most, but not all, European cocoa powders are Dutched or processed with alkali. This site lists some of them: Cocoa powder info. Here is another site, with even more information. "Natural" cocoa powders are not Dutched, have a much higher acid content and react with baking soda as a levening so if you want a wafer cookie or biscuit (the kind I usually make) you have to use Dutch process cocoa powder or you will end up with a puffy item that is hollow in the middle. (I speak from experience, having grabbed the wrong container on one occasion and the result was 8 dozen crunchy "honeycomb" flying-saucer-shaped things, not at all suitable for sandwich-type filled cookies.) I now use labels with large type which I can read even when not wearing my glasses.

I hauled out one of my Christmas trays and filled it with cookies I have been baking the past few days. As a crossover note, the tray is one of my "finds" at a local thrift shop more than 20 years ago, while I still lived in the Valley. It was still in the original box, label intact. Got it for a dollar! It was even made in the USA! At the top are the cocoa cookies from a very old recipe. Reading clockwise are fruitcake cookies, oatmeal/sunflower seed/bing cherry "jumbles," peanut butter/oatmeal/pecan "ice-box" cookies (also a very old recipe which requires old-fashioned rolled oats) and last vanilla and anise and espresso pizelles. (Vanilla and anise baked on 5 inch irons, the espresso on a 3 inch iron.

Oh yes! Those are the greatest. I used to make my own bagle chips until I discovered them, quite by accident - another shopper tossed a bag into my basket, thinking it was hers, and we had a short discussion about them. She tried them when Sam's had a demo of those and several other snackers and became instantly addicted. I apportion them into Zip-Loc bags so I won't consume too many at one sitting. I top them with Trader Joe's roasted red pepper spread and various tapenades, but the red pepper spread is my favorite topping, with or without cream cheese or my usual, the Greek style yogurt whipped until soft and spreadable.

Not cookies, but.... You can make salt-glazed pecans, which is actually a very simple process and you can even add a little sweetening if you wish. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F., no hotter. Place a colander in the sink. In a wide, shallow pan or skillet add water until it is an inch deep. Add kosher salt as the water heats to boiling, you want a super-saturated solution so add salt and stir until it will no longer dissolve and you can see a few grains on the bottom of the pan. If you want a bit of sweetness, stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add a cup of pecan halves to the boiling water, stir and let the water return to a boil - should be no more than 45 seconds. Immediately remove the pan from the stove and pour the pecans into the colander. Drain, tossing then in the colander and spread on a sheet pan and quickly place in the oven. Set your timer for 30 minutes. Stir once about half-way through the roasting time. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Store airtight - they will keep for at least 3 months.

Check in middle eastern stores too. They also make mustard pickles at home. My favorite middle eastern store that was here in Lancaster closed three months ago. (Sob!) (Building being torn down to make room for an industrial park.) And they carried mustard oil. I don't know if it was the Italian product because I never looked that close. They had it in a cabinet with the expensive spices and essences.

Are there no import stores in your area? In addition to the Italian product, there is one made in Sweden, that is used in pickles (mustard pickles, naturally) and is essentially the same food product, as opposed to the "stuff used on the skin for chest congestion." I just learned this while chatting on the phone with a basenji breeder who lives in Sweden and whose mother still makes her own pickles, pickled herring and other "homey" foods. (And doctors the family with home remedies, including the famous mustard plaster, which Mia states she and her siblings took care to always exhibit a facade of good health to avoid!) She has given me some great recipes since I first met her in the late '70s so I am pretty sure she knows her stuff. She spelled it for me - senapsessens olja -

I agree that there are many breads that do not require the effects of extended yeast activity to achieve a nicely flavored loaf with good crumb. For the last several years before I retired, I had a bread machine in my office and used the boxed mixes (Hodgson Mill, Krustez, etc.) with perfectly adequate results. The other employees and the doctors all enjoyed it and considered it a treat. Granted, it was not the "artisan" bread that I baked at home, but it was good and particularly so when we were having a hectic day. Being able to produce a still-warm loaf of fresh bread went a long way toward reducing stress. Nobody was on a diet on the days I baked bread! The machine I used had a super-rapid cycle which I did not use but did use the 90-minute cycle. I learned a "trick" which was very useful. Making a double batch, which does not allow the dough to double in size, produced a loaf that filled the pan and had a denser crumb. Very nice for sandwiches and for toast.

I got a small bottle from a friend whose son is a flight attendant and regularly has flights to both France and Italy. The entire top of the bottle was sealed with a rubbery substance (I first thought it was red wax) and the entire bottle was shrink-wrapped. He then put it inside a thick plastic container with a screw top. His carry-on is never in an unpressurized part of the plane. It only takes a couple of drops to "flavor" a pint of syrup in which the fruits are immersed. I haven't prepared the sauce type (or "chutney" type as a friend calls it). We like the whole fruit type, it's not quite as strong.

I've worked my way through several Senseo machines, buying the newer models as they became available. Currently have the "Supreme" I have tried the other pod machines and have not been happy with the results. The Tassimo I tried sputtered and spit and never delivered a full measure of coffee into the cup. I may have had a defective unit but simply returned it for credit. I tried the Keurig and did not find it any better. I have yet to try the Bunn "My Café" brewer but read one review that said it was very good and another that said it was okay but too expensive at $270. but the place I found it, had it priced at $359.95, which is much higher. I bought a Simple Human pod brewer for a friend who expressed a desire for that particular brewer and it is quite satisfactory but has a much larger "footprint" than the Senseo and for people who have limited space, not that handy.

I melt chocolate in my unlined copper sugar pan, candy makers and bakers have been using them for centuries. I have one similar to copper candy kettle only mine was made in France in 1896.

I discovered these (they come in two sizes) a few years ago and have sent them to my daughter, to friends, even those who have been baking for years and use them myself. The "zipper" around the edge enables one to roll to just that thickness, with no extra thin spots that tear apart when bare dough is moved and it is very easy to place the upside-down pan or plate on the dough, after unzipping the top and inverting the whole thing. Since I now have arthritis in both hands, anything that makes repetitive tasks easier and quicker is a huge bonus to me. (I bought mine at the local kitchen "factory-outlet" store that has all these gadgets and goodies at discount prices.) I have one set that I use for doughs containing cocoa, one set for "regular" dough and one set that I keep separate and use only for preparing doughs for vegetarian/vegan friends (and those with religious food restrictions). I don't wash them, I roll them, stick them into Zip-Loc bags and store them in the freezer. They do get a bit abraded after extended use (two years for one) so I have extras and simply toss them. A couple of years ago, I sent my daughter a set, along with a silicon ring to keep the edges of pie crust from burning, and she was thrilled with them. I did ruin one by leaving the pie crust on it while I cut out rounds to line mini tart pans. Naturally, it was a new one.

When I had great danes, they were always evicted from the kitchen while any real cooking was going on, anything involving open flames, open oven doors, etc. Occasionally one would evade the eviction notice and one episode I recall with clarity was when a wagging tail caught me right behind the knees while I was pouring split pea soup into a tureen. I poured part of the (very thick and sticky) soup over my left hand. Fortunately, I had a bowl of ice water in the sink for blanching vegetables and stuck my hand in it immediately and kept a smaller bowl next to my place at the table. The most annoying thing was that I had warned the kids to leave the dogs outside until after dinner but being teens, they had a problem with short-term memory. I spent that night sleeping with my arm hanging over the edge of the bed into a bucket of ice water. No blistering, full recovery within a couple of days.

I simply add almond meal and a bit more XXXX sugar, sprinkling a little of each on the paste and kneading it into the mass until it reaches the desired consistency. I make my own almond meal but sometimes rely on Trader Joe's if I have less time. I have a friend who adds rice flour to almond paste (won't disclose the secret) and achieves a very thin, ruffled and pierced, to look like lace, edge on a tart shell. The only reason I mention it is that this year she made trios of pigs, "Hear No, See No, Speak No Evil" and two of the pigs have erect ears that are almost transparent. She had already formed the figures when I visited but was airbrushing markings on the pigs while I was there. I would love to know how she achieves this effect because I have never even come close. My pigies are rather crude.

My daughter sent me a signed copy of Alice Waters' new cookbook, The Art of Simple Food. Just casually flipping thorough it I have already stuck Post-it notes on several pages with recipes I want to try ASAP. I also received a package of eight cookbooks by James Peterson from a friend who found a box of cookbooks in a thrift store and I don't think I have any of these. So far The Duck Cookbook looks really interesting.

I guess they just don't make them like they used to. I have a 15yr old classic KA and I'd like to get something bigger and badder but I don't think it would be the same quality. Did you call KA about your mixer? I hope they're going to fix it. ← I have left three messages and have yet to get a response. It is probably a very busy season for them. Fortunately, my Electrolux has performed to perfection.

My family always preferredd a sweet sherry custard - actually made with gently reduced eggnog which had sweet sherry to taste added when it had reached the desired thickness (like that of fairly thick milk gravy). If you want to try this, I recommend you try to find Savory & James cream sherry.

To make the wet stuff less so, stir in 1/4 cup of rolled oats (you can toast them in a pan first) to each cup of mincemeat. Or, you can mix in nut meal, hazelnut or almond, same ratio, or even cornflake crumbs.

I don't know about the internet, but I just bought a couple at Wal-Mart last week. No fancy red handles, but otherwise exactly the same.

cocoa and baking soda combine in cookies quite well. Often one is instructed to use baking soda and buttermilk (or sour milk in older "receipts") which produce a moderate rise when baking powder is not included.

Molasses, like honey, can keep for many, many years. If it hardens or crystallizes, simply place the container in a water bath and heat it slowly until it is again liquid. This includes molasses made from sugar cane as well as various other vegetable sources. My family has made sorghum molasses on the farm for many years and has some still sealed in crocks that was made before I was born (in 1939), recently discovered in a corner of the cellar. Still good! Of course they now have modern machinery and it is cooked in closed vessels, instead of the open "pans" but the process and the end result is much the same.

I can only suggest that you should not be "penny-wise and pound-foolish" and settle for less that you actually need, in spite of what your local fire expert says. You need to exhaust the heat from the kitchen - you are in a area where this is going to be critical in the summer (a very long summer) months. Without adequate heat evacuation your airconditioning costs will skyrocket and you will end up paying far more that you can possibly save by a less than adequate installation. Get the advice of a pro who will be able to estimate the kitchen heat output and recommend something appropriate. Your fire department guy probably means well but I doubt he has spent enough time in a working kitchen to know the long-term costs of pinching pennies. There are through-the-wall exhaust systems made for installation in multi-story commercial buildings and they do not require huge holes. But the machinery to move the heat has to be a certain capacity or you will have significant problems in the future. If you can't work in a kitchen because of excess heat, you will be very unhappy. I live in a desert area with summer temps that are often in triple digits and I opted for a heavy-duty system because I have had experience with less than optimum systems.

My year-old KA 600 Pro 6-qt stalled out this morning while mixing a batch of farina cookies. It is a fairly stiff dough but my old 5-qt was always able to handle it okay. It began with the speed controls not working at all settings. That is, the speed was the same on settings 2 and 4 and jumped to much faster at 6, no change when moved to 8. I transferred the dough to the Electrolux and finished the mixing. This is not a good time to have a breakdown but fortunately I do have a "few" extra mixers but for now have to rely on the Electrolux as the new KA is at present only a large paperweight. If all else fails, I can drag out my old KA Model G, which still has plenty of oomph in spite of being 80-years-old! (Although I will have to get someone to lift it onto a heavy-duty cart because it weighs considerably more than modern home mixers.)

I have better luck with pudgy soft GB men when I underbake them. I love the recipe from RLB's Christmas Cookie book that I stopped trying new ones. If you bake for the recommended time, they will be crunchy. If you pull them early when you think they aren't done, they will still firm up but remain softer - meaning there's no crunch when you bite into them. ← I agree with this. I should have mentioned above that I bake these cookies 5-6 minutes (in a convection oven) and they are still quite soft if touched. I roll them about 3/8 inch thick or when sliced from a log cut them about 1/2 inch thick and flatten slightly (I use my favorite instrument for this, a batticarne.)