andiesenji

I buy from this ebay vendor I figure what I pay in postage, I save in gas because I have to drive 120 miles round trip to pick stuff up in the valley. 200 sheets at this price is a bargain. There is a cake decorating supply place in Orange County, (at the moment the name excapes me) that sells cut sheets, rounds, etc., but I will have to hunt for the name and location. If I can find it, I will post again in a little while. You might try your yellow pages and look for cake decorating and candy making supplies. Michael's used to carry boxes of 100 sheets, but I haven't seen it recently in the store up here.

Perhaps you would like to read through the various tested methods of preparing turkey, along with the recommended internal temps, gathered by the University of Illinois extension I have mentioned in other threads my experience with cooking extremely large turkeys, back in the days when I was doing occasional cooking for other people, i.e., as a temporary "personal chef." Because the time required for oven roasting a huge bird would have been difficult to supervise, I used the braising method, which will produce a bird with moist breast meat, can be stuffed and trussed and will cook in much less time. I used the largest Magnalite roaster (model 4269) with a rack with 1 inch legs, starting with 1 cup of broth and the roaster on top of the stove over two burners until the internal thigh temp reached 160, about 4 hours, then into the oven at 450 for about 45 minutes until nicely browned. Removed from the oven, the stuffing is removed immediately and the turkey allowed to "coast" for at least 30 minutes before carving. Practice on a smaller bird or a chicken prior to tackling a big bird, use a meat thermometer you can leave in the bird or one of the probes that can be set to sound an alarm when the temp is reached and use a Le Creuset or similar covered oven. I used this method for this 4 3/4 pound capon last week.

Perhaps my mention of the goose fat recovery wasn't clear, but it is important because goose fat is a wonderful benefit of cooking goose. That being said, here are a few links to good advice about cooking your goose: Long and slow cooking goose specific advice on size to buy, and recipes And some good advice from USDA And, here is an earlier thread about this subject: cooking a goose. I have also had excellent results with goose (2) cooked on a rotisserie in a barbecue with the coals raked into ridges off to each side and a pan, actually a couple of long loaf pans, directly under the geese (fastened end to end on the spit) to catch the dripping fat. It was very cold outside and even in the protected area of the deck, the wind was howling and I wanted to make as few trips to check on the bird as possible. This was one of the first times I made use of the remote temperature probe with the alarm set for a certain temp. I used well dried apple and citrus wood as I did not want a smokey flavor. The two geese, along with several side dishes, served twelve people. Of course, with roasting it this way, there was no stuffing in the cavity but with the addition of a little of the goose fat, harvested an hour into the roasting, baking it in a casserole was just fine. and here is more detail about spit roasting

I cook or roast goose in two steps because it has an incredible amount of fat. And I do it over a 2-day period. First, I prick the skin all over with a sharp fork, then roast it in a covered roasting pan that has water in the bottom (to keep the fat from burning) at 325 degrees F. The time will depend on the size of the goose. When the internal temp in the thickest part of a thigh has reached 145 degrees F., I remove it from the oven, set the bird on a rack and turn a fan on it to cool it as rapidly as possible. Meanwhile I recover the fat from the pan, chill and refrigerate it. (better to chill it before putting it into the fridge - I just surround the container with blue ice backs wrapped in towels). The next day, I prepare a pre-cooked dressing, usually containing apples, etc., stuff the cavity, rub the exposed skin of the goose with a couple of tablespoons of the saved fat, season with salt and pepper, and put the bird in an uncovered roaster in the oven at 350 degrees F. When the thigh temp reaches 160, remove it from the oven, immediately remove the dressing and let the goose "coast" for 40 minutes before carving.

You might try this recipe/method and there are some good follow-up ideas, including a pesto - doesn't that sound good. Walnuts and carrots go together nicely so a pesto made with carrot tops and walnuts should be delicious. Perhaps with dried-tomato and portobello ravioli.....

I agree that it is perfect for any type of quick bread, pancakes, scones, cookies - great for gravy. I wouldn't use it for yeast bread without the addition of a high gluten flour.

Regarding aprons. I used to make a lot of aprons. Not for cooking but for people to wear at dog shows to keep their cloths clean while grooming their dogs ready for the ring. They had ties but each tie had a grommet in the end and they were not tied but hooked together with a shower curtain loop or a double ended bolt snaphttp://www.umei.com/hooks/schematic/double...oks-hm-928A.htm]available at any hardware store., both removable for laundry. Also, these are much easier to fasten or remove than knotted ties. The towels also got a grommet in one corner and several could be hooked onto a shower curtain hook so they could be hung up to dry, taking little room and a single one could also be hooked onto the waist tie the same way. I still have a box full of grommets.......... Also a bag full of shower curtain hooks - they come in handy for a lot of things. I also have a bunch of bolt snaps, both single and double.

I suppose that my opinion of what constitutes the "Middle East" as a culinary is a rather loose definition and not at all tied to any particular political or socioeconomic region. (In my opinion culinary traditions should not be bound by walls, fences or ideoligies, but that's just me.) In the cookbooks that I have grouped together are cookbooks from the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and Egypt, Turkey, Albania, the Arab states, etc. That's the other Tess Mallos cookbook I mentioned in my earlier post. Another one I noted but with incomplete title, and corrected by Smithy, which I appreciate is My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen by Magda Mehdawy. It has a very large section on sweets and desserts, including some I have not seen in other cookbooks. Also some wonderful jams - the yellow date jam is incredible. It also includes chapters with drinks, pickles and some wonderful salads - I am especially partial to the cauliflower salad. I found that I do have Diana Henry's Crazy Water Pickled Lemons, mentioned by lapin d'or, and find that I have tried several recipes and made little notes in the margins - some quite illegible. I also have Tess Mallos' Middle Eastern Home Cooking and The Arab Table by May Bsisu, which includes some exceptional photographs.

You can make a very strong vanilla paste by grinding the fresh, plump, full-flavored beans but you can't use a spice grinder. You need a "poppy seed grinder" and these have more uses than just for poppy seeds. This looks like a minature version of the old-fashioned food mill and is adjustable but grinds very fine. I have one that was made in England forty-some years ago and I use it for things that simply are not workable in a blade-type spice grinder, i.e., anything containing moisture. For instance, ginger that has not been completely dried, - dried bilberries and etc., that still contain a certain amount of moisture and are impossible to soak long enough to become soft enough to process in a blender. Fresh herb seeds that are not completely dried - fennel, dill, coriander, etc. I rarely believe people who say that an item such as this is not available anywhere else and there is a "special" process for making it that is impossible to duplicate. Last March I posted a recipe in this thread, post # 108 for vanilla paste that is very strong and has none of the preservatives and thickeners that are in some of the commercial products. I have since made two small batches myself and they turned out nicely. I made one batch with the xylitol in the recipe and made the other with glycerine (availalbe at your local health food store), and noted very little difference in the intensity of flavor or in texture.

As long as they were sold in a store, they should be safe. Just don't go picking your own.

As stated above, you do not want to eat any part of a potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) except for the tubers. And this includes sprouts or the skin when it has turned green. In fact, if the green has migrated more than 1/4 inch into the tuber, it is best to discard the whole thing, no matter how wasteful it may seem. Adults who eat them may get a tummy ache but small children can become very ill. Here is some more information.

The best store for kitchen gadgets, cookware and other goodies for the foodophile is, according to radio food show hosts, magazine and newspaper writers and many others, is Cookin' Stuff in Torrance. Their motto is, "If we don't have it, you don't need it! While it is not in Orange County, it is quite close, particularly if you are going to be in Costa Mesa. see red star on map. and zoom out to see how it relates to the rest of the South Coast area. I make a pilgrimage to the store at least twice a year. and for me it is a long drive.

In case anyone is interested in purchasing more than 75.00 in goods from King Arthur Flour/The Baker's Catalog, shipping is free, ending 11/12/07. Not a bad deal, particularly for those of us on the west coast.

If you mean The Brisker, it keeps crackers and cookies crisp but doesn't do much for bread

I prefer eatery as it appears in the names of a few U.S. restaurants. The term is not new, it goes back to the 1920s so has a long history in common use. I believe it also is used in a few little songs............

Perhaps something like THIS will show up on a few "Santa Please" lists. It ain't grandpappy's still!

I borrowed one to try and cooked a large fresh ham in it (14.5 pounds) and it did a great job. Being able to use it outside meant that I didn't have the aroma from rendered and burnt fat permeating my kitchen. I stuck one of the remote probes in it so I would know when the interior of the meat had reached the desired temp. I started it with the top on it and removed it after an hour. It is much less daunting than using the fryer and all that oil, which I usually end up discarding after one use, unless one of my neighbors has a use for it. (One is building a "refinery" in his garage and intends to get a generator that operates on recovered vegetable cooking oil!!)

The bread box was to keep rodents and insects away from the bread. However some breadboxes had ventilation holes, usually small enough to keep out most insects (except for ants that could get almost anywhere). I have several, of various types (yet another collection) and none really keep bread from staling. I never refrigerate bread, although I do store it in the freezer. I use the Cambro or CamSquare containers, which are virtually airtight and seem to keep the frozen bread, particularly sliced bread, in better condition. I don't worry about keeping unsliced artisan loaves (or partial loaves) crusty, because it is easy to restore the crustiness. I store them in Zip-Loc bags. When I want to use the bread, I preheat the oven to 400 F., when it has reached temp, I briefly run the loaf under the cold water faucet - trying to avoid wetting the cut surface if some has been cut off - then immediately placing the loaf directly onto the oven rack. Large loaves will refresh in 18-20 minutes, smaller or partial loaves in 15 minutes. Try it, I am sure you will be surprized at how fresh the loaf seems, as crusty as when first baked.

Here's my receipt from yesterday morning when I visited Smart & Final for "just a couple of things." I mentioned on the grocery lists thread that I had made a list but failed to take it with me. While wandering around trying to recall what exactly was on the list, I managed to find "a few" other things that I might need sometime in the future. (Probably the far future!) I did get a rather good buy on celery, which I didn't notice until I got home. They had two large bunches in each bag, I picked up two bags and didn't notice until I got home that they were stuck together, I think by mistake, and I was only charged for one. It is very good celery, very sweet and quite flavorful. And there is a lot of it. (I am going to make my usual large batch of roasted vegetables)

I would use a strap with a rachet buckle (like a cargo strap) plus little holes deep enough to catch the feet, drilled into the platform will help a lot.

One of the reasons I have the 10 cup model is because I don't have to worry about the "other" grains boiling up too much. As I mentioned above, I cool farro and barley in it and that stuff boils up a lot.

O.T. warning... I love Maxine! I visited Smart & Final this morning. I had a list but forgot to take it along. The story of my life - I am beginning to wonder if I have that "Old-Timer's disease." Needless to say, I bought way more than I intended. They did have some stuff on special at pretty good prices. Geez, I can rationalize anything. I also picked up a couple of things for my neighbors. I also bought another of the long Dexter/Russell serrated slicers that I find so great for slicing bread. Cheap enough at 14.99 but today it was only 11.99.

I've heard similar complaints from people who purchased the new Kenwood/DeLonghi mixers. One of my friends in the UK has her mom's Kenwood and still uses it several times a week to mix dog food - that is, a grain based food she mixes and bakes in sheet pans, then breaks up to make her own kibble. The only things that have been replaced on it are bushings, one bearing and the cord. And she did wear out a bowl - it developed a thin spot, which threatened to become a hole.

You can put it back into syrup. Make and cook your syrup first, cook it to the soft- ball stage, 240 degrees F. Then add the partially candied ginger but don't pack it in tightly. You should be able to stir it. keep it at a simmer until the ginger is translucent. Pull out a piece and let it cool - it should still be flexible and should have a tacky surface. Leave the ginger in the syrup overnight so it cools completely in the syrup. Then test it. If that batch is okay, strain it out - add some more sugar and water, bring the temp up to 240 and add the remaining ginger and repeat the process.

An electric roaster essentially cooks with steam and it doesn't duplicate the open roasted in the oven method but it cooks the turkey through more rapidly and it can always be shoved into the oven for 30 minutes on High temp to brown the skin. With exceptionally large turkeys, I have done the same thing with a bird that wouldn't fit into the electric roaster. I have an enormous Magnalite roaster which can be used on top of the stove (covers two burners and then some) I have cooked a 35-pound (dressed, no stuffing) on top of the stove for 4 hours and browned in the oven for 40 minutes. (In the oven, 11 hours) One thing for sure, the meat is moist and tender - using the rack, it won't be stewed. It is very similar to birds cooked in foil or in roasting bags. I am willing to bet that someone you know actually has one and would let your borrow it to see if you like how it works. It is surprising just how many people have hung onto these things, sometimes for decades.