andiesenji

I'm sorry, I put two links into the post but apparently only one got through. Here is the one that was ommitted or dropped. Technical aspects of vanilla extraction.

For a technical explanation of the chemical processes and the most efficient way to extract the greatest flavor from vanilla beans, you might want to read this article - the second page explains the process. I use 4 to 8 beans, depending on size for a 16 oz (1 pint) jar. The fat, fresh and very pliable (softer) beans take less time to extract the flavor. I split the beans lengthwise, chop them into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and mash them a bit in a glass mortar (which can be easily rinsed to get all the bits). I use jars that have the wire spring locks and rubber gaskets so they can be tightly sealed. I start the process with just enough EverClear to cover the chopped beans, because I have found that the higher the alcohol content, the more flavor is extracted in the first phase of the process. After a week I fill the jar to the top with brandy, light rum or good vodka - occasionally I do use bourbon, usually Wild Turkey. Every few days I shake the jar and store it inverted (you have to make sure it is well sealed) to keep oxygen out of the jar. You can draw off some of the liquid and begin using it after a month but it is better after 4 months, at which time you can draw off a couple of ounces and store in a dark brown or opaque bottle, top up the jar and put it back, making sure it is well sealed. It is also possible to extract vanilla flavor with glycerine - for non-alcoholic flavoring, but it is a bit more challenging and complicated - it requires several sessions of alternating heating and cooling and if one is determined to get the ultimate result, distillation. This doesn't require exceptionally expensive equipment, simple laboratory equipment works just fine. Distillation apparatus. I use these for distilling herbal and spice extracts.

I sent one of these to my daughter, actually for my grandchildren to use as they all love tea latte, last fall. They use it almost every day and love it. Because of the the spigot, it doesn't have to be lifted to dispense the hot liquids, so is safe for kids to use. I have one of the FrothN Sauce appliance, which I love, but I wouldn't give it to someone with children because the stuff does get very hot and it has to be poured. I use it all the time - it is of course, more expensive than the other machine. Froth N Sauce

I ordered a 10-pack of the stuff from ABC Wholesale via Amazon. I also printed up several of the P&G product pages describing the stuff and so far have delivered them in person to Albertson's and Stater Brothers. One of my neighbors went with me and she too gave the people in customer service her opinion that the foam stuff does not work as well as the spray.

I am bumping this topic up to report that all of a sudden Dawn Power Dissolver has disappeared from supermarket shelves, at least in my area. I have been to Ralphs, Albertson's, Stater Brothers, Von's and Smart & Final. They have plenty of the new foam stuff, even in different "flavors" but this stuff is not a substitute for the spray, it doesn't get into tight crevices easily. I have written to Proctor & Gamble and complained and if anyone else likes this product and wants to continue using it, you can also send them an email. P&G link I get really annoyed with companies that suck one in, convince them to use a product because it is so great, then, when one does get used to it and depends on it, DISCONTINUES IT! I bought the foam stuff, it doesn't work as well, the foam dries up too rapidly when applied to thich greasy stuff and one has to keep applying it. I did some blasted chicken on a full size sheet pan - I didn't want to go outside to use the Carbon-Off because it was below freezing, so I tried to use the foam stuff. It took most of a bottle and in my opinion is a waste of money. They dumped a superior product for an inferior one which is, of course, more expensive. Rats!

Check out the instruction here: Homemade butter. Good advice and they give instructions for using a food processor.

A more recent inland sea was in the Great Basin, (between the Rockies and the Sierras) which has been a salt sea off and on for millions of years but most recently during and after the last Great Ice Age, 40,000 years ago. During that period this sea extended all the way up to Wyoming but gradually subsided until it was Lake Bonneville of which The Great Salt Lake is just a fractional remainder. The salt mined in Utah has a lot of minerals in it and is sort of pinkish in color. I like it. Did you know there were salt mines in southern Illinois?

I learned the hard way that I am allergic to stevia. Not one of the refined product but the dried leaf (which at the time was the only way it was sold) which I put in my teapot with loose tea. So try a little at first before you jump in completely. I learned after my experience with hives and itching and swollen eyes, that people who have allergies to plants like honeysuckle and jasmine, also may be allergic to stevia.

I use agave nectar in baked goods, breads, both yeast (yeast seems to really like it because I had great results with cinnamon rolls) and quickbreads, scones, etc., fruit pies, bread pudding, egg custard - the only thing which was iffy, not sure if it was the agave, was lemon curd. The batch I made with agave did not set up as firmly as usual. As I mentioned above, I use it in dressing, marinades and have excellent results using it in fruit syrups and it was especially good in a toasted pecan syrup. I have also used it very successfully in ice cream, gelato and ices.

Steven, Look at the selection that is available at Fantes.com If you can get away from the "hand-held" type there are other solutions . Scroll down and you will see a round "box" grater with two sizes and it is 7" in diameter and is fine unless you are grating large amounts of cheese. It works with very hard cheese and semi-hard cheese. I have a similar one that my housekeeper likes to use. I don't like them because I am always hitting my knuckles. In my opinion, a better solution, for moderate amounts, is the one that has a vacuum base and although the housing is plastic, it is quite sturdy. I gave one to a friend last year to take on a trailer camping trip. They also needed something their kids could use safely and this one has a pusher. They planned on cooking on a charcoal grill, pizza, quesadillas, burritos, etc., and would be grating both hard cheeses and softer cheeses such as cheddar and jack. They told me it goes through a chunk of cheese rapidly, even a very hard romano that "someone" had forgotten to wrap securely. I am not fond of the hand-held plastic graters they use, or at least used to use, at the Olive Garden near me. The server was grating cheese onto the dish of the person sitting next to me when the thing came apart and most of it dropping into the dish, spattering me with red sauce - I was wearing a pale blue cashmere sweater and was not a happy camper.

Seas that are realy old and no longer flow. ← So how many million years ago was there a sea where southern Kansas is now? ← Sixty million years ago during the Paleocene Epoch a great inland sea occupied most of the Great Plains area from the Gulf of Mexico to North Dakota. There is a area near Bismark where the ancient shoreline can be determined by petrified wood from ancient trees that were innundated after they matured because there is evidence the trees were attacked by shipworms that lived in salty, not fresh water.

Wear protective gloves!

I have the jumbo Cusipro because it takes a bigger chunk of cheese. However for grating larger amounts, I use an electric cheese grater. I used to use a mini-prep food processor but it was too darn awkward because with mine I had to remove the grating blade to dump out the grated cheese. (I always seemed to drop the damm blade on the floor which then required washing, drying, etc., etc., etc. Very annoying.) So I bought one of these.

I have a wet salt grinder because it is easier to distribute the salt evenly over a dish because otherwise it clumps. I now use a salt grinder (perhaps mine is more efficient that others because it throws out enough for me) mainly because I have difficulty feeling how much salt I pick up in a pinch. I have lost some sensitivity in my fingers since developing severe arthritis in my right hand.

Melissa, I recall that one of the first posts I read of yours, soon after I joined eG, had a mention (whine) about the lack of TJs in your home city and how much you enjoyed shopping at the one located near your daughter's home. I truly believe that your posts about the many products available at TJs (and often unavailable anywhere else) has prompted more than a few eG members to venture into the stores and sample the varied and interesting (and reasonably priced) offerings. (just as an example, TJs sells the Kerrygold Irish butter for a dollar less than than other stores in my area and in some cases, well over a dollar less.) I love Kerrygold butter, it is almost as good as homemade! I know there are more than a few people who do not see the point of TJs, but having shopped at the stores since before they actually were named TJs, I think I have a pretty good picture of what they are about. I have friends who delight in fooling those people who have pretensions of expertise in wines by substituting TJs house label wines for more expensive.

There was a similar product mentioned on a thread here perhaps two years ago. As I recall, it was not offerend in colors - just translucent plastic.

I do think the water has an effect. When I first moved up here to the high desert in 1988 and began using the water from my own well - very good tasting, but also high in calcium - I had difficulty cooking dried beans, peas and noted that some of my teas did not brew as strongly as previously when I lived down in the Valley and had city water. In 1994 when I had my kitchen remodeled, I had a filter system installed on the supply line from the well tank. It made a tremendous difference in cooking many things, including dried beans, peas, etc. A Britta water filter is not expensive and does an excellent job and for anyone who is having difficult with cooking certain thing, it would not hurt to try it. Chemicals in water have an effect on many foods, it just seems to be most evident in these. I also noticed that cruciferous vegetables were not as bright in color as they are now and some colored root vegetables would actually acquire a sort of grey "skin" on the cut surfaces. That no longer happens.

I buy it at Smart & Final, it comes in half gallon cartons. I use it for making clotted cream, cream cheese, butter, cream fraiche, etc. Ultra-homogenized cream simply will not form curds, no matter what one does. If you try to make clotted cream with it, it does not form the solid thick and smooth curd on top of the cream, it becomes grainy and is not at all appetizing. When available, I buy raw milk and cream and pasteurize it myself (I have an automatic electric home pasteurizer). It does not keep as long as the market brands of heavy cream. I buy it only when I am prepared to use it immediately. I have found that it whips up greater in volume than the regular stuff and it seems to be much more stable, holding much longer in the fridge, without weeping liquid into the bottom of the bowl. However, I usually ladle it into a steel colander with very fine holes set onto a tray. It will hold for several hours this way.

Abra, That is the reason the Red Velvet cake recipe I posted uses canned cherries, not maraschino. Of course Meemaw canned her own cherries, but I have had excellent results with regular canned cherries in light syrup, NOT the prepared pie filling cherries. Meemaw's Red Velvet cake

Another thing you can do is steam dried fruits, or simmer them in water until they are soft and put them through the mill to make a paste or puree as this removes most of the frbrous bits. I do this with dates, because I want a paste without the papery skin that can be so annoying when one is trying to prepare a very smooth spread or filling. One of the ones I have has a superfine "disc" which will even catch the tiny fig seeds. (Tiny seeds like these are a no-no for people with certain intestinal problems.) One of the first things I learned to do with a Foley food mill back in the 1940s, was to put soaked (overnight) tapioca "pearls" through the mill to make a very smooth blancmange, because my great grandmother absolutely abhorred the "fish-eye" appearance of the pudding in its natural state.

Manufacturering cream is pasteurized but not ultra-homogenized and does not contain any of the additives that are put into "heavy" cream to make it whip with more volume. Usually this is carageenan or a type of gelatin. It has to be a minimum of 38% and is usually 40% butterfat whereas regular heavy cream is at least 36% butterfat. It behaves differently in sauces than regular commercial heavy cream, in heated sauces it does not "break" as easily. It can also be beaten into a very smooth sweet butter which with commercial heavy cream, that contains additives, will be slightly grainy. Here you can find nutritional facts about the Alta-Dena brand.

I wouldn't be without them. I have more than one pair. My favorite is the Wusthof professional (all stainless steel) for the toughest jobs, expensive but worth every penny. They are incredibly sharp and will shear through turkey bones easily. Wusthof. I have a pair of Forschner which are inexpensive but better than some more expensive I have tried. My local butcher uses them.

And because of the way it is made, you can put cooked fruit with the pits in and it will squeeze out the pulp and you can scrape out the pits. It's the easiest way to make plum butter because the best purple plums for that really cling to their pits. I cook them whole and use the food mill to remove the skins and pits. Lovely, smooth plum puree. Yours looks like a particularly nice one. Love the red knobs.

There are several types like this Scroll down to the second picture for the helpers on this site.

Meat and three was a term used in restaurants in the 40s, in Paducah, KY, Memphis, TN, and Stuttgart, Arkansas which were cities that I remember having these meals in family restaurants.