andiesenji

The action of the yeast in the dough does generate a lot of heat. 100 pounds of dough in a dough trough will be very warm when you sink an arm deep into it to punch it down or to grab an armful to place on the bench.

It's a vegetable/fruit peeler - I think it is called Quick Peel and I think someone put a photo up a year or so ago on another gadget thread.

I bought some corn Saturday and I used my usual method - I don't pull the shuck back very far and only on one section. It was good that I did because on several of the ear I examined there was greeny-black mold between the kernels and the inner shucks. I called one of the produce men to look at the ears I had pulled out and put aside and he brought a box from the back and began checking the ears himself and tossing any that were bad. He said 4 pallets of corn had been delivered in a reefer truck that was very cold. In fact he said that the receiver noticed frost on the exterior of one of the boxes, which were left on the dock for a couple of hours because of the large volume of stuff they got for the holiday sales. He said that moisture probably condensed in the shucks as the corn warmed up and created a perfect place for mold to grow. I was able to find 8 ears that were okay and he was still sorting them when I left the produce area. He thanked me for calling his attention to the problem.

Purplewiz, I use my pizelle iron quite often. In fact I used it yesterday to make cones for homemade peach icecream. My pizelle iron came with a cone roller It is this Villaware double iron. You can roll them into "cigarettes" and dip one end into chocolate after they have cooled. You can also fille the rolled ones with various goodies. You can also fold them like fortune cookies. You have to work rapidly as they set quickly after they come off the heat. (I wear gloves.)

You are not alone. Over the years I have met hundreds of people who refuse to try anything new or different, exotic, foreign or ??? I was raised in a family who were all food adventurers and would try anything once. My great-grandmother travelled extensively in the late 1800s when travel could be extremely ardurous. She would tell the most wonderful stories about trying strange and exotic foods while on her travels in Europe, around the Mediterranean, Egypt, India and Africa. One of my uncles brought a box of "alligator pears" home from a visit to Florida when I was about 9 and we all fell in love with avocados. I still love them.

I have used the heating pad method with excellent results. You can get a cheap but fairly accurate thermometer that is made to stick on the outside of a window (facing the glass so you can see it inside) which I have used on the inside of a big Sterilite container which fits over my long dough bowl. The only difference is that I bought a heating pad made for dogs (puppies actually) that is 100% waterproof. (Actually I bought two, because at that time my basenji was in whelp and I needed one for the puppies too.) I still have the one I use in the kitchen - it is also handy for gently heating cream and keeping it warm over a long period of time for making clotted cream. There are a few other less common uses. waterproof heating pad the medium size

Look for them in middle eastern markets in your area.

Many jam and jelly recipes include a little lemon juice to temper the sweetness and to aid in jelling. One can experiment by making very small batches of jams and preserves in the microwave in a Pyrex custard cup, to determine what ratio gives the desired flavor. I have a recipe for prune whip that requires lemon juice even though it is not for preserves or jam. The prunes are plumped and simmered in water to which lemon juice is added, 1 tablespoon for each 6 oz of prunes. Omitting the lemon juice produces a cloyingly sweet result. This recipe uses less lemon juice but is very similar to mine.

However, you can make a very inexpensive proofing box from one of the small refrigerators made for dorm rooms, etc., and which can be found at thrift stores, Goodwill and similar stores or swap meets for $10.00 and up. They are already insulated and all you need is to drill a hole in one side through which you can thread a wire, then, mount a ceramic light fixture base over the hole on the inside and use a 40 watt bulb to heat it. You can get the fixtures with either a chain switch which will be on the inside of the box, or an in-line switch on the cord (more desirable in my opinion). surface mount socket socket with in-line switch Also drill 2 1-inch holes in the top of the fridge, at diagonal corners, to vent excess heat/moisture. A hole saw works best. There was a web site that had this conversion diagrammed but I can't find it at the moment. However it is not all that difficult. Just remove the cord to the fridge itself and if it has and external coil, remove that also, however most nowadays do not. You can even plug the cord into a timer so that it will turn off and on periodically to maintain the correct temp. One of the thermometers that has a probe on a cable, with a magnetic base to stick on the door is perfect for checking the temperature without opening the door.

Here is an earlier thread on proofing in winter

Dried pears make a wonderful preserve. The trick is to reconstitute them in pear nectar (canned) which really intensifies the flavor. Also dried tomatoes (unflavored of course) also makes a lovely jam. Tomato jam can be made a bit spicy, with the addition of just a little dried chile and is an amazing accompaniment to meats such as roast pork, etc. The Shakers were famous for their dried fruit preserves, apples, wild berries, plums, peaches and gooseberries. Two of my aunts spent a lot of time in the late 40s and 50s gathering shaker recipes from people in Kentucky, southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio who remembered the Shaker communities that were still active in the early 1900s. Many of these recipes depended on dried and preserved foods. The Shakers were inventors, innovators and experimented with new ways of perserving foods. Dried (unsweetened) pineapple is also a great addition to preserves - especially combined with apricots or apples.

Migrating fowl, geese, ducks, swans, puffins, and penguins ALL gorge prior to migration. The so-called "force" feeding simply exploits a natural tendency. As far as I am concerned there are so many more important issues that should be addressed, i.e. children and elderly who do not have enough to eat and do not have even minimal health care, that this ridiculous legislation, costing a lot of money, is frivilous. Any legislation that puts small farmers/producers out of business is a travesty when they do nothing about battery-raised and maintained chickens, turkeys and etc. They go after the little guy who doesn't have the money to fight back. That is restraint of trade. Note that the day the "Govenator" signed that ridiculous bill in California, the federal government relaxed the restrictions on IMPORTS of foie gras from France! Does that make sense? it is okay to import the stuff and wrong to raise it here. Most legislators are idiots.

I always pull part of the husk back far enough to see the size of the kernels on every ear, and if they are plump and to make sure there are no worms. It is perfectly reasonable to examine the corn and if the vendor objects, ask them to pull it back and show you the end of the ear. Otherwise, buy elsewhere. You should not have to waste your gas driving back and forth. You can also buy the ears, THEN pull back the husk and if it is no good exchange it then and there.

You didn't give any details about the kettle. Size? what does the interior look like? There are many kettles made for boiling or simmering water, not specifically for tea but rather for humidifying air. Many manufacturers of cast iron stoves (pellitized wood, coal or regular wood) also sell these kettles just for this purpose. porcelain lined tea kettles Scroll down to see the different styles and colors. Even with uncoated cast iron, after a few uses, you will not taste anything of the iron as long as there is no acid added to the water. However I would not steep tea in uncoated iron. The kettle will rust if water is allowed to stand in it for prolonged periods so it should be emptied, heated to vaporize the remaining dampness and stored in a dry place - I save those little packets that come in bottles of vitamins and packed with electronics and toss several into my kettles to absorb any stray moisture. Some kettles (such as the Japanese tetsubin) have porcelain fired on to the interior. Those can be used for steeping tea and the water can be heated in the kettle but it should not be left over heat for prolonged periods, or over very high heat. some examples of tetsubin. More cast iron tea kettles/teapots from China, similar to tetsubin made in Japan.

Because I want them. I feel that cookbooks are a fascinating reflection of our culture. I too am a collector, not only of cookbooks, I collect some early 20th century writers. Egyptology books from 19th and early 20th century, "classic" mysteries and a few other subjects. The latter half of last week I attended LA WorldCon at the Anaheim Convention Center. WorldCon is an event for Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans and vendors from all over the U.S. and even further afield, bring their goods for sale, including many, many booksellers. I acquired 21 first editions, all signed, met a few of my favorite authors and got some of my own books signed. Also bought two prints and a bunch of T-shirts and similar "stuff."

On the contrary, as someone who works in ethnobotany, I can tell you with conviction and a great deal of personal experience that it is the common names that are more often confusing. Scientific names are subject to rigorous rules and peer review and are equivalent across languages and cultures, while common names often change from one village to the next within a space of a few kilometers. I would argue that either system is useful in its own context. Andie, I've also overwintered chili peppers with great results. The South American varieties often wouldn't flower for me the first year, even when I was in Florida. ← To successfully overwinter them you have to cut back on fertilizer when the night temps drop intot he 40s, sometimes I pinch all but a few of the actively growing branches back, then repot, also trimming back some of the peripheral roots. I move them into the greenhouse in October here, because it is still fairly warm during the day and cooling at night. I begin fertilizing again in late November and start using the grow lights so the plants have a minimum of 12-14 hours full light per every 24. the plant begins putting out new leaves and stems and by mid-December is blooming. I also have a fan in the greenhouse to discourage fungus during the rainy season. Sometimes the fan is enough to stir the pollen but I usually transfer some from flower to flower on the related plants to avoid hybrids. The open pollinated varieties do not need more than one plant, they are self-pollinating. Or you can put two plants of the same species in the same pot. The "bird" peppers of the southwest and Mexico will go dormant in the winter but come back each spring. Both Tepin (Chiltepin) and Pequin wild varieties, are gathered by Native Americans in Arizona and New Mexico. I have visited friends on the reservations who gather them and some of the plants are ancient and have formed large complex groupings. They are called bird peppers because birds feed on them. Apparently birds have no capsaicin receptors.

Rocoto/Manzano peppers can vary greatly in heat, depending on how they are grown and also in the type of soil they are grown. They are often described as having an apple flavor, it is quite distinctive. They also do have the black seeds. Many of the hot peppers develop more heat if the plants are stressed, that is, if they get less water during the period of early development after pollination and the heat can vary greatly from plant to plant. I have grown quite a few and have found that the heat can even vary from fruit to fruit on the same plant, with the smaller peppers having much more heat that the larger. The flavor of Rocotos lends itself nicely to fruit salads and blends beautifully with mango, peach, pineapple, papaya, etc., for sauces. A little goes a long way, but I have found that soaking the finely chopped peppers in milk for 20-30 minutes, then rinsing well with cold water, will mitigate the heat somewhat but retain the flavor. One of my neighbors, originally from Grand Cayman, taught me this method of reducing the heat in Scotch Bonnet peppers. Rocotos also are easy to grow in pots and will keep growing if you bring them inside (or place in a greenhouse and it doesn't have to be large) for overwintering and they will continue to bloom and bear fruit. You do have to pollinate them with a fine sable brush in the winter when bees are not active. I have maintained one Rocoto, a Habanero and a Guajillo for more than 5 years. If you ever need any specific information about peppers, you can consult with the members of the Chile-Heads list. Subscriptions are free and you can elect to receive it as a digest. There is also the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. and for the most extensive database on Chiles check out Graeme Caselton's site click on "database" and then click on the letter of the alphabet for the chile in which you are interested. A caveat! One can spend a lot of time on this site, the list of recipes is extensive and there are some great ones. I recently made Phil's Creamy White Chili which was a huge hit, made with chicken for people who do not eat red meat. I recommend it without reservations.

You can use sour salt or citric acid (in the kosher foods section at your supermarket) to get a sourer taste in your sourdough or rye bread. However, you do not add it to the starter..... Measure out a cup of the flour and into it you mix just 1/2 teaspoon of sour salt. Prepare your starter ahead of time then measure out the amount you need for your recipe. Add the majority of the flour and other ingredients, mix and knead well - it should be sticky. NOW add the remaining cup of flour and sour salt, continue kneading until the dough is smooth and silky. Follow the rest of the recipe as instructed.

Here is my posting of real "southern" cornbread from scratch. However the recipe works just fine with storebought cornmeal. However if you want to approximate the "rustic" ground corn, you can buy Bob's Red Mill coarse, medium and fine cornmeal (yellow) and mix it together to get meal with variable-sized grits which make a very interesting cornbread. If you like sweet and cake-like cornbread, this will not be to your liking. It is dense and the only sweetness is from the corn itself. However it will hold together when liberally buttered and even when dipped into bea soup.

It will keep a long time. However you can always dip it in chocolate............ I'm sure you can find someone who will eat it.

Here's a trick I have used successfully. Cut a piece of cotton twine about 4 inches long. Put 3 inches under the cake and leave one inch sticking out. Pour measured amounts of your liquid, and make notes, so you will know in the future approximately how much is needed. When the liquid has soaked to the bottom the string will act like a wick and when you see the color change, the cake layer has absorbed enough. Gently pull the string out and discard.

The cake keeps a long time. Wrap it in muslin soaked in fortified wine (sherry, port, or ???) then in aluminum foil and store in a cake or cookie tin. I have had better luck with the tins than with containers such as Tupperware. I have one of the large tins that "Danish" butter cookies are packaged in at Christmas time. Works great.

Great site dockhl!! Thanks for posting it. I intend to visit often.

I have been in Orange County for the past week (LA WorldCon was at the Anaheim Convention Center) staying with my best friend in Yorba Linda. On my way back to their house from the CC yesterday, I saw people putting stuff out in a driveway - a double driveway shared by two houses and both families were getting ready for a yard sale starting this morning. I explained that I would be on my way home early this morning so they allowed me to look at the stuff they had already put out. (Their teenage sons were going to sleep out in a tent to guard the stuff overnight.) I bought an unusual cast iron skillet with a picture of a river steamboat on the bottom and "American Cookware" "Made in the U.S.A." Also a large copper colander. Photos maybe tomorrow, I am fairly exhausted. I haven't been to a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Con for 25 years or so. I had a great time, spent way too much money on books - one dealer from New Jersey had some terrific 1st editions I couldn't resist, all signed. Well enough about the OT stuff. I also bought some vintage tablecloths, dishtowels and napkins.