andiesenji

I like the yogurt at Trader Joe's. (The Greek style as well as the FAGE Total Greek yogurt which is excellent - I prefer the whole milk but there is also the non-fat) Here is a list of the Farmer's markets in the Bay area. I have been to the one in Union City and found the produce to be excellent (two years ago). I have been told the Pleasanton, Pleasant Hill and Hayward markets are also very good. There were a couple of cheesemakers at the Union City market that had some lovely cheeses and I am pretty sure one had yogurt also.

I use an unlined copper sugar pan and I also use an unlined copper "jam pot" - a very large one. We used one in my mom's bakery 50 years ago and I have seen many used in other commercial venues over the years. As long as one does not cook high acid foods directly in the copper for long periods, there is no leaching. I wouldn't use the pot to make tomato sauce but I have used it many times to make marmalade. The percentage of sugar is so high as to make the leaching of the copper minimal, if any. If the interior of the copper pot is discolored (oxidized or tarnished) you have to scrub it with vinegar and rinse well before using, otherwise the fruit may discolor. Incidentally, the only reported cases of copper poisoning in morbidity reports (rarely fatal) in the past 20 years, have been from accidental ingestion of copper sulfate used to control algae in aquariums, ingestion of Clinitest tablets, and overdosing on vitamin and mineral supplements that contain copper. The human body requires some copper and deficiency can produce some odd symptoms. Here is some more information: Copper in human diet

I also vote for Cambria. Not only a nice little town with great places to eat, but it is close to Hearst Castle and if you have the time, you should take the tour. It is incredible.

I too have a lovely copper fish poacher. I have used it for fish, however I most often use it for steaming those jumbo artichokes we often see here in California markets. I can get 6 in the long pan and they can stay upright without any special gadget to hold them, however I often use rings to hold them, the rings I use are simply shallow cans with both top and bottom removed (with one of the "safety" can openers). I don't eat tuna so my cans originally held chicken.

I have made this one strawberry pound cake several times In fact, I use it for a "Neopolitan" cake construct with a chocolate and white cake. I bake it in an extra long loaf pan. From scratch, no jello. This is another one I have tried and liked very much. I did not bake it in layers, I used a 1/2 sheet pan. It is quite rich. Strawberry and Cream cake I also have a recipe for a strawberry chiffon cake but it is on a recipe card at home. I think I originally got the recipe off a box of Softasilk cake flour. You do have to cook the strawberries, strain out the seeds then cook it until it is thick syrup and drizzle it slowly into the beaten egg whites, alternating with sprinkling the cake flour onto the mixture.

Have you seen this one Marzipan Filled Brioche Bread Pudding If you bake it in a pretty baking dish, it makes a lovely presentation. I use one of these Polish pottery bakers. I have the rectangular "Blue Horizon" and "Festive Garden" and ovals in two sizes - those patterns are not on this site. I got them at Williams-Sonoma. In my great grandmother's journal she noted, "Basil, who has no adventure in his soul, chose an ice of pears. I chose a lovely egg custard that held a surprise, a little bun stuffed with marchpane flavoured of rosewater. I sought m'sieur the pastry cook to ask if he would share his secret /other than to say the eggs must be fresh and the milk still warm from the cow, he had little to impart." She then goes on to describe the structure of the dish in detail and her ideas of how it was composed.

I have one of the yogurt makers that makes the yogurt right in the milk carton. We have one at the office also and it is always in use. I have a couple of others with all the little individual cups but this one is much easier to clean. When the yogurt gets very thick, we just have to open the entire top of the milk carton to remove the finished yogurt. Miracle yogurt maker P.S. You can find them cheaper on ebay with vendors that sell via the "Buy It Now" service.

I have used all of the slicing blades that fit my big Cusinart (the 20-cup machine). I make a lot of pickles and although I use the mandoline for most stuff, I like to use the Cusinart for celery, skinny carrots, asparagus, radishes and similar type things. Being able to pack several vertically in the sleeve of the pusher and slice them all at once saves a lot of time. The blades are so sharp that the strings in the celery are cut cleanly, making the appearance much nicer. I don't use the blades as much on the smaller machines because the capacity is too small. I use my immersion blenders all the time. In fact, when I remodeled my kitchen, I had electric receptacles installed in the range hood specifically for the blenders (so I wouldn't have cords dragging over burners or pots and pans) and the blender I use most hangs from a hook up there. I think having one handy allows me to use it more often. I have three stainless malt-mixer cups that I use for cleaning the stick blenders after or between uses. There are a couple of items that I have never used, never opened the boxes. I have two electric knives. One a gift I received about 30 years ago, the other a gift I received just a few months ago. The old one is a Ronson. The new one is a "Sonic-Blade" a brand that I have never heard of The photo on the box seems to show it is cordless.

Dayum! Do you ever use more than one or two of those whisks? I've never seen many of them -- are they all general purpose whisks, or do they have different or more specific intended uses (if you elaborated on such in your other post, somebody please point me to that!)? ← Check in this thread: Start at post # 118 The description of all the whisks is in post # 122 I use all the whisks and "whips" The one at top left is specifically for eggs that are to be beaten in a very shallow bowl or pan. It is very old. The one with the red and white handle is from the 1930s and in what is considered "mint" condition. As I noted in one of the posts referenced above, the one on the right is a "Danish" dough whisk which is fantastic for blending quick breads, scones, etc., stuff that should not be handled too much or overmixed because that makes it tough. For arthritic hands, it is truly a wonder. The two that are more or less in the center and that nearly touch the handle of the big baloon, are both "gravy" whisks, the one with the brown and amber bakelite handle is called the "Best Gravy Blender" and the other is called the "Gravy Master" - I have used these a lot. There is another called "Gravymaster" which is the one that looks like a bedspring on a handle. I have other whisks but these are fair representatives of the collection. I really should take a photo of the giant one I bought for mixing in large, deep pots, when I was still doing some catering. I mention a somewhat offbeat use I made of the big one in this thread

I use a large balloon whisk to keep large pots of cream soups from scorching on the bottom (after I have pureed them with an immersion blender) because it takes little effort to move a lot of liquid around. Works much better than a spoon and also keeps it from clumping. I posted a photo of my collection of whisks several months ago.

Great question! There are a great many gadgets and appliances that look terrific when demonstrated by one of those slick sales people who can make the item do tricks. However, when one gets it home, turns out to be impractical and never works as advertised. Considering that there have been thousands of single-use gadgets and appliances invented but only a few that are truly indespensible, it is no wonder that almost every homemaker has a drawer, box, shelf or closet full of oddities. That being said, I have a ton (and I do mean an actualy 2000 pounds) or more of more or less useless junk, but I keep it because I am a collector of odd gadgets. I have been collecting them for more than 40 years. Some were made well over 100 years ago, Many were made in the '20s, '30s and '40s. The "breakout" age began in the 1950s with a proliferation of funny little gadgets that seem to be re-invented every few years, in fact I have several versions of almost identical gadgets that are marketed each time as something "Really New and Handy" or similar catch phrase, and yet disappear and reappear in cycles. (For instance, a spiral slicer that is simply a hand-held curved blade with a sort of screw at right angles at the end that is stuck into the end of a carrot or cucumber and one spins the blade around and around to slice the vegetable into a long ribbon.) The first one I saw was made in the late 1940s. Like this And here is a modern one... mrsadm mentioned a teaball. I can't recall ever using one for tea (I have a huge collection of teapots and several electric tea makers) however, I do use them for herbs and spices and have several, different sizes and different shapes, ranging from a little 1 inch diameter sphere to a large oval that is 6 inches long and 3 inches wide and a large sphere that is sold as a "rice ball" (non-stick). I have one made by Ecko, that is a mesh ball on a long handle for infusing herbs and spices into big pots of soup. In all the years I have been buying on ebay, I have only seen one for sale - I bid on it but this was before the advent of the auction robots that automatically bid (I am currently using Bidnapper) and I lost the bid. At that time I had only dialup internet and it was much too slow. The one I have has some broken wires and I would like to find one in better condition. I have one large one I use in my bathtub for infusing herbs into bathwater. I like my Bron mandoline and use it often but I have been using it for many years and am used to it. I use it to slice ginger for making large batches of candied or "crystalized" ginger, slicing tubs full of cucumbers for canning pickles, slicing 10 pounds of onions for onion confit and etc. I have tried several of the "V-slicers, angled slicers and etc., but have never found one that worked well for me. This is a case where personal preference is the determining factor. I know quite a few people who collect gadgets, some specialize in a particular era, some on one particular item. A couple who live in Encino have a huge collection of eggbeaters. Of interest to African-Americans - the first mechanical eggbeater was invented by Willis Johnson, an African-American, in 1884. My collections are rather eclectic and whimsical - a particular item will catch my fancy and I wonder how many types were made and when, how it evolved, etc., etc., etc....

Wow, great buys. All three of the cookbooks look great.

Beautiful tagine, Abra. With what dish will you "break it in"???

I have not tried cooking tofu in a tagine. However I have used one large tagine bottom (top suffered a fatal accident) for clotted cream. It is the right size, perfect depth and will maintain the low heat needed.

Large curd cottage cheese (has to be the large curd because it is less salty), possibly "thinned" with just a tiny bit of extra-heavy cream, so that barbecue potato chips, either Wavy Lays or Ruffles ( unless I can find the Michael Seasons Thick and Crunchy Mesquite barbecue chips) can be dipped into the cc so one gets a bite of cottage cheese with a bite of barbecue potato chip. Sourdough bread, sliced thin, spread with sour cream and layered with sweet onion slices sometimes topped with crumbled bacon, possibly with very ripe tomato slices but the tomatoes have to be full-flavored. Alternately, topped with my homemade bread and butter pickles. Sliced strawberries tossed with salt-glazed and roasted pecans. Crepes spread lightly with orange marmalade and sour cream, rolled into cylinders and dipped into ginger syrup. (must be very sparing with these because I am a diabetnik)

Phoenix? You have even more days of sun than us. I thought we might receive more solar radiation due to our elevation, approx 4500 feet, but apparently not. ← Where you notice a big difference is when you get above 6000 ft. We often camped and fished around Convict Lake which is close to 8000 ft. alt. and one sunburns more rapidly and the solar cooker worked very rapidly also. However, water boils at a lower temp so anything that needs to be stewed or boiled, takes longer. Baking is also faster because the material loses moisture quicker than at lower altitude and one has to adjust the baking formula for that - baking powder leavening has to be adjusted - use less. Sourdough actually works better at high altitude, probably the reason it was so popular with the 49ers in the high Sierras. Here is a conversion chart for leavening.

It's an apple peeler/corer. Invented by the Shakers in 1882.

I have a couple of the polka dot bowls, but not in black. I know I have two with red dots and one with yellow dots. As I recall, one is marked Anchor-Hocking instead of Fire-King. I have so much of this kind of stuff I really can't recall all the details and much of it is put away. I really should pull some of it out and take some up to date photos, digital, because so many of the pieces were acquired before digital cameras were available - I did have one of the first Apple QuickTake 100 cameras - but much of my stuff is pictured on slides. I have a lot of the Tulip kitchenware - grease jar, salt & pepper, spice jars, butter dish(rare) and even a citrus juicer(also rare), all collected from family members many years ago. If they had realized it would become so collectible, they would have probably held onto it. I just got a notice in the mail of an estate auction just outside Mojave this Friday and I think I may attend. It says contents of house, barn and outbuildings built in 1921, continuously occupied by the same family. Antiques and collectibles, farm implements, vehicles, appliances and fixtures. Sounds interesting. Fortunately it is this week and not last - temps were well over 100 and no way would I go out in that heat. This friday temps are supposed to be in the 80s. Very comfortable and actually lower than normal. I have used a lot of the Indian Tree china for sit-down dinners (once for 18). There are actually multiple sets of the dinner and salad (demi) plates to allow for multiple courses. I have the original fitted "crates" (they are really trunks) in which the china was shipped from Thomas Goode & Co. London with the royal warrants stuck on the insides of the lids. Most of it is packed away, I only keep a few place settings out. Although, I do have a huge Welsh dresser that has been in my storage shed for about 15 years, that I originally bought to display this set. At the time the house was being remodeled and my studio built and there was no place to put the dresser (ceilings too low) so it was stuck in the back of the shed. Now there is no much stuff in front of it I think it will take a crew of big guys to rearrange things so I can move it into the house. A project for later in the year.

I have one of these, made by Presto It does a fair job but I also have the spiral slicer made by Bron that will cut from 1/16 th to 1 inch "ribbons" and it does a great job but is very expensive. There is a spiral slicer made in Japan that is great for small batches, it also does several thicknesses. spiral slicer There is also the Benriner which has interchangeable blades and it sells for about 50.00. These can all be used for a lot more than just making curly fries. I make sweet potato "threads" deep fried. Very nice.

Zoe, Check ebay Nesting bowls or just mixing bowls Here's a set of greens from the 60s 4 green bowls or this set available as a buy it now, good price item. However these cannot be used in a microwave because of the metallic paint fired onto the surface. The stuff sparks. This is a very nice set, rarely do you see all four of these - the earliest sets had these 4 bowls, later there were only 3, alternating colors. Blue and white snowflake bowls. This also happened with some of the double spout bowl sets. When first introduced there were 4 bowls in a set and later only three. I have a fairly good-sized collection of Pyrex bowls. I also have a number of Fire-King bowls and several months ago broke the largest of my "Tulip" bowls. It was not sold as part of the 3-bowl set but they will nest in it. It is very rare as it was only made in 1952/53. I inherited mine and always felt rather lucky to have the big one. I never put them in the dishwasher because on these the paint will wear away because it was fired at a lower temperature than later designs. I was washing it without wearing rubber gloves and it slipped and banged against the divider in the sink. Darn! my fault. Tulip by Fire-King Recently there have been some reproductions of the "Primary Colors" mixing bowls coming out of China. They have the Pyrex ID on the bottom but the colors are off. The blue is slightly turquoise instead of the true medium blue and the red and green are also slightly off. The "depression" jade green and clear green are also mostly reporductions now - Linens 'N Things has the milk glass stuff (modern) and the clear glass stuff is available in shapes and sizes that were never produced in the 1930s. And if you have the time there really is Lots and lots of Pyrex

I am very curious - what are Indian Tree plates? I have never heard of them. ← Several companies made china, stoneware, etc., with this pattern, beginning in the early 1800s. My great grandmother's set was given to her in 1861 as a wedding gift. Service for 24 and it includes a lot of extra pieces no longer seen in modern china (bone dishes, cream soup with covers, bread plates, butter pats, fruit cups and finger bowls). It also includes 20 serving pieces and a large soup tureen. It is Coalport, bone china, polychrome (5 colors) and is heavily gilded which required two additional firings after the colored portion was fired. The Spode version, which is usually two colors, orange/rust, green/rust, turquoise/rust, is more common and not too expensive.

Fantastic china. I found a pink and red "Chintz" plate at a thrift store I had to walk past when I went to the Phillipine market last week. I rarely look there because it is 99% children's stuff (tiny storefront) but they had this neat plate in the window. I have several multi-level plate stands for serving pastries and etc., and I like unusual decorated plates that show color through the lacy doilies I put on them. I used to use some of my Indian Tree plates but after someone knocked a 5-tier off a table, breaking 4 of the plates, I decided that even though I have service for 24 plus some extras, I didn't want to lose any more as replacements are now very expensive.

I get them at Jack in the Box, extra, extra well done, alternating with Jack's Natural cut fries which are now better than In 'N Out fries. The natural fries still have the skin on and I also order them extra-extra well done. Carl's Jr. has the spicy waffle cut fries which I keep telling them they should sell with a side of sour cream for dipping.

For those who are going to be trying any blue-innoculated cheeses, I have some long spinal needles, never used, still in sterile, sealed cartridges with 30 cc syringes (very large) which I have used successfully to inject cheeses. The needles are large guage and 3 /2 and 4 inches long so are of no use whatsoever to drug addicts (unless they are masochists). I had to buy a box of 100 several years ago and have used less than 20. I had tried the barbecue injectors but they were not long enough. The neurosurgeon in our office suggested I try the spinal needles and they worked nicely. PM me if you would like to try them.

I have been offline for a couple of days - power out and thunderstorms - I don't like to run the computer with generator power. I just keep adding more lemons and sugar, perhaps some boiling water, 1/2 to one cup and mashing the solids down with a scalded potato masher or ladle. Between the acid and the sugar, and even with the low level of alcohol, it isn't easy for harmful organisms to get a toehold. Once I start a batch, I usually keep it going for a couple of months. I use a 2-gallon jar.