andiesenji

I have a solar cooker that looks sort of like a large TV dish but the sides are shiny polished aluminum triangular "leaves" that can be rotated and slid behind each other to make it a small package. It t stands on a metal tripod and has a 12 inch disc at the center and a ring on a wand that holds a 6-inch lens where the reflection from the leaves can be focused to make the cooker really hot. There is a deep round aluminum Dutch oven sort of thing that comes with a rack and an aluminum plate for baking bread, cakes, etc., and there is a shallower pan for frying, etc. It will get to 500 degrees. We tested it several times by holding a piece of wood under the lens and the wood would char, then burn. I have had it for 35 or more years. We used to cook with it up in the high Sierras and at high altitude it works a treat. If I can get to where it is stored in the shed, I will try to pull it out and set it up and take photos.

I also suffer from the "overstocking" syndrome, in fact, I have an acute condition. It has come in handy this past week with temps well over 100 - Lancaster broke several record highs, including one dating back to 1925 - 112 degrees F and unlike the usual weather, we had thunderstorms, monsoonal cloud cover which kept the nights warm also and we had record high "lows". Needless to say, I didn't feel much like shopping or cooking so found things to prepare in the pantry, freezer and fridge. I made a chicken salad with canned chicken (Kirkland, from Costco, which is excellent). I had bread in the freezer I had baked till done (internal temp 195) but not completely browned. Set out at room temp for an hour, then a quick bath under the cold water faucet and directly onto the rack in a 425 degree oven (electric convection so as not to heat the kitchen) for 15 minutes and it was as good as fresh. A salad of leaf lettuce and cherry tomatoes from the volunteer vine was enough to finish it. One evening I made an omelet with cottage cheese and green chilies and some crumbled bacon I had cooked and frozen a few weeks ago. Half an avocado and a couple of cherry tomatoes on the side. This evening I had some pork from a roast a neighbor cooked in my barbecue/smoker earlier today. Their power has been off for 3 days and they don't have a generator. I had room in my big freezer for some of their stuff but not all, so they have been cooking as much as they can and giving a lot of it away to other neighbors. They are also using two of my portable Igloo coolers that run off auto batteries, mostly for milk for their kids and for keeping water cold. I didn't have power for a couple of days but have a big diesel generator that is water cooled so can run continuously for several days, unlike the smaller ones. I have 2 electric panels with an automatic switch that throws over when the regular power goes down and starts the generator. When the power comes back on I have to shut down the generator manually before switching back to regular power. I haven't been running my AC because I also have two evaporative coolers on the roof and when the humidity is low, they cool the house quite well. They both run off solar panels. One thing about living in the desert is there is a lot of sun so solar panels really work beautifully. My well pump is also running off of solar panels now. My electric bill from last month was $78.54. It used to be 300.00 + in the summers. In any event, I am sure that I have enough here that I could easily feed myself and at least 3 or 4 others for a minimum of 3 months, probably longer if folks don't mind repetition. I learned my lesson after the '94 earthquake. Be prepared to be without power, gas and water for several days, if not weeks. Living so close to the San Andreas fault tends to make one cautious.

Decant most of the vinegars into clean bottles, using a coffee filter strainer. Pour the remaining vinegar into a glass measure and rinse the stuff that may have collected on the filter back into the remaining liquid. Wash and scald the original bottles and caps. Using a scalded funnel, pour the liquid back into the bottles, add about a teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white wine to each bottle. Replace the caps and set in a place away from light for 3 - 4 weeks. If the mother is active, it should have grown and formed a thin mat on the surface of the liquid. Now you can add some more wine or add this active mother to a bottle of wine. Just remember that the more wine, the more time it will take. If it has sunk to the bottom and the liquid is cloudy, discard it. You can still use the vinegar you have filtered out of the original stuff. Bragg's unfiltered and unpasteurized vinegar, available in most health food stores, includes an active mother. It can be used in wine, although some people will advise you to buy a commercial mother, but after just one 4-6 month session of growth in red wine, the mother will have adapted. It usually takes two sessions for white wine, but you can use smaller quantities to speed up the process. Balasmic vinegars are most often cooked before bottling to inactivate any mother, however occasionally one will develop in the very young types, which are not actually true balsamic. In fact, according to one marketing study, less than 20% of the balsamic sold in the U.S. is actually true Balsamic.

Sabroso, in Canoga Park, on Vanowen Avenue - I think it is close to Corbin, has terrific tacos, especially the carnitas and the tacos Al Pastor which are as close to the ones I have had in Mexico as any I have tried in the U.S. The meat is cooked diffrently than most Mexican meats, on a vertical rotisserie, sort of like the Greek "gyro" rotisserie, and sliced off so you get a bunch of slivers of meat. Delicious!!

This recipe, originally by Paul Prudhomme, is a baked version that is one of the best I have ever tasted. southern smothered pork chops I make smotherd pork chops but first make the gravy with pork fat trimmings, chopped very fine, rendered in the fry pan then add chopped onion with a little garlic and a touch of lemon zest, brown the onions, cover, reduce the heat and cook on very low heat until the onions are carmelized. Meanwhile I have marinated the pork chops with a little fruit vinegar and seasonings, (you should use the seasonings you like best, I like a spicy mixture with sage but it is not for everyone). When the onions are deep brown and very soft and sweet, I scrape most of the stuff into a sauce pan, if necessary add a little fat (bacon drippings by choice) to the fry pan, sprinkle in 2 heaping tablespoons of flour and stir well until browned. Now, you can add hot water or a mixture of water and milk, or straight milk and stir well to blend. Add this to the sauce pan with the onions and place over low heat, covered. Scrape the fry pan - add more drippings and bring up to high heat. Now drain the chops and pat dry with a paper towel. Dust very lightly with flour. Place in the fry pan, brown well on both sides, add 1/4 cup of water, cover tightly and reduce heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes depending on thickness of the chops. Add the gravy/onion mixture from the saucepan cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Serve over rice or boiled new or fingerling potatoes split in half.

I find it "works" best at about 80 to 85 F. You can always taste it, diluted with a little water, the difference can be from subtle to very pronounced. I don't know how to explain it, the flavor just seems more intense than lemonade with a hint of wine. I think it is because the flavor of the zest is so intense and lemony. My grandpa liked to have lemon peel or zest mashed with sugar and heated over an alcohol lamp with a tiny bit of water. A measure of bourbon was added to this and it was then strained into a glass. Mostly grandpa drank this with a little seltzer - no ice. However, by the time I was about five, he had begun using ice, at least in the summer. Many of the friends and neighbors thought we were peculiar, because many of us drank hot tea even in the summer, (in particular my great grandmother) and worse, put milk in our tea. I can remember one of my great uncles exclaiming that he could never put ice in his whiskey - not only would it dilute the spirits, it might cause a "chill on his liver." That always broke me up, I thought it was such a funny remark.

How is your jar of shandy doing? I started a jar the following day and it is bubbling merrily. It has been extremely hot here but the temp in my pantry hasn't gotten over 85 degrees. I have yet to turn on my A/C as I also have 2 evaporative coolers (AKA "swamp" coolers) on the roof that use very little energy compared to refrigerated A/C.) While listening to Melinda Lee today, she mentioned several ways of using summer fruits and has the recipes up on her website: Melinda Lee recipes She is on KNX1070 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon every Saturday and Sunday and if you are interested, you can listen online. She does a great job answering questions from callers as well as her prepared segments. Food News?

I use several of the sauce recipes found on This Asia Recipe site. The "Universal Sauce" found just below the potsticker dipping sauce, is excellent with vegetables and tofu.

Here is my recipe for Bread and Butter refrigerator pickles. Easy, quick and pretty good, if I do say so myself. You can use this for mixed veggies, zuccini, etc., as well as cucumbers. Add an extra 1/3 cup of sugar to the liquid and use it to pickle watermelon rind, (the pale green part with the skin peeled off.) Andie's Bread and Butter pickles on Melinda Lee's web site.

I have bought cilantro root at the 99 Ranch market in Van Nuys. It may be seasonal, like some of the other produce they carry. If there is one near you, call and ask.

The "gauze-type" so-called cheesecloth doesn't work very well. True cheesecloth, also known as "butter muslin" is a very fine weave and is perfect for straining yogurt, soft cheese, etc. Williams-Sonoma carries it in individual squares just the right size for a large colander. However you can buy unbleached muslin at a yardage store, wash it first in hot water to remove the sizing, then put through the washer again, without any soap or other additives. Then cut to the size you need.

Mostly in drinks, mixed with seltzer water. The family used a lot of seltzer there were several siphons around. In fact, all of us kids got in trouble one time or another spraying each other - like the Marx Brothers did in their movies. The vinegars were like thin syrups and were used in fruit salad and poured over ice cream. (our cook also made peach, cherry and apple "brandy" in a jar in the pantry, she dosed fruit cakes with the various flavored spirits). She also made an orange wine that was a favorite of my great grandmother.

Keep it, it takes at least 6 months to convert. That "nail-polish remover" aroma is a temporary thing. You can add whatever kind of wine you want. You can add some fruit juice - preferably some of the frozen concentrate stuff, diluted with half the usual amount of water. Even though that is very sugary, it will speed up the vinegar process as it gives a boost to the acetobacter bacteria. The next process involves first removing some of the mother and storing it in a separate jar. If you can find fresh yeast, or "cake" yeast, you can toast a slice of white bread in the oven until it is very dry, even a bit scorched is okay. Spread the yeast on the toast and carefully float it on the surface of the wine/vinegar. (if you can find fresh yeast, use active dry yeast mixed with a tablespoon of cold water) Allow this to sit, undisturbed for 6 weeks then strain through butter muslin (or an old pillowcase works well). Wash and scald the container or clean it with water into which you have mixed some bleach (and be sure to run the water/bleach through the spigot then rinse well). Return the liquid to it and add the saved mother. NOW you want to top it up so there is very little head space, cover it with plastic wrap (the new silicone bowl covers also work beautifully) and put it back in a dark place and leave it alone for a minimum of 3-4 months before testing it for acid content and tasting. Check it every few days to make sure the top hasn't blown off. I invert one of the super jumbo heavy duty ziploc bags over the carboy to make sure there is no dust on the cover. If the acid is below 5%, put it back for another 6 weeks or so. Making really good vinegar takes time. I have some made with a very special mother that took 2 years but it was well worth the wait.

When I was much, much younger and able to do a lot of hiking, we went camping in the high Sierras and my camp kitchen was extremely minimal. The heaviest items were a cast iron frame with hooks, a standing grill, and a ring tripod that could hold an 18 inch cast iron skillet, also an 8-quart Dutch oven with a top that could hold hot coals, for baking. Also a couple of aluminum-clad ice chests, I still have one, that doubled as seating. With these items and a few rolls of heavy duty aluminum foil, I could cook full meals for 8 people. We had several 50s era aluminum mess kits purchased at an Army/Navy surplus store which were easy to clean, wouldn't break and didn't weigh too much. Coffee was made in a one-gallon enamel coffee pot that was 40 years old at the time - coffee was "boiled", clarified with eggshells and strained through muslin. We ate a lot of fresh-caught trout, *bacon (from a slab, that didn't have to be refrigerated), *ham, ditto, dried beef, potatoes (we took a 100 pound bag for a 2-week trip because the guys were all big potato fans). I made roasted potatoes, fried potatoes, scalloped potatoes (made with dried milk) and potato soup. *We had a canvas "cache" bag that came with a rope and pulley so it could be hung from a high branch in a tree a bit away from the camp area to keep bears out of the camp. We have to move it every couple of days because the bark on the tree would be shredded every morning and we didn't want the trees harmed too much.

That sometimes happens, check out this site: vinegar making discussion and at this site check the section under Putting Vinegar in perspective in paragraph 3. (the fingernail polish bit) and here another site The Vinegar Man's site I have some 3-gallon carboys that live in a dark, cool closet inside my pantry. I don't usually bother with real wine "mothers" I just use the unfiltered Bragg's apple cider vinegar that included the mother, put some in a carboy with the wine and leave it alone for a minimum of 6 months, sometimes adding additional wine if I happen to have part of a bottle left over or given to me. I have a pH tester and an acid test kit to make sure the vinegar is at least .05%

Yet again another topic that takes me back to my childhood (in the 40s). The cellar in my grandfather's house was partially cut into limestone bedrock and contained a very large cistern which held water from a spring that bubbled up through the stone, with a pipe about 18 inches below the top edge to carry away the water when it reached that level. Just below the level of the water there was a ledge, all around the inner cistern wall that held stoneware crocks in which were stored things that needed to be kept cooled. Considering that the house, and the cistern, was built in 1830, back then that was their only "refrigeration" for food storage. Several fruit vinegars were always "working" in some of the crocks, peach, pear, raspberry, elderberry, ground cherries, cherry, plum, gooseberry and dandelion. The latter not a fruit but made from the dandelion blossoms, first into a wine, then converted to vinegar. I remember this quite well because picking dandelion flowers was one of my first "chores" when I was very young. One of the first color photographs my grandpa took with a new camera was of me, with my face, hands, arms and clothes all colored butter yellow from the flowers. I still make a drink my great grandmother called lemon "shandy" - not the traditional ale mixed with lemonade, but rather a very lightly fermented and only slightly alcoholic lemon drink. All it requires is lemons, scrubbed well (I give them a bath in lightly chlorinated water to kill any mold spores on the surface) and rinsed and some sugar. Slice lemons in 1/2 inch thick slices and in a large jar put a 1-inch layer in the bottom, add a 1/4 cup of sugar, another layer of lemon slices, another layer of sugar and so on until the jar is full, occasionally mashing the top layer of sliced down, using a scalded potato masher or whatever will fit in the jar opening. Cover the top with one or two layers of muslin and tie or use a rubber band to hold it in place, leave at room temperature for about 3 days, longer if the weather is cool. You should by now begin to see bubbles and it should have a very pleasant aroma. If you have a jar with a spigot at the bottom, you can draw off some of the liquid this way, or you can use a scalded ladle and press it down from the top until it fills with liquid. Mix the liquid half and half with seltzer or club soda and pour over crushed ice. You can keep adding more sliced lemons and sugar to the top and keep pressing it down. There is no need to mix, the stuff percolates up through the fruit and mixes on its own.

Making yogurt is a way to preserve milk. Yogurt will keep much longer than milk because the enzymes from the lactobacillis that convert the milk are also antagonistic to pathogens. They also will delay somewhat the growth of molds. Drain the whey but do save it. Ricotta cheese is made from whey after being drained from whole milk cheese curds, usually cow or sheep's milk but it also works with goat milk or goat milk mixed with cow's milk. There is a recipe for that at the Fias Farm web site also. check it out.

A very good tutorial on goat cheese making is on this site: Fias Farm I have used her recipes many times and they are excellent. You also might consider making cajeta, the caramel made from whole milk, rather from the canned, sweetened condensed milk. There is a world of difference in the end result, I got the recipe from my neighbor, who is from Durango, Mexico (emigrated legally 34 years ago) and it is authentic, although she has modernized it by the way it is cooked. It is easy and well worth the effort. Dulce de leche or cajeta Of course, it you don't like cajeta/dulce de leche, there are many recipes for different goat cheeses. More recipes here: New England cheesemaking supply And for recipes in which to use the finished cheese, try this site. The goat cheese and sundried tomato torte is wonderful.

For Hispanic and/or Mexican recipes, look for "chivo" chivo picante another Dominican site: recipes for European recipes look for "chevon" this site has a PDF document with recipes for chevon and "cabrito" which is baby goat. Chevon recipes Mexican recipe for goat enchiladas Chivo enchilado Equadorian recipe: Braised goat In the L.A. area chivo and in season cabrito, can be purchased at Vallarta supermarkets and many carnicerias (meat markets). In Lancaster/Palmdale I have purchased cut-to-order goat meat from at least 6 different markets. I have found that the goats raised in this area, which are mostly fed on commercial feed and not allowed to free-graze (because there is no suitable grazing in the desert), do not develop the strong flavor in the meat that one finds in grass-fed animals. It is much milder than some of the "lamb" I have purchased - I do not care for lamb but do like chivo. It makes a fantastic chili, it is quite low in fat and roasts or rotissierie roasts from the "saddle", shoulder and rump need to be larded a bit, however if braising, this is not necessary. Braised goat shanks, (I have them cut crossways into 1 1/2 inch sections) are excellent.) Copeland Family Farms in northern California used to have a web site and sold chevon sausage, as well as cabrito and other products. Excellent quality meat.

This site has an explanation of the pink seal applied by the Consorzio which certifies the product. Otherwise, as noted above, the color of the producer's label means nothing more than they happen to like a particular color and design. It doesn't mean the same as Johnnie Walker Red, Black, Gold and Blue that indicates age.

I have a couple of very large pressure canners. One is fairly new, one is very old and they both work. I have replaced the lid gasket on the old one a couple of times. This site explains a lot. Pressure canners I have purchased from this vendor. Check the canning forum on their site. There are some very experienced canners on the forum. Canning equipment You can use smaller ones for canning in small jars but you need at least a 15 quart if you want to can stuff in quart jars. I have a 30 quart (the new one) and the old one is a 36 quart.

I have all of these, plus a couple of others I found at stores, such as the kitchen store in the outlet mall and at Target. The large pop up one fits nicely over a large SS colander which is where I have apricots and peaches. pop up mesh food tents small food tent large food tent

I have already passed on my love of the kitchen arts to my daughter and in turn it is being passed on to her children, now nearly grown up. How time flies and I look even more often back to my early years and those who influnced me most. The things I remember most about my great-grandmother was her never-ending love of food and herb lore, reading stories and memoirs that described foods of her younger years, foods she discovered on her travels. My favorite memory of her is that of her presiding over the tea table as the entire family gathered every afternoon, she sitting upright on her favorite chair, with her little feet on her needlepoint footstool. Her posture ramrod-straight, partly because of the "stays" she always wore from the time she came downstairs in the morning, until she went to bed. She loved the traditional (English-type) seeded and fruited cakes, scones, muffins and tarts as well as the southern specialties produced by our cook. My grandfather's cook was a force of nature in herself. Although she grumbled about kids being "underfoot and into mischief" she truly had a world of patience and would tie a big apron around me, stand me on a kitchen chair at the huge kitchen work table and let me "help" prepare smething. She was a Gullah woman and did not read or write but had in her memory hundreds of very complex "receipts" for all kinds of cakes, cookies, pastries and pies as well as soups, stews, casseroles, puddings and so on. Even with the most modern equipment and oven, I have never been able to reproduce the volume she achieved in an angel-food cake, whites beaten by hand and baked in a wood stove with the temperature measured by holding ones hand in the center of the oven for a few seconds. My maternal grandmother was a fine cook herself but did not do a lot of it because her time was taken up with management of the house. However she did love to bake and especially new recipes. When Softasilk cake flour introduced the Orange Chiffon cake in 1948, my grandmother made one and it was such a hit she immediately baked several more (large family). She had a "secret" recipe for hickory nut cake that was incredibly delicious. I wish I had the recipe but it was one of the things no one could ever find after she passed. My paternal grandmother was from a long line of acclaimed cooks in the area and I was always allowed to visit them during the county fair where she always came away with armfulls of blue ribbons and cash prizes. Especially prized were her canned fruits, peaches, pears, jams, jellies and preserves. Every jar was a work of art. Part of my fascination with doing things the old-fashioned way, or re-creating old, lost, abandoned or forgotten recipes, is solely due to the love of food and cooking that was absorbed through my pores as a child in my grandfather's house. This all skipped a generation because certainly my mother never cared much for cooking or baking as a homely art. She bought a bakery and ran it successfuly for several years but this was mainly because she was bored with small town life, after having lived in big cities after she and my father divorced. My stepfather enjoyed living in a very small town, although his office was in a small city (West Bend, WI) he liked coming home to the village. I do have a large collection of cookbooks (I have a huge number of books, not just cookbooks) as well as various collections of antique kitchen gadgets, cookware, early electrical appliances and odd bits and pieces I have been gathering for 50 years. All will go to my daughter and she can pass it along to her children if they want it. I do hope they enjoy the things as much as I have and get a sense of the generations that have been involved in bringing us to the point in time. They are fortunate in that we have television programs, not just the current crop of celebrity chefs but also historical programs, for example, the National Geographic program a few years back that recreated a bakery of ancient Egypt. And I am immensly pleased that they are interested in these programs.

I believe whales are intelligent. The slaughter and processing of whales is horrible. They are dragged up the ramp into the factory ships and some are still alive when they begin peeling off the hide and blubber. I have a film of a mother whale with a nursing baby, "harvested" and after processing the mother the whalers watched and made jokes about the baby following the ship for days until it starved to death because it wasn't big enough to make it worth harvesting. It was a Norwegian ship.

I put a little apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a bucket and drop in a piece of peach or apricot. In a 16 oz spray bottle I mix an ounce of Avon Skin-So-Soft oil, an ounce of Listerine mouthwash (actually I use a generic) a couple of drops of Dawn detergent and fill (carefully so it doesn't foam up) with water. The fruit flies will gather in the bucket and if you set the sprayer to spray a wide pattern, it will knock down most of the flies in the bucket. I have tried just about everything and this has been the quickest way to get the most of them. I make sure that absolutely everything that might be harboring the little devils is thrown out. My last problem was a sneaky rotten onion that had fallen out of the back of the basket in which it was stored. I keep most fruit out to ripen in wire baskets, but cover the baskets with the mesh "umbrellas" that are made for picnics. They are made from very fine nylon, too small for fruit flies to get through.