andiesenji

Try the Savory Thin Mini Crackers - these are usually in an isolated section that holds nothing but crackers and croutons. In my local store it is at the end of the cheese sections (makes sense to have things next to each other that you serve together and I wish more stores did this) I often stop just to pick up cheeses and the crackers to accompany them. Not having to trek from one end of the store to another to buy these items is a big plus for me! And if you haven't tried the Kettle black pepper potato chips - they are in what looks like a brown paper bag - do try them. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like them, however it may be a California thing.

Have you check the GI of Arrowroot? I use it in many things, from savory sauces to desserts. I also use Guar gum, Xanthene gum (especially for baking gluten-free breads and etc.) I haven't tried the Konjac flour yet. However I did have some Locust bean powder that was available at the local health food store for a while and it worked very well. Arrowroot is very good when you have to thicken something with a high acid content because it doesn't break down in stuff that contains tomatoes. However you don't want to use it in anything that contains casein, such as milk, cream, etc. Which is why you want to use a variety of thickening agents. I have a small jar of kudzu root powder which I used once, with good results. I recently got a little bag of lotus root flour at the middle eastern market - it is marked Gluten-free. at the same time I got something called SAHLAB, and I am not sure what it is made from, the writing is in Arabic, but it was in the display with the other thickeners and I was told it was a thickener - I have yet to look in one of my cookbooks to see how it is used. I just checked in the cabinet and I also have a can of Sago startch - from the Phillipine market - it says made from Sago Palm - For pudding, for meat sauce, for fish sauce, for dip sauce, for make candy. Betancourt Brand, Product of Philipines. I haven't tried it yet either.

Well, for those who were looking for this unusual knife block Overstock.com has just listed it for $79.00 Quite a drop from the original 160.00. Also, for those who look for red utensils and etc for their kitchens, Overstock has several - a set of KitchenAid cookware, and also the cutlery set. The JennAir Attrezi mixer and this nifty 50s style trash can known back in the day as a "step-on" can.

If anyone is interested in the DeLonghi with rotissiere, Overstock.com just listed them at $149.00 DeLonghi 1.1 cubic foot capacity

Harney & Sons offers samples. Their teas are excellent and of the highest quality. The selections can give you great examples of the world's finest teas at a reasonable price. Adagio offers samples and the little tins in which the samples are packed are a nifty bonus. The other items combined with samples are all excellent buys. Special Teas offers some fine sample packages that allows you to compare the different teas from a particular region. For one who is learning about tea or teas new to them, these are a bargain. Golden Moon Offers small sample packages of three teas each but with the addition of a free full tin of another type of tea. It is an excellent bargain if one of their teas is familar to you or is one of your regular teas. The Rose, Vanilla Jasmine and the White Persian Melon are awesome flavored teas. The latter is a white tea. I also keep the Honey Pear on hand - it is a black tea and iced is exquisite and hot is wonderful with desserts.

I gave a tagine to my daughter, along with Paula's book, a couple of months ago and she has been using it far more often than I expected. She says the children love the things she has prepared and keep asking for more. I have all kinds of cooking vessels and if your space is limited then use a regular Dutch oven, but if you can, do try using a tagine. There are certain things that do turn out better cooked in a tagine than in any other vessel.

There have been some negative things said about Splenda, questions answered here. but trying to find someone who actually has had a problem is not easy. There are web sites, who try to sell subscriptions, that purport to tell "the truth" about it but they have a vested interest in getting money for their information. Consider the banning of sodium cyclamate and the "studies" that took it off the market years ago that were later proved to be manipulated to show erroneous findings. When you review the studies on animals that show the problems associated with sucralose, note the amounts fed, which would equate to a human consuming a minimum of 10 ounces daily for 2 years. The stuff is so light that 10 ounces is an enormous volume. Dr. O'Neill, who takes care of me for diabetes, is also a toxicologist and he has read just about everything related to this subject and if he says Splenda is okay for me, I take his word. Butter is great. I never stopped using it and would use it in everything for my own consumption. However, I do have vegan friends who do not want to consume ANY products derived from animals and I respect their wishes, just as I do my Jewish and Muslim friends who do not wish to consume foods that are not kosher or halal. There are suitable substitutes and it is not just the fat in a recipe that may make a cake, a quick bread or pie pastry less palatable. I have a recipe for a chocolate cake that is made with oil - I use avocado oil or canola oil or other neutral oil and substitute almond or rice milk with a little lemon juice for the buttermilk. The recipe is chocolate cake made with oil however I make a different frosting with almond milk, powdered sugar and cocoa, rather than the cream. I'm not at home this weekend so I don't have my exact conversion handy but it isn't difficult to translate and there are quite a few excellent cake recipes made with oil. I got a recipe for lemon cake off one of the avocado sites that uses avocado oil and is delicious.

That's interesting. How does it taste? Is it widely available? Amazon is selling it for like $7.50 a pound. Is that typical? ← This is the one that I use. coconut oil I posted a photo of the jar in another thread. At room temp I scrape it out of the jar with a broad-tipped spoon. It has a faint coconut flavor but I have never noticed it transferring to bread - I use it in scones but chill it prior to cutting into the dry ingredients, exacly as I do butter.

coconut oil is solid at room temperature. I use it in baking for vegans. It behaves like butter in most recipes. There is also a fruit product that is a fat and egg substitute, made expressly for baking. here is one link, you can google many others. Fruit based fat substitute.

I heard about the Oreck on a local cable channel (Antelope Valley) when a chef from a local restaurant was using one to mix quick bread batter, mashing chunks of bananas into the batter with the mixer. I have arthritis in my hands and the regular type put too much stress on my wrist - he noted how easy this was to hold so I ordered one. I figured I could send it back if it didn't work. I have a couple of Oreck vacuums and we have one at the office and I know, from experience, that their guarantee is good. The wattage on this one is much lower than other hand-held mixers. I believe it is because of the way the power is transferred to the beaters.

I use my tagines on the stovetop on the copper plate you can see standing behind the tagine - it looks narrower but is the same width as the burner grate.

I'm with you on this. The stuff is awful.

Has anyone mentioned fried pork rinds or chicharonies? I try to avoid them as once I start I can't stop. Pork rind resource on the web.

two of my tagines are very large and deeper than the others. I have prepared a meal for 6 to 8 in either of them. The main vegetable/chicken dish. Tagines.com Check the Slaoui 14 inch and the Rifi 13 inch. The Tangiers is 16 inches in diameter and I think it said somewhere (not on this site) that this size can prepare main dish for 10 diners. This is the 13 inch Rifi with chicken and vegetable main dish for 6.

I have several of the old Sunbeam mixmasters and the Hamilton Beach Convertible, which could be used on the stand or hand-held. They work great, but they are heavy. I also have burned out a few hand-helds, trying to work through stuff that was too stiff for the motor. A KA was the most recent to die while mixing cookie dough. A few months back I got one of the Oreck mixers and so far it has held up to anything I have done with it. Oreck mixer The design is different and it is very comfortable to use, no stress on my wrist at all. You can get it and try it, as they offer a 30 day free home trial and if you are at all familiar with the company, they stand behind their products.

I learned from experiences (AKA The "Hard" way) to make a shield for custard based things, cheesecakes, etc., in my small convection oven in which the fan cannot be turned off, otherwise one has ripples baked into the surface or the stuff will be blown over to one side of the pan. My big convection oven has a fan that can be turned off.

I wish I could eat chocolate, it alwasy smells so good....

I hope they have the Snap Pea Crisps in your store. They are absolutely wonderful. And the Savory Thin Mini Crackers, so crisp, so good, no sugar, fairly low sodium and 37 crackers are only 120 calories.

I am especially fond of Alford pinhead oats. In my opinion the flavor is better than McCann's. I use a bamboo rice paddle or scoop but often turn the entire batch out onto a platter or shallow bowl. Sometimes I spray the pan with Pam or similar (butter-flavor) spray if cooking brown or sticky rice. However I found that the pan sort of "seasoned" itself after a few uses. Just don't use metal utensils.Alford oats

But try it some time when you're sober! SB ← I am permanently sober, and I am at present consuming a dish of mixed pickles, home made by me, with 4 baby corn ears in the mix. I often add them to vegetable salads, and people always seem to eat them first. Come to think of it, when I used to do catering and had baby corn in the salad buffet setup, they were one of the items that needed replenshing often. However if you don't like them that just means there is more for those of us who do.

Another chip I love in their brown paper bag . I find the freshest at TJs.

BBQ potato chips are one of my passions also, however they have to be eaten with large curd cottage cheese. Only the large curd will do, the regular simply does not taste the same. I have to measure out portions and put the bag away, otherwise I go into a fugue state and keep eating until I am dipping the crumbs out of the bottom of the bag. (If the cottage cheese is a bit too dense for easy dipping, I add a little heavy cream which just compounds the sin.)

I don't think I have ever hidden food. Usually I am waving it around in front of other people trying to convince them to try it, if it is something new. I have been known to "disguise" something in the office fridge, but only so it will still be there when I want it. However the food thief who used to work here is no longer around so that really isn't necessary now.

But, but, I like baby corn, especially pickled.

Yogurt for me. I have some medication that has to be taken with food and I have found that yogurt is the easiest thing, not requiring any "fixin" or even a dish. Straight out of the container since I am the only one who eats it. And bread. I have to have at least one piece of bread each day. I count bagels, English muffins, crumpets and regular bread in this category. I don't count the sweet things such as muffins, sweet rolls, pancakes, waffles and etc.