andiesenji

Most copper pans of earlier times were lined with tin. Years ago you could buy re-tinning kits which contained stuff that was like tin solder which you melted in the pan, then swirled it around to coat the inside. You could not use the pans over very high heat and utensils, even wooden ones, would eventually wear away the lining. However, beginning in about 1894, small copper skillets were made by a few makers and were lined with stirling silver and highly polished. These were made specifically for gently cooking mushrooms at the table because at the time it was believed that the silver would instantly turn black if a poisonous mushroom was placed in the pan. They are very rare. However, occasionally one of these appears at an auction, sometimes at yard sales, unknown because the interior is black because the silver has tarnished. One sold on ebay a couple of years ago for big bucks, the name stamped on the underside of the handle was "Rothschild" - unknown if this was the maker or the owner.

I have a collection of apple peeler/corer/slicers, some of which are over 100 years old. The same design has been around for a long time because it works. The original one was invented by the Shakers and were painstakingly made entirely by hand and sold in their shops. this one made by Villaware is reasonably priced and works nicely. You end up with a peeled apple sliced in a coil - you can make a single cut down one side to get rings or across both sides to get crescents. Another maker is Back to Basics but theirs is $25.00 and works the same. Both have vacuum bases - I use an older one which is a clamp-on but if I were buying one now I would get the vacuum base.

I also like the Bourgeat copper - the price for a set - at Chef Ron Askew's site (scroll down a little past half-way on the page) is very reasonable. I bought the set last year for slightly less and find that the 11 inch brazier is an excellent substitute for a saute pan and the two handles work well for me because I can no longer lift a heavy saute pan with just my right hand. The fact that these all come with lids is a bonus, as they are often sold separately. $845.00 is a real value, great bargain. I have some of the "professional" Mauviel also and they are virtually indistinguishable from the "Alliance" line of Bourgeat.

If you want one at a bargain The Gadget Source sells them for $99.00. They also carry the replacement blades which is how I found them. My Bron is more than 30 years old and I paid about $70.00 for it, at a restaurant supply store. The directions for use are not terribly clear but you can go to this site for some helpful hints. And this site for more detailed pictures and instructions.

He knocks politely at the door. I also have a double-barrel, 10-guage over-and under shotgun for anyone who might visit unexpectedly in the middle of the night.

You can also make an improvisde chimney out of aluminum foil - it will hold together long enough to get the charcoal going, then carefully remove it using tongs.

I still top my jellies and jams with parafin so always have it on hand.

You can make your own starters, if you get eggs in the cardboard cartons or even the flats. divide the tops from the bottoms or cut the flats into sections. Buy a brick of parafin, melt it carefully (in a double boiler to be safe) Then pour about a tablespoon into each depression in the bottom of the egg carton and spread some over the inside of the top. Make up a stack and keep them in a place well away from fire. Place one of the pieces in the bottom of your barbecue, pile the charcoal on it and light one or more corners. By the time the parafin has burned away the charcoal will be well started. Parafin burns cleanly with very little odor. As someone who once had two boys who were surfers and went through a lot of parafin melting, I can recommend a small, cheap crockpot as the perfect way to melt the stuff. I used to use starters like this to get a fire going in my fireplace, outside in the barbecue and in a hibachi.

Arne, your results are beautiful and I bet they are very flavorful. Incidentally, if the peppers are not fully ripe, if they have just begun to turn, you can pick them, place them on a screen or even in a wire basket, shaking once a day to mix them up. They will ripen if they are where the air can circulate around them. Anaheim chiles with their thinner walls, will ripen within a couple of days.

If you are looking for a corner cookware stand, there is this one. Not as fancy as the Le Cruset one but it works quite well. I can get my huge Staub oval roaster on the bottom shelf. It is also a lot cheaper. The new Williams-Sonoma catalog arrived in the mail on Tuesday and I have been perusing it cover to cover. Ditto the new Chef's Catalog, Cooking Enthusiasts, The Knife Merchant, Cooking.com, Chef's Resource and several others that are limited to nuts, cheeses (Cabot, for instance), meats and spices. Since I know more are to come, if there is something I think I might want, I simply tear the page out of the catalog and save just that, otherwise I would soon be knee-deep in catalogs.

Great stories, one and all! I think the thing on the menu that always gives me a twinge is when every name or description of the item has "organic" somewhere in it. Hey, I grew up on a farm, I know what "organic" means. I have no argument with "Certified Organic" if they also have a certificate on the wall but when I see something carried past me that looks like stuff I can buy in bulk packages at Smart & Final or Costco with the advisory that the contents are intended "For Individual Retail Sale" then I know I am in the wrong place. I have, however wandered into places that look a little run down on the outside but are squeaky-clean on the inside with friendly, smiling ladies serving real, home-style food at very reasonable prices. The original "Crazy Otto's" here in Lancaster was right next to the railroad tracks and when a train passed the entire, rather flimsy, old wooden building shook. However from 7 a.m. to 2:p.m. (closing time mid-afternoon) you had to stand in line to get into the place and parking was chancy at best. That building was torn down when the light rail line came in after the '94 quake but there are a few second generation places under the same owner/management and they are all popular, especially on weekends. People drive down from Tehachapi and Ridgecrest for breakfast on weekends. During the ten days of the Antelope Valley fair, you can't get near the place because the people who come once a year for the fair always have to eat at Otto's, especially the first of the new generation, on 20th street West. There are some imitators but they are all poor seconds. No other place makes 6-egg omelettes. By the way, the prices are very reasonable and the portions huge.

There are a couple of flavored liqueur recipes here I don't use alcohol myself, however I have it on good authority that these are all very tasty.

Just as an FYI, barley bread is not a good idea for someone with celiac disease. Barley is a gluten bearing grain. ← Evan is mildly affected and can tolerate small amounts of non-wheat gluten - however he is extremely sensitive to wheat, with dermatitis as well as intestinal response. His mom has a sister with extreme celiac disease and she was careful to give me a list of things that he could tolerate. I have several acquaintences who are allergic to wheat, dairy and other things and always consult them before I make anything they are going to eat. I have some severe allergies myself and am always careful to ask any guest what they can or cannot have.

I have made this barley bread recipe when friends who have a child with celiac disease come for a meal. I am sure it would work well in dressing or stuffing. I have used it to make a bread pudding and it turned out nicely. Barley bread recipe/Bob's Red Mill It is on the back of the bag of barley flour. This UK site also has a bunch of wheat-free recipes that work well. wheat free recipes Spelt and Kamut are distant relatives to wheat but many people who are sensitive to wheat can tolerate them without problems. Some breads are made with a combination of grain and nut flours but without sufficient gluten will not rise like wheat bread. I have used the French bread recipe here and it is not bad, although it did not have the texture of regular French bread, it was a fair substitute. If you do a search for "Celiac diet recipes" you should be able to find more recipes. I came across a site some time ago that had an extensive list of bread recipes. I thought I had bookmarked it but can't find it now.

I had such an odd feeling reading this message from an ardent soul. Talk about deja-vu, it was almost as if I had died and he was channelling my spirit. Strangers walk into my kitchen and ask if it is a cookware shop - then they see into the pantry and ask if I sell antiques. Some have remarked I am better stocked than many shops. Perhaps it is something in my psyche that demands that I collect things used for cooking. I am not thrilled with jewelry - never have been. My last husband gave up on buying pretty things and began shopping at a hardware store that carried good kitchen ware. In fact, that is where most of my Descoware and Magnalite came from. He gave me the largest Magnalite roaster for my birthday one year and I was ecstatic. Friends thought I was nuts or, they thought I was putting on an act to hide my disappointment in not getting something "personal." This is the ceiling in my pantry.

These old pots are very heavy and very tough. The little one is over 100 years old I have several crocks and some jugs that are even older and still in excellent condition. Many people know about the Bauer "ringware" and later colored pottery but few recognize the earlier items which were often unmarked or had only a B incised by hand into the bottom. There are still a lot of the old pieces around the western Kentucky and southern Illinois area, languishing in cellars and sheds or old barns. A friend of mine was visiting an elderly relative in Golconda, IL a few years ago and discovered a large collection of Bauer crocks and jugs in the cellar. She called me and asked what I knew about them, then told her great-aunt about the value. The old lady was surprised but didn't want to "bother" with them and just gave them all to my friend who had to rent a trailer to bring them back to Calif. The sale brought in enough to pay her son's tuition to USC for two years. If you come across one of these priced cheap, buy it! Bauer history

I have a few bean pots. These are a couple of very old ones that I have had and used for many years. You can see the "4" on the large one which indicates it holds 4 quarts. The smaller one is about 2 1/2 quarts. These are both Bauer pots and the one on the left is the older one from when Bauer was still operating in Paducah, KY., before moving to Los Angeles. It has a single handle, the later ones all had two handles. I also have a McCoy and at least one Watt. They are all great for long, slow cooking in the oven, however many were used to cook beans on top of wood stoves because the entire top would be hot, less heat toward the back, further from the firebox, which was ideal for cooking beans. Since the oven was also always hot, that too was an easy and perfect way to cook beans or stews in these early versions of the "Crock-Pot" ...........

That is not an outrageous price. I have seen them sell for well over $500.00, depending on condition and accessories, i.e., a set of matching mugs with red bakelite handles and a small tray to hold everything. These accessories are very difficult to find because the bakelite handles were so fragile. Atomic espresso and for the true fanatic: Atomic espresso fanatic signs

There are several "universal" pot lids available. This one has the advantage of having the inner concentric levels below the level of the outer so any drips go into the pan instead of down the outside of it as with some other types. It is worth the money. You can also find one in stainless steel for about double the price here.

Griswold made some nickel-plated cast iron skillets and griddles for a time back in the early 1950s when their business began to fail, mainly to appeal to "modern" housewives who were turning to newer, aluminum and stainless cookware. Even though there are not a lot of these items around, they are not considered desirable by most collectors. The nickel plating actually was a cover-up for poor finishing in the newer Griswold cast iron as it was less labor intensive to plate the pieces instead of grind and polish them to a slick finish. It had little effect on the cooking qualities, appearance was the object.

I often make my own curry paste and it is never the same twice in a row. It depends on what ingredients I have on hand, the season, the phase of the moon or what kind of mood I am in at the time. It is always going to include onions, garlic, ginger and chiles, plus coriander, cumin, cloves, and turmeric and I use frest galangal if I have it. Sometimes I sweeten it with palm sugar (have a 2-pound jar that I have been trying to use up for two years.) Sometimes I add coconut paste and grated orange peel so it isn't exactly 100% authentic Madras but I fiddle with it until it is to my taste. An Indian friend told me years ago that every cook in India has their own recipe for curry paste or powder and variation is the name of the game and as long as the basic spices are included it is indeed curry. I included Madras curry paste in the recipe list because it is the easiest to find in markets just about anywhere. My favorite local "ethnic" market carries about 10 different varieties, different brands of curry paste and several brands of curry powder. I never use the powder, I don't trust that it will not be full of filler.

Here is another recipe for squash or pumpkin. Squash or pumpkin soup 6 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 2 medium carrots, grated 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1 1/2 cups water 1 medium butternut squash, other winter squash or pumpkin, (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and coarsely grated 1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper In a 6-quart Dutch oven or stock pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add the shallots, onion and garlic and cook until golden. Add the grated carrots and continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the broth and water and bring to a boil. Add the squash, reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 10-15 minutes. (Grating the carrots and squash allows this to cook more rapidly than cubed.) Using an immersion blender, blend until completely smooth. Add the cream and the salt and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Serve with croutons. Spiced or herbed. Cut French bread into cubes, so you have about a quart, loosely measured. Toss with 4 tablespoons melted butter and a mixture of 1/4 ground allspice and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt until cubes are evenly coated. (You may substitute an herb mixture or ground hot pepper instead of the allspice.) Spread on a sheet pan and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Serve in large mugs for a starter. Six to eight generous servings.

I also see they have bamboo toaster tongs on sale for $14.99. I paid 99 cents at my local Asian 99 cents store. ;-) ← I can beat that! Last spring, a local Asian grocery here was giving them away, along with a rice paddle/scoop, when one bought a 10 pound bag of rice. They were in a neat mesh bag that I also have been using ever since to store onions. When this store first opened, about 10 years ago, they gave away a 12 inch wok with any $25.00 grocery purchase. People were still lined up half-way down the block when I drove past in mid-afternoon. (I already had a wok.)

Thanks Neil, I'll take another look. Every time I search the word "food processor" or 'blender" get recipe gullet links and a couple of single posts. Maybe I'll look for "magic bullet" ← When you do a search, don't forget to click on "Search titles only" in "Search Where"

The season for new gadgets/appliances is definitely here. Inventors with visions of "sugarplums" ($) in their little pointy heads are busy thinking up things to tempt gift givers. Of course for someone with a minimal kitchen this little gem might come in handy. And here, no less, is the Gadget of the Month Club!