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The Jals should be fully ripe, bright red, before harvesting and smoking. However, you can pick them when they begin to turn and they will continued to ripen after picking, as long as you keep them where air can circulate around them. On a screen is good. I smoke mine in a mesh rotisserie basket with the rotisserie on slow speed so they get turned constantly and smoke and dry evenly. tumble basket I lined mine with 1/2 inch hardware "cloth" mesh so the peppers wouldn't fall through. I am not doing any this year as my garden was trashed and it is still being renovated.

I still like the old Hamburger Hamlet in Hollywood at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. The Hamlet I love the burgers but especially love the: "BBQ Meatloaf Sandwich A Grilled 8oz Slice of Our Award-Winning Meatloaf, Brushed w. BBQ Sauce and Piled High on Garlic Toast w. Melted Jack Cheese, Hand-Mashed Potatoes and Our Little Fried Onions."

I use lard in pie crust, cornbread, certain very "short" cookied and for frying certain things that simply do not taste the same with any other fat. I never stopped using it. I render my own or buy the bulk stuff at the Mexican market. You can do a simple test to see how it is different from vegetable shortening (Crisco, for instance). Cream together lard and sugar in your mixer for a measured amount of time. Then cream together equal amounts of shortening and sugar, same amount of time. The lard/sugar mixture will be lighter and fluffier with more volume. It also tastes like something you would like to eat. The shortening/sugar mixture is bland, bland, bland, greasy sugar and that is all. I do not use lard if I am preparing something for people whose dietary laws do not allow it. However I do have friends who keep kosher at home but are not strict when out, and in fact we actually met at the Newport Lobster Fest, several years ago and the first time they came to my home for dinner I had prepared a peach pie. When they mentioned something about their kosher kitchen, I was horrified. I apologized and said I would prepare a different dessert for them. Arnold simply said that there was no way he was going to miss having a piece of that pie and his wife Mimi agreed. She said they had just spent a month in Mexico and would have starved had they adhered strictly to the dietary laws. In any event, I never believed that lard was all that bad, healthwise. A lot of people I know, who consumed it all their lives, seem to have aged well.

Alrighty then Maggie, we'll just be calling the men in the nice white suits now.. ← If we are confessing attacks on humans I supposed I should admit to the time, shortly after we were married, when my ex tiptoed into the kitchen on his stocking feet to "surprise" me. He grabbed me around the waist and unfortunately for him, I was holding a large cast iron skillet. I swung around and managed to fracture his left collar bone and his jaw. This was prior to the advent of 911 so I drove him to the hospital, told the ER people what had happened (because he couldn't talk) and then had to answer a lot of questions from the police who had, of course, been called by the ER nurse. Later, when they were talking to my husband I heard one of the cops say, "Buddy, I think you should make a lot of noise before you approach her if she doesn't know you are there. And don't take out any big insurance policies!" In spite of that we remained married for several years. He told the story many times and always said that it was entirely his fault. The fact that he was much, much bigger than me (a dedicated body-builder) made it seem funnier than it actually was, at least to me.

I fended off a pit bull with the lid of my old Weber grill and a grill fork several years ago. My dogs were in the house and people were coming and going through the gate and had left it standing open. I heard a noise and turned around and saw this big pit bull stalking me and grabbed the (very hot) lid of the grill and pushed it toward the dog. It actually hit his muzzle and must have burned it because he turned and ran. I called animal control and they picked the dog up because it had been running lose for some time and had killed a couple of small pets. When the officer came to take a report from me I showed her how I defended myself and she said that was a good idea, difficult for a dog to get around something that size and shape.

Regarding the "carpet beater" - that is a Danish dough whisk and is fantastic for mixing quick breads, scones, etc., where you want to handle the dough as little as possible to keep it tender. I have three, this is the largest, and for someone with arthritic hands, it is just dandy. This really isn't all the whisks I have, just samples of each type. I have piano wire baloon whisks in every size and I have a huge heavy wire blending whisk that has a 3 foot long wood handle for use in deep bowls or tubs. I got it to mix the brine for brining large turkeys and pork legs which I mix in a 26 quart Cambro container. I did use it to chase a snake out of the house one day. It was the closest thing to hand and the rattler actually got caught in the wires and I was able to beat it to death on the driveway before it got away. The Mojave green rattler we have here is smaller than most and can squeeze through very tiny openings. They also have very potent venom. I just thank God they are not on any endangered species list because I have killed quite a few. Anyway, the big whisk turned out to be very handy that day, didn't even get a wire bent.

This is the "bedspring coil" whisk that Fantes carries. It is not very long. These have been around for many years. At one time one was sold as the "gravy master" as it was supposed to be able to take the lumps out of gravy easily. I think Ekco made it. I have one somewhere around here that I have had for about 40 years. see it in the photo, 4th from the left.

Click here and scroll down to green sausage tomato. Read the description = your tomato.

It wouldn't work on the giant mangoes I get at the Mexican market and I doubt it would work on the little "golden" mangoes, but for average sized ones it might be helpful for people who have difficulty holding knives. I use my thin-bladed flexible boning knife which is very, very sharp and will, if I am not careful, cut through the seed. I then do the criss-cross cuts, invert the skin and slice the cubes off the skin with a blunt butter knife or spreader. On the other hand, I do have one of the pineapple slicers and it works great and saves me a lot of time. I did not think it would really work when I first saw one but after seeing it demonstrated at our local fair and being allowed to try it myself, I decided it might be handy, and so it is. Of course, I love and collect gadgets and might get one just for fun!

The ones that I know of are the "potato leaf" varieties, which have thicker foliage and larger leaves. After the plant has a dozen branches you need to start pinching off the new sprouts at the tip to encourage more side growth then when all the branches are about the same length, 4 to 5 feet long, put them on a trellis and pinch off every third new sprout and let it keep growing. Fertilize it on a regular basis for your area, if you get a lot of rain and have well draining soil you have to fertilize more often. You do have to keep picking the fruit and will have bigger fruit if your thin them out. When it begins to slow down production, pick off all the fruit, even the very small ones, pinch back the end growth and fertilize lightly. It should start blooming again within two or three weeks.

Another thing that is not widely known is that some "heirloom" indeterminate varieties will keep growing as long as some of the new vines are removed, maintaining constant new growth. Of course this requires a tropical or subtropical climate or sufficient greenhouse room. One of my friends, who lives in Lemon Grove, just outside of San Diego, has a cherry tomato that has been growing and producing constantly for more than ten years. It started out as a volunteer in a compost container in a southwest facing corner and just kept going. They cut it back a couple of times a year because it is now huge, completely covering a chainlink kennel run and produces buckets of the best cherry tomatoes I have ever tasted. The original vine "trunk" is at least 4 inches in diameter. They have sent samples of the foliage and fruit to Cal Poly Pomona and were told that there are many varieties that have this ability if people would maintain them properly. They were also told that tomatoes of this variety were grown in England and Europe as ornamental plants long before the fruit was consumed. I love the old varieties and their wonderful flavors. One of my favorites is the old pink ponderosa with its odd shapes, pink skin and bright red flesh. They were one of my grandfather's favorites and were huge. His other favorite was the orange Burpee's Jubilee. I can remember following him through the kitchen garden as he sampled various tomatoes. He always carried a little silver salt-shaker in his pocket for just such encounters.

Sometimes you can score some fantastic book finds at thrift stores, mostly because the volunteers do not have time to research the donated items. Not a cookbook, but the best I ever found was while I was still living in the Valley and making periodic pilgramage to the thrift shops in west Hollywood and Santa Monica. I found a first edition of To Have and Have Not, signed and with a little note "To Erroll, AKA Cap'n Blood, nice boat and great grog, pal!" I have picked up hundreds of cookbooks at thrift shops, many are the little soft back ones put out by appliance companies with the appliances such as Sunbeam mixmaster, Westinghouse electric roaster, Waring blender, Reynolds Wrap, etc. These are fun to collect, do not take up a lot of room and for someone like me, who collects vintage appliances, are especially valuable. One of my favorites is James Beard's Recipes for the Cuisinart, published in 1978. The recipe for braised celery is one of my favorites and is on several internet sites so others must have found it to be particularly tasty.

The heavy, deep, stainless bowls sold at Costco or Sam's Club are excellent. The newer ones even have a rubber ring around the bottom that makes them non-skid. The large set has 6 bowls from small to huge. I reccomend them heartily for general kitchen work whether homemaker or pro. They can take a beating, do not dent easily, even with being dropped on a concrete patio and clean up easily. The wider, shallower (thinner and less expensive) bowls in stainless also have their uses. The larger ones are great for mixing salads in big batches, and for nesting smaller bowls in crushed ice. I get them at Star Restaurance supply (starkitchens.com) because they tend to "walk away" at neighborhood gatherings and I don't want to lose expensive ones. I also have a set of the melamine type bowls - bright orange - made in Denmark by Rosti which I bought in 1968. Except for a small chip in the rim on the smallest, they are in perfect condition. They were the first bowls I ever saw with a rubber ring on the bottom. However the rubber is now hard and no longer is non-skid. I have several sets of Pyrex bowls, various shapes, colors and patterns which I use for certain tasks. Ditto Anchor Hocking, Corning, and so on. I still use the largest of the "primary colors set" made by Pyrex beginning in the 50s, for gelatine or Jello salads. It is just the right size and cools rapidly in the fridge. I have a couple of huge ironstone bowls for rising yeast doughs. I set them on a heating pad set on low, cover the top with plastic wrap and a heavy towel and the dough rises better than in any other place, including a proof box. Do NOT microwave melamine or "Melmac" or similar type bowls or plates. Not only will they heat up in spots and crack or even explode, they can give off toxic fumes.

That is just plain crass! People who have so little notion of propriety should never be given anything of worth. I have known people like that who discard things given to them as a loving gift and sometimes I have been able to get back at them in subtle ways. (Sometimes not so subtle.) I gave one person a particular cookbook, mostly for her four children, just a few years ago. The Narnia Cookbook, published in 1998, with its wonderful illustrations, became an instant collectible. (I had purchased 2, one for me, one to give as a gift.) I saw this person last year and mentioned that I had seen one of the books had sold on ebay for almost $200.00. She got an odd look on her face and her daughter, now 18, said, "Mom tossed the book in the trash and one of our neighbors took it." I am sorry to say that I broke down laughing. This person was not a friend, but professed to be interested in cooking and often wasted a lot of my time asking my advice which I don't think she really needed to know, or ever used. I felt that she had been taught a valuable lesson.

A friend of mine, who is re-doing her 100+ year old farm house outside of Memphis, TN, is working her way down the "endless yard sale" right now starting in Covington, KY. Last year she found some incredible bargains (in spite of what seemed like endless rain), including some light fixtures piped for gas made by Tiffany. She bought a beautiful stove made in the 20s several enamel topped kitchen tables from the same era and a Hoosier cabinet with all the fittings intact. She moved from California to Ohio and then to Tenn., five years ago and has gone on this trek for four years. Her son owns a small trucking company and sends a truck and driver with her (lucky her). When she used to visit me she always admired all my cast iron and other old stuff but out here had a very modern house (50s modern, all glass, chrome and etc.) and didn't think such things would fit. After her husband passed away she moved back there to be near her son and found this lovely bungalow built in 1902. I haunted swap meets and yard sales for years and still manage to get to a couple each year, usually the one at the Rose Bowl which has a lot of real antique vendors, they vet their vendors very strictly. I also go to estate sales and auctions, particularly those in the more remote area where the dealers are not as thick on the ground. When MGM had their huge auction of things from their studio back in the late '80, a friend and I bought a lot of furniture, decorative and kitchen items that had been used for props since the 1930s. Many of the things were sold in lots and one had to take the "chalk with the cheese,", as the old saying goes, however we did get some incredible bargains. One lot was 8 closed wooden crates full of "china" which we got for $160. and which turned out to include 2 complete sets of Victorian era Spode, each service for 24! As with most Victorian sets, there were many extra dishes not seen in modern service. We also bought 4 huge boxes of "fabric" which were bolts of vintage fabrics still in their original muslin bags, all from the '40s. I bought a lot of kitchen items, some with the stickers or tags that indicated in which movies they appeared, still attached. Most of these were from the 30s and the films are long forgotten but now the items themselves have become very collectible. If I still had the energy I would love to spend more time poking around flea markets, swap meets and yard sales. However I have reached the point that I would have to buy another house to hold the stuff. I also have the feeling that my housekeeper would become a bit "testy" if I hauled anything else in that needed polishing or any special attention.

I have one of the large batter droppers for pancakes (for when I used to do pancake breakfasts for fund raisers). I have used it for filling cupcake pans - I simply used silicone glue (the food-safe kind) and glued a canning jar funnel for the small-mouth jars onto the bottom of the appliance. When finished, the silicone simple pulls off cleanly. I got it at Star Restaurant supply and it cost about $140.00 a few years ago. It's called a Pancake Chef batter dispenser. Pancake Chef It holds a lot of batter, I can fill a 24 x 36 griddle twice with 4 inch pancakes. I also used it for filling "muffin top" pans as it can be set to dispense exact portions - it has 9 settings to control how much batter is dropped at a time. I also use it to dispense sauces, mayo, sour cream sauces, and etc. into small condiment dishes. It has a lot of uses other than just dispensing batter. Again, I simply glue a jar filler funnel onto the bottom.

This site contains some interesting facts about pickling - particularly in using brine without vinegar in the open. (Right side of page, second paragraph). I make sauerkraut in a wide, open crock with just a piece of fine nylon netting secured over the top to keep bugs out. It is just finely shredded cabbage and salt. The fermentation comes from the breakdown of the plant material itself. pickle brine and etc. I have Joy of Pickling too and it is an excellent book. I also have a very old book, published in 1889, (House and Home, A Complete House-Wife's Guide by Marion Harland) that has a long and extremely involved recipe for "mixed pickles" which includes small cucumbers, vegetables etc., and is first brined in salt and water for a few days, then soaked in cold water, changed several times (to remove the salt) then brought to a boil in clear water, cooled and finally jarred with a spiced vinegar. It also calls for a significant amount of fresh grape leaves, not always easy to find unless one has a vine. The author states. "I have been thus explicit in the directions for preparing these, because the same general rules of salting, soaking, greening and scalding are applicable to all green pickles." I tried this recipe, exactly as the instructions listed, several years ago. The pickles turned out okay but not much better than the newer, more rapid procedures.

Do remember that with any mustard, from whatever source, whole seeds, dry mustard powder, etc., you can adjust the heat level by carefully heating it for short periods either in a double boiler or in the microwave. The microwave process is very quick, you do have to stir the mustard and let it rest after each heating (no more than 20 seconds) and taste it. I have done this with some commercial mustards which were far too hot when first tasted. The problem is that the raw heat of the mustard can overwhelm the other flavors and can actually cause the taste buds to have less sensitivity to other flavors for various periods of time. I love the taste of mustard but also like to be able to taste the flavors of the other components that go into the blend and complement each other. Just as too much heat in certain chiles can mask other flavors, so can too much heat in mustard or horseradish, etc. It is fun to experiment. I have mixed my basic mustard, which is somewhat sweet, with various chile sauces, Indonesian sambals, chutneys and etc. The results of some of these combinations have been incredible. Unfortunately I don't always keep notes so have to try and replicate them by guesswork. In any event, it is fun to try.

I have found that it will handle a lot more dough than a KA without the annoyance of the dough crawling up the dough hook - although with the newer machines with the screw-shaped dough hook that hasn't been a problem according to people who use them, however their capacity is still much less. The other thing is that this machine will handle extremely stiff doughs, such as the Struan bread in Peter Reinhart's book as well as the very sloppy and wet doughs I like to use for foccacia, etc. And best of all, one never has to scrape down the sides of the bowl. That always seemed like such a waste of time for me, having to stop the mixer, scrape the doug off the paddle or hook and down the sides. A couple of days ago I creamed together 4 pounds of butter and 4 pounds of cream cheese for an upcoming pastry project and never once had to scrape the sides of the bowl. I specifically wanted it well blended without a lot of air being beaten into it. The other attraction is that the bowl is completely open at the top for easily adding ingredients while the unit is running (and not having it kicked back in your face) and the timer, which allows me to set the time I want something mixed and be doing other tasks while it is running.

If the oven is wide enough to take a full size sheet pan, it is worth it. However don't just "unload" the O'K/M. There are a lot of people looking for vintage appliances for 40s/50s/60s, etc., kitchens and willing to pay premium prices for those in good condition.

The only cast iron pans that won't work on a ceramic cooktop (or an induction burner) are the ones with a raised rim on the bottom. If the bottom is absolutely flat it will work just fine. I had one that had a slight raise in the center, not completely flat. I took it to a metal shop and had them grind it flat. They charged me $15.00 It works beautifully on the induction burner, heats up rapidly.

I only use hardwood charcoal, no briquettes. I save the ashes in a 55 gallon drum for a guy who makes soap. He stops by every 2 months or so to pick up the one with the ashes and drop off an empty one. He also has given me some of the soap he makes for cleaning oil and grease off of concrete - works great. He sells it mostly to mechanics who work on big rigs and heavy equipment.

How about some photos of the finished product? Show off your creations.

This is the vendor where I bought my mill (and several other appliances). They have great prices and are terrific people, very helpful. mill I often mill my own flour for bread and this machine is better than any other I have tried. It also will grind dry beans and peas, rice, etc., for wheat-free diets. One of my friends has an autistic child that has improved greatly since being put on a wheat/corn/dairy-free diet. I have been grinding stuff for her but she is now getting her own mill.

If you get real serious about grits, you can get one of these and grind your own, like this, although this is a finer grind, for cornbread, this mill can grind from very coarse to very fine. Grits, especially from heirloom type corn, turns rancid rapidly unless kept in the freezer. There is nothing better than freshly ground grits.