andiesenji

I stand corrected. Gina had mentioned that in the 80s and 90s there had been a couple of archeological digs on her family's farm that found construction and artifacts that were Greek, Cretan and Phoenician built on more ancient Nuragic sites. She jokes that "everybody came for the fish"......

I am simply in awe of anyone who has the tenacity to write a cookbook (or any kind of book). I love the ones that tell stories, poignant, funny, illustrative, etc., of the life and experiences of the author. I love telling stories too, but simply do not have the discipline to write them in any coherent fashion so I admire anyone who does as I know how much work it is. I had a friend who worked on a family cookbook (3 generations in Pasadena) for several years but passed away before she could finish her research and recipe testing. Her daughters thought it had been a waste of time and tossed the manuscript and all her notes in the trash before I had a chance to ask for it. I would have liked to have it as a memento of our friendship. One of the reasons I collect cookbooks is because some of them seem to be "orphans" and I feel they should have shelf space somewhere, even if it is only in my little library. When I see some of these books on the remaindered list or reduced to a fraction of the original price on the bargan books table, I think of all the work that went into them and feel sad that they have not received their due. So often it is because some "name" personage has a cookbook that is being promoted simply because they are on TV and not because the cookbook itself is interesting or truly useful. I am not a fan of Rachel Ray or her cookbooks. I do have two of Ina Garten's cookbooks and recently was given one of "The Lady & Sons" cookbooks. I have purchased a great many cookbooks since joining eG, many recommended by other members and written by members. Keep on writing them and I will keep on buying them.

I thought I had this book and did a somewhat cursory search but couldn't find it so have ordered a copy. The discussion about the evolution of pasta/couscous and how it migrated from country to country is fascinating. One of my friends visited last night (on her way down from June Lake to San Diego). She is from Sardinia and we were discussing some of the traditional foods she grew up with. She says her grandmother still makes a semolina pasta by moistening flour with water and a little oil and mixing and rolling it in a flat basket (similar to my winnowing baskets) until it forms little balls which are then dried or baked. I showed her some packages of maftol and moughrabiya, labeled "Middle Eastern" and "Toasted" couscous and she said it looks exactly like the "fragula" (not sure of spelling), made my her grandmother. The family farm is in the southern part of Sardinia near Tolada (?Sp) and is visited by tourists because of the archeological sites located on the farm. Because of its location, Sardinia, like Sicily, was constantly being conquered and the society/culture changed with the times, a true crossroads of the Mediterranean . I don't think I have ever seen a cookbook devoted exclusively to cuisine of Sardinia. I have a few Italian cookbooks that may include a recipe or two but that is all.

I bought another cookbook today. It is the just for fun cookbook, "Nanny Ogg's Cookbook" 'A useful and improving Almanack of Information including Astonishing Recipes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld.' I am a big fan of Terry Pratchett's stories and this little book is worth buying just for the chuckles produced when reading the titles of some of the recipes.

I have been reminded to add one thing about the loose plastic "baggie-type" gloves by my housekeeper. My friend Hans, a baker, was wearing these gloves while working at a small mixer, pushing down the dough that was crawling up the dough hook. The loose glove caught and pulled his hand into the orbital head. Fortunately he wasn't hurt badly, but his hand was bruised and wrenched. He visited me the following day and his hand was black and blue and he couldn't make a fist so had to take a few days off work. That was the last time he wore the baggie type gloves. If you are going to use the loose gloves, don't operate any machinery while wearing them. You also should not wear them near an open flame, they are useful for food prep. The powder in the gloves I have is corn starch - you can also get the non-powdered ones and use a bit of cornstarch (I keep some in a shaker - it has a plastic top to seal the shaker holes so moisture will not affect it). And rajsuman, For years I had a manicure every week and always wore gloves while doing anything that involved handling meat or poultry, etc., prepping vegetables, working with dough. I have mentioned many times on other threads that all it takes to have my phone ring is for me to be up to my wrists in sticky dough. It used to take me several rings before I could pick it up. Now all I do is strip off a glove and pick up the handset. No sticky handset, no missed calls. I find the gloves are handy for so many things I generally buy several boxes at a time. I wear them under my gardening gloves for extra protection, when I give the dogs a bath, etc.

Smart & Final has the baggy gloves too, I just don't care for them. The powder in these is cornstarch so there is no problem with foods being contiminated with talc. The baggy ones are available at any beauty supply store in packages of 10, 100 and 500. They are much cheaper than the NON latex ones I get. Many people are allergic to latex, thus the non-latex. For instance, my housekeeper can't wear the latex ones. This type is also available at beauty supply places but not all are food-grade.

Are these the non-latex ones, Andie? They're basically thin plastic baggies that are glove-shaped? If so, I'd love to know a source for a non-professional to buy them! I had a pkg of 20 that I bought a long time ago and haven't been able to find them anywhere since... Any/all ideas are greatly welcome! Curlz ← These are the ones I use. I get them at Smart & Final. Any restaurant/bakery supply place will have them. There are plenty of places open to the public.

This might answer some of your questions.

I simply use the food service gloves that are like surgeon's gloves, have for years. My hands look pretty good for my age.

Griswold is the more famous name in cast iron and some of their pieces were only made for a brief time or the design changed after a year or so and these pieces that were only on the market for a brief time are quite pricy. I have a lot of Griswold because several of the older members of my family wanted more "modern" cookware back in the 60s and gave me their old cast iron. The most unusual Griswold piece I have is a rendering pot with a screw plug down near the bottom for drawing off the liquid fat. It is so big I don't have room for it in the house so it is in my storage building in an oiled canvas bag to protect it from rust. It comes with a folding iron tripod to hold it over the fire and that too is an odd sort of thing and I have never seen another. When "Cast Iron Jack" was still exhibiting at the Rose Bowl swap meet, back in the early 80s, I took the pot up for him to see (I had a pickup truck at the time and a strong helper) and he said he had never seen one but would be happy to take it off my hands if I ever decided to sell it. I think it was already on the farm when my grandfather purchased it in 1919. It is possible that many of these were left outside to rust when people stopped rendering their own lard or suet or tallow and they gradually fell apart. What makes it so unique is the removable plug near the bottom. It looks just like the oil plug that were seen on oil pans back in the 1930s, with an "eye" through which a steel rod could be threaded so the plug could be turned. I remember when this was done, I was instructed to stand well back while two men removed the plug so the liquid fat could run into a big pan set on the ground. Another man would hold a screen over the hole in the inside of the pot so the solids wouldn't run out with the hot liquid. On one occasion I rememver some fat splashing onto the pantsleg of one of the men, who immediately began cursing. My grandfather clapped his hands over my ears so I missed most of it but I learned more than I should have that day......... Compared to what one hears all the time nowadays, it was pretty tame.

If you think you might have beans that have been stored too long, you might try this. It doesn't always work but I have used it with the "meaty" type large limas, scarlet runners and fava beans. Soak the beans in cold water for at least 12 hours. Drain them and put them in a steamer (not a rice cooker but a steamer over simmering water) and steam them for 45 minutes. Then put them in a pot, add your cooking liquid, water or anything low acid, and cook as usual.

You can also get seeds of the French dandelions which are longer, more tender and less bitter. They grow in window boxes, pots or will even sprout on a mat of damp paper towels on a tray. This way you get very clean baby greens that are not at all bitter.

Absolutely fantastic blog, Wendy. The creative muse must be riding on your shoulders. I am simply awestruck by the depth and breadth of your repertoire.

I use mineral oil, and have done so since working in my mom's bakery in the 50s. Every afternoon it was cleaned before beginning the evening/all night baking. We used bench knives to scrape off all the dried bits of dough, then wiped the bench with a damp cloth and applied the oil while it was still just barely damp, then wiped it again, scraped it some more with bench knives then applied more mineral oil, let that application be absorbed for an hour or so then wiped it with dry rags.

I haven't been able to find the green glass knife. That was my great grandmother's favorite for slicing steamed puddings or some of the stickier cakes at teatime. It is smaller and thinner than the others. She had such delicate hands and I can still recall her slicing into a cake with that knife so the slice would fall onto the silver server to be transferred to a plate that held a little paper doily. This thread has brought back so many memories. Thanks for starting it. The biggest one was used in the kitchen to slice cucumbers extremely thin for cucumber sandwiches, they were so thin they were practically transparent. The smallest one shown in the photo above was always on the fruit tray on the sideboard. The one in the middle came from my dad's mother, I don't know if she ever used it. I didn't spend as much time in the kitchen when I visited their place because her kitchen help didn't like kids underfoot.

I did not add any water to the chicken tagine pictured above. I have found that in most cases the ingredients produce so much liquid is produced that water is not required. This is with cooking on stovetop. Possibly with oven cooking one would need to use additional liquid because the top is not used. The chickens we have here in the US may be fatter and the flesh has more moisture because of how they are raised. I used thighs only for my tagine and at the end the chicken and vegetables were swimming in liquid, not all was fat. There also was a little liquid in the chickpeas after I drained them - they had been soaking overnight - but that was all.

Those whisks were popular in the 20s and 30s. Egg whites were whipped in a shallow bowl, sort of like a soup bowl, so the whisk was the perfect shape. A lot of those whisks were made by travelling tinkers and also by the gypsies who used to travel around in the south and midwest. The ones that visited my grandfather's farm when I was a child were allowed to camp next to one of the barns and my grandpa always took their "king" a ham and a side of bacon, some cornmeal and other stuff. He always had things that needed fixing by them and treated them with respect. They never stole anything from our place but had a bad reputation at other farms. They would make wood handles for kitchen pots, make dippers for water out of gourds and carved clothespins from wood. They also made rolling pins and I have one. OT note... My first pony came from the gypsies. My grandpa paid for it with a gold coin. I thought that was so cool....

That is a lovely color. Fascinating how Le Cruset developed their colors. The medium blue was originally a special order by Elizabeth David who wanted the same color as that on the package of her favorite cigarettes - Gitane. For years, the only place one could get the color was in her kitchenware store in London, then they began selling it in the US and it was very popular.

I had forgotten about grandma's glass tomato and fruit knives. They always lived in the linen drawer so they wouldn't get chipped. I have a green one somewhere around and another crystal one with hand-painted flowers on the handle, it is in a box from Marshall Fields, Chicago stamped Christmas, 1936.

I received a shipment of books on Thursday but didn't get around to opening the box until this morning. (Was still working on several tax returns for last minute folks until Friday evening, then was so tired I did practically nothing yesterday.) 26 cookbooks in the batch, including some that are probably duplicates of ones already in my collection. Some interesting ones are An Alphabet for Gourmets, Anne Willan's Cook It Right, teh All-American Truck Stop Cookbook, Babe's Country Cookbook (Babe the Pig), American Hot, Christmas With Southern Living, Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver and Another Potful of Recipes. I haven't looked at all of them yet, however I will be going through them in the next week or so to see if any recipe jumps out and grabs my interest.

Here is a recipe that works quite well. You have to break the limes up and grind them to a powder in a spice grinder. Lamb stew, Persian I am not that fond of lamb. I substitute goat meat for the lamb. Goat is much sweeter than lamb, even when it is older.

Here are a few things that are very special to me: First, some breakables: Old bowls, bean pots (Bauer), Stangl pottery, English ironstone, porcelain, English and French. My grandma's waffle iron in the center. A green FireKing bowl (one of several) And the big covered casserole from France. And here are some of the metal things that remind me so much of my childhood. My other grandmother's copper jam pan, various baking molds, two of my Griswold skillets, The long fry pan that was made to fit over two top openings in a wood/coal range. And two lamb cake molds, one from one grandmother, the other from the other grandmother. The big sauce pan in the right rear was my great-grandmothers which she brought from England. I have three, this is the largest, holds 12 imperial pints.

Can we see a few?? Pretty please?? ← Okay, charging camera batteries as I type. Will try to work some picture-taking in between finishing tax returns for some people who always leave everything until the last minute. I filed mine in February!

I have so many things I would be hard pressed to list them all. My family NEVER throws anything away that might possibly be useful for some reason, some time in the future. I inherited that pack-rat gene from both sides of the family in force. Cast iron spiders/skillets, pots, griddles, a huge old heavy copper jam pan with rounded bottom. Pickle crocks, milk crocks, butter crocks. Silver, china, lots of kitchen glassware for cooking, storage, and so on. Appliances such as my grandmother's electric roaster, toaster (which started me on collecting them), waffle iron and mixer. Odd kitchen gadgets and utensils that still work. Whenever I use any of these items it reminds me of my grandmothers, my great grandmother and various aunts and other family members who passed the items on.

Mary, That is exactly what I was attempting to explain in my earlier post. People just do not drive long distances if they don't have to. They will drive someplace for pleasure but not for shopping. My best friend lives in Yorba Linda and prefers to shop right there in town, even though there are more extensive markets in Santa Ana. She is not "into" cooking as I am so when I spend two weeks during the Christmas holidays with them, I drag her around to markets she has never heard of. She will drive far afield to go to movies and to restaurants, but not just shopping. But then she will drive all over the place on weekends to go to dog shows. Northern California, Arizona, Nevada, etc., Go figure! I do a lot of my regular produce shopping at a little produce market we have in Lancaster, and I also shop at Vallarta Supermercado. Vallarta has great produce and very cheap. Lemons and limes are a fraction of the cost in a regular market. They have a great selection of peppers and of course piles of fresh cilantro and etc. The middle eastern produce market in Reseda, on Vanowen, whose name I can't recall, is also one that carries quite a few unusual things and is very inexpensive. However it is always very crowded.