andiesenji

I haven't seen the book. I have not cooked these before. Mike and I were communicating (we have a bit of language difficulty) and he showed me these and a few other varieties made by the same company and convinced me I should try them. Since he hasn't yet steered me wrong, I bought them to try. The other package in the background is buckwheat - I buy it there because #1 it is cheaper and #2 much fresher than in other markets - I grind my own for breads and etc. The Freekeh (green cracked wheat) is the other package behind the couscous. I mix that half and half with millet then layer it in a casserole with beans to make a vegetarian dish for some friends who visit every three months when they come through this area on sales trips. If I am feeling particularly ambitious I will wrap the spicy mixture in grape leaves and steam, then serve with a yogurt dip.

I don't know yet if I will have any restrictions on the types of foods I can have. I dreamed about food all night, not eating, but preparing. For some really strange reason, I found myself in Australia, visiting with friends and being asked to prepare some really odd things but can't recall now what they were. Weird (I have never been to Oz.) The other dream had me in an enormous kitchen, sort of like the one in "The Great Race" (the Tony Curtis/Jack Lemmon/Natalie Wood one). more weird The oddest thing was that I never got to taste anything - every time I was going to try something, I was interrupted. Frustrating, even in dreams.

I had made a multilayer cake for a party I was working for one of my clients when I was a personal chef. While removing it from the fridge, one of my helpers bumped the fridge door and the cake was upended onto my shoes. I had nothing to back it up, but fortunately the job wasn't too far from home (I still lived down in the Valley then, so I nipped off to my house, found a panettone in the pantry and I always have a few quarts of my homemade lemon curd on hand, as well as various syrups from candying ginger and citrus peel, etc. I simply hauled it back to the job, put it together and stuck it in the freezer to "set" for about 30 - 40 minutes, nailed it with the skewers and cut it crosswise then crosswise again and split each quarter so it ended up in 8 wedges, (my client had 6 guests) and it worked so well and got such raves that I kept it in my repetoir. As far as I know, no one else has ever done it and I am posting it here for the first time.

I slice it crosswise into rounds, about 3/4 inch thick, toast lightly in the oven, brush with butter then spread with lemon curd, add a layer, spread with more lemon curd, finish with the top round au naturale - then drizzle with a lemon syrup glaze, sometimes mixing lemon and ginger syrup together to make the glaze. I stick long thin bamboo skewers from top to bottom about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in from the outside, in the center of which will be a wedge slice, then chill. I cut the cake with the skewers in place, arrange the slices on plates then carefully remove the skewers. This keeps the layers in place while moving it. I then very lightly dust with XXX sugar. Looks very pretty and tastes wonderful.

I am fasting for 24 hours because of some medical tests I have to have tomorrow and my fast began at 10 this morning. I am trying to keep busy, too restless to sit and read and nothing on TV interests me at the moment - Food TV is doing a chocolate marathon and I don't eat chocolate. So I did some shopping, made a special stop at the middle eastern market to restock on several things. Low on couscous, I bought several kinds to show the varieties they carry. Mostly I use the bulk type they package in store: Here is a closeup so you can see the textures - except for the ones in the box. The smaller covered bowl inside the large one is the steamer I got from Clay Coyote recommended by Ms. Wolfert - it is wonderful. The dark stuff in the lower right hand corner is zaatar or zahtar, a mix of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds I use in vegetable dishes, cheese dishes and on bread. I also bought some bottled fruit syrups, lovely moro oranges, tiny pears and a few other things they carry that I can find nowhere else for such reasonable prices. (A giant jar -24 oz- of wonderful tomato paste from Turkey that is better than any domestic product and only $1.99.) Now I can spend the next 24 hours deciding on what I will have for dinner tomorrow evening, assuming I can eat just anything and am not limited because of ongoing tests......... I can only hope.

The problem is that in the office where there are anywhere from 10 to 15 women on any one day, some people might see something and toss it out, thinking it is spoiled - this has happened in the past. When the stuff is in the yogurt maker, everyone knows it is supposed to be there and look as it does.

At 10:00 a.m. this morning I began a 24-hour fast, required for a medical test, among a battery of several I will have tomorrow. When something like this is in the offing, one does need to stoke up a bit on something that will keep one feeling satisfied for some time. So, I made corncakes: I also had earlier cooked some homemade bratwurst. (please excuse the variable sized sausages, I was doing it without help and occasionally one got away from me or I twisted one a bit short, and this was the end of the batch. The brats are simmered in apple juice for 40 minutes. They are then fully cooked and can be eaten as is or incorporated into a dish. I cut them into thin slices, sauteed them and then added eggs to make an omelet. I forgot to take photos of the omelet as I was trying to get it finished while the corncakes were still hot. Yummy! Now I can survive until tomorrow evening with nothing but water.

It wasn't a church cookbook, but the first cookbook I received as a gift, at age 11, was Charleston Receipts, and I still have the first one, carefully put away, and have several of its descendents, which I still cook from. As noted here it is "the oldest cookbook of its kind, continually in print." Some of the lowcountry recipes have never been published, exactly as recorded in this book, anywhere else that I have found and I have looked.

I make yogurt at home most of the time. Several of the girls at my office make yogurt - there are two yogurt makers, the kind that hold a regular quart milk container, always going as they consume a lot of yogurt. You don't really need a "yogurt maker" but this particular item is absolutely foolproof and is safe to use.

Pastry chef is the source from which I order most, although some equipment I order from Fantes - sometimes better prices and very quick ship.

Long, long before Cool-Whip and its imitators came onto the scene, I worked in my mom's bakery in a small village in Wisconsin. The dairy industry was adamant that "imitation" anything could not be used in anything sold to the public and we used only the best, butter, cream, etc., (there was no such thing as "low-fat" milk). We used milk powder in baking but it was full fat milk powder. One of the salesmen from a bakery supply place came in one day with a can of dried powder that he was trying to peddle to the independent bakeries as they had recently gotten a permit to sell in the state. It was supposed to whip up like whipping cream and could be incorporated "safely" into pastry cream for filling cream puffs, cream horns and eclairs, filling in cakes, stacked pastries, and so on. And it was much, much cheaper than using heavy cream....... The head baker/pastry chef, (a Hungarian who was one of the refugees resettled after the 1956 revolution) said he would try it but did so with much muttering and slamming of mixing bowls. He mixed up a batch, pronounced it inedible and dumped it into a box of trash which I set outside the back door. He practically threw the salesman out the back door and triumphantly pointed out the platoon of cats, that routinely hung around the back door, were sniffing at the stuff and turning away. "See!, he yelled, "Not even the damm cats will taste the stuff, it's crap." (I could understand him but the salesman probably couldn't, his English was pretty rough back then.) Later, when my mother came in and heard the store, she said that none of us were ever to waste our time trying out something like that brought in by a salesman. The first time I tasted Cool Whip reminded me of this little episode and I called home and had a chat with my mother and we both had a bit of a chuckle. She was in the bakery at the time and reminded the baker about it also. They were still using only the "good stuff" even though by that time Wisconsin had relaxed many of their regulations and you could actually buy colored margarine in a store. both of the Hungarian bakers that my mom sponsored, as well as giving them jobs and homes for them and their families, had trained and worked all over Europe, one had been at the Metropole in Brussels for several years and had a medallion from the hotel that he always wore on his toque. I could never stand the stuff. It left that greasy residue in my mouth and I could always tell when it was used in a dish. If people want to use it that is their right, but just don't ask me to eat it.

This all sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy routine: [Cue the Southern twang] If you have a matching set of eight salad bowls and they all say "Cool Whip" on the side...You Might Be a Redneck!" [/twang] Maybe the whipped topping-wielding hostess was from a region where they ladle Cool-Whip on top of everything. Personally, I can think of better things to do with Cool-Whip. ← Let us not get into the X-rated stuff just yet.

I think the recipe that will be the type of corn muffins that you like will be found here. These are the light, sweet and very tasty corn muffins similar to the ones you described. They are totally different from the denser, and less sweet (no sugar) corn muffins known in the south.

Our second labrador had a serious jones for butter - and did this more than once. Is it bad to admit we picked the lint off the butter & then cooked with whatever was left? ← The only way I can get pills down my dogs is to encase the pill or capsule in butter and they gobble it down without tasting. Anything else, meat, cheese, whatever, they will take in their mouths, sort out the pill or capsule, spit it out and swallow the rest. (Basenjis are clever little devils!)

Chufi, I have followed your blog with great delight. I have never visited Amsterdam but now I feel that my life will not be complete unless I see your lovely city and taste some of the amazing foods that you have shown in your photos. You are truly a wonderful ambassador for your city and country. Thank you so much for letting us visit with you for the week, it has been absolutely inspiring. Andie

If I don't have any jars of home-canned tomato and pepper(jals and hotter, depending on what comes ripe at the same time as the toms), I use Ro-Tel. I layer it in my tamale pie, also use it in lasagna, and in the "Frito" layered casserole which was so popular back in the 60s and occasionally is requested by friends who are feeling nostalgia for the "good old days" or some such idea. You can also use Ro-Tel in a cold tomato "pudding" with chunks of crusty bread, for a spicier version of this summer dish. "Mexican Pizza" made with Ro-Tel and pepper jack cheese on top of flour or corn tortillas is also very tasty. Oh yes, the other thing is hot Italian sausage cut into bite size bits and simmered in Ro-Tel and ladled into a hollowed out round Italian bread or any crusty boule.

Don't use Velveeta, get Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup, or one of the newer offshoots and use that instead. Doesn't get gummy, ever!

No question is ever stupid! It is the people who "assume" they know the answer to something like this, without having seen it, who are truly stupid. Never, ever, hesitate to ask questions. It is the mark of a person who delights in learning and there are a great many people who take great pleasure in sharing their knowledge so you please both yourself and others. It is an admirable characteristic.

Exactly what I was saying. When I lived down below in the Valley and had the Garland, when it was installed, all of the upper cabinets had to be removed and the floor, back wall and ceiling were lined with firebrick and stainless steel - my husband at the time was a plasterer so he could do all the work, and a friend did the metal work and ducting, as we had to have a larger flue for the exhaust hood - the old one was only 6 inch, which was fine when the house was built in 1957, but codes had changed and for the Garland we had to have the larger one and also had to have a new gas meter and bigger gas line and THAT required a permit and certification by the fire marshall as well as building and safety. When it came time to sell the house, having the records of the various permits of the work that was done, showing that the changes were legal, made it much easier. And here is something that many people do not consider. Your homeowner's insurance only covers a finite amount of "personal property" which includes your appliances and TV, etc. When you add something new, inform your agent, send him a copy of the sales contract and a photo of the new appliance and add it on to your policy. It will only add a few dollars onto the cost of your policy but in case of fire, or catastrophic damage, you will get full value for a new one and prorated value if it is a few years old, instead of having it lumped in with the rest of your personal property. Add it up and see how much you will have to come up with out of your own pocket if you don't do it this way, particularly if you have a large TV, or any particularly valuable piece of furniture. With photos in his files and records of individual items, you won't have to prove that you had something in the house in case of total loss. This is especially important if you have multiple refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and etc., because the policies that do have an option for appliances in addition to other personal property only figure on one of each.

Several years ago Bristol Farms opened a new market in Woodland Hills, which was not too far from my office. They had a great "cut to order" cheese section with many imported cheeses, some very expensive. I asked them about carrying brick cheese and the cheese manager (very knowledgeable about cheese) had never heard of it. I asked if he could order it for me and a couple of weeks later I got a call at work that said they had it in. At noon I went in and bought a couple of pounds - it was the aged brick - I used that up over the weekend and when I stopped in the next week there was none left. It had all sold to store employees after the cheese guy gave them samples to taste. They carried it and it sold very well, especially to transplanted Wisconsonites, until the store closed. (The store did well but it was in the same parking lot with Toys R Us and a bank and the parking was horrible, not enough for the market, so they were able to break their lease.) It was a terrible blow to me as I am a huge fan of Bristol Farms. I drive all the way to South Pasadena, at least once a month, to shop there. They have a pretty good cheese selection but it is a much smaller store and the cheese is mostly pre-cut and packaged and I like to sample cheeses that are unfamilar to me before I buy. I keep hoping that a real cheese shop will open up here in the Antelope Valley, we now have over half a million residents, so the customer base is here (Trader Joes is doing very well since opening a bit over a year ago), but so far it hasn't happened.

I used to have one of the old ones and the base plate could be lifted and rotated 90 degrees to make the cross cut after the first linear cut had been made. Mine only had the one cutter. The newer ones come with the wires in different configurations to make the different shapes. I sold mine to a friend who was starting a business and needed one and I was no longer using it. Check with some of the auction places that specialize in used commercial equipment - that is how I got the one I had and several other pieces of equipment I used to use when I was working professionally. This is one of the places that always had an ad in the L.A. Times for upcoming auctions. Another was Isidore Plotnick and Sons but I couldn't find them on the web under this name. I bought my old Garland range from them back in the 70s for a fantastic price.

I buy a lot of cheese online. Ideal Cheese Shop in New York is my favorite - they also carry the delectable peppadews. Ideal Cheese I order Wisconsin brick cheese - a cheese that seems to be one that is not exported to retailers outside the state - from cheese mart for the aged loaf of brick. I also get their butterkase and the 7-year-old cheddar which is fantastic. I have mentioned in earlier threads that I have tried my hand at cheesemaking, both fresh and aged cheese, nothing spectacular, just homey stuff that gives me pleasure. If you can get the correct ingredients cheesemaking is relatively easy and doesn't take a lot of equipment, even a small cheese press is not very expensive. It does take time and a place to store the cheeses - I used to use an old wine cooler but bought a regular refrigerator and simply set it to 50 degrees, which seems to be the ideal temperature for most cheeses. Here is one website for cheesemaking supplies. and this one Fias farm has some great recipes that are very easy and well worth the effort.

Sounds like I might be a candidate - my current fascination are the Nilgiri teas.

If you have the superfine cheesecloth, also known as "butter muslin" you can wash and reuse it as long as it holds together. I generaly stretch it across the top section of the dishwasher and clip it to the pegs with bindery clips to keep it from being sucked into the disposal. I prefer not to wash it with my other things as I like it to be sterilized as it will be in direct contact with foods that readily accept mold spores and bacteria. As soon as they come out of the dishwasher dry, I fold them and put them in a ziploc bag to store. Fifi, you can buy butter muslin at some of the places that sell supplies for cheesemaking, or you can get a small package from Williams-Sonoma if you want to know how it is. I could even send you some, PM me! Some yardage stores will order it for you but you have to buy an entire bolt but it is very cheap that way.

Part of my house is on a slab and part on raised foundation. The gas lines in the new part, on the slab, are overhead, not under the floor. There are all kinds of ways to bring the gas piping in to a center island, it does not necessarily have to be in a wall. In the laundry room behind the kitchen, the gas line for the dryer comes down through a column that is 6 feet from another matching column that has a bank of power outlets. Both columns have been fitted with brackets that hold shelves above the washer and dryer. The columns are steel and can hold lots of weight. I have seen similar applications where a range hood was attached to a column that also contained the service to the range, including gas and electric. In that case the range hood and its exhaust sleeve were finished on all sides.