andiesenji

Absolutely gorgeous, Marlene. Your husband is a very wise man to give you the tools with which to prepare a superior meal. It does make life a little easier to have the right stuff. One can get by with makeshift methods but when you have the perfect cooking vessel things just fall into place beautifully. Anyway, that is my philosophy.

Most Chinese eating chopsticks are longer than the Japanese eating chopsticks. This guy has a very large collection. Eric chopsticks. I use either kind. The cooking ones often get warped from steam, etc., so I buy 6 pair at a time and toss them when they become unusable, they are so cheap, it is easier than trying to use ones that don't fit.

What she used was actually very rich milk, mixed with cream from the Jersey cows on the farm. The little pitcher with the "milk" was warmed in a water bath before being brought in on the tea tray. I don't believe she would have done anything considered rude or low class. She was presented at court when she was 17 just a few weeks prior to Prince Albert's death and was sitting for her portrait (Francis Grant) when Albert passed away and that was put on hold because of the national mourning period when such things were considered gauche with the Queen in mourning. I asked my aunt (age 99) and she says that many customs changed during and immediately after WWI. She was born in 1905 in England and certainly recalls that most of the family used cream or milk and it might have been put in the cup first or last, depending on the wishes of the person being served. She remembers it becoming a social note during the suffragette era.

I grew up on grits. My dad's family called them grits, however in my grandfather's home, where I was born and raised (mother's side) they were called hominy because the cook was from the Carolina lowcountry where the meal was called grist (never grits) and the cooked stuff was called hominy, something peculiar to Charleston and surrounds. As I visited back and forth, I was sometimes a bit confused when I was very young, but finally learned that grits and hominy were one and the same on the breakfast table. Hominy as a vegetable was something else.

I was given one for my birthday last year and have never used it, too stiff and uncomfortable for my hands (arthritis). I have been using the English made Coolskins gloves, have all three lengths, for several years. They are much better made (and longer) than the "Ove gloves" and are sold as a pair instead of individually. If I am going to handle something that is wet or steamy, I simply put on a rubber household glove first then the Coolskins and have had no problems. They are flexible and make it easy to grasp knobs, loop handles and narrow handles, something that is impossible with the Orka. They make little fingerip Orkas, but I don't trust those either, my fingers do not have a lot of gripping power.

It began last night with this: Grits, white and yellow, freshly ground, stirred into boiling water. at 20 minutes they have absorbed a lot of water: at 40 minutes they are done: Poured into a loaf pan to cool overnight: This morning, sliced, lightly dredged with flour and into browned butter on the griddle: nearly done: Finished, ready to plate and eat with eggs, bacon and/or sausage and maple syrup or ?? Very tasty! My housekeeper, originally from Hungary, had never heard of grits but has taken to them with great enthusiasm. Indeed, she has sent some home to her mother and brothers with explicit instructions on how they are to be stored (freezer) and cooked. Often I place the freshly made grits in a small gratin dish, make a hollow in the middle and add a couple of poached eggs topped with shredded ham. This is her favorite but the fried comes in a very close second.

If you do go for the Russell Hobbs, make sure you don't get this one.

I would suggest that you visit Acanthus Books and look through the reprints they have available, especially the Tudor - Elizabethan - 16th century selections which are fairly extensive. It is a great resource for anyone delving into the past of cookery.

Check out the new General Electric Cordless electric kettle. It is a beauty and at Wal-mart it is less than $30.00. I saw it a couple of days ago and need another teakettle like I need a hole in my head, since I have an automatic hot water dispenser at my sink, but I came close to buying one of these.

I found some lovely moro oranges (blood oranges) at the middle eastern market today so made this with boneless chicken breasts (skins on). I used enough oil (grapeseed in this case) to cover the bottom of the pot, sauteed some garlic in the oil then lightly browned the chicken pieces, removed them and set aside. I then added 1/2 a cup of chopped onion, seasonings, I used a pepper medley, salt, herbes de Provence and some chipotle pepper flakes. I cooked them in the oil until the onion was beginning to brown. I then added the juice of 4 (very small) moros. Then returned the chicken to the pot, covered it and put it in a low oven 275 F, for 3 hours. It is moist and tender, great flavor served with couscous.

Recipezaar has several main dish chocolate recipes. that might give you some ideas. I have often added a pinch of unsweetened cocoa to the marinade for sauerbrauten to give it a greater depth of flavor.

I have lids that have been banged around so much and reshaped that they have dimples here and there but as long as they can be hammered back into shape so they fit the pot or pan I am fine with them. That is one thing that you can do with copper but not with other metals. The guy that does my retinning is a whiz at flattening the rims of lids that have been bounced off floors and developed a little "flare". One of my saucepans with straight sides even has an unintentional pouring lip from when a cast iron spider (griddle) dropped onto it. When I had it retinned the guy asked me if I wanted it reshaped but I told him to leave it as it was, I had gotten used to having it like that and it did make pouring easier.

Try the Senseo.

Last year when I spoke to one of the buyers for Sur La Table who had been in France earlier in the spring, she said that Bourgeat is still making professional copper cookware but is not marketing it for general sales, whatever that means. Perhaps they are selling only to chefs, hotels, etc. She noted that she had seen brand new Bourgeat pots in the kitchen at one of the hotels in which she stayed, which was the reason she contacted the company. Sur La Table used to carry an extensive line of Bourgeat where I have purchased many of the pieces I have had for years.

and with the lid?

One of the first things I was served the first time I spend the weekend with my roommate's family in San Francisco, was wor wonton soup, which contained, in addition to the filled wonton, several vegetables, strips of pork and many little purple "flowers" - I was told to first eat the solid things in the bowl with my chopsticks, then eat the broth with my spoon. Tricky grabbing those slippery things, but an excellent way to become proficient with the chopsticks. Incidentally the little purple "flowers" were baby octopii and were delicious and apparently a delicacy served especially because I was visiting. The trickiest thing I ever tried eating was ribbon noodle, very long noodles, about 1 inch wide, with wavy edges and served in a thick broth with scallions and a lot of garlic. The noodles were homemade and dried on a screen on the back porch. I have never seen them in a restaurant and I have been through a lot of Chinese restaurants from San Francico to San Diego. If anyone knows what they are called, I would like to know.

I would be interested if it is SS lined. The one I have (de Buyer) is less than 2 1/2 inches deep and really not adequate for the type of stir-frying I do. I like the idea of the internal grid.

Dave, The kitchen is gorgeous! You have done a great job and the sideboard looks like a million dollars. I didn't notice the detail on the feet when it was in its natural form. The white really points up the construction details. It looks like you have taken the room to a new high in efficiency.

As an adjunct to the study, you might want to look into the CD which includes the entire content of Romance of the Ranchos radio program (1941-42) 35 episodes. Romance of the Ranchos. It is fun to listen to and is only $2.99. From Chuck's Old Time Radio.

I don't like meringue. I make a large batch of lemon curd which I use for filling, spoon and spread it into a cool crust, then whip some cream and mix lemon curd into the whipping cream and pipe that onto the pure lemon curd. Never had anyone who didn't like it.

I asked the internist/toxocologist in the office today about it He said that instead of making infusions from tobacco that is intended for smoking, as in pipe tobacco, the safest route to take would be to use chewing tobacco or snuff in cooking. However he did say that the amounts to be directly ingested should be quite small and people should be cautioned that if they experience any dizziness or shortness of breath or tingling in the extremities, they should avoid it in the future. He said in some individuals even minute amounts of nicotine can cause constriction of the capillaries in the fingers and toes and it doesn't matter how it is ingested, smoked or swallowed, it will have the same effect. He mentioned the increased incidence of oral cancer and other lesions in people who use chewing tobacco and snuff. You might recall that Brett Saberhagen, a Valley boy, gave a talk about the dangers of using "smokeless" tobacco after he developed oral lesions.

Great pics. Thanks so much for posting them. Now I want one of the gadgets.

I like the Flame but the Red is nice too.

And is related to the knob-knock of a wooden spoon on the pate of a misbehaving child from our cook when I was little. My cousins, rowdy boys all, came in more from this than I did, me being a bit of a pet and a bit of a pill, as far as the boys were concerned. However I did get my share, and having my hair usually pulled back in pigtails (the cook's daughter was my nursemaid and my braids were pulled so tight I had a permanently startled expression) there was not much padding to take the brunt of the spoon. The boys, all with brush cuts or crew cuts, (like their daddies in the military) had even less protection. It wasn't designed to hurt, just to get our attention, like the corporal punishment doled out by my grandpa.

For this cut of meat I like to do the wrap in aluminum foil and cook for a very long time at a low temperature in the oven. I don't use the onion soup mix, but do season the meat well. I place it on a layer of carrots and celery, then cover the meat with a mound of sliced onions, thinly sliced garlic, sliced mushrooms and drizzle with a little olive oil. I wrap it tightly in heavy foil, then wrap it a second time, place it in a shallow baking dish or sheet pan and put it in the oven at 225 for at least 3 hours, if it goes longer, no problem. Usually at this point is is litterly falling apart and I simply boil new potatoes, split them in half and slide the entire contents of the foil, including the juices, on top of the potatoes on a platter.