andiesenji

This is another favorite place for gadgets. I just ordered 3 of the automatic soap dispensers on page 1 A set of the shaped ice cream scoops on page 2 and 6 of the "cool touch" oven guards on page 3. Brylane. Not exactly a gadget, but I just ordered one of the tree wreath Bundt cake pans from Sur la Table. I have a collection of Bundt pans and this one is particularly attractive. Tree wreath pan.

Speaking of microplanes....

The stainless steel mushroom-shaped garlic smasher was sold by Williams-Sonoma. I have one somewhere around here in a drawer. I also have a wooden mushroom-shaped garlic smasher and various rubber sleeves, little mallets, and other things, mostly received as gifts. I can't seem to remember to use them until it is too late - the side of my knife works so well............

Speaking of gadgets. Are you folks familiar with this site? One of my favorite places to browse.

I noticed a mention of using a microplane on ginger. I have just about every kind of ginger grater known to man because I use a lot of ginger in various condiments as well as all kinds of marinade and dishes both savory and sweet. I also have just about every type of microplane made, from the extra tiny to the largest. However, for grating ginger, and catching every bit of ginger juice, I would like to recommend a suribachi. This Japanese mortar and pestle is truly a multi-tasking tool but it does a bang-up job on ginger. Just peel a section (or don't peel it if you like) and scrub crosswise to the grain of the ginger on the ridges inside the bowl. You can grate more ginger much quicker than with any other implement. Then if you need garlic, you simply dump out the ginger, throw in the garlic and mash that with the pestle - you can even scrub the skin of a lemon or lime around the inside, however a microplane is a bit neater for zesting. Joyce Chen also sells this one. listed as a Chinese suribachi.

After reading your post, I called my friend and she thinks the place where we tried the chocolate made with this machine was in Costa Mesa. She is going to check in her yellow pages and call around to a few places to see if she can locate it. She recalls that the place was very busy, in fact, we had to wait in line for quite a while to have our order taken, then wait for it to be prepared. She does recall that she had visited the store prior to the time I was there, but never noticed the chocolate machine, she is a straight coffee drinker, doesn't care all that much for liquid chocolate - too sweet. However she does buy a lot of different kinds of coffee beans, always on the search for "the perfect cup" - one chain, Java Central - had a particular variety that she thought was wonderful but they went out of business a couple of years ago. Every time she sees a new store that carries coffee, she has to try it. I don't recall if we were looking for coffee or something else that day, or perhaps we were just going to a movie, when we stumbled onto the store. In any event, I agree that is a lot of money for a machine just for chocolate but depending on the location, it might bring in more business. I mentioned to a friend who lives up at Mammoth Lake and she said it would pay for itself in a month up there. She caters parties and has 4 of the 80 cup electri urns. 2 for coffee (caf & decaf) 1 hot water and one just for cocoa. The cocoa refills 3 times for every time she refills the regular coffee.

Don, I have tried a lot of recipes and experimented with many over the years. However, by far the best one I have ever made (and received rave reviews from my guests) was the one based on the stock recipe on the web site of my friend Melinda Lee. Turkey soup, the only recipe you will ever need. You can modify it with different add-ins, vegetables, pasta, even turkey meat and dumplings, but basically, this is an excellent soup base.

I make a layered casserole, layer of dressing layer of chunked turkey ladle on some gravy layer of cranberry sauce repeat bake at 300 degrees for 35 minutes

I proof much of my baking (and I do a lot) in my Excalibur dehydrators because I happen to have them. However, a very inexpensive proofing chamber can be assembled by using a heating pad, two sheet pans or trays and one of the inexpensive translucent or clear storage bins available at Wal-Mart, Target, Staples, etc. (They were 4.85 at my Wal-Mart a couple of days ago.) First drill a couple of small holes in the bottom of the bin. This prevents condensation. Place the heating pad on a flat surface that won't be harmed by heat - the top of a washer or dryer is a good place. Then place a metal tray or sheet pan upside down over the heating pad. Place the tray or sheet pan or bowl, or whatever you have your dough or loaves or rolls on or in, on top of the upside down tray. place the upside-down bin over the top and turn the heating pad on to medium. An inexpensive room thermometer (not a cooking one, $1.99 at Wal-Mart) taped to the inside of the bin so you can see it through the side works fine to tell you what the temp is inside the thing. If it gets too warm with the heating pad on medium, turn it to low. If your house is really cold or there is a cold draft, you may have to put it on high, but that is not usual. When not in use, store the heating pad, trays and whatever else inside the bin with the lid on to keep it from getting dusty.

I puree them and add to turkey soup. Love the different flavor.

I baked two of these pumpkin/pecan "pies" yesterday. One was consumed completely, one about 1/4 consumed. I didn't use a regular pie crust as we prefer something a bit different. I simply mixed up a batch of scone dough (poppyseed/ginger), pressed it into the pan (deep dish pizza pan) pre-baked it for 12 minutes at 275, just enough to give it some body and dry it a bit. Then allowed it to cool slightly, pressed the sides back up then filled it and baked it, (again at 275 so the surface would not develop a tough skin) for 70 minutes.

Some of my neighbors and I had a communal dinner yesterday and all of my immersion blenders were used at one time or another. I made fresh cranberry sauce in an electric Dutch oven as the cooktop and both induction cookers were in use. All three of the Cuisinarts were also being used (I usually process the sauce in one of these) so I broke out the KA blender that was new in the box, to work on the sauce right in the pan. It worked pefectly, certainly as good as the 400 watt Braun, and since it is shorter, was a little easier to manipulate. One of the neighbors also brought hers as she was making a couple of things that needed it. She has a Thunderstick Pro which she says she bought at the "As Seen On TV" store in the mall. She had seen it on Amazon and was going to order it but saw it in the window at the mall store and figured no shipping this way. I looked it up and it seems to be a pretty good buy with all the attachments for 34.95. I didn't check the price on Amazon. She used it to grate hard cheese and it worked very nicely, then she used to make guacamole.

The cookie molds are for shaping the dough into a decorative pattern. This site has some information. The molds (or moulds) may be made of wood, ceramic, metal and even plastic nowadays. They are not very satisfactory for baking because the porous material draws moisture from the dough and will cause it to be very fragile. There are some made for baking which are glazed on the inside but they are rather uncommon. Springerle are the German cookies made with a rolling mold or pressed into larger wooden molds. Speculas are the Dutch version.

One of my greatest joys is preparing food for people who really appreciate it. Nothing bothers me more than seeing something I have put part of my soul into, being pushed around a plate by a person who seems to have a permanent kink in their upper lip, as if they are just beginning to sneer. Or make little comments, sotto voice, about the food. This happened to me once when the son of a friend brought his girlfriend to dinner when he came with his parents. I know he loves my food as he has been eating it for many years. They broke up not too long after than. I think that dinner showed him just how self-centered and selfish the girl was.

When I make black bean soup, after cooking for a suitable period, I remove half the beans and all of the pork hocks. Then I use the immersion blender to puree the remaining beans in the liquid, add some ground pepitas and check the seasoning. I then add back the whole beans the meat from the ham hocks, chopped, and keep at a very low simmer until ready to serve.

I think red karo is referring to the label. I was curious and followed the history of Karo link listed above. At the page, there were several pictures of the old packaging amoung them, a red label can. With regard to the pound cake, I have a similiar recipe with a pound of each sugar, butter and flour plus 10 eggs. If I had to guess ten eggs probably equals a pound. It is a fabulous pound cake. I find Louisiana interesting and bizarre. Being Thanksgiving, I kind of miss it today. ← The reference to "Red Karo" does indeed refer to the label. Just as people still refer to " Brer Rabbit Green " or "Brer Rabbit Blue", referring to the stronger darker molasses instead of the mild gold label which was found in all stores. Only a few stores would carry all three types.

I have some food allergies but that doesn't stop me from cooking with the things I can't eat when I am preparing a meal for other people. I also can't drink any raw alcohol but can cook with it, if it is cooked long enough for the alcohol esthers to cook away. And I buy wine and liquor for gifts, although I need help in choosing them because I can't taste. I think it is extremely rude for someone to force their food preferences on others. I like some spicy foods but not super hot foods but prepare them all the time. I took a couple of salsas to the L.A. Potluck that were too hot for me but others enjoyed them and I had advance notice that there would be people there who appreciated the hot stuff. Just in case, I also took along some of my homemade sour cream and also cream cheese to temper the hot stuff just in case. If I am preparing something that contains an ingredient to which I am allergic, I ask someone to taste it for me so I will know if it is seasoned correctly. It isn't difficult to accomadate food allergies but some people make a career of being unpleasant about demanding attention to their needs and make a fuss if there is anything containing their problem ingredient anywhere near their food without having any consideration for other people. I simply avoid the foods I can't have but try not to interfere with other's enjoyment.

Have you considered one of these chocolate machines? I saw one of these at a coffee place in Orange County last year during the Christmas holidays while staying with friends in Yorba Linda. My friend and I went to quite a few different places and I don't recall exactly where it was but I was very impressed with it. They mixed the chocolate with coffee or just with milk or cream, adding various flavors to order. It was an independent store, selling a couple of different lines of packaged coffee beans and pre-ground coffee, as well as a few teas, premium chocolate, chocolates and other candies. As I recall they had selections of Valrhona, Schokinag, Guittard and Scharffen Berger chocolate, as I bought several pieces of different types. Anyway, I thought the machine was really clever.

Regarding salamanders. The original utensil was much different from those we use today. I have one of the original kitchen utensils called a salamander, an antique from the early 20th century, ca. 1901. Unfortunately it is packed away in a box, otherwise I would take a picture so you could see it. It is a round cast iron plate on a fairly long handle which has a hollow end so a wood handle can be stuck into it.(more about this later). The plate itself has holes in it and was intended to be thrust through the firebox opening into the hottest part of the coals inside the stove and kept there until it was glowing red hot. The dish to be toasted on top, was brought close to the stove and the salamander was withdrawn from the coals, brushed off with a stove broom, then held over the dish until the perfect degree of browness was achieved. This was the only way they had for browning meringues on top of ice cream or other chilled desserts and also for carmelizing sugar-topped items or melting cheeses. Now about the handle. The salamander was fairly heavy and the heat of course radiated up the handle so about 2/3 of the handle is hollow and tapers inside. A wood handle (about the size of a broom handle) was tapered to fit inside the handle and these were kept in a bucket of water next to the range. This caused the wood to swell but also to be slightly pliable on the surface and also protected the wood from the heat of the iron. When ready to use, the handle was banged into the salamander and fit tightly. After use, the heat would dry the wood which would shirnk and make it easy to remove the handle from the salamander for use in pots that had similar type handles because it was easier to use two hands on the handle with these heavy pots and easier to control them if you could keep your hands further apart on the handle.

I dip cornbread into bean soup. (Southern type cornbread, the dense, all corn stuff.) I do dip regular French or similar firm crust breads into other soups and stews but I don't think that is so unusual. The chips I dip into cottage cheese (and it has to be large curd) are the barbecue wavy Lays or Masterpiece barbecue. I roast steak fries (the ones with the skins on) until they are quite dark and have a crusty surface, seasoned with a spicy, salty mixture. Then dip them in sour cream mixed with chives or scallions.

When using chocolate chips, it's easiest to get a shallow spoonful of the peanut butter, then dot the chips on top. Don't ask how I know ← One of the girls who works in my office has a flat wood spoon-shaped implement that is dipped into peanut butter then into a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate chips and toffee chips. She says the combination of flavors and crunchy bits is heavenly. Actually, I think the wood thing was once in the middle of a Dove icecream bar.

The salamander was the thing I missed most when I parted with my old Garland range many years ago. The big grill/griddle plate on top was the second, although it was the devil to clean and had to be worked over with a hone from time to time. I used the salamander all the time for so many things it is difficult to think of the most useful applications. Of course it cooked a lot of steaks and chops, mushroom dishes, the usual. I supposed that being able to slide an entire tray of creme brulee under it and have them all carmelized at once was a great advantage. The same with trays of gratin dishes. The kids also used it as a toaster, first toasting a slab of bread (I used to make double sized homemade loaves so they would have a slice that was the equivalent of two slices of regular bread) then buttering it and laying on some cheese (and in one case jalapeno peppers) then sliding it back under the salamander to melt and toast the cheese. Very quick. They also used it to heat leftover pizza, for breakfast as it was much quicker than the oven. My husband liked broiled ham steaks with a slice of pineapple sprinkled with brown sugar, then under the salamander until the top was carmelized. Tater Tots were also roasted/toasted in it.

Another of my favorite on-line vendors. Got my first induction range from them. Also most of my bread pans, especially the pullman pans which they have for much less than anywhere else.

This was discussed in detail in this topic. Which includes my suggestion of using exfoliating gloves on DRY roasted hazelnuts and on blanched almonds that have retained some of their skins. When dry the skins just flake away. After roasting, you allow them to cool just a bit then rub between your palms. The raspy surface of the gloves is enough to clean them quite well and I have never had a problem. If you steam or boil the nuts to blanch them, you have to wear rubber gloves under the exfoliating gloves or risk a scald. You can also buy skinned hazelnuts - they are available at the local middle eastern grocery where I shop, prepackaged, so I assume other stores would also carry them.

I have purchased several items from FEW (Food Equipment Warehouse) and have always been treated well. They post their phone number so call them 888-277-6070 and ask about the mixer. I was given the number by a friend in Virginia who bought a Pizza oven from them long before I even knew they had an ebay store. They are a company that specializes in commercial equipment, not a fly-by-night outfit.