andiesenji

I posted my recipe for pumpkin soup in the other thread. Some of the larger pumpkins have good flavor. Not the giant ones, but the larger ones that are considered primarily edible pumpkins. Certainly the Shakers did a lot of cooking with large pumpkins as many of their recipes specifically call for large, thick-walled pumpkins. Consider the giant banana squash. Even the huge ones are good eating. It is indeed Rouge Vif d'Estampes. The following is from Univ. of Illinois web site. "This variety is a C. maxima type that is deep red-orange, flattened, heavily sutured. It was the prototype for Cinderella's carriage pumpkin and is sometimes sold as "Cinderella" pumpkin." It has excellent flavor and is often used as a soup pumpkin, in that the top is removed just past the curve to the top so that in can be replaced, the seeds are removed and lightly salted water is placed into the pumpkin and the top is replaced, (I spear it diagonally with some small bamboo skewers to keep it in place.) It then goes into the oven on a baking sheet, at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes for a pumpkin this size. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Using a broad, round tip spoon (or an ice cream "spatula" works very well also) carefully remove the flesh from the interior, careful not to get it too thin. Also pare the flesh from the lid portion, try to leave it about 1/2 inch thick or a little less. Chop the flesh roughly and set aside. Recipe follows: PROVENCE PUMPKIN SOUP An original recipe by Andie, 11/5/97 Flesh from a medium large sugar or "soup" pumpkin, 3-4 cups, approximately. (PRE-COOKED) 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons herbes de Provence seasoning 1/3 cup shallots, cut into small dice or 1/2 cup onion 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 cup apple jelly 1 quart chicken broth 1 cup heavy cream (or half and half if you want less fat) Preheat your pan and melt the butter. Add the shallots and ginger and sauté over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add the herbs de Provence and the nutmeg, continue cooking for another minute or so, stirring constantly. Add the apple jelly and stir until it has melted and blended with the other ingredients. Pour in the chicken stock and increase the heat until it is simmering, Reduce the heat and add the pumpkin. Cook at a low simmer for about 20 minutes. Either use an immersion blender to puree the contents or remove a cup at a time and blend in a blender until it is smooth. Return to the pot, bring to a simmer and whisk in the cream. Place the pumpkin shell in a bowl to hold it steady, ladle in the soup and serve with croutons, toasted pepitas or ???

I would recommend that you allow some time to visit Cambria which has more going for it than being close to Hearst castle. It has some fine restaurants, my favorite, The Sow's Ear, which may sound odd, but I can guarantee that if you sit down at a table and get through a dinner of their "Thick cut pork chops in bourbon sauce, or the Honey pecan crusted FRESH catfish, (I always have a tough time deciding between these two) and perhaps have the appetiser - Smoked salmon cheesecake,,,,,, then you will know why Zagat's gave it Best Service on the Central Coast, plus other top reviews. Best in California 2003 and 2004, etc. Depending on your taste, they have a nice range of entrees. They do only a few desserts, all very good but I never have room for one after the generous servings of the rest of the meal. I used to drive up there to visit a good friend who owned a rather high end pet shop,( that is, she sold pet clothes, artwork , including some of mine, and accessories, not actual pets), which she founded, Reigning Cats & Dogs, The Little Dog Laughed. She had to retire and it is now owned by someone else. She never had to ask where I would like to have dinner, it was always the same.

Regarding the wire shelf units. If you have a Sam's Club locally, call and see if they have item # 659418. They don't show up on the web site, but locally the stores here have a good stock of them and they are $74.88 for the wheeled units with 6 shelves. They are what I use in my storeroom for my collections of mixers, toasters and etc., which can be seen in my album which is open to public view. (go through ImageGullet) These are 48 x 18 x 76" tall with the wheels. However the uprights are modular and can be used with the optional (included) feet to make two shorter units. The shelves are wide enough to hold standard full-size sheet pans which are what I use when I have things with feet or very heavy things that are hard to move on the grid surface. They are very easy to assemble. I think they are a great bargain, compared to the prices of many others. Having that extra shelf is also a big bonus.

What is the configuration of the table? A local chef, George Mills, has a bench/table in his kitchen that started out as a couple of steel fireproof file cabinets (2 drawer) onto which he had a slab of butcher block bolted. Since these file cabinets weigh 350 pounds each, EMPTY, it is a good solid base. He has the magnetic strips mounted under the center part of the top, about 6 inches in from the edge. There is a wire shelf about 4 inches below that and another wire shelf near the bottom where he keeps large containers. When you walk into the kitchen all you see is the edge of the table on which are some numbers and letters, (small metal numbers like one would mount on a mail box.) 12 R/H, 11 b, 9 ff, 8 c, 6 c, 8 s. 6 p, 5 p, 4 p. These are the only ones I recall offhand I know the 12 is for a roast/ham slicer. I think the 11 is a bread knife. The 9 is a flexible fillet knife, the 8 and 6 are chef's knives. I don't recall what the s is. The others are paring knives. He has several others but it has been a while and I simply can't recall them. He has said that once he got used to reaching under the table top to grab them, as well as making sure they were in the same place each time they were put away (the number/letter system), it became automatic and he no longer even has to look to make sure he gets the correct knife. I thought it was a nifty solution. He also says the knives are out of sight so someone wandering through the kitchen is not likely to walk off with one. I saw a similar set up on one of the food tv shows about fantasy kitchens, however this was a horizontal knife block that rotated out from under the counter when one pushed on one end of the pivoting section. In this case the knife handles protruded a bit but that also was a rather classy way of storing knives. One manufacturer makes a pivoting knife block, also mounted horizontally, which mounts under an over counter cupboard. I didn't think that was as neat as the knive handles would be in the way of the counter beneath it, especially in cramped quarters. Actually Wusthof makes it and it is on the same page as the magnetic strips but higher up the page.

I agree. Unless your are doing a super specialty item that goes for a premium price, you probably won't make enough to pay for your labor when you are doing wholesale in small quantities. However there are places that can make arrangements for contract baking in small batches that can pay quite well. When I was doing more baking, (prior to fracturing a vertebra in my low back), I made scones, biscuits(cookies) and tea cakes for three local tea rooms, all of which scheduled group teas well in advance with a deposit. They then knew exactly how much to order from me without having any wastage. I could deliver the baked goods fresh, the morning they were to be served. I also did birthday cakes, shower cakes, Mother's day cakes, retirement cakes etc., appropriate for the tea event. I did quite a few for the local chamber of commerce who held a meeting once every quarter at one of the tea rooms. It made a change from their office where they usually meet. Although the tea room owners took the orders, I was paid in advance by the customer, directly to me, cash only. This saved the tea room owners the bookeeping and made sure I was paid before I did the work and used the supplies.

I have these Magnetic knife strips.. 2 18 inch and one 24 inch. (Scroll down the page a ways to see the long ones.) I have mine mounted vertically now, as I found mounting them horizontally was not as efficient. I keep the longer blades at the top and the shorter ones at the bottom. I have the 24 inch one on a wall where a cabinet door opens and when it is opened only the knife blades are covered so it uses a space that would otherwise be wasted and it is handy to one prep area. I used to have a knife block that was part of one end of my center island, actually slots cut into the butcher block with an open space below. I found that I could not scrape the table top clean without stuff getting down into the slots, even when occupied by the knifes and when one of my high carbon steel knives developed some pitting I had that part sawn off and a solid piece replaced it. I like the mag stirps a lot better.

This morning I had brioche, a coddled egg and a cup of Senseo dark roast coffee with milk and a little Splenda. I baked the brioche because I am making my fancy version of bread pudding tonight for a brunch tomorrow. I was awakened early by neighbors going up the driveway to the big garden in back to pick the remainder of the veggies. Today and tomorrow are open gate days as I have all that I need already harvested. Since all of them help me from time to time, it is the least I can do. It is quite chilly this morning so I have big urns of coffee, tea and hot cider to go along with a bunch of scones I baked off last night. They usually congregate out on the deck after picking but today will probably come into the family room. Overnight temps down to 37.

A note about the above recipe. If you are short of pumpkin, used cooked carrots, squash or even sweet potato to make up the portion. Do not use canned pumpkin it is okay for some things but not for this.

It is indeed Rouge Vif d'Estampes. The following is from Univ. of Illinois web site. "This variety is a C. maxima type that is deep red-orange, flattened, heavily sutured. It was the prototype for Cinderella's carriage pumpkin and is sometimes sold as "Cinderella" pumpkin." It has excellent flavor and is often used as a soup pumpkin, in that the top is removed just past the curve to the top so that in can be replaced, the seeds are removed and lightly salted water is placed into the pumpkin and the top is replaced, (I spear it diagonally with some small bamboo skewers to keep it in place.) It then goes into the oven on a baking sheet, at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes for a pumpkin this size. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Using a broad, round tip spoon (or an ice cream "spatula" works very well also) carefully remove the flesh from the interior, careful not to get it too thin. Also pare the flesh from the lid portion, try to leave it about 1/2 inch thick or a little less. Chop the flesh roughly and set aside. Recipe follows: PROVENCE PUMPKIN SOUP An original recipe by Andie, 11/5/97 Flesh from a medium large sugar or "soup" pumpkin, 3-4 cups, approximately. (PRE-COOKED) 3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons herbes de Provence seasoning 1/3 cup shallots, cut into small dice or 1/2 cup onion 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/2 cup apple jelly 1 quart chicken broth 1 cup heavy cream (or half and half if you want less fat) Preheat your pan and melt the butter. Add the shallots and ginger and sauté over medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add the herbs de Provence and the nutmeg, continue cooking for another minute or so, stirring constantly. Add the apple jelly and stir until it has melted and blended with the other ingredients. Pour in the chicken stock and increase the heat until it is simmering, Reduce the heat and add the pumpkin. Cook at a low simmer for about 20 minutes. Either use an immersion blender to puree the contents or remove a cup at a time and blend in a blender until it is smooth. Return to the pot, bring to a simmer and whisk in the cream. Place the pumpkin shell in a bowl to hold it steady, ladle in the soup and serve with croutons, toasted pepitas or ???

If you have a Mexican market in you area, check there. All the ones in which I have shopped always have pork fat where they have the rest of the meats.

I sent these to my best friend for her birthday which is tomorrow. She got the package today and just called me to say that she had one with her before dinner wine (the ambrosia pear) and plans on having another with her after dinner coffee (hasn't decided which at the moment). Her husband is a diabetic and is not fond of sweets anyway, so she doesn't have to share.

I can tell you what I do. It does get a bit on the stiff side and for years I tried all kinds of things for stirring, a long wooden spoon, a super-sized metal spoon, etc. I still had unmixed stuff in the bottom "corners" of the pot because nothing worked really well. I bought one of the Danish dough whisks from King Arthur flour several years ago because I wanted to try it and found that it worked really well for quick breads that you don't want to overmix - scones especially. like this one It is just perfect for mixing scrapple (or similar things). The long handle and the shape of the "whisk" make stirring it quite easy and everything is well mixed. I liked it so well I bought a second one, "just in case".........

More squash wheelbarrowed to the shed today. I was going to try to get a photo of the jumbo banana squash but Jose cut it into manageable pieces before I remembered to tell him to let me get a picture of it first. I am giving a lot of it away. It was nearly 4 feet long and about 10 - 12 inches in diameter. Very thick flesh. I have some steaming now, and it is going into the freezer. Tomorrow and Saturday is "open gate" in the big garden. I invite all the neighbors to come and help themselves since the ones who help me with it already have picked all they want and there is still a lot of stuff out there. There are a lot of small pumpkins for the kids. After they finish gathering what they want, we have a little impromptu get-together. Although it is beginning to get quite chilly at night, the days are still fairly warm. Earlier today it was T-shirt warm outside, now the wind has come up (as usual at this time of the day) and it is downright cold. I haven't been paying attention to the news today so I don't know the forecast. Hope we don't get a freeze.

Not cheap, however I have sent as gifts and they have been very well received.these I occasionally make them but they are labor intensive and I had my fill of decorating the little beasts 50 years ago when I worked in my mother's bakery. We had a standing order for a bridge club and I really got to hate those suits. Even turned me off of playing pinochle.

This one is a favorite with my friends. I tried this one after seeing the episode. It was very good. I also make a topping for summer fruits, peaches, etc. I slowly heat the dulce de leche in a stainless steel pan set over simmering water up to the point where it becomes quite runny. For each can I add 1/4 cup sherry, and a tablespoon of ginger syrup, whisking until it is incorporated. I then remove the pan from the heat and beat it vigorously until it is becomes frothy. I spoon the fruits onto a slice of pound cake and ladle the dulce de leche over it.

Do you have a commercially certified kitchen? Or access to one? In most places there are strict rules about where food products can be prepared for sale to the public. The laws here in California and Los Angeles County are probably stricter than many places in the country and I had to jump through hoops to get my kitchen certified. I get a visit from the county health department twice a year and have to file papers to show that my exhaust filters have been cleaned every three months, The sink drains have to pass inspection as does the dishwasher, refrigerators, etc. They even measure the temperature of the water coming out of the tap, take scrapings from my countertops and so on.

I am not a great fan of okra. However I do grow it because I have to cook it occasionally for friends who like it. I grow the red variety which doesn't seem to be quite as mucilaginous as the green. Red Okra It is also rather pretty. When the pods mature on the vine and dry out, the hummingbirds fight over the pods when they split open. And this site has a recipe for pickled red okra. Have you ever seen giant okra? Three or four years ago one of my friends sent me some seeds and I grew some. The plant itself was huge. I liked it better than regular okra. I meant to save some seeds but forgot about it.

I have bought chrome shelving units with wheels, 6 shelves, at Sam's Club but they have not had them in the store the last few times I have been. They were 73.99. However they do have similar ones with white epoxy finish at Lowe's but no wheels. here, and they are 5 shelf units. I think that they also have them in a black finish at times.

In many middle eastern countries they make a drink with yogurt and mint. There are commercial versions. The local middle eastern market sells a bottled product. Here is a recipe for a yogurt/mint dip. yogurt mint dip

Yes, 12 minutes per pound. If it is a fairly thin roast do 10 minutes per pound. First the salt heats up then transmits the heat to the roast and the crust it forms hold the moisture in the meat. Be sure to allow the roast to coast for a minimum of 20 minutes before cracking the crust.

I made it the old way for many years using young, tender ginger. Then I began experimenting and I got this idea when I was visiting my favorite Hunan restaurant, hanging out in the kitchen and watching Mama Quan cut old, large ginger into matchsticks then steaming it until it was tender. She explained that it was too fibrous to just stir-fry until it had been steamed. Since I wanted to use the bigger pieces of ginger (home grown) for candying but it would have to boil for hours to get it tender enough (unless one wanted it for teething), I tried slicing it and steaming it and it worked beautifully. I get some very large pieces of ginger so have large slices and no way would they ever get tender with boiling without losing all their flavor. One can use the water for syrup, however the flavor is mostly in the syrup and not in the ginger itself. If you want only ginger syrup, yes, boil it but unless you have very young, 'new' ginger, it has to boil too long and doesn't retain the "bite" that I like. You can always try it yourself and see how it works. I spent several years perfecting this technique but one can always alter it to suit your preference. I just want people to get a good result and I know this works.

Oh, come on, you know that you like all GG's posts from her delving into the estorica of the food world writings. Without her digging up these things eG would be a lot less interesting, at least in my NSH opinion.

I have used Splenda very successfully in egg custards, bread puddings, custard pie and in meringues. If you are worried about texture you can simple dissolve the Splenda in a very small amount of water or milk but I have not found that to be necessary. I would not use stevia as it has a vegetal taste that I don't like. I can't use Equal because aspartame caused arrythmia in my heart. Scary! Splenda now has a product for baking that is half sugar and half Splenda, weight is comparable to sugar alone which is helpful in recipes in which ingredients are listed by weight and not by volume. One does not have to do a conversion which can get complicated. If you go to the Splenda website, you will find tips on using it in various recipes.

I would like to second the vote for duck fat! It is one of the best fats for both cooking and flavoring bland foods and the fat itself is good for the diet. It is certainly better by a long shot than the ersatz "spreads" that are produced by some alchemy to pretend to be butter or whatever by combining chemicals that never existed in nature. I use a lot of duck fat. I am downright obese, and I don't care who knows it, however duck fat did not get me this way. I love to bake and it has been the plethora of mostly savory baked goods that have been my downfall. That and not being able to exercise as much as I once did, because of arthritic knees. As far as eggs go, I have always eaten them whole and enjoyed every one, in fact I wish I had one now. I am at the office and forgot to bring my lunch. We had our first storm of the season beginning on Sunday and there was widespread flooding from the 1 inch to 1/2 inch that fell. Then yesterday more of the storm moved in and we had accidents all over the place the 14 was closed completely for a coupld of hours. It took me 3 hours to get home and I actually considered not coming in today because my back is acting up. However I finally decided to drive in very early before most of the idiots get on the road. Sat my lunch right by the back door and went out right past it, 2 hard-boiled eggs and some fruit. Another storm is coming in today and I am leaving early. I am going to go home and throw out the lunch that wasn't and fry a couple of eggs in duck fat as well as some shredded potato. So there! Shape magazine. Take that!!! Of course I could go over to the hospital across the parking lot for lunch. Today is meatloaf day and their meatloaf is loaded with fat. They also serve very large portions (and we get a huge discount for working for doctors on staff) which are way beyone what one would get in a restaurant. Last week they had trout fillets and those had to be the biggest trout in creation. Two in a serving, swimming in a buttery-like liquid. Just the entree weighed 13 ounces. We ought to suggest they send the author of that article to West Hills hospital and see what he thinks of their food. Frankly, I distrust many of these writers ever since we had a patient some years ago who wrote articles using numerous pen names. He was a regular contributor to Redbook, Cosmo, all the "women's slicks" and often wrote about diet and maintaining a healthy and slim body. The thing was that he was rather corpulant, out of shape and had sprained his ankle and knee when he slipped on something in an ice cream shop. That was the last time I took one of those articles seriously. Every time I see one, a picture of Peter pops into my mind.

Those sound absolutely delicious. I have copied the recipes and plan to try at least one.