andiesenji

More IKEA lid racks listed on ebay

I'm with Steven on the need for a pot rack. I've been living without one for several months and it makes me crazy. The question is where to put it to that makes the most of the space without compromising utility more than absolutely necessary, and that's what drove the rack solution. Of course, mouting the rack against the wall would have pretty much the same effect. The other question is where to put the lids. One idea I had was to use these wall-mounted vertical wire racks. Comments? Unless you have really lightweight lids, they will deform. We have similar things at my office and they will not hold very thick or heavy patient folders without bending a bit. There are lid racks that can be mounted on a wall or inside a cabinet door, under a shelf or set on a shelf or inside a cabinet, that are sturdy vinyl coated heavy wire. I have several which are graduated from small at one end to large at the other. And they are inexpensive. here I also have a couple of these lid racks from IKEA - I can't find them on the IKEA site but here is one that is on ebay for the next hour or so. ikea lid rack.

I grew up in my grandfather's home, on a farm in western Kentucky. However my grandfather, born in 1875 and his mother, born in 1844, emigrated from England in 1919. Things were done the way my great grandmother wanted them done and that included a typical "country" breakfast. "Breakfast is the foundation of the day." was her motto. There were few late sleepers in the family because the food was set out for a certain period of time and if one did not make it downstairs to the breakfast room before it was taken away, too bad. This was a huge extended family and a lot of food was served because there were so many. If you were late, the sausages were usually gone. Only a few liked kippers, but except for during the war, my grandfather used to get regular shipments (in an odoriforus wood box) of real kippers from England. I remember that they had to be soaked for some time before cooking. I did not get to have breakfast downstairs until I was about 6 and was considered old enough to behave myself in company. I loved getting to look into the serving dishes ranged along the sideboard to see the differnt things I could choose. I wasn't allowed to serve myself because I tended to take more than I could eat, but it was fun to be able to pick. One of the grownups would serve us kids but we had to clean our plates, even if we chose something we found we didn't care for. Otherwise we got the standard lecture about the starving children in Europe.... There was a lot of food consumed but for some reason no one was ever overweight.

It was written in 1987 but Leroy Woodson's Roadside Food, Good Homestyle Cooking Across America is still a helpful book. Some of the places are no longer there, but you can get an update by cross referencing with the Auto Club's travel books. Several years ago Sunset produced a book which listed by freeway, all the services available at each off ramp of every feeway in the western states. It was very helpful to me as I was still going to a lot of dog shows, however it apparently did not sell well and it was not updated, as far as I know. Reading through it I discovered several places which were just far enough off the freeway so they couldn't be seen but were great places to stop for a meal.

And thrift stores. The Goodwill store here in Lancaster has a large Mission style table in the window right now. I have purchased several things at the store, including two old 2-drawer oak file cabinets ($15.00 each) onto which I placed a slab of marble which I used as a desk in my old kitchen with a draftsman's pad on top, but it also doubled as a pastry work top when needed. Those old oak or maple file cabinets are heavy and will hold a lot of weight. The deep drawers were just the right size for holding a lot of my baking pans. It is amazing what some people discard.

I had to go to Lowe's early this morning for a couple of electrical outlets and took a few minutes to look at the kitchen "carts" which is how they describe the work tables. There is one with a thick butcherblock top and two good-sized drawers, that is 24 x 40 overall, with one deep and one shallow heavy wire shelves underneath and the deep one on the bottom is deep enough to hold baking pans, 1/2 sheet size on edge, It wouldn't be difficult to make criss/cross heavy picture wire dividers for part of it to hold baking pans and leave part of it for deep pots. You could get two of these and when they were parked together next to the wall they wouldn't take up that much room and when needed for work area you could pull them into various configurations, L-shaped or end to end or side by side or with an aisle in between. You could drill into the butcher block top on the back side of the table top and put in heavy duty hooks for hanging two or three skillets. One end has a towel bar but the other end is also free. They have an industrial look but are attractive enough to look good in just about any kitchen. I like the heavy wire shelves, they won't collect dust.

Do you have a Lowe's in Atlanta? If so, check out their kitchen work tables and accessories. They have several, different sizes, different storage configurations, some with an integral wine rack. They are very reasonably priced and very sturdy. They even have one with a granite top that is perfect for baking prep. see them here. My store has several additional ones, including a large butcher block topped table for which you can get unfinished stools that will slide right under it.

I have been asked to repost my recipe for mustard from scratch (or rather from seed) by someone who emailed me directly because they couldn't locate the topic or post in which it appeared. Here it is: MASTER MUSTARD RECIPE an Original Recipe by Andie First let me say that I grow my own mustard because I like to, however it is not necessary. You can find whole black and brown and white or yellow mustard seed in any Indian market and there are plenty around so you should have no difficulty finding a source. This is the basic mustard recipe I use - it is easy to adjust it for your taste and add various spices, herbs, condiments that make it to your taste. I use mostly black and brown mustard, however a yellow or white variety has crept into my mustard patch in the last few years and it now makes up about 5% of the total. (I am not going to pick them out one by one.) I do not use honey because one my friends has a severe allergy to honey or something in honey - so I use apple jelly for the basic sweetener in sweet/hot mustard, or half apple jelly and half orange marmalade, or whatever. This is for a coarse, homestyle type mustard which will not be creamy. Measure out 2/3 cup of the mustard seeds, dump them into a fairly fine wire strainer and shake to get rid of any bits of stem or hull that has not been removed in the threshing. Rinse with cold water and leave to drain in the strainer. In a glass jar with tight fitting lid place the following 1/2 cup apple cider or rice vinegar (seasoned or unseasoned). 1/2 cup sweet mirin or any sweet white wine. 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon sugar - brown or white Add the mustard seed, close tightly and shake briefly Set aside and allow to soak overnight or at least for 8 hours, (you can leave it for days or even weeks, the seeds will not spoil, they will just get softer) If you are around, shake the jar a couple of times in the interval or stir it with a long handled spoon but if you don’t think of it don’t worry it is not absolutely necessary. Pour into blender and start on low speed, gradually increasing speed as the seeds break up. The mustard will begin to thicken, stop after a few minutes and stir to check on consistency, you may have to add a bit of water if it becomes too thick. (If the seeds have taken up all the moisture then you will have to add some liquid.) When the mixture just begins to hold its shape, stop blending and add 1 cup of either apple jelly, orange marmalade, red currant jelly, apricot jam - or a mixture of any or all. Continue blending until you can no longer see any whole seeds in the mix. Pour into a glass jar, cap tightly and refrigerate for a day or so the mustard can mature and mellow a bit. At this point this is going to be a fairly hot, sinus-clearing mustard. The mixture will thicken a little but should still be somewhat runny and will have a sharp bite. (tastes a bit "raw") THE NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT! At this point it has to be cooked a bit to modify the flavor, reduce the "bite". You can cook it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water until it thickens to spreadable consistency. OR You can do it in the microwave in just a minute or two. In a wide bowl or casserole dish, which will allow the mustard to foam up 3 times its depth without going over the sides, pour the mustard so it is about 3/4 inch deep. At 50% power, nuke it for 20 seconds- stir, repeat the 20 second cook, stir again and repeat....... This should take a total of perhaps 2 minutes (at most) cooking time. As you stir the mustard back down after it has foamed up, you will begin to notice that it is thicker and has begun to look slightly translucent and shiny. At this point let it cool and taste it. Some of the harsh bite should be gone but you should still be able to taste the spiciness. MOST IMPORTANT! This is the way to adjust the taste of the mustard. If you cook it too long the flavor will be gone. If you plan to add anything to it, such as mayonnaise, or mix it into sour cream or cream cheese or ??? leave it a bit spicer than you would if using it straight. The additive will lessen the pungency of the mustard and you will lose the "bite" of the mustard. Put the finished mustard back in the (washed and scalded) jar, cap tightly and store in fridge. Now you have a basic mustard to which you can add green peppercorns or horseradish, or cranberry relish, or chutney, hot peppers, carmelized onion, roasted garlic, etc., the only limit is your imagination. If you have an Asian market buy some of the sweet chile sauce (Mae Ploy is my favorite brand), which is not too hot, and add some of this for a little different flavor, absolutely fantastic with pork or sausages such as bratwurst. You can mix it half and half with sour cream, mayonnaise or Miracle Whip for a mustard dip. Try it with veggies, with fried or grilled chicken strips. If you mix it with tartar sauce it makes a great dip for deep-fried crab balls.

I am sorry that there is an error in my cocoa fruitcake recipe as posted. It should say 1 1/2 cups CHERRIES There should also be an additional sentence which states other dried fruits may be substituted as long as the proportions remain the same. I have made the cake with dried cranberries and blueberries or a combinaton of all types of berries and with home dried Red Flame grapes which are very plump and sweet. I have even made it with REAL dried black currants a friend sent me from England. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, you can get an assortment of very good dried fruits. Making glacé pineapple is easy, just buy some dried pineapple, steam it until it plumps and softens then immerse it in simple syrup and gently simmer until it has become translucent. If you have a small crockpot you can do this without watching it. King Arthur flour catalog sells very good candied fruit. Any commercial candied fruit will benefit from the addition of some type of liquor. Brandy is usually the most common, but the sweet fortified white wines by Kedem, often labeled "Sacrametal Wine" is fine too. Put the fruit in a glass jar, add the liquor to cover and close tightly. Shake the jar every day or so, let it soak for a week, drain and save the liquor for using in recipes as it will now be much sweeter or use it to soak more fruit.

I looked back in my old files and found the chinois receipt and the little hang tag that came with it. It is not made in France, it came from Belgium and I bought it at Surfas in 1984, and I recall that the traffic was absolutely awful that day because the L.A. Olympics were going on and there were several venues in that general area. Where it usually took me less than an hour to get to the store from Reseda (my then home) mid day on a weekday, it took us nearly two hours. I was so worried about getting my perishables home safely that I went down the street to the Alpha Beta market and bought a styro cooler and some ice. I had a lovely fois gras and some quail eggs that needed to be kept cool and my friend had bought a roll of pancetta and a couple of pounds of chicken livers. Funny how looking at that receipt brought that day back to me as if it were yesterday. I couldn't even remember where I bought it prior to finding the receipt. It strains out even the tiniest particles but it is a bitch to clean. There are three layers of very fine mesh that are at different angles to each other. When you look at it straight on and rotate it back and forth, it looks like silk because of the optical effect of the mesh alignment. I often take it out in the yard and use the high pressure hose nozzle on it. I always dip it in water to which I have added some bleach prior to final rinse with boiling water. I have never put it in the dishwasher because the strap around it is tinned steel, not stainless and it would be ruined in the dishwasher. Because of the stand, which is fairly tall, I can dump stuff into it and let it drain on its own which is less likely to force tiny bits into the space between the mesh layers. I use it for straining jellies as it catches strawberry seeds, tiny as they are. The price in 1984 was 69.50. I wonder what it would be today.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before. I have used my electric griddles for keeping foods warm when the hot trays were not enough. The lowest temp is usually just right for keeping things like rumaki warm. Go to Amazon (through the eG link if possible) Presto 07039 professional griddle Price: $34.95 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Quantity: This is an 11 x 22 inch griddle (cooking surface) at a very reasonable price. You can set pyrex casseroles or baking dishes directly on the griddle. They are dark so will be unobtrusive. Two should give you plenty of space and they can be put to good use later. They are sturdy enough that they don't have to be handled with kid gloves and cheap enough that you can lend them out if needed by friends and family, without worrying about them. You also don't have to worry about fire, which can be a problem with sterno heated chafers. I know I always worried about it which is one reason I got the hot trays and similar things. When my kids were small, one of them took the sterno pot out from under one of the servers and was running around with it, chasing the other kids. I almost had a heart attack when I saw him. His dad took the thing away from him and he was sent to his room to think about what he had done. If you have a lot of kids around and they can't be watched every second, it is better to not have something that is so fascinating as a little fire in a pot. West Bend made a larger one at one time but although occasionally I see one on ebay, they are pretty scarce. It was 15 inches wide and 30 inches long. A real monster, made for big families.

The most impressive rest room I have ever seen is in the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. They even have periodic tours of the men's facility for ladies who want to see it. It is simply amazing. One of the most memorable, now long gone, was in the restaurant at Marineland of the Pacific. The ladies restroom was like walking into a nautilus shell, with translucent walls with glowing lights behind them. It was the very first rest room I visited that had automatic faucets and automatic flushing toilets. They also had a real live restroom attendant who handed you a folded soft paper towel to dry your hands. One of the scariest I ever visited was the old Ton's on the Pier in Redondo Beach, It was destroyed many years ago when we had a rough rainy season - the same year that Cher's house at Malibu was half destroyed. At Tony's you actually had to go outside, up a flight of rickety stairs and into a restroom that hung out over the water. The floor was bare wood with not much under it and every time a wave came in one got a blast of damp air coming up between the floorboards. Scary. I was told the men's was even worse. I nearly fell several times because I never wanted to put my bare hand on that hand rail on the way back into the restaurant. I always thought that they must have paid off the building inspectors to get away with that. My favorite Thai restaurant in Lancaster has a clean toilet, but one has to tromp through the kitchen to get to it. Everybody smiles and nods but I just make sure everything I eat is very hot to kill off any transient bacteria. No salads for me............

I have been waiting also. My boss and his brothers went to Alba (their mother's birthplace) in 2001 and were there for the festival. He brought back several for me, bought the day they left, and they were wonderful. Apparently that was a good year but not as good as 1998.(I think that was the year he mentioned people were comparing to.) Last year I ordered online from a shipper whose site is no longer active, one day express, left Italy 1:00 a.m. Pacific time and were delivered at 2: p.m. Pacific time. I thought it was excellent service and would like to find them again. Vittorio del Ponte is the name on the box I saved... Search turns up nothing except references to a bridge in Florence. If anyone can recommend a good supplier, please do so.

Jo Fluke just emailed me a few days ago to remind me about her new book and that she will be at The Bookhouse, a book store at 17048 Devonshire in Northridge, for the launch party. It is close to home for her and she has had her prior books launched there. I met her a few years ago, for launch of her second book and took her some of my candied ginger and a jar of pickles. I had already picked up the new title as soon as I saw it. I like the way the stories are written, I can't figure out who dunnit till the end.... I love to visit The Bookhouse anyway, they have a lot of old cookbooks, my kind of store.... I like all the culinary mysteries. There are a couple of others besides the ones on your list but I can't recall the names offhand......

I have a couple, one I have had for years, a very large one with its own stand and even better, it has a "liner" which is stainless steel with 1/4 inch (approximately) holes in it so I can press all I want and it won't deform the mesh which is a triple mesh, super fine. I am pretty sure it is made in France, it has Le Fleur stamped on the band near the handle. I also have one of the Matfer ones which is about half the size of the old one.

I am back - - I saw one of my neighbor's sons out in the field picking tomatoes, and went out to the fence and asked him if he could find a squash that was ready to pick. He found a couple of butternut and a very large banana squash that was hidden in the leaves. It is almost 2 feet long and about 8 inches in diameter so I sent him home with it so he can cut it up and bring me just a portion of it. They really should cure for a few days, but this one had already dropped off the vine so it has had time to cure. I'm going to go ahead and roast the squash in foil, after brushing with oil. That will give me a nice batch of cooked squash that can be used in various recipes. Oh boy, he just brought me the hunk of banana squash and a turk's turban squash he found in the corner next to their yard. It will keep so I don't have to do anything with it right away. With squash such as those with the "bowl" shape, I carefully cut off the top, then pre cook them until the flesh is nearly tender, then let it cool till just warm. Meanwhile I prepare a savory egg custard, usually adding finely crumbled bacon or finely chopped ham, then pour the custard into the squash (also do with pumpkin), return it to the oven (I set the squash in a round pan, usually a cast iron deep skillet) and bake until the custard is set. I wrap the top in foil, brushed with oil, and bake it also but don't put it back on the squash until ready to present. It makes a really nice appearance. The colorful turk's turban squash are particularly attractive done this way. A lot of people buy them just to use a table centerpiece because for some reason they think that they are like a gourd, however they are very sweet and tasty.

It should indeed receive raves, it sounds delicious. Most of my squash are still in the in-between stage, not quite ready to harvest, the tendrils at the stem end are still fat and green. Have to wait until they turn brown and shrivel up before picking. I have several varieties - I forget just which as I don't get out into the big garden. I know there are some butternut and golden acorn. There are also a couple of Hubbards, one blue and one orange because they are growing next to and on the fence and I can see them from the deck on that side of the house. They are so tough-skinned they have to be cut on the band-saw.

I candy ginger, citrus peel and dried fruits (glacé) only because I want a fresher flavor and most of the commercial products mostly taste the same and are hard, not tender as they should be. If you are going to use dried fruits I do suggest that you plump them in a steamer instead of soaking in water. You will have a much nicer effect, and will not lose any of the flavor to the soaking liquid. If you don't have an electric steamer, you can get the inexpensive bamboo sets, usually come in a set of three, which you can set on a rack in the bottom of a stockpot to keep the bottom one out of the water. If you place a plate slightly smaller than the steamer inside each one and put the fruit on the plate, it will steam nicely without getting the steame sticky and without transferring flavor from one to another.

It is a southern thing too as it was one of the things "put up" when I was a child. I still make it. I have several recipes I can pull up when I get home tonight. I don't have them on my computer here or on my powerbook. I have one made with fresh sweet corn that is really tasty, a favorite with my friends.

I will have to dig out the recipe, it's not in my computer, for a saffron butter sauce for lobster (langoustine in saffron butter sauce) a recipe taught in my first class on French cooking, many, many years ago, by Chef Gregoire. It has been quite a few years since I even thought of it but I know it included cream and butter, the saffron, of course, and white wine. It had either garlic or shallot, maybe something else. I am so glad you mentioned this. I haven't thought of this for years. An old friend. I also make a Saffron cake, a Cornish traditional type cake. Keeps well.

I clean as I go also, not because I don't have room, but that is the way I was taught and old habits are hard to break. I never leave anything in the sink because I have a housekeeper who does not approve. She is a "old world" girl and sincerely believes cleanliness is next to godliness. She knows to stay out of the kitchen when I am doing my thing because it annoys me to put down a spoon and when I reach for it again it has been washed and put away. One of the reasons I got my Hobart dishwasher was so I could clean pots rapidly when making multiple batches of things. I have a great many pots and pans but have my favorites for certain purposes and often feel that if I use a different pot the recipe won't turn out as it should. I know that polenta never turns out as well as it does when I make it in my old copper polenta pot. It may be my imagination but I swear it is not as creamy when made in another. I really like the heavy duty disposable "cloths" for wiping down the counters and stovetop and sinks because I never trust sponges and dishcloths to be totally free of germs, molds, etc. I always was soaking them in a bleach solution and sometimes would get it a bit too strong and end up with a sponge that fell apart or a dishcloth with holes. I have a spray bottle filled with a 10% solution of bleach that I use to spray on and wipe down the counters, etc. I keep a large shaker filled with baking soda for sprinkling on those gooey grease spots that appear on the cooktop around the burners like magic. Taking a barely dampened cloth and scrubbing with the dry baking soda is the best way to remove this "gunge" without difficulty or damage to the surface. I also use the barely dampened "cloth" dipped into the dry soda to polish off any burnt on spots on my chrome small appliances. Try it, it is easy and does a wonderfuly job of polishing. I have been using it for many years. I buy baking soda in the industrial sized box at Smart & Final.

I have to make a correction. Lupe's sister is a "Molera" a woman, a "Molero" is a man. Lupe and I had a conversation after I signed off last night and she corrected me. Florida has been here on visits but I had no idea what she did for a living. Her husband was a molero and she helped him and after he passed away she took over the shop and expanded on it. I occasionally make a very complex chili with about 40 ingredients, including some very unusual things, and prepared this for one of our combined cookouts and Florida and I, with the assistance of one of Lupe's sons, had a long discussion about where I got the recipe, how I expanded and developed it and how in flavor, it was very similar to some dishes she had prepared but with many dissimilar ingredients. I am not a purist when it comes to such things as chili. I am not cooking for a contest and do not have to follow rules, so if I want to add Hoisin sauce and Thai sweet chile sause and sweet soy sauce, or an Indonesian sambal, I can do so. I always make three versions, mild, hot and "my God, I have swallowed a blow-torch" as one person referred to it at a Chile-Head's "Hot-Luck" I attended in Mission Viejo a few years back. I don't really care for the super hot stuff myself, but am happy to prepare it for those who do. Frankly, I can't see the point in eating something just because it causes pain even though those who do rattle on about endorphins and the "high" they get after such a meal. I always think about the longer term effect and feel it is prudent to be more judicious in the amount of capsaicin I consume. I think this is going to be fun. And I will post my "semi-famous" recipe here and on Recipe Gullet when needed. It is coming up on the time for it. I have some pumpkins that are going to be ripe in a couple of weeks. The chile does include some pumpkin......

I have more information. I walked over and talked to my neighbor, Lupe Obregon. Her sister Florida Villegas, is a molero. She makes moles, pastes, liquid sauces and dry mixtures which she sells to restaurants and hotels in Mexico City. She is a judge at this years Mole festival or fair. Mrs. Obregon told me the name of the place but between there and here I forgot. It is somewhere near Mexico City. Lupe has a stack of recipes from her sister, for various moles and most include chocolate. She is going to translate a few for me sometime during the next few days and she swears she will not omit a single thing but says some ingredients might be difficult to find in some places in the US. As soon as I get the information I will be sure and pass it along. I know that Lupe makes a killer chicken mole and at Christmas time she makes a traditional mole with turkey that is out of this world.

Oh yes, there is or used to be a restaurant in San Antonio, on the River Walk, that serves a black bean chili that also includes chocolate. I can't recall the name off hand, it has been quite a few years since I was there but it is next door to an art gallery that specializes in Mexican native art.

I have several chili recipes that include chocolate. There are quite a few on the various recipe sites around the web. Here is one at Recipe Source, formerly SOAR. The first time I had a chile dish that included chocolate was in Mexico City about 30 years ago. It was a stew, made with turkey, peppers, beans and plantain which I could recognize. It also contained other things which I could not. I didn't speak enough Spanish to get the whole story but was able to understand it was cacao when they brought me a handful of the beans. I came back with a lot of questions about the use of chocolate in savory dishes and began asking questions of cooks in Mexican restaurants, which we have in abundance in southern California. I began collecting recipes from various sources and tried quite a few. Not all were successful, I fear that some of the cooks omitted either some ingredients or some process that made a difference. I make a black bean chile, which can use just about any meat, or none for a vegetarian meal, and which includes bittersweet chocolate and one doesn't really taste the chocolate. Moving east, there is this recipe for Cincinatti style chili. And here is a commercial product (from Georgia) that includes chocolate: Here.