andiesenji

I have that one and it is a great book!! Ialso have her Better Than Store Bought written with Elizabeth Colchie Also Barry Bluestein and Kevin Morrissey's Home Made in the Kitchen; Salsas, Sambals, Chutneys & Chowchows by Chris Schlesinger & John Willoughby; Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich; The Whole Chile Pepper Book by DeWitt and Gerlach; and The Incredible Secrets of Mustard by Marie Antol, These and this one I bought in 1963, A Book of Curries and Chutneys by Veach & Brown have been my main inspirations. I may have used a recipe exactly as written in these sources once or twice, however I can never leave something alone and have developed my own recipes and methods as I discovered flavors I preferred and easier ways of preparing the material. I have a huge collection of books on pickling, preserving, canning, anything and everything imaginable but there is always something new to learn, some new ingredient used or combined with other ingredients in ways different to those I know.

For a bicentennial party I helped construct a "surprize" cake which had a girl in a red, white and blue body suit and holding flags in both hands pop out of the top of the cake. One section on the back side of the cake was actually a narrow stair-step to allow her to get in and out of the cake. The rest of the structure was made of 1 inch foamcore which was strong enough to hold 1 layer of real cake on each of the two lower tiers, 3/4 of the way around the structure, the wood stairs were covered with plaster made to look like the cake and then draped with a red, white & blue banner. The entire structure was built on a square stainless steel table with casters and had drapes hanging from the edges of the table to the floor. We had it in an alcove off the ballroom, had a pipe frame over head for the girl to hold onto while she got into the cake. We had sparklers stuck all around the cake, quickly lit them and rolled it into the room as the orchestra played Stars & Stripes Forever. Girl popped out, everybody applauded and cheered. Girl exited cake with help. We served the cake along with portions of a red, white and blue "ribbon" of ice cream. If you have an art supply store nearby, get some sample pieces of foamcore. It is very useful for making bases for odd-shaped cakes and is structurally quite strong. I helped make a cake shaped like a grand piano and we used foamcore for the base under the cake itself and the top which was propped up at an angle and was just foamcore decorated with rolled fondant.

Most memorable? Well, to me the funniest........ The BEANS "quotes" in Blazing Saddles Which has just been released on DVD from a newly mastered digital source. and with comments from Mel Brooks with additional scenes. The funniest western and one of the funniest movies of all time. In my opinion.

Congratulations on your new appendage. The modern prostheses are a wonder. I am sure that you will be back to making magic in your kitchen in good time. Your attitude is great and that is one of the most important things in dealing with this kind of event. Two of my uncles (twins) came home from WWII missing both legs and neither considered themselves as being disabled. One, who had been a competitive rider in hunt seat, had a special saddle made to order and went back to riding. The other had a degree in horticulture and on the family farm specialized in testing new plants for future crops. They both upgraded their legs as new and improved prostheses appeared on the market and were always contending to see which could do the most on their "pegs" as they called them. 20 some years ago there was a humorous story in Reader's Digest about them. They were in their doctor's waiting room where a loud-mouthed woman was going on and on about acupuncture. One of the "boys" went out to their truck and returned with an ice pick. He handed it to his brother and said "I want to see how that "puncture treatment" works, lemme have it." whereupon his brother stuck the ice pick into his leg. This not only shut up the woman but pretty much cleared out the waiting room. The doctor, who had known them for many years, scolded them but was laughing as he did. When my aunt told me this story on the phone I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my chair. I told her she should send it to RD and so she did. Both were also fanatic barbecue cooks and again this was a deep seated rivalry as each tried to one-up the other. I don't know how many barbecue and smoker units are on the farm, but there are several that I know of. One uncle passed away last summer but the other is still going strong at 85 and has two of the new Otto-Bock C-legs. He jokes that if his wife (of 65 years) would let him out at night he would be dancing with the girls at the local honky-tonk.

I did save a lot of seed last year but none of the seeds I planted developed into seedlings. It may be a cross-pollinated sport that has muled out or produces unviable seeds. What I am doing this time is waiting for a few of the fruit to completely ripen and drop off the plant (Ihave a little net bag around 6 of them) and will plant the whole fruit, which is probably what happened to the one that sprouted in the compost. If I have any success with it this way I will simply dry the split fruit rather than separate the seeds.

I have had excellent results using Splenda. Unlike the other chemical sweetners, which can cause serious problems (aspartame caused cardiac arrythmia in me and until it was identified as the culprit I came close to having a pacemaker). Unlike the others it does not convert to something else with heat so can be used in baking and cooking, and you can do a simple test which is simply chopping an apple into chunks, sprinkling with Splenda and cinnamon and microwaving for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave. I am a diabetic and it has been an integral key in controlling my blood sugar and reducing my weight. I have read all the dire warnings about how the product is manufactures and the test results done on rats and mice - similar to the cyclamate debacle of a generation ago, the test animals were fed amounts equivalent to a human consuming 2-3 POUNDS of the substance daily. Chlorine is not poisonous in small amounts, in fact we depend on it to make our water safe. The plain fact is that sugar, in and of itself can cause far more harm than Splenda in one who is diabetic or borderline.

Green mango is occasionally sold fresh in the Mexican supermarket here in Lancaster (Calif.) but is always available frozen in the same market. I have a bag of the frozen in my freezer. I use it in a chutney and one of the sambals I make to complement Indonesian foods. The ones I have are grown in the Yucatan. There are also two types of papaya sold in the Vallarta Supermercado, one is the common one seen in most stores known as Hawaiian papaya with bright orange flesh, sometimes with a rose tint, and the other is the much larger "Mexican" papaya which can be well over a foot long, 8 inches in diameter and weight 10 pounds or more. The color of the flesh can range from yellow to pink to orange. The seeds of both are edible and have a peppery flavor, save them and use them in salads or just as a snack. Check out the recipes here, not Indian, but the Papaya cream is very, very good.mexican papaya and here is a photo mexican papaya

Sounds wonderful either way. I like biscuits as well as pound cake, or sponge cake home made lady fingers, or even madeleines under strawberries or any other berry. I have to confess that sometimes I am very lazy (or tired from doing a lot of other stuff) and simply break up some palmiers (Costco has them in packages of 25) and spoon the berries over the pastry. Nice crunch too.

If you can find one of the earlier KAs made by Hobart and refurbished, you will have a much better machine. I had one for 30 years that was a real workhorse. I bought one of the newer ones but promptly burnt out the motor mixing thick dough. I got a replacement but only use it for lightweight stuff. I have an AEG (also marketed as Magic Mill DLX) which holds a lot more and can work even very heavy dough.

This is a great thread. I am always on the lookout for new ways to do something. I experiment a lot with different means to and end... As you say, no one is ever too knowledgeable to learn something new. I watched a local food show on our local cable channel last Saturday and was laughing at the chef's messy peeling of Kiwi fruit. I wanted to call the station and tell him that he could blanch them the same way as one would treat peaches and the skin would slip off easily. I can't possibly be the only person who ever thought of this......

For slicing tomatos I want fruit that are mostly solid with as few seeds as possible. I have found that the whopper has a greater flesh to seed mass ratio than most of the others and the globe shape makes it easier to get perfect slices than it is from the enlongated and often boat-shaped brandywine and beefmaster. The flavor is about the same as the others. The Cherokee is probably the most flavorful but doesn't bear as heavily. I have one very sweet and flavorful cherry tomato, a no name which started as a volunteer in the compost heap last year, which has very solid fruit. I moved it into the greenhouse and overwintered it successfully then cut it back and moved the pot back into the garden in March. It bore so heavily last year that I used them to make 18 quarts of marinara sauce and it has been very popular with my friends. I gave a quart each to several friends and they asked for more. It is loaded with fruit and my gardener had to tent it because the birds discovered it (Jays) and were having a field day. Bad enough that they ruin so many of the apricots.

I am also looking forward to following your blog. I do love many Japanese foods. Pickles are a particular passion of mine and I am intrigued at the way almost every ethnic group on earth has found this way of preserving fresh fruits and vegetables. Amazing, isn't it.

I do love pantry cooking. At home my pantry is stocked with so many things that I have to keep a "rotation list" on the inside of the door to make sure I use things before they expire from old age. I even have a small pantry at my office and can turn out a fairly complicated lunch if needed. We have a combination convection/microwave oven which is good for baking as well as heating and in which I have prepared strata, pizza, all kinds of quick and yeast breads and puddings. I have an induction range (like a hot plate) which only I use, as everyone else is afraid of it, and a great old toaster, actually a toater oven made by GE more than 30 years ago which is the best toaster I have every used - it pops open automatically when the cycle is finished. It gets a checkup and rewiring if necessary every ten years from Speedy Appliance Service in Woodland Hills, a place that has renovated most of my antique appliances. With this array of tools, I can fix a lot of meals with little effort. When we moved into this office in 1985 I told my boss that I wanted a kitchen in which I could do more than heat water for tea and warm up a burrito. He gave me carte blanche to do what I wanted. Our employees use it also, but I am the only one who actually prepares meals in it. The pantry is the heart of it.

There is a large Armenian community in the L.A. area, particularly around Glendale and parts of the Valley. Back in the early 50s I spend most of a year out here with my dad and went to Van Nuys highschool. One of my classmates was Sarkis Sarkissian (another was Don Drysdale) who lived fairly close to my dad and I often visited his home and his mom and grandmother and aunts all cooked like demons. I loved everything, Kufta expecially, also the breads, Boereg, meat and also the cheese (little turnovers) and any of the numerous eggplant dishes. I learned to make the Kufta and an apricot/lentil dish as well as the flaky pastry and Boereg. For many years I prepared these only rarely. Then in the early '90s I read the first of Jane Haddam's mysteries about Gregor Demarkian and there were so many references to Armenian foods that it awakened my interest and I dug out some of my ancient recipes. I also contacted an Armenian church, knowing that the ladies auxillaries usualy had a recipe thing going and indeed, they had published a lovely cookbook which I purchased. It is indeed a "crossroads" cuisine but with subtle touches that make it interesting enough that it deserves a niche of its own. Particularly for vegetarians, the many completely vegetarian dishes are wonderful.

I dry the cinnamon basil and holy basil, steep in hot water to make a strong infusion and use it as a rinse in my hair. Lovely aroma.

I've had an Ulu knife for several years and it cuts better than most mezalunas but it takes a little getting used to the different grip but once you get used to it you will find it very handy. I used to make trophies for the Siberian Husky club (engraved glass pictures of sibes) and one year they offered Ulu knives with a Siberian head engraved into the knife as class prizes. I happened to mention that I collected knives and would love to have one and the club gave me an extra one. I really didn't use it for a long time, it was a novelty item. However when I began having more trouble with the arthritis in my right hand I thought of it and gave it a try. I was surprised at how easy it was to use. Do you have this site?Tools for disabled

What did you, and any of you with peaches, do with the loaded crop this year? We only got 5 dozen off our crazy peach tree that we ate as fast as we picked them, but the neighbors loaded me down with about 30 pounds of peaches! I made a ginger dough cobbler, batch of jam, and batch of ginger-spiced peach butter. We gobbled the rest! I am still working on apricots. Plums are ripe and need processing. However when the peaches come in I will be canning some (halves and slices) making spicy peach/mango salsa and canning that, plus preserves, peach butter and of course chutney. If the sugar content is high enough I will dry about 20 pounds and glacé some of them.

Thanks for the pricing info on the Napoleon Apollo, Richard. Curious though about what the dealer told you regarding the plastic tab. My tab never melted and I've routinely taken that grill up past 600 (maybe even 700?) degrees F. over the past 8 years But, I'm sure he has a lot more experience than I do in this area. Oh well, I will consult my local hardware professional this weekend for a carbon steel bit and to see if there's a suitable way to add some sort of melt-proof tab to the damper control on the newer lid. As it turns out, a friend of mine had the lid of his grill stolen (probably by vandals, it's become a trend of sorts around here) so I can pass one of them on to him. Thanks also Dave, for the grill recon. =R= Uh, this may seem a bit on the simple side, but why don't you just get one of the very small vise-grip pliers, (I have one that is 4 1/2 inches long, and the handles are coated with silicone so heat won't transfer), and clamp it on to the tab. I don't have the problem with my old Weber, but I have one of these little vise grips clamped on to the damper on the heater in my greenhouse - poor design, the damper is in a recessed area and it is impossible to grasp it with fingers when the heater is hot. The vise grips have been doing a fine job for about four years.

For the turnips, consider this: Turnip Salad I grate medium to large turnips using the medium fine grater and mix with shredded cabbage and thinly sliced onions. Then follow the directions (*) noted in the cuke and onion salad below. Also add the seeds, dill/caraway/celery. Sometimes I also shred bulb fennel and add to the salad. Gurkensalat -- Cucumber & Onion Salad 2 cups thinly sliced cukes - I generally cut them in half lengthwise and then slice so they are half-moon shape. 2 cups thinly sliced sweet onions. (If you have a really hot onion slice it, place the slices on some paper towels, sprinkle with Kosher salt and leave for 30 minutes, then place in a colander and rinse with cold water.) *Place cukes and onions in a bowl that will allow you to toss them add 1 tablespoon celery seed. (you can substitute dill or caraway seed if you prefer it.) Mix 1/2 cup cider or rice wine vinegar + 1/4 cup water with 1 tablespoon sugar and pour over cukes and onions, toss, cover tightly and place in fridge for about an hour tossing 2 or 3 times during this period. Drain liquid into a measuring cup, save. Allow cukes and onions to drain 10 to 15 minutes in a colander. Use 1/4 cup of the vinegar liquid and add 1/2 cup of sour cream, beat well until creamy. Add a pinch of Kosher salt and a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters. Pour over the cukes and onions cover tightly and chill for 30 minutes. Serve. If you use red or purple onions this will turn out a very pale blue. YIELD: 4-6 servings

They are called Caloro or Caloro Yellow Wax. The simple heat index is 5, the same as Jalapeño. They have a fruity flavor a bit like apple, which makes a nice flavor combined with the tomatillos. (Manzano or Rocoto peppers also have this apple flavor but they are much, much hotter.) You can see a photo of immature ones HERE before they have begun to turn color. Scroll down - they are in alphabetical order. I picked all the ones with color but didn't have enough so picked some not quite ripe. It is okay to use the immature ones, they just don't have all the flavor of the more mature ones. They are easy to grow and the plants bear heavily. I only have 4 plants and got all these peppers. There are a lot more tiny ones and lots of blooms.

I have ordered steaks as gifts for friends from Prather Ranch in No. Calif., with great success. The recipients reported that they were the best they had ever eaten. I don't know if they had tried Niman Ranch but am sure they did not try the others. I checked at their web site and they are sold out at present. Prather Ranch They were recommended to me by a friend in Davis, CA. who shops at a market that carries Prather beef. I have never bought any of the mail order steaks or beef products. A neighbor and I buy a calf and pay the expenses (vet bills, feed, etc.) for raising it for kids who are doing it for a 4-H project. The butcher slaughters it for part of the meat and my neighbor and I split the remainder. We buy registered Angus or Charolais and they are fed premium feed and are butchered quite a bit older than most beef so the steaks are larger than anything you would see in a market. The inspector who checks the abattoir has checked our beef and says it is would be graded as super prime if it needed to be graded.

I was taught that it was bad luck to pass salt directly to another person at the table, you were supposed to place it on the table next to their plate. Every News Years eve there would be food placed on the dining table just before midnight so that the new year would bring sufficient food. We always had Hoppin John on New Years Day for good luck. This was introduced to the family by the cook from the lowcountry. The table was always cleared after dinner and the tablecloth removed because of some superstition. We were never supposed to cross our knife and fork on the plate when we were finished eating. I think it was supposed to mean there would be arguing. And of course dropping silverware meant company was coming...........

Here is the verde (green or tomatillo) sauce I made today. Ingredients cut into chunks. Tomatillos, onions, peppers, Jalapeños are customary but I like these Caloro, they are about the same heat level as the jals, but have a fruity flavor. I usually use 6 to 8 large cloves of raw garlic but since I have a lot of already roasted garlic I am using that instead. Salted, peppered and tossed with oil and roasted garlic. After roasting for 45 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Ready to pulse. Pulsed for 40 seconds. Two quarts of green magic! This sauce is now ready to be combined with chicken stock and cooked down a bit for an enchilada sauce, or with a little pork stock for pork stewed in verde sauce.

I am going to order some of the hot cherry peppers for my boss. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and loves cherry peppers. He keeps trying new brands but always says that they just don't taste the way he remembers them in New York. I have tried making them from several recipes and I didn't get it either. Speaking of pickled peppers, Swab's High Sierra in Lone Pine, California now has an online site. For anyone who has driven up 395 toward Carson City, Tahoe, etc., and stopped at any of the eateries between here and Reno, and sampled Swab's Chileno peppers, they no longer have to rely on folks who live in the area to ship them Swab's products. Swab's High Sierra I have shipped my share of Swab's goodies, from the famous Chilenos to their garlic-stuffed olives or pickled garlic with orange peel to friends and even to strangers who learned that I have local access to their products, to places as far distant as Australia and South Africa, England, Switzerland and Hungary. A friend from North Carolina and I visited another friend in Mammoth (a caterer) a couple of years ago and when he tasted the garlic-stuffed olives he was hooked. He bought a case to take home and less than a year later asked me to send him another along with a mixed case of their other products. I love to make pickles but when there is a superior product on the market I do not bother.

Add 6 for me: Box arrived today. The new John Ash book: Cooking One-on-One In the French Kitchen Garden Kettle Broth to Gooseberry Fool: A Celebration of Simple English Cooking Grains Food of the Sun and What Einstein Told His Cook