andiesenji

Sorry, I did not know it was limited to sweet mochi. I especially like Warabi mochi. For years I worked with a Nisei lady who took me along with her family to the Nisei festival in L.A. which is coming up sometime in August. I tried just about everything made with rice. Knowing how much I like unusual kitchen appliances, she showed me an automatic mochi maker which I nearly bought for my collection. Unfortunately the one they had unsold had a crack in hinge on the lid, otherwise..........

How about Gohei Mochi, has anyone mentioned that?

I use the methods on this site for cool-smoker bacon: http://www.3men.com/bacon_making.htm They use a commercial cure mix. Alton Brown's cure recipe sounds good, it is a bit different than mine, but close. I use brown sugar instead of molasses and I use more cracked black peppercorns and also add a few bay leaves and some mustard seed to the mix. Doesn't add all that much flavor but I like it. I also cold-smoke for longer because that is the way I like my bacon. I smoke it with maple for 10 hours. This site has a different method and also sells the cure mixes. I use their method for curing sausages made from wild game. http://www.askthemeatman.com/curing_&_smok...ons_at_home.htm

Actually the dogs were better behaved than the kids.... One of the danes was subject to guilt trips. If anyone yelled about anything he would drop his head, tuck his tail between his legs and retire to his bed. This dog had never been struck, rarely scolded, but had this inherent guilty streak. The basenjis, on the other hand, could brazen out anything. One, appropriately named "Sin" would look completely innocent even with meringue from a pie plastered on his face, as if to say, "Who, me? You know I wouldn't do that, Mom." We did have to buy a different fridge because of the danes. We had one of the Admiral fridges with the freezer on the bottom and a foot pedal to open it. The danes learned how that worked and after they absconded to the back yard with a few hunks of frozen meat (and ate it as-is), we bought one with double doors which they couldn't figure out how to open (as long as no one hung a dish towel on the door handle.)

As I have followed along with this thread, I have been wondering, what would you do if you had kids underfoot? Back in the dark ages, when I was married and had three teen agers plus their friends in the house, I don't recall having too many disasters with people tromping through the kitchen while I was in the middle of preparing a meal. There were also two great danes and three basenjis, which meant nothing resembling meat could be set on a counter unattended. The danes didn't even have to stretch to reach it and the basenjis could jump three feet from a sitting start. They also thought that every time a fridge door was opened it meant they were going to get a treat and were right there with me, peering into the magic food box. For some odd reason they also liked to sleep on the floor in front of the fridge. Trying to open the door with a pile of dogs weighing more than 200 pounds could be chancy at best. I could always run the dogs into the back yard and lock the doggy door, but what can you do with teens who never listen to anything you say, except to ignore them. If they became too boisterous I would give a demonstration of knife juggling which would clear the kitchen in short order. They never saw me drop one but felt it best to take no chances. The only thing that really angered me was someone smoking in the house. That was never allowed. One sister-in-law had the temerity to come into my kitchen and turn on one of the gas burners and lean down to light a cigarette. I did rather blow a gasket at that and she didn't come to our home or speak to me for several months.... No loss as far as I was concerned. Friends and neighbors were always dropping in unannounced, usually coming in through the garage and into the laundry room at one end of the kitchen rather than to the front door. We had an espresso machine long before it became trendy and many times they would prepare their own and lounge at the kitchen table and watch me work. I probably got used to all this in early childhood where the kitchen was a very busy place with several people working at various tasks and if I asked, I would be given little things to do. While in baking school I got used to decorating cakes while people were screaming directions at other people over the noise of the mixers and other machinery, stacks of sheet pans being dropped into a sink, and all the other noise one finds in a bakery. When I worked as a personal chef, I worked in kitchens where the client might stroll in straight from the pool, sans clothing, guests high on something I never cared to know about might come in and ask me some weird question that had nothing to do with reality. Once I was working in the kitchen and a young man came in and thought I was France Nuyen and I couldn't convince him I wasn't and finally had to call the client to take him away. I have no idea what he was on. One client had a lot of exotic birds and other wildlife which wandered free around the house. He replaced one of my good knives after his macaw bit through the wood of the handle. I have worked with a rock band practicing in the room next door. (not my kind of music) And there were other distractions which are best left unwritten. (I had some odd clients.) There were times that I did get a bit cranky, after all, I am human, but mostly I was able to tune out the distractions and get on with my work. There are times when I concentrate so completely that I do not hear the phone ring right next to me. This is something that one develops over time.

I should have refreshed the page and read your message before posting mine. I have a lot of garnishing tools, most bought at art supply stores - carving tools, long before there were sets specifically for garnishing. One is my favorite for coring pears, apples, etc. Do you have Chef Harvey's video?

You are so right! Your two cents is worth far more. If it cannot be eaten, it should not be on the plate. I grow a lot of rosemary because I love to cook with it. I have bundles of the long woody stems, stripped of leaves, in the freezer because they are wonderful skewers for kebabs, the flavor from the stem gently flavors the meat or vegetable. If I am going to garnish something with whole rosemary leaves, I steam them briefly to soften them. (I have a small skillet with a tight fitting lid that does the job with little effort.) Otherwise I chop them finely before sprinkling over the food.

I have to admit that I do garnish most things I prepare, even if cooking just for myself. A dollop of sour cream sprinkled with chives is an integral part of a baked potato but in truth is a garnish. I chop tomatoes, onions, chiles and cilantro nearly every day during the summer because this pico de gallo is good scattered on all kinds of things, omelets; eggs, potatoes and sausage or bacon; quesadillas; chops or steaks; soups and stews; chicken salad; and so on... I grow shallots and slice and dry them. Crushed, they make a nice garnish on savory dishes or vegetable salads. Toasted pumpkin or squash seeds added to salads. I am not a big fan of mint but it has its place with some fruit salads. However I seldom add the ubiquitous sprig, I roll a few leaves and cut them in a chiffonade and sprinkle lightly over the salad. Whole poached fruits are garnished with citrus zest, in shreds, not grated, in a contrasting color if possible; or with papaya seeds that can be saved from the fruit, washed, frozen and used when needed for a bit of crunch. In pomegranate season I garnish salads, meats, fruits, etc. with the bright red bits, for color and for flavor.

As one who owns a lot of cookbooks, and continues to buy new ones and "new" old ones and odd ones, and so on, I can say that there can never be too many cookbooks. Particularly ones that include anecdotes, funny saying, insight into the author's reasons for writing the cookbook. I have never prepared a recipe from many of the cookbooks I own, however I have read most of them with great pleasure. The stories about the people and places the author has known, amusing or other incidents that have happened to them, odd events, etc., all contribute to my enjoyment of the book. Some books contain recipes that might be similar to others I have but with a new twist, or a new way of preparing the dish that makes it easier or more complex, or just plain better. Many times a recipe will give me an idea for something entirely different, a new path to take to a new level of cooking knowledge. They all have worth.

Blame Elizabeth David, the evangelista of Med... et. al.., cooking

Good for us T1's too! Do you have a recipe to share? It is just a plain egg custard ony made with Splenda instead of sugar. I don't really use a recipe, I figure 2 eggs for each cup of milk, depending on egg size. This is a recipe for an extra rich bread pudding, my own recipe, which I use to make bread pudding in a large loaf pan to be sliced and fried for something similar to French toast. You would have to cut the recipe down for the little ones made in muffin pans. Extra Rich Bread Pudding 8 extra large eggs 3 cups milk 1 cup cream (or half & half) 2/3 cup sugar (or Splenda to cut calories, it works just fine) 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 4 to 5 cups rough bread cubes (Tear day old bread into pieces about 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes.) Spray a large loaf pan with canola oil (or Pam) (can also use a Bundt pan) Combine eggs, milk and cream, sugar, vanilla, salt and spices in a large bowl. Beat until eggs are completely blended. Add the bread cubes and press down into the egg mixture with a spatula. Cover and set aside for about 20 to 30 minutes until the bread has soaked up most of the egg mixture. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan to within 1/2 inch of the top. Set the loaf pain into a baking pan and place in the oven. Pour boiling water into the pan till it is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. Bake for one hour. Test by inserting a thin knife blade into the pudding near the center. If it comes out wet continue baking for an additional 10 minutes. Test again until knife blade comes out clean. (It will take longer to bake in humid weather.) Remove from oven and immediately brush top with melted butter.

This is a case of what is old is new again..... I have some antique bottles, unfortunately in storage or I would post a photo, that have glass stoppers and a wire bail to hold the stoppers in place. The best thing about these is that they are easy to sterilize and one would never have a "corky" wine.

in your dreams, as the saying goes .... But cinnamon and Splenda work nicely together. I mix it together and put in in the shakers that have the screen mesh top, medium size mesh, as the Splenda in the large containers is not as fine as sugar. These also have the advantage of having a cap that keeps the top clean and the stuff from leaking out if the shaker is overturned. The kitchen here at the office is very modest but has a toaster and now we have low-carb bread which makes adequate cinnamon toast. I make bread pudding with Splenda and cinnamon, or mini bread puddings in muffin pans, which are just brioche rolls cut in quarters so the exposed cuts can absorb the egg custard, then cinnamon and Splenda sprinkled over the top. High protein, low sugar. Good for us T-2 diabetniks.

Trader Joe's heavy cream is indeed heavy cream, higher fat content than whipping cream. AND --- more importantly, it is not "ultra pasturized" - it develops more volume and can be used for making small batches of cheeses, etc. which is much more difficult with the ultra pasturized stuff. It will keep in the fridge much longer than regular whipping cream, actually an amazing length of time after the "sell-by" date. It is a good product.

What you actually need is more exposure to distracting things. As you work with these distractions you learn to tune them out and it becomes easier. If you isolate yourself all the time, you do not develop the "calluses" on your perception that allows you to concentrate on something and ignore the extraneous and annowying activities around you. I have done a lot of volunteer cooking and baking at a senior citizen's center and until you have worked around them, you have no idea how much they like to talk, and talk, and talk. One advantage is that they seldom expect an answer. I would go on with my work and listen with one ear, making an appropriate, uh huh or ummmmm, or how about that! from time to time. The main thing is to do the job and not hurt anyone's feelings. Plan a small meal, invite people into the kitchen and work around them. As I said, you have to be exposed to it to learn to live with it.

I buy green mangoes at a Phillipine market to make green mango, chile, lime pickle. The regular mangoes become too mushy, even when underipe. But that is just my opinion.

for the lace things I mentioned, go to this site http://www.shoppalstores.com/retro_shop/index.cfm in the search window type in: crocheted covers The bowl covers are 8 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch in diameter and also will cover a plate and the sides will hang down like a skirt. a paper lace doily on top will keep the material in the center clean. The tiered plate stands can be decorated with flowers. I use them often and wrap herb stems around them for decoration. I have one that has 5 tiers that swivel out and can be aranged in a arc. I tried to find a similar one as the vendor where I bought mine has gone out of business. The hatbox idea sounds great also. A collection of various sizes would be attractive. I have several graduated Shaker boxes that I decorate for Christmas and arange in a spiral and set columnar candles on them, small to large from top to bottom. Two years ago one of the girls in the neighborhood had a 4th of July wedding. They had a patriotic theme. They also had small cakes, not cupcakes, but square tea cakes, decorated with the flag, shallow round cakes, "muffin tops", decorated like starbursts and a few other items, I can't recall the others at the moment They had a collection of drums of various diameters and depths arranged as the centerpiece on two folding tables fastened together to make a large square, with the cakes and some pulled sugar ribbons winding through the little cakes.

This is a great idea, particularly if you want to grow several varieties or in particular, the "fingerling" potatoes. I am not growing them in containers this year because the main garden has been expanded so they could be grown in the raised beds, however I have in the past with exellent results, though not as great a yield as yours. I had purple and red, the Finnish yellow and a Peruvian blue. The Finnish yellow were similar to the Yukon gold but more buttery tasting. We drilled holes around the the containers on the sides, about 1 inch from the bottom. Any container here with holes in the bottom is invaded by the very aggressive roots of the fruitless mulberry and cottonwood trees on the property, unless a barrier is between the container and the ground. Any plants will soon appear sick and will die off. If you dig in the soil in the container you find fine roots and as you dig deeper the roots get bigger. My gardener tried to move one container in which the incoming root was an inch in diameter and he had to cut it with a saw to move the pot. The cottonwood trees grow rapidly and provide a lot of shade but they can send roots out for long distances to reach water and nutrients.

Check out the tiered plate stands on this site: http://www.finehomedisplays.com/products.asp?cat=8 Other types are available on other sites. You can use plates with lovely designs or plain white. You can use lace "plate skirts" to make them more decorative - they are often used in weddings with a Victorian theme. I will see if I can find a photo of one. I am at my office today so do not have all my resources. Here are some made specifically for cakes, I think they are far too expensive. http://www.winbeckler.com/victoriastands.asp This place has some larger tiered buffet servers which might be even better for your purpose. http://www.galasource.com/prodList.cfm/119...tands,1,1,F,MX1

I am going to try some major arm-twisting.... I have left a couple of messages for Dan. At least he finally has an answering machine. However he still refuses to get a cell phone. At one time he had a pager but threw it out the window of his car on the Santa Monica freeway when he was stuck in traffic and someone kept paging him. I happened to be riding with him that day. We were on our way to the Pacific Design Center (AKA The Blue Whale) to look at something he wanted to get for his sister. He is clinging to the 20th century and refuses to dip a toe in the 21st, technology-wise. I hope he forgives me for telling about his quirks.

I love that roaster. I nearly killed my ex over it. That was many years ago but I can still work up a good snit over what nearly happened to it. While packing my van for a dog show, back in the early 70s, I heard my husband banging around in the kitchen and as I was going back into the house for another load of stuff, he passed me, heading for the garage with my roaster in his hands. I stopped, turned around and followed him and asked what the "heck" was he doing. The rat was going to use it to catch the oil he planned to drain from his truck. Needless to say, I snatched it out of his hands and threatened him with maiming if he dared to touch anything from my kitchen. My best find at a garage sale was a pair of ugly black spoons, long handled, large spoons rather heavy. The people told me they were "old iron spoons" their grandmother had brought from Wales around the turn of the last century. Cleaned up they were hallmarked english silver, a basting spoon and a stuffing spoon, one made by Hester Bateman, one by her son Peter. Oh yeah, I paid $20.00 for the pair plus a ball jug by Hall china. Since the advent of ebay and Antiques Roadshow, it is getting more difficult to find really great buys. I collect odball antique kitchen gadgets but they have to be in working order.

I meant the Rau Ram. I grow a lot of cilantro but in the high desert temps it bolts rapidly and is useless except for saving seed. The Rau Ram can be grown in a pot indoors over the winter, lives outside fine in high heat (in the shade) and if I need a new plant I just break off a stem, stick it in water and in a couple of days there are rootlets and it can be planted in a pot. Check this site for information and a picture. Several nurseries carry it in the L.A. area. Or you can find it fresh at Asian markets and just plop it into a jar of water on a windowsill when you see roots, plant it. http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/polodoratum.htm

I spoke to Dan the Man last night and invited him to visit eG and see what we are about. He is still a computer/web novice, (actually a Luddite about things like this - Jeez, he still has an 8-track in his old Barracuda) and he said he would think about it. I think he would be a fun addition to the community as well as have a lot of tips for people considering the "rolling kitchen" type of outfit. He has some great stories about cooking for the movie and TV people on various locations. At one time he had a sign stuck on the back of the truck that said "200 visits to Vasquez Rocks and counting" -- because so many films are shot there. (For instance the Flintstones movie, he woked on that one.) Dan also worked in some well known eateries around the L.A. before going into this business. He swears he will never go back to working as a line cook or sous chef. His rig is set up for cooking full meals just about anywhere. He has two of the big Kohler 12.5 generators on board for electricity to operate the regular appliances as well as an induction cooker. He mainly got it because it is cooler to work with than the gas stovetop and the air conditioner does not have to work as hard.

By the way, thanks for starting this topic. This is an important one. Far too often people who are affected by things such as this are hesitant to ask for advice, they do not want to appear to be a complainer, or sound "whiney". My attitude is always "ASK", there may be someone who can make your life easier.