andiesenji

I had one induction burner for several years and it worked fine (Supentown) but then I saw the Max Burton with the interface plate and got that specifically to use with my pottery tagines - which worked okay on my stove top but with gas I could not leave the house. It is so handy for use with non-magnetic cookware. I can understand why it is useful for Kerry and for you.

This is from the '80s. I still have kitchen stuff I bought in the '60s that is still good, some in the original boxes like this. I was raised in a very frugal family who never threw anything away - and they were wealthy - just believed in taking care of things.

Aerolatte - I did not proofread. The little battery mixer/milk foamers. I had one long before the "Latte" craze got here - I used it for mixing stuff in mugs. I still have it - I wore out the mixer blade that had a wavy disc at the end years ago but still have the motor housing and shaft with the "beater". I always removed the battery "C" type after use and kept it in the box so it held up and it is all steel. It says on the box it is for mixed drinks, chocolate milk, eggs, gravies, soups, dressings, etc.

I learned, long ago when living in my motorhome and traveling a lot, that I could use a little Aerolatte and using a STRAINED egg yolk, make a small batch of mayo in a small jam jar (cleaned of course). Then I finally got smart and got a larger fridge - I had a 40-ft motorhome and why in hell they put a small fridge/freezer in it to begin with was ridiculous. Then I could keep plenty of may on hand.

Sometimes gifted things look different to different people. A neighbor was visiting this morning for coffee (her husband and children (7) were doing something noisy and I think she needed a bit of peace and quiet. My good buddy Ben, who owns a bakery/cafe stopped by on his way down to Smart & Final (Palmdale) to pick up some supplies and brought me a bag of frozen cake scraps. He had to bake a bunch of 80 cakes that had to be trimmed to fit special containers brought in by a client and while he can use a certain amount of cake scraps, this was way too much. So he brought me a bunch because he knows I use them often. My neighbor thought this was really odd and said so, thinking that Ben was joking with me or poking fun at my baking. I clued her in on the numerous uses for cake crumbs, including the egg custard pie with peaches that I took to one of her birthday parties a couple of months back - the "crust" was made from toasted cake crumbs. She went home with an idea of looking up various uses for cake crumbs - since she bakes very little, I am sure that she will be back later to beg some of my very generous supply of cake scraps to make crumbs. Since I have more than 10 pounds, I can certainly give her some to play with. Sort of like making a silk purse out of a sow's ear...

The substance in the "wine" was probably a vinegar "mother" which was forming in order to convert the sugars in the wine. I have nutured a lovely red wine vinegar mother for many years, drawing off sufficient amounts for use and for occasional testing of the pH level to make sure it is keeping the acid level stable. A friend's dad, who used to live in Tehachapi, and grew grapes and picked wild blackberries, from which he made wine (Italian third generation wine maker) would send me a gallon or two via his daughter every year, knowing that I would use it to make vinegar. It was potent and unlike many Italian wines, rather sweet because of the blackberries. It made a fantastic vinegar and I have really missed it since he passed away. I have some friends who are wine fanatics, they travel a lot and ship home cases of wines from small wineries they come across. When they open a bottle, they don't save it for later drinking if they don't finish it, they just recork it and put it in a box and after a few are amassed, bring them to me for my vinegar project. I consider those "gifts" very special and very appreciated.

I have received so many useless food gifts over the years that it is difficult to choose just one but probably the oddest, from someone who had been a recipient of one of my goodie baskets, which included candied ginger, glacé fruits, spiced nuts, homemade preserves and some of my baked goods, was a gift box with some preserves, jams in tiny jars and a container of cyrstallized ginger! At first I thought it might be a sort of slap in the face but then I realized it was just from a person who hasn't a clue about how to choose a gift for a foodie and probably picked up the first box of stuff they saw in a "gourmet" store. I have received many of these "coals to Newcastle" type gifts from people who are non-cooks and don't think that much about food, other than as fuel for them to do whatever it is they do. I have received gifts of booze, hard liquor and wine from people who KNOW I am allergic to alcohol - at least I can use that in cooking or in the case of a very old and extremely expensive Scotch - take it to my son-in-law who loves it. I have used tequilla (also aged and expensive) to make vanilla extract. I can use the wine in cooking if it is cooked long enough and I often reduce them in a slow cooker to make sauce bases. And the most incomprehensible was a gift basket of odd little crackers with tins of smoked oysters, various seafood "delicacies" and a gift certificat to a sushi restaurant from a person who knows I am horribly allergic to seafood/idone and will absolutely NEVER EAT RAW STUFF! And especially not stuff that is wrapped in seaweed which I can't even touch without breaking out in hives...

I don't think I ever discard apple peels. I toss them into the food processor and reduce them to small bits - slushy actually - and freeze for when I want to make jams or jellies without using Sure-Jel or similar product. The apple peels contain a lot of pectin and while some people make their own pectin and are really fussy about straining it carefully to get a clear jelly, I don't really worry that much about it as I usually make jams and preserves.

This post and the following responses were moved here from the I will never again . . . (Part 4) topic. Have you ever considered composting your vegetable waste, instead of sending it into the sewer? There are numerous advantages even if you only have a few container plants. Worm composting is extremely efficeint at disposing of all kinds of vegetable and fruit scraps.

My cut-proof glove (stainless steel mesh - probably more expensive than is practical for most) is IN the jumbo plastic bag with my mandolines.

I'm using my vegetable steamer now to re-hydrate dried chestnuts. It takes about 45 minutes. And no, the pressure cooker does not work - they end up blasting apart under pressure and I want them in large chunks or whole, for the most part. Later I will also use it to re-hydrate some dried coconut in large chips (organic).

I've got an older Aroma steamer that I use when I make candied ginger, rehydrate dried fruits that have dried too much or when preparing them for candying. I also use it to steam dumplings, dim sum, and some vegetables. There are also steamped "puddings" - individual ones in cupcake liners - I have a cookbook, almost 20 years old, Cooking with Steam. I'm sure there are newer ones but this has a lot of recipes and ideas.

You can set it and walk away and not think about it again until the signal sounds. With the "Keep Warm" feature you can set something to pressure cook, start the process and go away for the entire day and come home and whatever you cooked is still hot and ready to serve. Mine keeps the vessel warm for 12 hours after the cooking process has ended. I have a gas cooktop and I simply will not go far from it when anything is cooking on it, even with my copper plates over the burners.

I use the whole milk powder - often from King Arthur but I also get Nido at the Mexican Market. I like the results in baked goods because it prevents rapid staling and for some yeast breads that are sweet, it controls the rise so that one has a less fluffy result (than I do not like).

I went to Stater Brothers market, where they have real live butchers and asked for a "boneless shoulder clod roast" - which used to be available in every butcher shop. They don't carry them now. Nor a "7-bone roast" which also used to be a universal item - like a "round-bone" roast or steak, again, no longer in sight. No, they couldn't get one for me. So I left and went down the road a mile or so to the Vallarta Mexican supermarket, which also has live butchers. No boneless shoulder clod showing but I explained to the butcher what I wanted and he said, "no problem!" Went in the back, came back with a large piece of cow forequarter, chopped, cut and tied it up and by golly there was the familiar shoulder clod, no bones. a bit over 3 pounds. So there are some butchers who know the product and are willing to satisfy the customer. 3.48 a pound... It is currently in the PC, along with a package of Lipton Onion soup mix and a cup of water. Later I will add some potatoes and carrots and reset the PC for the additional cooking time.

There are wire "egg holders" to be found from time to time on ebay and in thrift stores, often unlabeled because people have no idea what they are. Matfer makes a modern version. I have two or three somewhere in my junk. This is not mine but I have one very similar. I also have one with a taller center spire with a chicken on the top.

Regarding steamer baskets in the Instant Pot or a PC. I have several sizes of bamboo steamer baskets and the 8-inch size fits nicely into the PC and sits on the "rack" in the bottom and I can fit two stacked in it. I have also used the smaller 6 3/4 inch baskets when I wanted to constrain something that might "unwind" - such as filled pork buns - I can stuff three into the smaller size and they stay in place. The bamboo steamers are cheap and durable. And I often seem them in thrift shops, often in the original boxes, never opened - because a lot of folks have no idea how to use them. I recently bought an unopened box of Helen Chen's set of 3 bamboo steamers - still haven't opened the box. but they are the larger 10 inch. Don't know what I am going to do with them but eventually they will be of use. P.S. I buy "Helen's" peforated parchment bamboo steamer liners too. 20 for 5.00.

Not many food trucks up here. The temps most of the year are not conducive to the outdoor dining. I make periodic treks to Pasadena to visit Bristol Farms market as there is none closer to me. I generally make a day of it and visit Vroman's Books and Book Alley - and have lunch - often at Bristol Farms but occasionally at another place if access is easy.

Welcome ElsieDee! Wade right in and don't be hesitant about posting questions, answers, suggestions, noteworthy "news" about restaurants, food trucks (I envy you living down below where there are actually some diverse ethnic foods available in these "moving sources of deliciousness." (I live in Lancaster and it is a long trek to the place where the wild food trucks roam.)

I've had the Meissermeisters for years and they have been in all kinds of environments, including very hot and very cold and never a problem. I had a different (more expensive) type that cracked after a few months at the "hinge" as I was putting the blade in and I cut the webbing between my thumb and index finger, not bad but enough to bleed. I have some odd- length blades and bought the very long Meissermeisters and cut them to fit. And one of the long ones almost covers the entire blade of my big Wusthof cheese knife. Just the sharp edge of the blade is 12 3/4 inches long.

The Mexican supermarket will get hog jowls on request. But will usually have them beginning around this time of the year, the traditional butchering season, because a lot of the Mexican families make guanciale, which is sort of like bacon. They will also sell whole hog heads for people who want to make a traditional cabesa puerca roast. My Mexican neighbors (now ex-neighbors, as they bought a small ranch a few miles from here - but still invite me to their family gatherings) used to do this for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So if there is a Mexican supermarket or a carniceria in your area, inquire about pork jowls - also the prices are usually better than regular supermarkets.

Yes. I have used it for deep frying but not with the lid on - as the pressure fryers are quite a different creature. I used to have a pressure fryer - back when I was catering - however it was a commercial unit made by Broaster and I traded it to a friend about ten years ago. It had special vents and was constructed specifically for pressure frying. There is no way I would try pressure frying in a "small" pressure cooker.

Yep. Mine are made in Italy, thus batticarne and while I have the other type, with the handle perpendicular to the business end, I get a lot more effect with this one. Weighs 2 pounds so the weight of it does a lot of the work.

I have done a whole turkey breast - just deboned it and divided it into two segments and reversed one so the wide end/broad ends were side by side. I often debone ducks just for roasting. I then "stuff" the carcass from the back with whole potatoes and onions and position it on a bed of carrots so it still looks intact. It always surprises people when I serve it and of course the juices do wonderful things to the vegetables. So it was second nature to do a partial debone when it needed to be "adjusted." I have always been in the "if it doesn't fit, rearrange the item so it will" sometimes brute force but usually just some judicial cutting, pounding or? I deboned a 7-bone roast that wouldn't fit so I pounded the hell out of it with my batticarne, rolled and tied it and cut the roll in half and put the two pieces side by side in the bottom of the pot.

My electric PC is a 6-quart. I have been able to stuff a lot of things into it - as long as it doesn't touch the lid or won't touch during cooking, I'm good. I am very careful to keep the liquid well below the max mark. I do have a huge pressure canner but I can no longer lift it even when empty so it lives on the floor in a back corner of my pantry. It's the biggest one All American made and holds 19 quart jars or 32 pints at full capacity. I used it on the deck on a propane burner on a short stand (cast iron) that was originally made for a turkey fryer. And I have a couple of regular stove top PCs 8-qt and a 4-qt pressure "skillet" - which I think I used once. I should give them to the thrift shop but hauling that heavy stuff around is difficult.