andiesenji
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Posts posted by andiesenji
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12 hours ago, heidih said:
I am out of coconut, raisins, craisins, dates and the like. Eyeballing the masses of citrus on my trees and I still have sugar - so - using the peels seems like a fun project.
Nuts.com now has limited hours. They "open" at 9:00 a.m. EDT.
They haven't raised their prices like some.
Their sweetened macaroon coconut has great flavor. I use a lot of the unsweetened coconut chips.
I just used the last of the Royal raisins I got last fall to try. They are dark and intensely flavored.
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I wouldn't use it. One of my microwaves had a small burnt spot over the magnetron. The next time I used it, it arced to the center of the turntable, broke the glass and fused the turntable drive. I only had a burrito on a paper plate in it, and it was off to one side.
It smelled terrible.
Since microwaves are fairly inexpensive, I would replace it, rather than take the chance on it exploding and causing a fire.
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12 hours ago, Shelby said:
You were right!
I humbly apologize
Why apologize, you and I just had similar experiences. I just have purchased many different kinds of bananas when the Mexican markets have the unusual ones on offer. I wish the regular markets would carry some of them, especially the red bananas which have a more intense flavor. And the Burro bananas that can be substituted for plantains when green and when ripe have a lemony flavor.
Anyway, I really believe that some growers have been producing some bananas that are different from the Cavandish because apparently something is going wrong with that variety for the past couple of years.
When I was a child, we got whole stalks of green bananas that were hung up in the spring house to ripen. They came in wooden crates that had a name stenciled on and it wasn't Cavandish. The flavor and the scent was much more intense. One difference was they had to be lightly scraped because the string-like membranes did not come off easily and turned black some time after peeling them. I remember one of cook's helpers scraping them before slicing them for a recipe (I used to get the ends, one of the perks of hanging around in the kitchen) so there would be no black threads in the pie, cake or ??
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I got 2 bunches of bananas in my last delivery. One bunch was "normal" the other bunch remained green for over a week, just a tiny bit of yellow with some unusual reddish color around the stem.
When I finished the first bunch, I tried one of the green ones and it was near ripe. during the next five days they slowly turned yellow but not all the way to the bottom.
They did not have the Dole stickers like the other bunch.
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6 hours ago, Shelby said:
So, every day I walk by that bunch of green "plantains" and think "Ok. Tomorrow I will be creative and make something wonderful with these." And then the next day comes and I think the same thing. My brain just doesn't want to deal with something new I guess.
Anyway.
Yesterday I was out in the garden and Ronnie scampered up to me (yep he scampered) and told me that I and all of EG owe him an apology. I rolled my eyes and said "For What???"
Yes, friends. He was right.
They are freaking bananas.
🤣
Took 7 years to turn yellow, but yes. Bananas.
So, I apologized for all of us and made him a layered chocolate pudding/banana/Nilla Wafer/whipped cream thing
🤷♀️
Told you so!
Food in the time of a pandemic
andiesenji replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
I have gotten three or four bunches of greenbananas during the past few months. I feel them at the lower end, squeeze gently, and when they give a little I will peel one. Whatever this variety is, they remain a bit firm but have a ripe flavor, which I like. They are similar to some of thebananas...- March 26
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6 hours ago, TdeV said:
Oh yum, @andiesenji! Recipe, please?
I'm sorry but I don't really have a recipe. I just mixed some stuff together. I saw the title of a recipe when I was scrolling on a list of blogs and later thought that sounded good but I didn't look at the recipe.
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Coffee yes, my preferred dark roast, espresso blend. An extremely dense, black cocoa, sour cream cake, that is so dense it can be spread with cream cheese.
Also acceptable with homemade butter.
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44 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:
Toast. Heavily buttered.
Me too! I have baked more bread in the past couple of weeks than in the past couple of months.
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2 hours ago, Shelby said:
So, I bought these bananas on March 19th. This picture makes them look a tad yellow. They are not. They haven't ripened at all. Ronnie thinks they forgot to spray them with whatever they spray them with to make that happen???? I dunno. They are starting to get spots on the peels like they are going bad.
Can you fry green bananas like plantains??? Any ideas?? I don't wanna waste them.
I have gotten three or four bunches of green bananas during the past few months. I feel them at the lower end, squeeze gently, and when they give a little I will peel one. Whatever this variety is, they remain a bit firm but have a ripe flavor, which I like. They are similar to some of the bananas I buy at the Mexican supermarket, which are not the Cavandish, the usual commercial variety. The ones on the outer rim will ripen faster than the inner ones. Look at the stems when they are brown close to the fruit, they should be near ripe.
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On 3/24/2020 at 4:28 AM, weinoo said:
Yes...I don't want to climb up on the step ladder again, but it was made (or finished) in Belgium.
I don't remember where this one came from, probably somewhere deep in my parent's garage.
ETA: OK - I climbed...and indeed, Descoware, from Belgium! Evidently collectible!
I knew it was. I have owned so much of the stuff since the late '60s. I "discovered" it at a hardware store that catered to the wealthy suburb of Woodland Hills, Hidden Hills, in the west end of the San Fernando Valley and had an extensive kitchen shop because that was before any of the large department stores had moved into the Valley.
I had gone there to purchase the largest Magnalite roaster because I had a 34 pound turkey to roast and had nothing that would fit it.
I saw the bright red-orange enamel in the newly placed display and for once, my husband was also captivated by it. After spending $500. dollars (The Maganalite roaster was $96.) we left with several pieces of the Descoware. Some I still have. (Adjusted for inflation, $500.00 in 1968 is equal to $3,790.18 in 2020.)
I have to admit that considering the use I have gotten out of those and the $$$ for which I have sold the ones I no longer needed, they turned out to be an incredible bargain.
I'm sure your parents found the same thing.
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5 hours ago, weinoo said:
Back when I doing a bunch of Dutch oven bread baking, I used this...
The interior ended up looking like this...
But not sandpapery at all. I wonder if different enamels and enameling process matter.
In any event, if it's still good for bread baking and only bread baking, that would work for me.
It's Descoware and their enamel was superior to Le Creuset. I have Descoware I bought in the late '60s, have used heavily and no chips.
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18 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:
The other day I took advantage of Walmart Grocery's curbside pickup discount on a first order.
$10 off a $50 order, promo code "WOWFRESH"
I placed a minimum order.
They were out of 3 products that I ordered, KA bread flour, butter, and something else that I've now forgot.
I still received the discount.
I didn't permit them to pick substitutions, I went in the store after they loaded the Jeep and picked my own.
I have been using the free pickup service since my store offered it. Substitutions i have gotten are always excellent. Name brands instead of the store brands or larger sizes. I had ordered the 42 ounce frozen strawberries - for the same price they substituted the 64 ounce bag.
last week I ordered 6 of the 51¢ each comice pears, they substituted 6 of the 96¢ each red pears.
Last December I ordered the 2-pack of the store butter, salted. They subbed 2 pounds of the LandOLakes - a dollar more.
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I have tested a couple for Amazon and they worked just as described. One was borosilicate glass, one was silicone.
Most recent was Progressive Prep which was versatile and could be used for other things.
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10 hours ago, heidih said:
Oh we had that dairy service at grandma's. Wind the back window down and be the superstar who got the bottles. There were local dairies as well. One down the street from my first grown-up house left the adorable building in tact. I always wanted to buy it and remodel as a home like some do with deconsecrated churches.
I have a Carnation milk box that sat on my porch in Canoga Park under the roof so it was in the shade. It was roomy enough for a couple of gallon jugs and some smaller bottles or cartons.
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4 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:
That is s stunning piece, Andie. Wonderful patina and delightful shape! Thank you for this. Have you ever used it?
No. Someone gave it to me because I used to collect cast iron and liked odd things. And this was quite odd. I have sold most of my cast iron. I have a couple of skillets left. A Volrath a later Griswold and a couple of griddles, an actual abdelskiver pan and this. i was going to put in on ebay but never got around to it.
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On 2/8/2020 at 8:55 AM, Margaret Pilgrim said:
This cooking mold is cast iron, well seasoned on top but bottom reveals crude finish or grain. The indentations are very shallow, maybe 1/3" deep. at most
History: I had read about a SouthEast Asian snack made in a dimpled stovetop pan. So when I fell over this at a flea market for $1., I couldn't turn it down. It's been kicking around for maybe a decade, and of course I've forgotten the story behind the original incentive.
Anyone know what this really is, what it's for and where it's from?
It looks like a very old Takoyaki pan. I have a very old one that has flattened sections, smaller than yours and rather crudely made to be used on a brazier.
I have had this one for about 20 years, handles shape like octapi to indicate the use, just in case a person wasn't sure.
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Yesterday a neighbor, who knows I bake bread, knocked on my door and asked if I could bake her a loaf of bread for today. She had spend hours shopping for essential (had been away for a few days on business) and had forgotten bread and couldn't face the ordeal of going back to the store.
She offered me $5.00 but I didn't want to touch the bill and told her it would be my pleasure to bake a loaf for her.
So she picked this up a 11 a.m. this morning.
In a few weeks after most of this mess has blown over, hopefully, her son will do some yard work for me.
I'm well stocked with everything and I haven't needed to go out to shop. I did order from Walmart on line and picked up some fresh fruits and vegetables.
Gave them all a vinegar and water bath after I got home and since my dryer has a "shelf" for shoes and things, I dried them in there - no heat, air only.
I always have lots of rice on hand. I bought an 11 pound package of the pink Madagascar rice 3 years ago and it only gets better with age.
I also have sushi rice, red rice, black rice, green bamboo rice and 6 cans of Carnaroli rice.
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On 3/7/2020 at 2:45 PM, David Ross said:
Wow that would be interesting.
I just remembered - one of the jars I opened I thought was burnt fig jam - which I made for pairing with strong, sharp cheeses.
However, when I tasted it, not quite as "gingerly" as I should have, what I had opened was Sambal Badjak that I had made about 2 years before (because it improves with aging) and at first I was fooled by the sweetness from the palm sugar. Then the heat struck.
As I recall, I probably ate half a pint of sour cream for initial treatment and then cut off a pice of cream cheese and allowed that to slowly melt in my mouth.
And that was only from less than a quarter teaspoonful.
After that I was extremely careful about tasting anything in those bare jars.
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On 3/9/2020 at 4:13 PM, Kim Shook said:
That's what we chose. Mr. Kim has sense memories re: powdered milk from when he was a child.🙂
The powdered milk of today, the Premium, full-fat milk powder, is nothing like the stuff from just a couple of decades ago.
I use it in baking but when properly mixed with a blender and chilled, I can't really taste the difference between it and the "regular" milk from a supermarket.
(which doesn't taste like "farm fresh" milk either) and I am a "supertaster."
The powdered heavy cream I keep on hand for some recipes, is also excellent. And performs better than fresh cream in some recipes.
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On 3/9/2020 at 2:19 PM, Porthos said:
Living in southern California we have to be prepared for life-disrupting earthquakes. We have a store of food laid in for that, along with water. There's TP in those supplies as well. We buy Scott bathroom tissue by the 36-roll pack so running out of TP is not really a concern; I just bought more because we were running low, nothing to do with the pandemic.
Running out of ice cream, however, would make me whiny.
Even though I have quit both renaissance faires I had been part of, my wife and daughter are still active in the guild kitchen and I have started acquiring a few foodstuffs that can go in the freezer. It will be interesting to see if the covid-19 issue causes cancellation of the faire by the health authorities. Hoping not.
I can make ice cream and I have a good supply of dried heavy cream, full cream milk powder, premium powdered eggs, lots of premium cocoas that, with suitable flavors, and other additives, can be turned into very tasty ice cream even if I can't get fresh milk or cream, which right now are easily obtained.
My Lello gelato machine is always at the ready, after a 25 minute cool down, to start freezing ice creams, sherbets, ices &etc.
It's very difficult for me to shop for groceries now because I can't walk very far and I don't like using the scooters so I order online and use the free pickup service. Or I order from Aldi and have it delivered if I don't feel well enough to drive. Staples like flour I order from New York Bakers (in San Diego) as they carry the flours I like, and fresh yeast.
Right now I have enough flours to bake breads and any other baked goods for at least a year...
I haven't done any shopping since the pandemic began driving people to stock up. I need some fresh fruit and vegetables but expect those will be available but if not I have some canned peaches, pears and pineapple which can sub for fresh.
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I have made Ginger Beer several times. Usually turned out nice. One time I must have done something wrong, about a third of the bottles exploded in my small pantry which contained the mess to a small area but had a detrimental effect on many of the sauces, condiments, jams and jellies I had canned. The labels were destroyed so it was an adventure opening some of the jars.
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These are some of the ginger graters I have. There are a few more, including a couple of metal ones that I never used, here and there in my junk.
I only use the glass one for small to medium amounts. It was my grandmother's and used by her cook for small amounts. She had a larger pottery one
that she had made by one of the potters in Paducah. It was similar in shape to the glass one but the elevated part in the middle with the "teeth" was rounded instead of flat and it had a hole at one end where the ginger juice could be poured out as it accumulated.
(she had a similar grater, even larger, for grating coconut, made by the same potter - who made a lot of things for the farm.)
When I need large amounts of grated ginger or galangal, I use a Japanese Suribachi bowl to grate it. I have two, one small, one large. I also use them for grating horseradish.
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On 2/17/2020 at 9:02 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:
Tonight's loaves.
There is something different! The past two weeks I had been using the Ankarsrum dough hook because the ingredients are almost impossible to incorporate with the Ankarsrum roller. Yet with the dough hook I'm left with a dense and disappointing crumb. Granted Ankarsrum does not recommend the dough hook for the small amount of dough I'm mixing.
This time I employed the dough hook for quickly and painlessly incorporating the flour, water, and poolish. Then after autolysis I used the roller to gently kneed the dough for 45 minutes. Crumb is much more open. Don't yet know how it tastes. I have not finished my mai tai and peanuts.
I always made larger batches 4 - 6 large loaves 10 small loaves and I used the hook to mix everything EXCEPT THE YEAST because I used hotter water - 150° F. after everything was mixed thoroughly, I removed the hook and allowed it to "rest" for about 45 minutes. (Apparently I was using the "autolyse" method only I never heard about it as that name, it was just something I learned sometime in the past)
I then installed the roller/scraper with the roller about an inch from the side - mine locked down with some effort - SPRINKLED THE YEAST OVER THE TOP OF THE DOUGH.
Starte the mixer and left it to do the FIRST KNEAD for 30 minutes. I let the dough rest and rise - depending on the ambient temp - for 30 minutes to an hour. My kitchen is cold in the winter so longer.
Then set to knead for another 30 minutes.
Then turned out onto the bench, scaled to the weight for each loaf, left on the bench, floured and covered with a cloth for 30 minutes
then into the pan for a final rise and into the oven. If making baguettes I shaped them, set them in a couche for the final rise. (I bought the raw linen several yards at a time and cut to the length I wanted)
This gave me consistent results every time.
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I wish my health permitted me to attend. I am also unable to drive for the length of time it requires. It sound like it would be great fun.
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Food in the time of a pandemic
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
Yes! Jicama. I used to grow them. They like the desert as long as they get minimal water. Then the huge Mexican supermarket opened and their prices were so cheap, it didn't pay to waste my time growing them. Shredded they are great added to coleslaw. Also shredded nice when pickled with shredded ginger. Cut into batons they work great in stir-frys.