andiesenji

Single barrel bourbons tend to be more expensive. Currently I have a "jug" of Jim Beam - bought at Costco and just found a bottle of Ancient Age, which is the one I have been using for my baking and cooking with very good results.

Non-fat and low fat milk can be frothed and you don't need steam - I have a Froth Au Lait (Froth'N Sauce) that I bought several years ago and use occasionally - but also have a newer Mira automatic electric milk frother - which creates a lot of froth from a little milk. In fact, I overfilled it a bit the first time I used it and had a lot of milk froth erupting from the thing. Fortunately I had put it on a tray (earlier accidents with appliances taught me this) and it contained the spill. I have done some "experiments" with adding sugar - didn't work so well, but simple syrup mixed into the milk will still allow it to froth nicely for dolloping on desserts for folks who don't want full cream. My friend who owns a bakery/cafe is now offering this option - he bought one with a larger capacity - Capresso Pro frother, I think. His customers really like it.

Nido is available here in southern Calif. I buy it at the Mexican market and use it in some of my breads, which keep better with the addition of whole milk powder. Evaporated milk has its place and is an important food source where fresh milk products are questionable, when available at all. My grandpa shipped cases of it to family members in England both during and after WWII when all dairy products were rationed - at least until 1950, when I remember a large shipment being crated up and hauled to the train station - included a couple of hams, sides of bacon and some canned butter (in jars that were packed in "excelsior" in a "barrel" made of fiberboard.) As a thank-you they sent my grandpa a beautiful saddle as there were lots of saddles and no so many horses on which to put them... I was told then and since then that English cooks could do amazing things with very little. While we had rationing here in the U.S. during the war and for some things a couple of years afterward, it was nothing like the rationing in the U.K. Also available, now via Amazon, is a heavy cream powder which is excellent for use in cooking (not for regular whipping) and mixed with liquid low fat milk (in a blender) and allowed to rehydrate in the fridge overnight, can be FROTHED - which I have done in my electric milk frother and in my Thermomix with the "butterfly" attachment. It doesn't have the stability of real whipped cream but for a quick topping works just fine.

And CoolWhip. I am appalled at how many "recipes" for desserts includ this ersatz stuff. I tasted it once and it took forever to get rid of the residual greasy (in not a good way) feeling in my mouth.

My grandma's recipe was: Take a bowl half-full of flour (you had to know which bowl) - push your fist into the center to make a hole - fill the hold with cream - stir till it comes together. Roll out, cut and bake in a hot oven. That's the entire "receipt" and one had to know to use the self-raising flour - we had Martha Washington or Red Band when I was a child and it came in 25 pound bags while the regular flour was in 50 pound bags. I actually have the bowl but since it is an original Bauer - made in Paducah - before they moved to Los Angeles, it is rare and collectible so I don't use it.

They are not really "yams" as yams are a totally different plant. Sweet potatoes are available in several heirloom varieties as well as hybrids - some are "white" and less sweet, some are more fibrous and some are almost purple. Yams are huge tropical plants grown in Africa and some of the south Pacific islands where they have social and religious uses. I have a large yam mask from New Guinea that was given to me in the early '70s by a friend who was an anthropologist who had spent a few years there. I was given several "lectures" about the nomenclature of yams and it has stuck with me. Particularly because the gentleman had a photo of him standing next to a yam that was almost as tall as he was and it was "wearing" the yam mask he gave me. As far as the bourbon dressing, there is an excellent sauce, which I have been making for a few years - browned butter with bourbon and BACON, which puts the sweet potatoes in the "sublime" category. I really like sweet potatoes but this recipe is the best I have ever tasted. Use a blended bourbon - just not the really cheap stuff. This recipe was originally introduced at least ten years ago because my notes show I downloaded it in December 2005 and there were comments from the prior year. I have it in a text document and the active link took me to this page which is current.

For something as simple as biscuits, which I can do in my sleep, I just use volume measures - measuring cups intended for DRY ingredients and for the cream a measuring cup intended for LIQUID ingredients. In fact, the cup I generally use for measuring the self-rising flour remains in the container with the flour all the time, unless the container is too full.

First: Self-rising flour is a lower protein/gluten flour to which has been added salt, baking powder and it has a finite shelf life - unlike regular flour without the additives. Any supermarket will have at least one brand - the Walmart supercenter near me has King Arthur, Pillsbury, Gold Medal and Bob's Red Mill brands. Heavy whipping cream or heavy cream has by law 30-35% butterfat. I have AltaDena heavy whipping cream and it says 36%. Sometimes I use the Manufacturers cream - also Alta Dena, 42% butterfat and there is not much difference in the way it behaves in baking quick breads, like biscuits or scones. I don't add extra butter to "drop" biscuits. For regular cut biscuits you can roll out the dough to a bit less than 1/2 inch thick, spread half of it with soft butter, fold and roll till 3/4 inch thick, cut and chill for 20 minutes then bake. The biscuits will split naturally along the butter border and you will have the flavor.

I roll cookie dough between two sheets of parchment - remove the top sheet, cut the cookies, remove the "trimmings" and slide the parchment onto the baking sheet. I do several sheets at once, stack them, even chill if the kitchen is warm. After cooking I just slide the parchment onto the cooling rack and slide another full unbaked batch onto the sheet pan and right back into the oven. This saves considerable time - no need to transfer the indifidual cookies before or after baking.

This is my electric skillet - it's 9.5 inches in diameter so quite a bit smaller than the Farberware. On low, at 175° F. it works great for a keep warm buffet server. Somewhere in storage I also have one of the square ones - with the vent in the lid - also made by West Bend but it is aluminum and as I recall it is "Harvest Gold" and I have some canisters that match. so you can see how "tall" it is.

I had one of those - may still have it but haven't seen it for years. I also have a smaller, stainless one that I have used quite a bit because it also has 6 egg-poaching cups, was made by West Bend (USA) is heavy and had a high-domed lid which made it more versatile than many. I've used it a lot but it shows no wear. They don't make them like that any more... It's quite heavy and was advertised as being useful for buffet service as the base was tall enough that it could safely be used on tables covered by cloths.

I never used the carrageenan myself. I only saw it used by a friend who owns a bakery/cafe and who makes gel "fruits" to decorate cookies and cakes. I had very good results with the guar gum - although I did not aim for a hard gel - lakhoum is supposed to be a bit softer so it is easy to bite. For solid gel, like gummy candies, you use a bit more.

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier today. If you soak the barley overnight or for at least 5-6 hours in cold water and rinse well, you can mix it with rice or other grains that need less time in cooking. Use the same method with wheat kernels, kamut, or farro.

Halal gummy candies are made with Carrageenan. If you click HERE and scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, you will find the forumla for carrageenan jelly candy. I have used guar gum to make lakhoum - which often uses gelatin or agar agar. It gels well and holds well except in high humidity. There is some info at this site. Vegetarian, halal and kosher. I've also tried kuzu starch and it worked okay but I only tried it with high acid lemon drops. I'm not sure how it would work with low-acid flavors. I get the Bob's Red Mill guar gum

Earlier this morning I came across another unwanted, unworkable appliance. An electric wok, made by West Bend which NEVER got hot enough for stir-fry or any other suggested use. I can't recall if I bought it or it was a gift. Useless.

Do you ever use the microwave "steamer" bags. I can tell you a "trick" for making onions more palatable for folks who don't like them. punch 4-6 holes in the whole onion - depending on size - stick in whole cloves. Put in one of the steamer bags and microwave on medium power for 3 minutes. Allow to cool and then remove the cloves, chop into chunks and add to the dish. It is a suprising "conversion" and sweetens the onions and lessens the "bite" if the onion is particularly strong. I actually learned this decades ago when I got my first RadarRange in the late '60s. The instructor that showed me how to use it showed me how to do this but at that time the onion was wrapped in wax paper and then put in a small brown paper lunch bag. It still works.

I got to try one of the recharageable stick blenders - it did not have enough power for my purpose - I tried it in potato soup and it kept lagging. I also tried whipping heavy cream until it broke - to make a small batch of butter and it stopped completely when the stuff got thick and I had to finish with my corded one. I think the one I borrowed was a Cuisinart. I don't think the KitchenAid was yet available.

My apple peeler is the one with the vacuum base. Here's the recipe. I had to type it out as I mentally went through my process. Brats with apples and onions 2 - 3 tablespoons butter or lard or bacon drippings 4 to 6 brats, depending on size - I prefer the fresh ones that are about 4 inches long but the packaged ones are okay. - cut into 1-inch chunks 2 large apples peeled and cored and cut into chunks 1 large or two small onions, cut into chunks Scant 1/2 teaspoon of cumin If you don't like cumin, use ground caraway, rosemary or thyme. Any herb or spice that enhances apples and pork. fresh ground black pepper - 1/4 teaspoon should be enough taste before salting after dish has cooked about 3/4 through. 3 cups of apple cider. Heat the fat till it sizzles Stir in the cumin and allow it to "bloom" Brown the brat chunks in the fat Stir in the apples and onions If you aren't able to brown stovetop in the CrockPot liner, transfer to the ceramic insert of your slow cooker. Add the cider Set temp to high and cook for 30 minutes (may continue on high or medium for an additional hour to finish right away) Reduce to low and cook for 3 hours or more until ready to serve. Variation: Add sweet potatoes cut into chunks along with an additional cup of cider. I serve this with dumplings, large flat noodles or rice.

The most impressive dessert I ever saw in person was a row of 4 croquembouche draped in spun sugar spangled with edible gold leaf "ornaments" and backed with what appeared to be a folding screen made from cast sugar panels. It was made for a holiday party fundraiser at the Bonaventure hotel in downtown L.A. not long after the hotel opened in 1976 - in the rooftop restaurant. It was jaw-dropping when it was wheeled in on a long table - many oohs and ahhs.

I remember when I first went to live in a small village of numerous German-speaking folks in Wisconsin, I was startled when someone would yell "Mach schnell!" at me and my stepdad had to explain that it meant "make haste" - having grown up in the south, this was something of a foreign concept. Schlag did not enter my vocabulary until I began working in my mom's bakery. We did a lot of pastries with cream - the real stuff, not the ersatz. Cream horns filled with pastry cream AND whipped cream were a big seller - especially after Sunday mass.

I had breakfast with a friend earlier today and I happened to mention the discussion about garlic in oil and botulism. (She has been a recipient of some of my roasted garlic in oil in the past and asked when I was going to produce some more.) She said her daughter, who has an 8-month infant, attended a nutrition seminar where there was lengthy discussion about botulism in honey and the dangers of giving raw garlic to infants. Apparently the recommendation was to "boil" the honey - at a low simmer - for a minimum of 45 minutes - before it thickens too much - before giving it to baby. There were also handouts with recipes for honey candies that are cooked and therefore "safe" for babies. There were a couple of people in the audience who spoke up and one who noted she had fed raw honey to "ALL" of her children with no problems - apparently they keep bees and produce their own honey. One of the panelists said that many people had probably had the same experience as she but there also had been instances where infants became ill, affected by botulism. However, the person in the audience pointed out that the infant in Riverside county who was affected had not been fed honey but CORN SYRUP, and no one seems to worry about that in infant foods... Apparently this young woman keeps up with such news. I guess after that the meeting was adjourned because there were so many independent conversations going on around the room (about 50 women and a few men). I asked my friend if she was worried about botulism in the garlic and oil that I prepare and she said she was more worried about molds and such because her twin sister died in chilldhood from ergot poisoning (they lived in Iowa). She also mentioned being wary of wild mushrooms - she loves them but always has a bit of trepidition when cooking and consuming them. Since the reported incidents of botulism are about 100 per year, it appears the danger is extremely remote for most people. And botulism spores have been found in vacuum cleaner dust and dirt in "bagless" machines (the reason I prefer to have my dirst baggedd) scrapings from air conditioner screens and air filters, foodbourn is not the only way to get it.

Perhaps it is because I am gadget-oriented or have a huge dose of nerd - cookingwise - but although I was born, raised and learend to cook on a farm where there were few kitchen appliances, I love them. I have two immersion blenders, one hangs it the little thingy that came with it over the prep area and the other - longer stem - hangs next to the hood over the stove top and I had an electric outlet installed up there just for that. I mix all kinds of things in either a malt cup (I have a dozen of the steel ones) or in the plastic container that came with the one in the prep area. I used it today to blend arrowroot into some fruit juice - I don't want any little "beads" of the dry stuff in my pie - and I will probably use the other tomorrow because I plan to make mushroom/shallot soup and I like it creamy with no lumps and I blend it right in the pot in which it cooks. I could of course use my Thermomix but I am used to this method and I stick with what works. There is a delightful article about using stick blenders in The City Cook, to which I subscribe, and it was so informative that I printed it out and gave it, along with an immersion blender to a new mother who wants to try making her own baby food and had difficulty with a regular blender (her husband broke it trying to crack ice). So far she has had great success and raved about the appliance so much her mother bought one...

I have several CrockPots/slow cookers that I use fairly often. I use them for candying ginger, citrus peel, making glacé fruits, making dulce de leche, reducing stocks but not so much for cooking meals - although there are a couple that work well for me. One is pork stew verde, which seems to taste better when the pork chunks have gently cooked, barely simmering, in the green sauce for at least 8 hours. There is also a chicken dish, somewhat reminiscent of coq a vin, that works well for me and a bratwurst, onions and apples dish that creates the most amazing aroma in the house and tastes very good too. I actually learned some of my techniques long before the CrockPot itself appeard on the scene as I had (and have) the electric roasters that were so popular in the late '40s and '50s because they allowed cooking of "extras" when the kitchen range was fully utilized.

That should be 250 degrees. I was a bit fatigued by that time of the evening.

Decades ago my stepdaughter used to make fudge and while it was still in the stirable stage, add rice crispies or rice chex, etc. Managing to stir in much more than seemed possible.