andiesenji

Several months ago America's Test Kitchen did a segment on steaming eggs - noted there was no dark border around the yolks. Since I have been using various egg cookers (I also collect them) for decades and they steam the eggs, this was nothing new to me. I even have one that is so ancient, it does not have a regular 2-prong plug - it was made so the "plug" would screw into a light socket. And it still works! The absolute best one of all the ones I own and have owned is still the vintage Oster - from the '70s and '80s.

I think I have all of Euell Gibbons books. In the early '70s I took the kids on a couple of "wild foraging" hikes led by a young man, a Native American, in the hills above the San Gabriel valley. He mentioned that man that he considered a wild-foods "hero" - Euell Gibbons - was going to be given a talk at Pasadena City college the following month so a friend and I attended. He was a good speaker, interspersing humorous stories in with his factual accounts and observations. That prompted me to buy the books then in print - and later his last book, published after he died suddenly. It reminded me of the many "wild" foods that were gathered when I was a child as western Kentucky abounds with many fine wild or semi-wild edibles.

When you click on reply and get the window, click on "More Reply Options" which will add a pane where you can select photos to upload and then select the ones you want to include in your post. Very simple, very quick.

I've been using rice bran oil in baking. I sub it for butter in baking yeast bread, quick breads, cakes (except sponge cakes) and it is great for popping corn.

For a "neutral" COOKING oil I alternate between rice bran oil, grapeseed oil, sunflower seed oil - all Non-GMO. For high temp frying I use rice bran oil but recently I tried REFINED safflower oil (500° smoke point) It is excellent for high temp stir-frying. I stopped using canola oil because so much is GMO - same with corn oil.

I agree that vinegar is the way to go - no effort. A cup of vinegar in 4 quarts of water should do the trick - bring to a boil for 5 minutes then turn it off and let it cool. If you have a dish mop, swish it around the inside of the vessels - if you feel any "snags" heat it up again for five minutes. You can also use a heaping tablespoon of Cream of Tartar - I buy it in the "industrial-sized" bags from Amazon because I use it a lot to removed discoloration from old aluminum cookware, and to remove calcium deposits on tin-lined tea kettles - not as eye-watering as boiling vinegar.

Apparently the local state representative bent Gov. Brown's ear about the stupidity of a small needy city allowing a tiny fraction of the population to dictate rules for industry in the city. Some local residents speculated that there were never any complaints about the dust and dirt blowing over the city from the Durban rock plant or United Rock - the 300 acre granite busting plant right in the center of the city, which inconveniences many more residents as well as drivers on the 210 freeway, from those families who seem so concerned about the local "environment." One guy said that he has to keep his new car covered, even in the garage because otherwise it will be covered with dust and grit and he asked "why don't they do something about that? - maybe because two of the city council are heavily invested in the rock quarry... This same guy also said that one reporter, who interviewed him, told him last year that the first complaints from those same four households were filed BEFORE the plant even took delivery of the pepper crop and were doing no grinding. He lives a bit more than 400 yards from the plant and says he has noticed a little irritation from time to time in the fall but nothing as annoying as the dust and grit blowing from the quarry when the big machines are operating. It seems to me like the company has a good reason to file a "restraint of trade" suit.

Chuckd, I do have a Toastmaster 1B5 that is intact and it was working when I stored it. Cosmetically it suffered a dent - a victim of the '94 earthquake - so not attractive to collectors. If you go to my blog on the "toasters" page and scroll down a bit more than half way - at the end of the "Toastmasters" pics, there is a photo of the toaster, to make sure it is like yours. "Another Toastmaster 1 B 5" I'll get it out and make sure it works and if it does, will send it to you for the cost of the shipping, if you want it. Or I can see if I can easily take it apart and just send the heating elements.

Try contacting this seller on ebay - this item did not sell but ended two days ago. I think I have a couple of beat up Toastmasters, will check to see if they have intact elements - I believe they work, just are cosmetically unattractive - dented, etc. Have you checked here for info?

Friends who are remodeling and expanding an "80s kitchen put in two of the Thermador "freedom" cooktops - the reno is not yet finished but they are cooking on one connected cooktop and love it. They have two-burner griddles that work perfectly and some oversize pots that could not be used on the regular induction burners. They have a very large family - seven kids plus one "grandma" who does a lot of the cooking so they needed two cooktops. (and will have four ovens)...

The middle eastern market has it in glass tubular containers that have a little "gate" in the lid so the threads can be carefully shaken out into the little pan on the scale. It can't be tightly packed because the threads will break and their customers want to see the threads as intact as possible. They tell me to transfer it to a glass container as soon as possible because plastic (soft baggie material) will degrade the saffron rapidly.

The middle eastern market here sells loose saffron but they measure it carefully in a little glass-enclosed cubicle so not even a slight breeze from the AC or an opened door will blow any of it away. I can't imagine them allowing a customer to measure their own. They do have some "faux" saffron in pre-measured bags but it is not true saffron - it is dried safflower petals. They produce the color but not the flavor of saffron.

Last evening my friend who works at the local health food store phoned to discuss a project on which we both are working. I mentioned to her (they sell a lot of herbs and spices in bulk) your concerns and desire to weigh what you are purchasing with an accurate scale. She said unless you are buying from a chemist, or a specialty spice shop (in which case they do the measuring), not to bother. The scales at the checkout counter are the only ones that count because they are tied into the computer system that records the sale of each item so they can check it against inventory. They have a minimum amount they will sell - half an ounce - of dried herbs or spices - if you take less you will still be charged for half an ounce and if it over half an ounce, it goes to one ounce and that includes the weight of the baggie - which is why they use very thin ones. I hadn't considered this - I do buy herbs and spices in bulk from them but just measure out the volume I think I need.

I don't think my eating habits have changed a great deal. I don't eat quite as much meat/poultry as I did thirty years ago but I did not make a conscious effort to do so. I never stopped using butter, eggs, cheese (though I have cut back on the aged cheeses since my doctor (nephrologist) laid down the law) and other dairy products because I have never had elevated cholesterol. I still cook the same things I was cooking and baking forty years ago - just not as much or quite as often because I am old... I rarely do the elaborate dinners I was doing twenty years ago because there is no one with whom to share them. I didn't order a truffle this year. I forgot all about it. I still make my own butter, yogurt, cream cheese, etc., and consume same.

Kim, I buy the 30-pack units of Whipit at Smart & Final. I use a lot - last year I got it from Amazon (only ships to U.S.) essentially the same price as at S&F. I'm sure there must be a supplier near you who carries it - my box has an expiration date in 2016 so it must be shelf-stable for an extended period.

I don't like the key lime pies that use sweetened condensed milk. This one makes a lime curd and I use a bit less sugar than the recipes specifies - a little more than 3/4 cup of superfine sugar. And I beat heavy cream using a stabilizer "Whip-It" and spread the whipped cream on after the pie has chilled for a couple of hours.

I polish my copper pans about twice a year, and I use the "half-a-lemon-dipped-in-salt" method because the salt acts as a "scrubber" to get the baked-on crud off the bottoms of the pans. Otherwise I leave them alone to slowly accrue a bit of "patina" which is acceptable to me since I no longer have help... There was a time I had a live-in helper who would polish everything and my kitchen always sparkled and shone. I have a lot of stuff that hangs and the enameled stuff goes into the dishwasher periodically - as does the stainless steel but the cast iron (lots) and copper (nearly as much) gets the hand wash treatment.

We have a terrific middle eastern store here in Lancaster and they get some remarkable produce and dairy products and at very good prices. Many of the things are bulk and packaged by folks in the store so one can buy the desired amount of - grains, nuts, flour, OLIVES and etc., instead of having to buy those little boxes and jars of "specialty" foods that often sit in warehouses for long periods and then on store shelves for who knows how long. They also print labels in English on imported foods that are printed in Arabic. We have a very diverse population in this area so the store gets a lot of traffic. They will also try and get items when customers ask - not always successful but at least they try. Very nice people, extremely friendly and helpful and great at suggesting recipes and cooking methods.

Did you know that the tilt-head KAs did have glass bowls back in the '50s? I have a 3-B, 3-C, 4-C all with bowls made by Pyrex that had a "turn and lock" molded bottom. Including this somewhat rare copper model: I think KA reintroduced the glass bowls for their 90th anniversary.

Key lime pie. I was given a basket full of the little Mexican limes (full of seeds) so I made the pie. Topped with a lot of whipped cream. Instead of using a pie plate, I used my tart plate, which is larger in diameter so the layer of the key lime curd is thinner than usual - it's okay, I like whipped cream too...

I'm now making a list of ingredients I do not have on hand so I can get started on some of these recipes. The Middle Eastern store is closed today - always closed on Saturday - but will be open tomorrow. It's easier for me to shop there because I can given one of them the list and they will show me where everything is located and it is not an endless trek as in the supermarkets.

Stew of White Beans Margat Fasoulya Yabsa The bulgur recipe is Spicy Bulgur Discs of Mosul Urooqq Mosuliyya Right now I am in Cookies and Sweet Pastries, reading about Nut Filled Crescents Kroson bil-joz - - I think my friend Leah used to make these but with rose water instead of the orange flower water. They were delicious - she had promised to give me the recipe but had a fatal auto accident.

Too many to list - so far I have 31 markers and am only half-way through the book. Spicy bread, bean stew, cauliflower casserole, eggplant rolls, spicy bulgar...

I used one 5-qt bowl lift (KA Hobart) for 30 years, gave it away and it is still working. I bought one of the newer ones, not Hobart, burnt out the motors in two on stiff doughs, so got a DLX then more recently bought one of the 6-qt bowl-lift mixers which works fine for most stuff but I still use the DLX for really large batches of dough or for really stiff doughs like pumpernickle or some really dense cookie doughs. If you need something that will fit into a compact space, the tilt-head will slide under most overhead cabinets. For me it doesn't have the capacity that I like and also when you have to scrape down the sides mid-way through mixing, it is more difficult to work around the beaters. (I saw this illustrated recently on America's Test Kitchen, when Bridget had to scrape down the sides of the bowl while using a tilt-head KA and it appeared very awkward.)

I don't know, Hassouni. The one I got in 2011 was so messed up I really didn't spend any time looking at it. I just repackaged it and sent it back to the book store. I'm not even sure it was the original printing, it was spiral bound and many of the pages were wrinkled and torn. It was certainly nothing like the picture on the web site which showed the cover as mostly green - the one I got had a brown cover. This is a hardback, beautifully printed, with beautiful photography and illustrations. I have used a bunch of Post-It notes to mark the recipes I want to try.