andiesenji

I have two for my 6 quart and like both - I probably use the "Side Swipe" more than the other but it all depends on what I am mixing. I use the New Metro one for creaming butter and sugar, beating cheeses, etc. I use the SideSwipe for mixing cookie dough and other stuft that is thicker and stickier. Some people complain that the SideSwipe is difficult to clean but I have a "trick" the same that I use on my ice cream machine beaters - I use one of the silicone basting "brushes" which works great to get 99% of the material off the blades of the beater.

Here are two of the Sunbeam Coffeemasters which still make great coffee. The one that started it all - the C20 A (Note the iconic incised Art Deco design that Sunbeam used for many years.) And here it is in action with the water siphoned into the upper chamber and bubbling away. (I didn't use any coffee in the demonstration - just showing how it works automatically) And this is the next evolution of the Coffeemaster, the C30 And this is the timeline of these models: I had a lot of fun collecting these and the many other coffee brewers and machines I've written about on my blog, but now it is time to pass them on to others who are as fanatical about coffee as I am. (I've finally triumphed over the "collecting bug" - more or less!) Note the gap between 1940 and 1948. Sunbeam, like many other manufacturers, changed over to war production in 1941 and after the war it took a few years to get the factories re-tooled because there was still shortage of materials but once that production got rolling again, American industry was at the top of the heap in the entire world. Too bad we can't get back to that today.

Silex and Pyrex made vacuum coffee makers 60 to 70 years ago. Sometimes you can find them with good rubber and still in working order in antiique/junque stores for reasonable prices. I have several in good working order that I will be offering on ebay during the coming weeks. Sunbeam "C" series "Coffeemasters" . I also have some glass Silex ones, including a New in Box, never used - I think it is a 4-cup. My others are older and I'm hanging onto them for awhile.

Your ravioli look fine to me. Plain squash or pumpkin is too sweet for my taste also. Do you every make duxelles? I make a batch every two or three months and freeze it. I mix it with the cooked squash - 2/3 squash, 1/3 duxelles for a savory filling in ravioli and empanadas. You can add a bit of shredded meat before adding the top of the pasta. With soft, squishy fillings, I use a manual cookie press (because of arthritis in my hand I can't grip a pastry bag) because it it much easier to gauge how much I am applying to the bottom pastry. I also have a ravioli mold or "plate" which makes the task a lot easier. Most of the presses have a large 3/4 inch cone which dispenses just the right-sized dollop of filling.

Yes. I make my own pods for my Senseo and they also fit the Melitta pod machines.

The only time I had cabinets with a free space at the top, I also had a huge Garland range and although I had an industrial-grade exhaust hoot, there was still plenty of grease floating around. Our painter recommended that he coat the cabinets, especially the tops (which were out of sight) with clear, high-gloss epoxy finish, putting on two coats, with a final polish with steel wool and a paste like jewelers rouge. The result was a finish that didn't exactly repel grease, but it wiped off with just a damp cloth, no soap. That was back in the early '70s and I am sure there have been great improvements in paint technology since then. It might save some grief to at least look into it.

I posted about the silicone covers back in January 2012 when I took this photo. I don't use the ones in the upper left corner for microwave or oven, just on the counter or in the fridge for short periods. The big rectangular one on the right is 10 x 14 so covers a 9 x 13 baking dish with ease - made by Lekue. It's not as pretty as the banana leaf. I bought most of mine from Chef's Resource but also bought some at Amazon or other kitchen sites and also at the Lekue Factory outlet (since closed) at the "factory outlet mall" in Barstow, CA. I didn't see the red poppy lids but am Jonesing for the Hibiscus lids. Not that I need any more. Keep safe with handling the ice. I can remember my stepdad using a garden rake to knock huge icicles off the eaves of the house in Wisconsin in which I lived for (thankfully) a very brief few years in the mid '50s. When some broke loose, it brought down others and a bunch of ice from the roof, nearly burying him. If he had been standing two feet nearer the drop line from the eaves, he would have been impaled by a huge icicle. When I prepare squash or pumpkin for filling pasta or pastry, I spread it on a sheet pan, about 1/2 an inch thick and put it in a very low oven (175°F.) for 30 to 50 minutes. I find it deepens the flavor a bit, as well as drying out some of the moisture.

I love the silicone covers. I have all sizes from mug size all the way up to a big one that will cover a large rectangular baking dish. So much easier to use than foil, when you have to add things at various times (or remove things). I especially like the Charles Viancin "lily pads" because they are translucent enough that you can see into them and the handles are brilliant. So anxious to see how your ravioli turns out. I've used Hubbard squash for ravioli filling and also for empanadas.

At one time I made clotted cream about once a month but it was a long, tedious process and while I made larger batches, the end result was always much less than I anticipated, even when I used extra heavy cream (Manufacturers Cream). So I did some experimenting and found that using a special yogurt culture with the heavy cream produced a dense, thick result which was much "sweeter" than yogurt made with regular milk. My guests also liked it much better than the traditional CC when spread on scones or bread with fresh fruit. One said "it's not as cloying" as the clotted cream I had served in the past. I use the yogurt cultures from New England Cheesemaking supply - and for this use the "sweeter" one, the "Y-5" culture. They offer a "variety pack" that includes 5 packets of this one. If you decide to try this - incubate the culture for 18 to 24 hours - at about 85 degrees. I have found that gives the best flavor and consistency. I love dairy, have for my entire life, and have done a lot of experimenting with various dairy products, especially since the industry began adding all the unpronounceable chemicals to various products. So I make my own cottage cheese, cream cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, sour cream, yogurt and tried my hand at "aged" cheeses when I still had live-in help for assistance with the heavier tasks. (I sold my cheese press a couple of years ago because it was too heavy for me to handle.)

I've tried a couple of methods but since I began using this buttermilk culture from New England Cheesemaking, which keeps in the freezer for a very long time - as do the yogurt cultures, which I also use. I save some of the buttermilk for culturing the next batch as I make butter at least once a week and I have done about 10 repeat cultures before starting a new batch. I sometimes alternate between regular "sweet cream" butter (no culture) and cultured butter. I put the cultured butter into a rectangular butter container (glass with a top that seals tightly) and the regular butter in one of the round 1 pound molds and in one of my vintage butter dishes with the domed top, so I know the difference without having to taste.

I went with a friend to a restaurant in Costa Mesa a few years ago that served giant cheesy popovers that were baked in large coffee mugs. And they were served right in the mugs. They were the same size mugs in which they served caffe lattes.

I make butter all the time - used to use an electric churn but now use my Thermomix and I have posted my process with photos earlier in this thread. One quart of heavy cream will yield close to 1 1/2 pound of "sweet cream" butter. If I "culutre" the cream, the yield is somewhat higher - in one instance, using "Manufacturing Cream" one quart yielded more than 1 3/4 pounds of butter. Buttermaking is easy.

I received some gift cards so bought myself a new 3-pound bread machine. I like having the extra volume to play with because I find the bread machine handy for mixing and proofing the dough which I then pull out before the baking cycle begins. I can use regular loaf pans, pullman pans, bannetons for the final proof when baking directly on a stone. This is a recently introduced machine Black and Decker and inexpensive (compared to some of my other bread machines). I got it yesterday, tried it last night and am very well pleased with the first effort - a raisin/nut slightly sweet loaf, which I allowed to bake in the machine (after removing the beaters at the end of the last knead) and it rose to the very top of the pan, browned nicely and was baked all the way through. I'm going to write a review for Amazon after I have tried a few more bread varieties.

I have a pair. I think I used them once, maybe twice. I have arthritis in my right hand so they are not functional for me. Then I saw one of the PBS food shows with someone using one of these (Norpro makes one that does not work well) so I ordered one and am very please with the ease of use and the resulting finely minced herbs. I tend to chop a lot of herbs for certain dishes - tabbouleh, for instance. Chives for cheddar cheese/chive soup and etc. (Amazon has one that looks identical for twice the price)

I've never used anything but milk. I wouldn't use buttermilk because the acid might keep the batter from puffing as desired because buttermilk produces a much more tender "crust" on other baked goods and that's not what you want in a popover. I would make them with a traditional recipe a few times, and then try some experiments. This informative article from The Kitchn should help some.

I'm not sure it's the same pan. Amazon is frequently light on clear and complete descriptions. It's the same pan that I have. I just weighed mine - 1 lb. 13 oz. so the shipping weight (2 pounds) shown is correct. And as I mentioned earlier, if you look and feel of the interior of these cups, it will not seem like "non-stick" coating. I have a lot of Chicago Metallic bakeware, including some cake pans that are at least 30 years old - had them prior to moving up here 25 years ago and I still use them, same with my sheet pans and 1/2 size sheet pans.

I've been an Amazon Prime member since it was first offered. I buy a lot at Amazon and have saved a bundle in shipping costs over the years. I also have the Nordicware petite popover pan - which I had completely forgotten about until I saw in on the page to which you linked. Thanks for doing that - now I have to check in the cabinet where all the rectangular baking pans are stored (on edge) to see if it has been pushed to be back and hidden by one of the other 23 pans in there. Since there is now an Amazon warehouse in southern California, If I order something "Ships from and sold by Amazon" - like this popover pan - before 10 a.m., I will get it the following day with the FREE two-day shipping.

That "Armor-glide" coating is not like regular consumer type non-stick coatings. You still have to grease the cups. That's the one I have and it has been exposed to very high temps.

My absolute favorite "toasting" bread is a homemade salt-rising bread that has a slightly "cheesy" flavor that can't be duplicated by simply adding grated cheese to bread dough, although a nice, sharp Asiago does come close. The tricky part is getting the starter right - I have an electric yogurt maker that has a high dome which holds a 2-quart container and ferment the starter in that. When Van De Kamp's bakery was still operational, they sold a salt rising bread that was excellent and one had to get to the markets early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, (delivery days) because it always sold out early. The King Arthur Flour web site has a treatise and recipe for the bread - KA used to sell a starter mix but it was discontinued a couple of years ago, I think.

Do you preheat the popover pan, if so when does it go in the oven? I'd put in the shortening and preheat it while mixing the batter. Wait ten minutes then ladle in the batter Absolutely preheat the pan. The batter should sizzle as it first drops into the cups. I generally prepare the batter and set it aside to "rest" for about 30 minutes. During this time I turn on the oven, grease the cups or muffin pan, (I also sometimes make "mini" popovers using custard cups - the ceramic kind) and place them in the oven to pre-heat for about 10 minutes.

Did you vent the popovers after they come out of the oven? It's essential to let the hot air and moisture from the insides escape before they have a chance to condense. Not doing so leads to gummy interiors. Of course I vented them. I've been making popovers for fifty years. I read an article that advised putting the batter into cold cups and a cold oven and they took longer to rise (naturally a hot pan gives a "kick" to the batter) and after venting, they shrunk quite a bit as it seemed the wall structure was not as firm. They were not up to my standards.

I like the Costco shop towels also but I make sure they are 100% cotton, some are not. I like the "flour-sack" towels but you have to know what you are getting, some are thin and useless. Smart & Final stores carry these in bundles of a dozen and they are thick and very absorbent, can be folded to use as hot pads but are large enough to cover a tray of rising rolls or a large bowl.

Here is the link to the recipe I posted. http://www.melindalee.com/recipes/popovers-and-yorkshire-pudding/ It's also on the Let's Talk forum and on several other internet sites.

I wouldn't be without a food mill. I have a Foley, the big one, 3.5 quart, which I bought about ten years ago to replace an older Foley that lasted 30 years. I make applesauce by chopping whole apples, skin, seeds and all and putting them through the mill which separates the pulp. It's not fancy and doesn't have interchangeable plates but for my needs is perfect.

I've tried it and for me it did not work. The popovers rose but the insides were gummy and the inner spaces smaller. I like for them to puff so there are large hollow spaces inside so I can fill them with either a savory or sweet filling. They were also tough - they looked okay but to me the texture and flavor are more important than appearance. These are mine, light, tender and with big open spaces inside.