andiesenji

You won't be sorry. After using it for awhile, most people wonder why they put it off for so long...

I've ordered several when they have had these sales in the past - for myself, for gifts, for donating to a specialized charity auction, etc. It's a very good deal.

Yes. Freeze them immediately. Otherwise pick them all, peel them and blanch them in two changes of water squeeze them as dry as possible and freeze the peels. Process the pulp for juice, strain and freeze that for later use.

I order many items from L'epicerie - especially from the Hard-To-Find Bakery items. Many of the products are available elsewhere only in large batches for commercial kitchens. L'epicerie makes them available for home cooks and bakers in reasonable amounts, at reasonable prices. The flavors and the pastes and purees are extraordinary. I recently ordered the Guittard black cocoa powder and the coffee paste and am very pleased with both. (I ordered other items but have yet to use them.) I also used the Blood orange puree with the cake I made using the black cocoa. Lovely flavor combination.

Lovely Christmas breakfast, Kim. I baked stollen in a loaf pan so it would be easier to slice for toast. Otherwise I did very little baking this year, no cookies at all, no fruitcake.

It tastes more like some imported Irish bacon I bought some time back than it does like regular bacon. I've never found any store-bought bacon that had so little fat. I cooked 14 ounces and got less than 1/4 cup grease from it. And the fat is naturally yellow, which they tell me is due to the herbal stuff they eat in the pasture. They broadcast a seed mixture of alfalfa, broad beans, kale, sorrel, salsify and a few other green herbs and hemp.

Gas house eggs/sheepherder bread/free-range, extra-large eggs. Bacon on the side. in an 11-inch skillet. The yolks of these eggs are much larger than usual - from an heirloom breed.

In the 70s there was a big fad for making Tom & Jerrys from a homemade mix that was kept in the freezer, based on ice cream, eggs, brown sugar and spices. Broguiere's Dairy in Montebello, CA makes their eggnog with eggnog ice cream and actually demonstrated this process on the PBS Huell Howser show a few years ago. There is nothing else like it in commercial eggnog. I know people who live north of me, near Bishop, who will drive all the way down to Montebello in mid-December to buy a couple of cases of the stuff (still in glass bottles) because it is so good.

Continuing post about my gift of home-cured bacon. Yesterday I got my electric slicer out and sliced the whole slab, vacuum sealed in manageable portions and then I cooked some of it PARTIALLY and vacuumed sealed that. Some I cooked fully - pictured here. It did not shrink very much - after cooking the strips were about an inch shorter than when raw. You can see it is very, very lean and I wish you could taste the flavor - it is phenomenal. Just a hint of smokiness, not much salt and very, very sweet - has a pecan flavor.

Gloucester, which is in Gloucestershire,and only 20 miles from Cirencester. . Wonderful meat the pigs have. Since I posted, I have been corrected, the pig breed is indeed Gloucestershire OLD Spot. My friend bought a breeding pair plus a younger female from a breeder in Illinois, four years ago, along with a pair of "Large Blacks" and is raising them the "traditional" way allowing the hogs to forage in pastures planted with a mix of legumes and grain (no corn) and in the orchards that were on the ranch when he bought it (apples and almonds). He says they don't fatten as rapidly as hogs fed on commercial foods but they also aren't getting any hormones or antibiotics. He is still building his stock and trading young pigs for breeding with other breeders to expand the gene pool, but eventually wants to sell the meat to restaurants, etc.

I had this hand-written in a notebook had to transcribe it into Word so I can post it here. Jamaican Black Beans and Rice modified by me from a recipe from Malee Jones 1/2 pound black beans (my friend originally wrote "turtle beans") 2 cups rice (long-grain white) two cans coconut milk (she used fresh young coconut, grated and strained) 3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed 3 green onions, finely chopped or one leek (white part only) chopped 1/4 teaspoon allspice, ground 1 smallish hot pepper - original recipe calls for Scotch Bonnet but it's too hot for me - I use about half a Jalapeno, removing the seeds and membranes chop fine. ( I have also use Rocoto or Manzano peppers but I don't know if they are available where you are.) 4-5 inch stem of fresh thyme or 1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried thyme, depends on how much you like it. Salt about a teaspoon of sea salt. Water. Pick over the beans, wash and soak for two-three hours in heavily salted water. Rinse well… to remove the salt. Put the beans in a large pot, add the allspice and garlic Add about a quart of water Cook over high heat till water boils. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until most of the water has been absorbed. Add the coconut milk PLUS 2 cans of water to the pot of beans. Add the green onions, the pepper, thyme and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile wash the rice well and soak until the time is up. Drain the rice and add to the bean pot. Stir well to blend. Cover the pot with a tight lid. Cook over LOW heat for 30 minutes, check after 15-20 minutes to make sure the bottom is not scorching. Check the rice, if the dish is dry on the bottom and the rice is not done (al dente) add some more water continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes or so. The dish should be fairly dry - similar to the Cajun red beans and rice. I like to toss in some crisp cooked bacon, or ham or leftover pork roast. My Jamaican friend serves this with jerk chicken or pork along with a fruit salad.

Don't give up on all grinders. In this photo, the ones standing all dispense from the top - the two lying down I no longer use - the clear acrilic one is just for display with a "medley" of different colored peppercorns. Note the hollow in the bottoms. Neither of these was the spider habitat - that one went straight into the trash (outside). I really like the Trudeau Graviti grinders, it is very easy to change the grind from coarse to fine and back again by the top "toggle" that adjusts the mechanism.

One of the reasons I "graduated" to the battery-powered "dispense from the top" pepper mills was I was regularly cleaning the bottoms of the regular ones with a stiff brush and on one occasion I found a spider had taken up residence in the cavity. I did have a nice long rectangular tray on which they lined up, and which kept the counter clean but that little visitor did make me think about what else might be living in there... My old brass ones have their own "cups" but the wooden ones do not.

Me too. My favorite for the traditional Jamaican Black beans and rice dish.

I don't drink alcohol (allergic) but I like to keep up with new ideas for my guests. This sounds something like what my great grandmother used to call "Tipsy Tea" also made with Irish whiskey, tea, treacle plus a cinnamon stick and a few peppercorns. Possibly lemon but I only have the rest of it in a note from one of her journals.

Some peppercorns are deliberately "aged" and others are meant to be used as soon as possible but they all retain their basic flavors for a long time and in some the more subtle and "fruity" flavors become easier to taste as the pungency of the heat reduces with age. I have green and pink peppercorns that are at least three or four years old and still have plenty of flavor. You can always crush a couple in a mortar and see how flavorful they are - or not.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days and I have come to the conclusion that the BEST dish I prepared this year, the tastiest and the most appreciated by my guests (2) was the Lasagna Timpano I prepared last February. It sounds complicated but is really just following the step-by-step instructions and I used an easier method than the traditional. It looks spectacular, tastes wonderful and I have yet to find anyone who doesn't like it or even love it.

If they are exposed to moisture they can rot or fungus can develop on them. I don't keep the grinders I have near the stove (or near the sink) so they are not exposed to changes in heat or to steam, grease vapor, etc., and I have never had a problem. Crush a few of the peppercorns themselves before you do anything drastic to the grinders. Put large crystal salt mixed with baking soda and corn starch through the grinder - that combination will clean the burrs and the outflow mechanism.

Do you mean variety, brand, type of brew or what?? Your question is lacking in specifics, especially for California with its diverse population. Frankly, there are so many types and brands of tea and so many ways of brewing it that it is difficult to say what "most" people prefer. It's not the same as in the south where "sweet tea" iced, is that which is consumed by most people.

I have an older Supentown and a newer Max Burton 6050 with the interface disc that allows me to use my Corning ware and copper pans on it. I had another, can't recall the name, that I gave to a friend. I think it may have been Waring - bought it at Costco. With the disk I can put a 12 qt Calphalon stock pot 3/4 filled with water and have it at a rolling boil in 10 minutes - faster than the 18000 btu burner on my gas cooktop.

12 months? I use horseradish all year long - lots of vegetable dishes are vastly improved with a hint of horseradish - braised parsnips and carrots dressed with horseradish butter. Horseradish cheese sauce to top baked or oven-roasted potatoes or in which to dip steak fries. Horseradish mashed potatoes is a perfect addition to shepherd's pie. And horseradish sauce for "shaved beef" sandwiches. Add a little horseradish to current jelly to make a great condiment for game - venison, goose, etc. I don't eat fish from the ocean but I prepare a seafood dipping sauce for shrimp using horseradish, ketchup, etc. I don't buy it, I have a plant that has been in a large tub for several years (it has to be contained or will spread all over the garden). When I need some, I yank up the whole plant, break off a chunk of the root and re-plant it. (has to be in loose, sandy, well-drained soil.) I grate it outside, wearing gloves, mask and goggles. I brine it for a couple of days to mute a bit of the heat, then rinse, squeeze dry and then mix (sparingly, a bit at a time) to whatever sauce I am making.

You can use them in bran muffins, other muffins, pancakes, etc. There are several recipes for date puddings but I tried this one last year and it is excellent. You can also substitute them for any dried fruit in steamed puddings. My Moroccan cookbooks have several recipes for chicken with dates - I found this one a few years ago and have prepared it several times for guests - it is a great buffet dish because it just gets better as it keeps warm in a heated buffet server. I set out rice, couscous and broad noodles over which to serve it. However, the chopped dates do dry out more rapidly than whole dates. If this happens, don't soak them, steam them, which will rehydrate and soften them perfectly without adding excess liquid to your recipe. A Lebanese friend serves a dish made with lamb and dates - I don't care for lamb so have never made it but people who like lamb say it is very good, very rich.

I love the battery-operated pepper grinders. I have several because I use different types of peppercorns. When I took the photo on this page in 2010 I had 3 of the Trudeau graviti elite, now I have six, plus a couple of others. I haven't seen the Wm. Bounds until now. Let me know how it works as I have added some more types of peppercorns to my "collection."

Got another gift basket of cheeses - this one from iGourmet, from an unexpected quarter - someone for whom I did a favor several months ago and which I had completely forgotten. I won't have to buy any cheese for awhile... Also today was gifted with a slab of home-cured bacon from an ex-neighbor to whom I gave my big smoker/barbecue a couple of years ago when they moved to a little ranch. Home grown hog he says is a "Glouster odd spot" (?sp).

I agree with Trader Joe's but if you have a Jewish deli anywhere near, you can buy their "fresh" horseradish in a little tub and I will guarantee it will be hot enough - even when cut half and half with sour cream... They usually have a selection, plain, creamed and with beet (pink).