MomOfLittleFoodies

How about adapting a bran muffin into a cakelike thing?

How about a Japanese cookie called Couque D'Asses? I giggle every time I see them.

I like wraps, but I'm picky about them. I prefer them on lavosh or a nice, fresh, very thin flour tortilla.

The river isn't terribly deep, and they probably have someone in a boat with a net near the pumps to check the population of smelt. It's been in the high 90s, low 100s in the area this week, doesn't surprise me that the smelt are moving to cooler water. Previous week we were in the mid to high 80s.

My maternal grandfather is of the same generation as your stepfather, and he calls the noodles by their proper names. That may or may not have something to do with being married to my Nana (born and raised in Japan, emigrated in the early 50s) for 55 years.

I'm glad to hear that your wife is home, and hope the hangover tomorrow isn't too terrible.

I volunteered to make cupcakes for the end-of-the-year party at my daughter's preschool. I used a box mix because I was short on time, and as I was going to switch my mixer off, I pulled the lever the wrong way. Let's just say the batter got about 20 seconds on high before I figured it out. The centers fell on the cupcakes. Thank god for frosting. LOL... they tasted ok, but had big air bubbles in the middle. None of the kids complained any.

My children seem convinced that Mom isn't supposed to sit at the table to eat. I'm supposed to gladly leap out of my seat every time someone drops a fork or wants something from the kitchen.

They only need to turn off the pumps until the smelt move downriver from the pumps... and that happens as soon as the water starts to warm up some.

I can understand that, seeing how over litigious (sp?) people can be these days.

But even a Big Mac and Velveeta Slices and even Hamburger Helper are full of comfort food merit. I think a Foodie is one who appreciates all things from Big Macs to Filet Mignon with Truffles. ← I agree, although I still think of Velveeta more as fish bait than food.

K8Memphis, I've been dealing with food allergies (not just peanuts either) for almost 10 years now, peanut allergy specifically for almost 7. I understand better than most what an enormous responsibility it is. I didn't need the refresher. I'd say that I'm pretty careful about my kids allergies. I scout out restaurants and products before the food ever touches their mouth. Our extended families don't keep their kitchens completely allergen free, and yes, they do cook for my children. Soap and water removes the residual oils and proteins from their pots, pans, bowls etc... they know the drill on cross contamination and are extremely careful. I figure that if a restaurant can do the same thing, that it's safe enough for us. I take my kids to carefully selected restaurants that can accomodate my kids needs for using a clean pan and utensils to cook their food, and guess what? They've never had an allergic reaction at a restaurant. Bakeries are still a no go for us but my 9 year old dreams of some day being able to eat a cookie from a bakery. I bake for him all the time but it just doesn't have the novelty of going to a bakery. I really hate the "cover your ass" allergen labeling... like a box of granola bars that said "may contain fish or shellfish". Did you know that labelling for cross contamination is completely voluntary? It's not required by the FDA at all. Typically if I find a product that doesn't outright contain stuff my kids are allergic to, I call or e-mail the company that makes it and ask about cross contamination issues, whether they clean the lines between batches, etc. I'm comfortable with my kids allergens being in the same room as the food that's being prepared and long as things are kept clean. That's my comfort zone, and so far, my kids have been okay. I appreciate your concern and how you don't want to be responsible for a child having an allergic reaction, but to go out of your way to add allergens to your products just to avoiding dealing with the issue bothers me a bit... I can understand why you're doing it from a business standpoint, but it still bothers me.

It's been a long time since I've made regular chocolate chip cookies (until fairly recently I was baking without eggs do to one kiddos food allergies), and the recipe I used made chewy, but not overly thick cookies. Looking at the recipe now, they use brown sugar and honey instead of the typical brown sugar/white sugar combination. Something I noticed also helps make for thick cookies is to substitute shortening for half the amount of butter/margarine.

Why don't you ask the clients what they expect you to do? Ask them if cleaning your equipment well, and using peanut free ingredients is enough for them. Keep it reasonable. Most of us (people dealing with food allergies) don't expect restaurants and bakeries to have whole separate facilities because we know that's not reasonable. Most of the people who aren't comfortable with those conditions generally avoid restaurants where their allergens are on the menu. Some people get really neurotic about it, but that's a whole 'nother story.

Not everyone has a grandma who can bake and decorate a cake to the level that a bakery can. I did, but my kids don't. I'd be ashamed to show all you serious pastry people the cakes I've made my kids. I really need to look into Wilton classes or something. My 9 year old often says that the biggest bummer about the peanut/tree nut allergies is that he can't get anything from bakeries. There are a few bakeries out there that will cater to special requests, but as far as I know, none on the West Coast. On the food allergy communities I frequent online, there is quite a buzz going around about Babycakes in NYC. Most of the people who are really anal about the possibility of cross contamination from aerosolized peanuts are not the sorts that order from bakeries or eat in restaurants.

'Should be' is good enough if it is for yourself. 'Should be' is not good enough for my retail establishment. ← Use a clean scrubber and soap to clean your equipment and it should be fine. My mother-in-law uses peanuts and nuts a lot when she bakes, and she uses the same equipment after thorough cleaning for my peanut and tree nut allergic son. It's never been a problem. Check over at peanutallergy.com, on the discussion boards... they have product recommendations out the wazoo. People with food allergies are a very underserved segment of the market, and we're generally thrilled with an establishment goes out of their way to try to help us rather than telling us no just to avoid the hassle.

I picked up a loaf of shokupan at the local Pan-Asian market... here are the ingredients. Unbleached enriched flour, Water, Egg White, Sugar, Butter, Powdered Non-Fat Milk, Yeast, Salt. Hope this helps!

I've had similar rolls called "Philadelphia Rolls". Nothing to do with the city, more to do with the brand name of cream cheese. They're good, although getting used to the texture takes a bit of time. The worst thing I've had in a sushi roll was raw carrot.

There are a lot of theories, some make better sense than others. Everything from how our foods are processed compared to decades prior, to cleanliness and vaccinations. The really confusing part is that the peanut allergy rate in places like China, where peanuts are typically boiled rather than roasted, is not as high. My oldest is peanut allergic, and let me tell you, at least in the US, trying to find peanut free cupcakes, cookies, granola bars and chocolate is a pain in the ass if you have to rely on the packaged stuff.

Thanks, I was thinking along the same lines but wasn't sure how to play with the formula. Ill add this to my list of shokupan experiments. ← I'm used to having to tweak recipes because of food allergies, and typically when you're dealing with eggs, you have the protein component (the egg white) and the fat component (the yolk). In egg breads, the egg is there as a leavener. When I was adapting recipes to eliminate eggs, I was always having to add a little extra fat to make up for the lack of egg yolks.

The "el chirper" tacos have me dying laughing.

Try a challah recipe, but use only the egg whites rather than the whole eggs. You may need to add some extra fat because you're removing the egg yolk, but it should give you the same texture without the color.

The teacher that my 2 oldest kids had for kindergarden raises guide dog puppies, According to the information we got from field trips to the guide dog place, the screening process for guide dogs is pretty extensive. Generally distractable or bad tempered dogs get dropped from the program.

That chunk of monkfish looked like part of a human anatomy model. The way you smoked is very intriguing though. Your produce wranglers are adorable. It's a kick seeing little kids eat foods that most people don't think of giving to kids.

Another type of service animal are seizure alert dogs.