Eden

timing is everything - I just dropped one of my lids in a parking lot & snapped the handle (along with scraping the enamel a bit ) and I wouldn't have known about the Stainless replacement handle without this thread - thanks!

Re the judging That's great to hear - thanks. When you're talking to said Bravo & Magical Elves people please do let them know how much more we're enjoying the professional personal-drama free atmosphere of this show in comparison to the regular TopChef!

They are! Having my favorite Kefir nearby seems like it will be a good thing in spite of the tiny spaces (as long as most of us continue to do our primary shopping at local places like the Ballard Market so TJs doesn't drive them out of business...)

newspaper covered with (sterilized) steer manure works nicely too.

I am considering using the crockpot technique on some leeks - I want to see if they behave similarly...

I used to love Worldspice back when Tony was still the owner, but both the quality and the customer service have plummeted since he left. The people behind the counter have been downright surly to me at times, not to mention claiming my cooking groups spice blends, which we had shared with Tony, as their own recipes

Last night was Beef roast and Broiled (green) Beans, Baked polenta gnocchi and Beverages from Bottles Beef roast is actually an anomaly around here for some reason, so it really was breaking out of the mold for us. The Polenta & the greenbeans are in regular rotation...

I'm rerally surprised they didn't send Fabio home, rather than Jeff. He keeps skating through on cute accent & charm, but on the actual cooking side my impression is that he is tutto fumo niente arrosto.

Didn't Lord Byron used to drink vinegar? I would grab the occasional swig of vinegar for years til the moring I was stressing out before cooking a large banquet & gulped down the last bit of a bottle into my apparently already acidic stomach - results were not happy & I can't bring myself to pick the habit back up....

we use trays when we have guests, but don't bother when it's just the two of us. They're great when serving ice-cream especailly. Bill will scoop out his creation of the day into a dozen tiny bowls & bring them all to the table at once.

so how DO you make mozzarella in a crock pot??? I have a friend who is lactose intolerant, but can hnadle small amounts of goat & sheep milk, so being able to make a mozzarella for her would be lovely. Note that I have made both firm & soft cheeses in the past but never Mozz.

in addition to these & subsequent items mentioned, over the dairy department you have yoghurt & sourcream to add a nice acid component to a dish. Green gooseberries can add sour as well.

my sweet cicely thrives in a similar bed. and the lovage did well there till it got truly cold...

Great idea. Our fridge is clearly a refuge for stray condiments, because half the time there's no room for anythng else in there & moving things aside to see what's in back, or clean up any spills is no small task.

Our party here in Seattle (far far from the maddening crowd) will also be fairly casual, but with some appropriately themed treats. Because they're local AND we know that the Obamas like them we'll be enjoying Fran's Salted Caramels (yumm) Of course there will be arugula - if it's wrapped in prosciutto with some pomegranate glaze it should be elitist enough for anybody Cribbed from a local bookstore there will also be "campaign trail mix". Purplechick I like your suggestion of something Kenyan, I will look into that, and am considering Mr. Obama's chili recipe as an easy "leave the crock pot on low & people can serve themselves" dish. I'm leaning towards Martha Washington's Rum Punch, and of course we'll be imbibing a lot of sparkling beverages! I feel like we're neglecting Mr. Biden, but a Pot Pie is nust not a good party food...

One of my favorite dishes is Turkish carrot salad. it's grated carrots cooked in Olive oil, then mixed with yoghurt & minced garlic - so good & you should be able to get all the ingredients locally. There are a bout a dozen versions available online any of which should be fine I'd think.

you can also reheat in the oven if you're making more than your toaster will hold.

Funny it was reminding me of the old Japanese square egg widget. If I make another batch this way I will post photos, but yes it would work perfectly in said foodscape You're killing me! I just got rid of an easter egg muffin pan like this one, but without the decorations, that would have worked beautifully because "I was never gong to use it"

I am trying to find a way to reasonably cook 150 individual eggs at once, so the egg poaching tip intrigued me. (They could also potentially be baked or fried, just not scrambled or hard boiled, if anyone has suggestions) Since I already use the heavyweight Vaccuum sealer bags for the boil-in-bag cooking technique, and figure thaat since they're marketed for this application they should presumably be "safer" than the clingwrap, I tried varying the method by putting my eggs into little vaccum bags. They did indeed cook perfectly, so the tip is awesome from that perspective, but they came out as scary looking industrially square pillow shaped eggs just not appetizing! I'm going to try baking eggs in muffin tins & then reheating them stovetop for my next round of "eggsperiments" since we will not have spare oven space at the time we want the eggs

I love the original piece! Thank goodness the kitten was saved I agree that angelfood cake ought to be OK, along with the standard names of other dishes like Saltimboca, but I would probably reject possesive names like "mom's potroast" or "Bob''s angelfood cake". I'm not sure where dishes like Joe's Special fall in there...

Just wanted to add a link to last year's fabulous thread... looking forward to this years contributions. It being only the 2nd and the fridge still packed with leftovers I have yet to cook anything new to me...

I made this upscale version of an ice-cream cake recently & it was really excellent. I can't see why a more traditional one couldn't be good too.

What if you put (well supported) hooks directly on the ceiling so there was no height wasted by the pot rack? As long as you're careful not to hang any pots/tools longer than 20" in the space you should be OK? or suspended some kind of shelf at 6'2" and set pots etc on it instead of hanging them? Good luck - I hate low ceilings and at 5'4" I have a lot less to complain about than you do!

I don't actually do Vegan cooking as a rule, but one of my friends is allergic to eggs (and chocolate, and flour and... ) so many of the sweets I make for her end up being vegan... I really recommend that if you expect to do much of this type of cooking you mail order some flax seed, and make flax seed goo* as an egg substitute. I just made a vegan version of this Hazelnut Clementine Cake subbing in a scant 1/4 cup of flax goo per egg and it came out beautifully. *Basic Flax Seed Goo Bring 1/3 cup of water and 1-2 tbsp of whole flaxseeds (per egg you want to replace) to a boil, Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until liquid is gooey & highly reminiscent of eggwhites. Strain out and discard the flaxseeds.

mmm delicate italian lasagna with besciamella it's been far far too long since I had that. my husband's favorite pasta dish is Penne all'Arrabbiata On the sweet side I also love a good Tuscan Schiacciata all'Uva and Siennese Panforte