lperry

Also, if any of the lids bulge later, throw it out. If it smells funky, throw it out. When in doubt, well, you guessed it... That said, I think I've only thrown out one or two jars over a lifetime of canning.

Thank you for this thread! In my quest to rid the herb garden of excess mint, I've been trying various cocktails. I made my Southside in the proportions listed above with Sapphire gin and Angostura bitters. Delicious. I will definitely make it again.

Look at the bottom of the pot - is it concave with just a rim of metal at the edge? If so, hardly any of the base will be in contact with the burner, if any at all (if the pot is very big and the concavity is wide). My old water bath canner is like that.

From what I understand, traditionally fufu was made from yams - members of the genus Dioscorea, not Ipomoea. More recently as manioc farming has replaced traditional yam farming, often due to deteriorating soil conditions or desertification, it is used. Manioc was originally domesticated in South America and was imported to Africa.

Fufu typically refers to pounded starchy pastes that are made into a sort of mashed-potato-like or porridge-y substance in parts of Africa or in areas colonized by these Africans. (Although you probably knew that.) You pretty much have a box of instant mashed plantains. Cook it up and make something interesting to pour over it. Alternatively, you can look up recipes for mofongo from Puerto Rico. That would be plantain fufu with stuff in it instead of on top of it. Edited to say parts of Africa, because Africa is really big.

I grew up in Orange Park, and every year, one of my friends who now lives in London comes home and takes her girls to the Alligator Farm. I have never been, and, honestly, I never thought I would have any reason to go. But my friend always says the kids LOVE it. If you have time, just around the corner is Anastasia Island Park, a gorgeous beach. You can drive your car down the strip and lounge around a while. Pack a cooler and have a great time!

Whitey's Fish Camp is a local institution in Orange Park. And face it. How many places can you visit a restaurant/fish camp/RV park?

This page might help.

Since you're already getting more advice than you really wanted, here's mine. Find out about "old" varieties that grow in Atlanta. My grandparents lived off Northside Drive for 40 years and had Brown Turkey figs that were maintenance-free and full of fruit every year. They rooted cuttings and had amazing harvests. Recent drive-bys have spotted the trees still standing. On my uncle's farm in central Florida, there is an old, old, old Pineapple pear that has been living at least 70 years. Nobody can remember who planted it or when, but every year, it is covered with so many fruit that the branches get propped up so they don't split. (OK, so that's really our fault for not culling more). That one's had cuttings rooted of it as well, and the first ones were taken about fifteen years ago when we were all sure that tree was going to die. The only thing that gets done to this tree is the pears get picked and an occasional broken limb gets pruned. Those are the two most impressive examples of many, but the take home message is that the old varieties are more disease resistant, they bear unfailingly, and to make things even better, the fruit has more flavor than many of the newer varieties I've tried. A pineapple pear may not be as pretty as a Bartlett, but I'd rather have great flavor and more of them.

^ You and every woman in my family, including me! You just don't mess with someone's biscuits.

It will keep because the sugar is a preservative, it just may not gel because packaged pectin is really picky about how and when it works. This is one instance when you really do have to follow directions. The worst case scenario is that you made a bunch of runny strawberry topping that you can use on waffles and ice cream. Edited to say - if you use powdered pectin the first time, you can recook it using liquid if you really want jam. Be sure to buy one that says to add the pectin after boiling everything else together.

^Hmmmm. Parboiling/blanching is discussed, and I know of an analogue. Everywhere that I have had fried yuca, it has been precooked by boiling until tender, then it is fried. This is how I was taught to do it in Venezuela. It doesn't even require deep frying if it is parboiled - pan frying will do. It has always been crispy on the outside while retaining the nice, soft, dense texture on the inside. Just delicious. Not the same plant (or even the same plant family), but worth a go, I think. I'll give it a try next time I see sweet potatoes in the store. Hopefully, I won't have to wait until Thanksgiving...

I had fantastic, thick, crispy, soft in the middle SP fries in Vancouver. In more than one restaurant. They tended to get soggier the longer they sat, but I also agree that there seemed to be a starchy coating. They were called yam fries. I may Google that later to see what I can come up with.

Maybe this is a boring recommendation, but I like Fortnum and Mason classic Earl Grey.

What do you do with the mint vinegar? I like the sorbet idea. I'm imagining lemon-mint sorbet on a hot summer day...

When you make tabbouli, you can use about 1/4 mint with the parsley and it will be very nice. Mint is also good in summer rolls - the ones with the soft, rice paper wrapping. For preserving, you can always make your own mint jelly, and home grown mint dries beautifully. If you use it within the year, there will still be very good flavor if you seal it in a glass jar. I dry bunches every summer and use the leaves when I brew black tea for iced tea. Edited to add that mint tea is nice on its own and you can easily make your own using dried mint from your garden.

^Because a sandwich always tastes better if someone else makes it. I lived off delivery food in grad school when I was studying for my prelims. JJs was one of three restaurants I called, and they were always fast and good. By the time I took the exams, they knew my name and didn't even have to ask for the address. #12 it was. It's good to hear they are still around!

OK, I'll give. What are soap candies? I miss those peppermints that were red and white striped but weren't hard - they were like solidified foam. King Leo comes close. Then there were the clove flavored hard candy sticks....

I spent two weeks in Brazil drinking Caipirinhas, and now I want a muddler. (I've been faking it with handles from other kitchen tools). So I have a question for the cocktail experts. If I understand correctly, balancing flavors in cocktails is very important. Because of this, I'm thinking that a muddler made from plastic or glass might be good because it will not absorb flavors from one drink and deposit them in another. My point of reference is my wooden cutting board that is dedicated to onions and shallots. Citrus and herb oils can also be pretty strongly flavored. The issue, though is one of aesthetics. The wooden ones look so nice. Really nice. I like this one in particular. And the plastic ones look, well, plastic. And the glass one will inevitably bite the dust after a few drinks. And to top it off, most people who have responded here are using wooden ones. So has anyone any problems with flavor transfer with a wooden muddler? Am I worrying about nothing?

I'm not sure of the names of any of the stores - I was told about them and went! Unfortunately, this makes me less than helpful for anything but directions.

Whoops! I just wrote out a huge response for Columbia *Missouri*. I thought they had gotten a little upscale with the Met!

Penzey's does have really nice spices - I've been to the one in Falls Church - however, there's nothing like grabbing a half-pound of cloves for a couple of bucks at an Indian market. The turnover is so good that they are as good as Penzey's on freshness, and they blow them out of the water on price. The tradeoff is that you may not use it up before it loses flavor. It's all going to depend on how much you need.

How far out of DC are you willing to go? There's a good Indian market in Brookfield Plaza down Backlick Road just south of the beltway. There are other ethnic markets in there as well - here's a link to the website. There used to be a really nice store on Little River Turnpike, but it closed. The one on Columbia Pike by the Harris Teeter isn't as good as the one on Backlick. Happy shopping!

When I was at Tulane, we would head out toward Lake Ponchartrain at Christmas time to see the infamous decorations. The traffic was horrendous, but it was worth the wait. And way back then, the "nice" dinners that we could afford were almost always at Copeland's on St. Charles. I didn't even know he was ill. How very sad. Goodbye, Mr. Copeland.

I used up a big jar by putting some of them in the blender with chick peas for sun-dried tomato hummous. It takes a lot to get a real tomato flavor. I used up the rest by chopping them and mixing them into feta cheese. It's a quick and easy appetizer on toast, and a nice sandwich spread for lunch. My jar was tomatoes in oil - you can do the same with regular dried ones if you rehydrate them.