MelissaH

There are times when a taste would be nice. For example, in a Mexican restaurant, I'd sometimes like to know how spicy a specific salsa is, before I order a dish that I may or may not be able to handle. (And if the dish turns out to be intolerably hot to me, then I'd have to order something else, and wait for it to come, and presumably pay for it.) This is particularly the case if I'm visiting somewhere and don't have a grasp on how "hot" the taste buds run there. (The "hot" where I live now would barely qualify as "medium" in other places I've lived.) If the server can correlate the heat level to something I've already tasted, such as maybe the salsa with the chips and salsa, that helps. But in this case, just telling me that it's medium hot doesn't really help me, as much as just a taste would.

(Speaking as an editor here) It's not necessarily a bad thing to have each recipe as an individual computer file. It's just a matter of having the right tool to organize the individual files into a cohesive book. I may be in a minority, but I actually do sit down and read cookbooks from cover to cover. When I put a meal together, though, more often than not I mix and match recipes from different books, or with an old standby or something like rice where I don't need a cookbook. For me, what is crucial is being able to find a recipe again, if I decide I like it enough to put it into my computer and therefore into my personal recipe library. And because of this, an index is an absolute necessity for me. I think you can organize it however you want. But also think about your users. If you intend for people to actually cook from your book, make sure it's possible to find a recipe within its pages. As Smithy said, diversions from the norm can make readers tear their hair out trying to find something. But a good index can help immensely.

I am not a fan of canola oil, as I am one of those who detects a fishy odor even in a newly-opened bottle. Yuck. I'm currently auditioning for a general-use neutral vegetable oil.

10 by 10 sticks out awkwardly from a bookcase. This might not be a problem if you're the type to keep books on your coffee table, but if I tried to do that, the table would collapse under the weight.

Safe travels. Since the ferry is done for the season, I guess this will be a little longer drive than the trip up was?

What is the difference between stem ginger and the ginger in the produce section? Is stem ginger just candied ginger?

Well, the other option is for you to lend me your freeze dryer. (Or just bring some kimchi and let me know the next time you head over the bridge to this side of the border.)

I'd also wonder about trying just the freeze-dried kimchi powder with a little sesame oil as the sticking agent. However, someone with a freeze dryer will have to try that experiment.

How would Umami Bombi work, crumbled into popcorn?

I'm with lindag and andiesenji: I use a timer, if only because that way I'm not likely to get distracted and return to a cup of stone-cold overbrewed tea.

Looks nice! If any of the cupcakes are left still, how do the colors hold up over time? Do they dull or fade?

I tend to do my kitchen torching in the vicinity of my stove, which has continuous cast iron grates. And that's typically where I rest my torch head to cool: right on the stove grate. While I understand their warnings and cautions and aversion to being sued by someone who doesn't follow the directions, I'm also loath to buy another torch when I have one that works quite nicely for everything else I do with a torch. Maybe when I kill this one, I'd consider going back to one with the cylinder underneath, but I hate the idea of spending at least another $50 on top of whatever the Searzall will cost when it's available for purchase by regular people, plus whatever consumables it will require, just because. Or maybe I just spent too much time in grad school, where you have to make do with what you have?

Last month, I let a friend use my kitchen to bake her older daughter's birthday cake. The daughter had requested a "real flour" red velvet cake. (One of her younger kids has celiac disease, so she couldn't make the cake at home.) The red came from beet puree. I liked it way better than a store-bought red velvet cake: it was not as blatantly red, but the flavor was a vast improvement over a bottle of red food coloring. (And, hey, beet puree adds a bit of fiber, so maybe the cake became health food?)

And, I would add, be able to carry out a conversation with my tablemates or the waitstaff.

Chris, may I ask why, now that you've used one? I find that I have better control over the torch with the hose, since I don't need to support the weight of both the torch and the canister while I flame-throw. The canister rides on my hip, in a holster that clips to my waistband. With the canister directly attached, I find that my wrist gets tired much faster.

This might be a silly question, but my torch is a few years old. It's a Bernzomatic with a trigger start that burns propane, with a hose between the torch head and the tank. I just took a close look at the torch, but don't see any model number or other way to identify it. Any guesses as to how I might be able to tell whether this torch would work with a Searzall, or is it a case of "If you have to ask, no"?

Applesauce, sour cream, or both to go with those potato pancakes?

One that we've used in the past is The Appetizer Atlas. But for other appetizer-type books, I tend to gravitate to caterer types: Ina Garten, even <shudder> Martha Stewart.

Unless there's a good single-serving rice cooker available, I'd think frozen rice would be more efficient for someone who's feeding one at a time.

Anna, could you give a little more detail about the chicken stock? What else went into the pressure cooker? Did you do anything to the bird other than unwrap it, check for a giblet pack hiding where the sun don't shine, and toss it in the pot?

Our local orchard says to store apples in the refrigerator, so I do. The only onions I refrigerate are "sweet" onions like vidalias. Regular cured onions stay out, but sweet onions aren't as dry and go bad in a snap if I try to keep them on the counter. Avocados stay out till they're perfectly ripe, and then the go in the fridge if I'm not ready to use them.

Andie, if I lived closer, I'd be one of the first on your doorstep to help out with the vigorous stirring and other hard labor associated with cookie baking. But instead, I'll just wish you an easy and uneventful recovery, and a fast return to the kitchen.

I understand. I know you've already made your mind up, but my next-door neighbor does a fantastic shrimp-on-a-stick version: a blanched snap pea pod and a cooked shrimp, on a toothpick, sprinkled with sesame oil, salt, and black sesame seeds. Tasty and easy!

Well, if you're lucky, by the time you're ready to bring it home, the cider will be ready to be transferred into a secondary fermenter, and will have blown off all its foam and whatever else it's going to spray off. Did you happen to bring a hygrometer or refractometer with you, so you can keep track of the fermentation and know when it can safely be put into a container with a lid?

Would a couple of drops of sesame oil help to maintain the gloss during the cold rest?