MelissaH

We have some fresh apple cider. I know we won't drink it all before it starts to turn fizzy, so I put some into a small saucepan and brought it up to a boil, then down to a simmer to reduce into boiled cider, since lately I've found more than a few recipes that call for it. My question: how much do I need to reduce my cider? I want to make something that won't take up much fridge space, but will still pour reasonably well. Thanks, MelissaH

Jumping in here, as my French is quite dysfunctional till I've had French and only French in my ears for a couple of days: You'll do fine! Go visit! MelissaH

The quirk I'd tell her about: make sure the oven is set up exactly the way you want it BEFORE you hit the clean button. I think that may be where my problem started. I hit clean, and then realized, "Oops, I wanted to leave the racks out this time to see if it makes a difference in how well they slide." I turned it off, pulled the racks out, and got the door closed again—but only after the latch had started its slide to the lock position. (You can see the latch when the door's open.) The door still closed without a problem, thanks to the way the latch is shaped, but I wonder if I inadvertently messed something up in the safety/lawyerproofing switches. Thankfully, it was a relatively easy, if time-consuming and energy-inefficient fix. MelissaH

Aren't Tuscan breads historically low in salt? Something to do with salt being taxed heavily, people learning to make do without, and the historical preference carrying through? MelissaH

Lonnie, Over the summer, my husband and I did a trip around Lake Ontario. We spent a night in Jordan Station, and greatly enjoyed visiting the Upper Canada Cheese Company and the Cave Spring winery. I'm afraid we won't be of much help with respect to restaurants, since we were camping and cooking our own. MelissaH

Cream of tartar and alum would both be considered mineral, not vegetable. There's nothing volatile, air-sensitive, or light-sensitive. These aren't particularly water-sensitive either. Baking powder and baking soda (both members of the mineral kingdom also) are water-sensitive. That's why you need to consider replacing these, whereas cream of tartar and alum would probably still be fine after decades, if a little hard. MelissaH

This week has been great fun. Thanks for taking us on! MelissaH

I think the vinegar is there as a kitchen-convenient and edible form of acid. Most vinegar is about 5% acetic acid in water, with a little bit of other compounds for color or flavor if it's anything but white vinegar. As I understand it, acid inhibits gluten formation, and would therefore help prevent the dough from turning tough. If water's an issue, I wonder if a solid acid, such as cream of tartar, would have the same effect. I'm guessing you need at least a little bit of gluten formation or the dough would just fall apart completely, but what would happen if you used all vodka, and a bit of cream of tartar to make your pie crust? MelissaH

My MIL puts vinegar in her pie crust, as well as an egg. She does it this way because it's how she learned from her mom and grandma. Despite the fact that she uses Crisco and not butter, her crusts always seem to turn out well. My MIL's grandmother wouldn't ever have dreamed of using alcohol in anything. The family story goes that the only question she ever got wrong on a driver's license exam is the question about the legal limit for blood alcohol content. She refused to answer, because she'd never use alcohol and therefore the question didn't apply to her. MelissaH

Peanut oil. I decided to try using peanut oil to re-lube the oven rack slides, since they (and not the rack themselves) are apparently the source of the rack stickiness post-cleaning. It's got the highest smoke point of the oils I keep around, so I decided to give it a shot. (If I'd had grapeseed oil, I would have used that, but we don't have any family or friends allergic to peanuts to worry about.) I poured some onto a folded paper towel, and greased all four rack heights, on both sides of the oven. And the racks slid slicker than...well, we won't go there. I used the oven for half a turkey breast. Put it on a rack over a cookie sheet, with some wedged and oiled potatoes. Convection, 375 degrees F, till the instant-read thermometer hit 165. Not a wisp of smoke to be seen. MelissaH

Which I think is a wonderful idea, especially if you can do so without adding a ton of extra sugar to the crust. MelissaH

Joy! All's well! I gave the oven a quick 90-minute self-clean cycle, during which I got some work done. I turned the oven off, went to do some more work, and came back half an hour later. The door locked light was still on, and—sure enough—the door was still locked. I jumped in the shower, and realized that I still had my glasses on. (Don't laugh too hard. I generally wear contact lenses. I just plain forgot, until I tried to get my face wet and then wondered why my eyelashes weren't getting blasted.) So after my shower, I needed to properly wash my glasses, which I prefer to do in the kitchen. And this time, the light was off and the door opened. It was all of 15 minutes later than the first time I'd tried. It's so tempting to take a hacksaw to the oven door latch. Moral of the story: make sure you pick a day with stable power to run a self-clean cycle. Once you hit the clean button, don't stop it for ANY reason. And stupid people who force companies to idiot-proof...or do I mean lawyer-proof? their equipment make me really angry!

Well, I discovered a big quirk yesterday. The oven door's still locked this morning. I called the number for service, and the first thing they recommended I do was kill the power by flipping the breaker and keeping it off for at least 30 seconds. When I came back upstairs, the "door lock" light was still on. So now I'm trying recommendation #2: running a short (1-2 hours) self-clean cycle, turning it off and letting it cool, and seeing if that does the trick. The person I spoke with said that sometimes the door will refuse to unlock if the self-clean cycle gets interrupted somehow. We've had problems with power failures this week, but I didn't think we'd had one yesterday. Nonetheless, in about an hour and a half, I'll be able to turn the oven back off, and a couple of hours after that it should be cooled down enough to open. IhopeIhopeIhope MelissaH

Today's big activity was the second self-cleaning cycle of the oven. This time I took the racks out, because they didn't seem particularly dirty. I also wanted to see whether the racks will slide smoothly if only the oven has been cleaned. It's been on the cool side here, but not too cold. This is good because I was able to open the windows and the sliding door. This time around, the kitchen heated up a bit, but I only smelled heat, not chemical-plasticky-yucky odors. So I guess whatever happened the first time was just stuff burning off, and we don't need to worry about it for the future. The self-clean cycle takes five hours, from the time you push the button and turn the knob to the time the fan clicks off and you can turn the oven off. The door's still locked, and I'm keeping an eye on it so I know how long it stays hot. MelissaH

Thanks, ludja, for coming up with the name that I couldn't remember. The only baking I've regularly done with rum is my mother's rum cake recipe, which consists of a doctored cake mix. There's never a problem with it turning out tough or heavy, but I suspect that's more a factor of the cake mix than the alcohol. Nonetheless, I'm intrigued by the possibilities of including alcohol in various baked goods, particularly WRT the identical recipes made with just water. MelissaH

Aha. I'd missed the part in your original post where you said they used vodka to replace "some" (not all) of the water. I agree with you that it's curious that they only use half vodka. And if CI really is as anal as they like to make themselves out to be, I'm amazed they didn't say more about the amount of alcohol to try. (Or did they? They don't seem to have the whole article available on line, and I don't have a hard copy in front of me yet.) I can't get Everclear here, but I think the general concept is definitely worth playing with. MelissaH

Along these lines, a German professor and I frequently discuss Austrian cuisine. (She tells me about it, and I go home and try it.) And she tells me that in an Austrian fried doughnut sort of thing (don't remember the proper name in German, but they're traditionally eaten during Carnival) you always include a bit of spirits in the dough. She says you do so because it keeps them from turning out greasy. As best as I can figure, what's happening is that the alcohol has a lower boiling point than water. This means that when you put the dough into hot oil, the alcohol starts to boil off more quickly than just water would. And as long as vaporized alcohol (or other liquid) is coming out, you won't get oil rushing in. I don't know how alcohol would restrict gluten development, from a chemical point of view. (After all, if you're adding vodka, most of that is bottled at 80 to 100 proof—in other words, only 40 to 50% alcohol. The rest is water. Which means that you really aren't adding much alcohol. To me, this calls for an experiment: identical batches of pie crust dough, one with water and the other with vodka. I think I'd be tempted to just make the doughs, roll them out, and bake them naked. I guess this means I should go to the PO and pick up the mail from our box, which should include my copy of this issue? MelissaH

We put a Bosch Evolution 500 in our kitchen. It's working well for us in the 15 months we've used it. MelissaH

Be careful about doing this, especially if the bottle is irreplaceable. The restrictions are not so much for the amount of liquid, but for the size of the container. I've seen empty bottles confiscated at security. Some airports seem more strict than others. As far as PB, yogurt, soy sauce, etc: I wouldn't think there would be a problem with the small containers of anything, as long as each container is smaller than 3 oz, and all of your containers fit into your one allotted quart-size ziplock bag. MelissaH

And the answer is: MelissaH

You can seal them on the "seal only" setting. Just don't try to suck the air out... ← Yup, that's what I had in mind. Thanks!

A transfer of a cat sliding down a chocolate is a brilliant idea. Now where would I get a picture? ← Unfortunately, we've since moved from that house, so we have neither window nor frogs anymore. I think you'd need two people: one outside the window with the cat-tempter, and the other inside with the camera set up. I'm afraid I won't be of much help. Wouldn't this be even cuter in 3D? The frog's underside up on one end, and the sprawled-cat-from-above down below? MelissaH

A spoonful can be however big your spoon is. And I'm simply defining a spoon as a bowl with a handle. By this definition, a one-cup measure could be a spoon...as long as you're willing to get Nutella on your chin, nose, and eyelashes licking it out! MelissaH

Along the same lines: has anyone found anywhere that Rick Rodgers says how much a cup of flour weighs, as measured by him? In the notes in the back of the book, he bemoans the fact that Americans measure by volume, not mass. This little piece of information would help immensely. (I've sent an e-mail via his Web site, and will report back if I get a reply.) MelissaH

My feelings exactly! My mother-in-law inherited an old dining room table, and a secretary to match. The finish on both had deteriorated to the point where they needed to be stripped and redone, if they were to be usable. She chose to use a polyurethane finish, and that table and secretary now see everyday use without fear of destruction. It drives me bonkers when I see one of the experts on Antiques Road Show bemoan someone's refinishing job on an antique. To me, an antique is worth far more if it is actually used. (And if it's really worth that much, I'd rather donate it to a museum and get a tax deduction for it, rather than worry about getting it insured!) MelissaH