Jaymes

Recently received one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Lekue-Person-Draining-Minute-Cookbook/dp/B00I2UU8WU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1413315136&sr=1-2&keywords=l%C3%A9ku%C3%A9 These silicon steamers have gotten mixed reviews, but I love the thing. I have been frying and baking fish fillets, chicken breasts, etc., but makes a bit of a mess and often requires several different dishes, pots, pans, etc. So a friend that also lives alone gifted me one of these and, I must say, I love it. Got two more. Now, I just pour in a little of this and that (olive oil, wine, lemon oil), put in some sort of protein, then top with a few veggies, close it up and into the microwave for 2-5 minutes. So easy. One cooking vessel, and into the dishwasher it goes. I'd really suggest that anyone that cooks for one give it a try. And, by the way, this lemon oil is ambrosial: http://www.amazon.com/Sabatino-Tartufi-Lemon-Oil/dp/B00EA6G8E2/ref=sr_1_14?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1413315742&sr=1-14&keywords=lemon+oil+from+italy

A small one might be nice for a grandpa (or grandma) that eats a lot of rice. But had I given one to my dad, it just would have sat idle on the kitchen counter right next to the idle bread machine that he and my mom used all the time back when she was alive.

That looks wonderful, Shelby. And you are God's own angel for doing this for your grandpa. Not only is the food going to be good, and helpful, but this gives him tremendous bragging creds when he's around his buddies. Believe me, I know.

I live alone now, after years of cooking for a big family. All kids grown and gone. Have no idea if husband ever grew up but, whatever,sent him back to his own mama to give her a second chance to try. But I still like buying a great many things in bulk, like most of the perishable fruits mentioned. My standard procedure is to buy big bags of apples, peaches, avocados, etc., and put them into the fridge where they'll keep for quite a while. Then, a few at a time, take out some and leave them on the counter to ripen. Avocados, in particular, will last for weeks in the fridge, so I buy the big bags from Costco. For butter, always have a few pounds in the freezer, a couple of sticks in the fridge, and one stick on the counter, ready to be schmeared. Onions - fridge. Not saying that I think it's better for taste or texture but, to me anyway, it seems like they make me weep less if they're cold when I chop them. Maybe the chill causes the juices to be less juicy. Coffee beans in the freezer. I have a rotary coffee grinder and I read somewhere that, because it gets really hot when you're grinding the beans, that affects the flavor of the coffee. So if the beans are frozen, that whirring blade doesn't get hot. I do think I can tell the difference but I'll admit I might be kidding myself. Eggs - it's my understanding that, here in the US, eggs to be sold commercially are washed in some manner that removes their natural protective coating. And without that coating, you do need to refrigerate them. Eggs in many other countries are not washed before going to the markets, so you can leave them out. At various times in my life, I've been lucky enough to live close by farmers with hens. When I buy the eggs directly from the farm, I do leave them out, at least for a while. Shelby - you mentioned bread. Bread was kind of an issue for me. I do like to have some on hand for sandwiches, etc., but it goes moldy before I can eat a whole loaf, especially the kind of good breads that I buy that have no preservatives. Tried the fridge, but that makes the bread go stale almost immediately. That's not a problem if you're making toast, but if you want soft bread for your sandwiches, the fridge completely ruins the texture. Discovered I can keep all breads in the freezer. For sandwich bread, I do have to take care to pry off the slices I need but, once the bread thaws out, I can tell no difference whatsoever from fresh.

And I just shake the honey container under hot running water for a few seconds.

I'll start with a really worthless answer: I have no idea. In my case, I just know about how much my dad eats at one sitting, so I froze portions that I figured were about what he'd eat in two sittings, so he could eat it the first night, and then have leftovers handy for the second night. Never even thought about weighing or measuring it. I do know that in the case of soups, stews, chili, I'd freeze enough for two generous coffee mugs-full. I think his coffee mugs hold about 12 oz each. Whatever that's worth.

Here's another big fan of frozen rice. I get some sort of Asian (Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc.) take-out from time to time. I know there's something about eating cold leftover rice from the fridge that can make you very sick, so I don't want to do that. However, I also don't want to throw away perfectly good rice. So I always freeze it. Don't know if freezing it gets rid of whatever it is that makes you sick but I've been doing this for years with no ill effects.

My dad, too. Cuts the bag open. Then into whatever. Sometimes he puts the whole frozen bag into a pot of simmering water. Frozen soups usually get broken into pieces and then into a big mug. Want to add that, if you have a caregiver that can (and will) wash and store the various freezer containers, that might still be a better option for you. But it wasn't for us.

Be sure to double-check the box and be certain the bags are "freezer" sturdy and not just storage bags. I've never seen the flat boxes like CatPoet describes and they do sound like a great idea - perfect for some folks. However, when I first started doing this for my dad, I spent an appreciable amount of money on assorted storage boxes. They took up a lot of space in the freezer, were a pain in the arse for my dad to deal with primarily because of the washing and storing away until I arrived again. I'd get there to cook up the next big batch, but first I had to dig around all over the kitchen to find the boxes, only half of which still had lids. So, off to the store again to buy more. Dad felt bad that I was spending all this money and going to all this trouble and he couldn't even keep track of the boxes. Obviously I know nothing about y'all's dads and granddads and maybe their temperaments and abilities are better suited to dealing with all those boxes but, I gave up on that pretty early.

Sure! Posted it several years back on the first page of the original Christmas Cookies thread. Scroll down (I think it's post #22): http://forums.egullet.org/topic/13510-christmas-cookies/page-1?hl=+fruitcake +cookies

I did this for my dad after my mother died and he was living alone. He was up in Springfield MO, and I was down in Texas, but I'd drive up to visit him a couple times a year and, while I was there, fill his freezer with stuff I knew he'd like, and eat. I made a lot of his favorite soups - split pea, chili, tomato, etc. I'd pour them into quart-size freezer baggies, lay them flat in the freezer until they were frozen solid, then put them like "files" in a plastic box. Regarding the potatoes - solid pieces of cooked potatoes don't freeze well, to say the least. And beef stew chock full of potatoes is one of my dad's favorite things. So I'd make the stew without the potatoes, freeze them in the plastic bags, "file" them in the freezer. Then, I showed him how to put a bag of stew into a saucepan, or even bowl, dip out a little of the broth, put it into a microwave-safe mug, cut up a potato, and cook it separately in the microwave. Then he could add the freshly-cooked potatoes to the stew. I was afraid he wouldn't go to that trouble but I was dead wrong - he did it all the time. Other things he loved that freeze well that I would fix - fresh green beans cooked with bacon, onions, etc., assorted greens - collard, turnip, etc. (and I would freeze wedges of cornbread to go with them), meatballs & meatloaves (mentioned by others), big juicy hamburger patties that I had cooked outside on the grill, ribs and sauerkraut, enchiladas, lasagna - all frozen in individual portions, in plastic freezer bags. I also made sure he had lots of stuff in the freezer that he could fix easily - like Italian sausage, for example. And frozen French fries. He doesn't like French fries per se, but frozen French fries have been partially cooked, and they're perfect to chop and put in your scrambled eggs, a trick I've been doing for decades. I did initially try using Tupperware, assorted other kinds of containers and plates, but then he'd have to wash them, which he did as best he could, but his back, knees, legs, hurt, and standing over the sink washing dishes was not something he enjoyed. The plastic freezer bags can just be tossed, and that worked out much better for us. Plus, when frozen flat, they stacked and stored much more easily.

Well, I'd say they're more like 'recipe collections' than comprehensive cooking books. And there aren't hundreds and hundreds of recipes. She says they're from the many countries where she's worked, and India of course, but that they are reduced-fat versions that models eat. Although do have to add that, even after eating several of the dishes, I still don't look like she does.

And, I have, and have used, two of her cookbooks. So, gkas, you may well not like her. But that particular insult is unfounded.

And conversely, I can rarely get past the popcorn because of the smell.

I had a cousin that really loved it and made it all the time, year 'round. I remember a great many backyard steak cookouts where the menu was steak, salad, garlic bread and green bean casserole. She told me that one big reason why she made it so often was that it was the only green vegetable that her children would eat happily, no threats or bribery required.I will say that she always made it with fresh green beans, never canned. And she added water chestnuts, a nice crunch, which improved the texture considerably.

Folks must like it or it wouldn't be ubiquitous. I was at a holiday potluck last year and there were three of them sitting in the "vegetables" section - the only apparent difference among them being the way that the perpetrators chose to arrange the onion rings. Certainly not my personal favorite (and I've never made it) but, if it's the only green vegetable available, and it often is, I'll eat it.

Plus, when it's time to eat your sandwich, you can unwrap it and use the wax paper as a plate. Certainly can't do that with cling wrap.

Folks do still make and give out homemade treats but, the way it works now, people have one big bowl of commercially-produced individually-wrapped candy that they give to the tricker-treaters they do not know, and a separate bowl of homemade treats for children of family and friends. Including, of course, wax-paper-wrapped popcorn balls.

I suppose it seems like it should but it never has and I've been doing this for over 50 years. Started making my grandma's praline recipe when I was a kid. Wax paper is what she used so that's what I learned to use. If it does melt the wax, it's not in a way so's you notice.And many, many people use wax paper to line baking pans before filling them with cake batter and sticking them into hot ovens to bake, often for an hour or more. I'm not a scientist so I don't understand how it works but I know it surely does. And two more ways I frequently use wax paper are when pounding out chicken breasts; and crumbling up a wad of it to use when spreading butter into a cake pan. It doesn't absorb the butter/grease/fat/etc. like paper towels do. I do save the butter wrappers for that purpose, but sometimes don't have one. Also, I often buy ground meat - beef, pork, turkey - in bulk because it's cheaper, and then separate it into smaller portions, patties, and put wax paper between them before putting them into the freezer. These are just a few things off of the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. But the bottom line is that I use a lot of it and always have a roll handy in my kitchen.

I add it to whipped cream, along with brown sugar, as my required topping for Key Lime Pie.

I still buy it. Much cheaper than parchment paper, or even foil. And perhaps there are "other things that can do the same job as well or better," but I don't have enough silpats to completely cover all my kitchen countertops, which is what I need to do when I'm turning out my caramel corn, or Creamy Southern Pecan Pralines. I think it's probably pretty-much like everything else - seems silly and unnecessary. Unless you need it. Which I do.

Christmas coming again and Shel's popcorn thread reminded me that it's also time to lay in my supply of popping corn.

Let me add my wishes for a speedy recovery, Andie, and hopes that you will soon be back to stirring, grinding, mincing with your previous vigor and aplomb. You are St. EGullet, after all. And we need you! I'd be happy to offer to bake and send some of those orange dreamsicle cookies if you promise me that you wouldn't expect me actually to do it.

The latest 'Fruitcake' thread reminded me that it's time to start thinking about all of my holiday baking, including the fruitcake cookies that are always such a hit in our family. And of course, need to get those rum balls sealed into their canister to begin ripening and mellowing. Those two cookies are not optional in our house, but haven't finalized the list yet. My father, 93, is the most popular fellow at the senior citizens' home where he lives (he calls it "Mortuary Manor") in part because I often send him treats to share with his table in the dining room (it's him and five women - his harem), so I want to be sure that this year's cookie selection doesn't disappoint. Also, several of his tablemates and friends are fighting "the sugar," so I try to cut back on that in all my baking. I really love those Trader Joe's Kona Shortbread Cookies and think he would, too, but they're very sweet. Went online and found a copycat recipe that I think I could make, using a lot less sugar. By any chance, have any of y'all ever tried to make anything like those cookies?

And why the "Chicken Ranch" in Texas accepted chickens as payment.