SuzySushi

No, I wouldn't try it, and I wouldn't suggest it to my husband and 10 year old, who both have diabetes. They don't get sugar cravings per se, and if they do want something sweet, they can always have foods & beverages prepared with sugar substitutes, of which there are many. What most people who do not have diabetes perceive as a "sugar craving" is in reality a carb craving or a fat craving, neither of which the "sweet tooth suppressant" addresses. Very few people could satisfy their craving by eating a spoonful of sugar, for instance. What they want are the carbohydrates or the mouthfeel of the fat, which is why chocolate is so much more satisfying than a spoonful of cocoa powder. Gymnema sylvestre is used in Indian medicine as a drug for diabetes and may help control blood sugar, but more scientific studies and standardization of doses need to be done. See MedLine reference. Edited to add: *When people with diabetes have a a low blood sugar reaction due to too much insulin (or too little food for the amount of insulin that's in their system), they need to take a fast-acting simple sugar like glucose tablets, pure table sugar, or orange juice, or sugary soda. During hypoglycemic episodes, the body sometimes continues to crave sweets and carbohydrates until the blood sugar rises to a normal level and the "shaky feeling" goes away.

Our Easter dinner (lunch) will be more than a week early -- tomorrow, in fact, because that's when a friend can get a day off from work! The "Sings of Spring" menu: Appetizer: Asparagus spears wrapped with smoked salmon Main course: Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb with Fennel and Orange Rub (recipe in the latest issue of The Costco Connection -- go to page 28) Vegetable: Giada de Laurentiis' Stuffed Artichokes -- the photo in her Everyday Italian cookbook (borrowed from the library) was so pretty, and an Italian neighbor used to make almost the same dish French bread Dessert: Homemade cream puffs filled with whipped cream, served with fresh strawberries

Welcome to eGullet posting! Personally, I wouldn't serve both chicken teriyaki and beef teriyaki in the same meal, but maybe that's just me... I'd also leave out the broccoli, which is not typically Japanese, and substitute a carrot-and-daikon "salad" in vinegar dressing.

Now that sounds like a story waiting to be told!

LOL! Haven't made that yet... though there actually are at least two confectioners that make chocolate sushi! http://www.kookisushi.com/ http://www.chocolatesushi.com/home.html

I don't remember!!! We've been together more than 16 years, and I can't specifically recall any of the first meals I cooked for my husband -- just that he liked my cooking (or as he says, "She loves to cook, and I love to eat"). I do remember our first date, though. We'd found each other long-distance, via a singles group, and his 25-words-or-less blurb contained the memorable line, "Loves sushi and chocolate." I figured anyone who loves sushi and chocolate can't be all bad , so I wrote to him. After some further correspondence, he flew 5,000 miles to meet me. We went to a sushi bar, followed by espresso and pastries at a quaint Italian bakery/cafe. It was at first sight for both of us.

My standard is equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise, then add as much crumbled blue cheese as you can stand.

I agree about the distinction between boiled and steamed rice. Boiled rice -- mostly Western style, but also used for par-cooking basmati rice -- is rice boiled in a copious amount of boiling water (enough water so the rice circulates), then drained. For steamed rice (Asian style), the rice is washed, then placed in a pot or rice cooker with water to cover by about 3/4" above the level of the rice. It is brought to a boil (covered) and then the heat is turned very low. Within about 3 minutes, the excess liquid is absorbed; the rice then cooks by steaming in the residual hot moisture. Certain types of rice, such as glutinous rice, are typically cooked by steaming in a bamboo or metal steamer over a pan of boiling water.

Oh! It gets more and more interesting!

I love the story! While I'd heard the translation "deep fried devils" before, I never knew the derivation of that interesting name. Kewl!

I bow to your superior knowledge! You're right, this recipe called for pak fun. Other recipes I've seen for Chinese pastries & doughs call for lye water. Never checked the spice aisle for McCormick's alum powder, but almost all the regular supermarkets here carry lye water! It must still be in widespread use in Hawaii.

Most of the waffle iron/sandwich grill appliances made during the '50s and 60s had reversable plates. However some did have different plates. At least one had three sets of plates, one set for pizelle wafers. The reversable plates were thicker and required higher voltage to heat to baking temp in a reasonable time. The less expensive and lower wattage appliances used separate plates which were much thinner and heated more rapidly but they do not have as accurate a temperature control as the more expensive appliances. Top of the line appliances of this type in the mid and later 1950s were Toastmaster, Sunbeam, Westinghouse and GE/Hotpoint. Arvin was a small "intermediate" company that manufactured a consumer waffle/grill that was probably the heaviest and with the best temperature control. They are scarce but I have read of a couple that have been in regular use since the '50s. They were popular with small "mom & pop" cafés and diners. Dominion, Berstead, Super-Electric, Dormeyer, plus other brands, and store brands, (often manufactured by these companies) were the lower end. The top of the line manufacturers during the 1930s and part of the '40s were Manning Bowman, Landers, Frary & Clark, plus those listed above. There were no small electric appliances (requiring metal) manufactured from 1942 to 1945 because of the War Production Board Order I.-41. Silex glass vacuum coffee makers, were the only small appliances produced because they were made mostly of glass which was not controlled. All of the companies that were producing these toasters, waffle irons, etc., re-tooled for war production and made everything from uniform buttons to canteens to tank treads and electrical controls for military use. ← Both small electric appliances probably would've been from the early 1950s. I honestly don't remember what brands they were, but they certainly gave many years of service. My mother used the waffle iron/sandwich grill at least once a week, and the broiler/grill twice as often. I have no idea what happened to them. They were not part of her estate, and I presume that at some point over the years, they either stopped working and were thrown out, or she donated them to charity. She didn't do much cooking in her final years.

What's listed as "alum" in the recipe is sold in glass bottles in Chinese markets as "lye water" (potassium carbonate). There's quite a bit of controversy over it because in Western nations such as Australia, it's considered a toxic, corrosive substance although it's been used in Asian cooking for many generations. Apparently, it gives a springy texture to dough. One website http://pinoycook.net/index.php/recipes/recipe/buko-pandan/ suggests substituting milk or baking soda for the lye water for a similar effect. The ammonia is "baker's ammonia" (ammonium carbonate), an old-fashioned leavening powder. (Don't confuse it with ordinary household ammonia, which is poisonous.) You can buy it in German or Scandinavian specialty stores, or through mail order catalogs like King Arthur Flour or Sweet Celebrations (formerly Maid of Scandinavia).

I'm curious what you thought of the Ghibli museum, which wasn't around the last time I was in Japan. Was it worth the excursion? Did the kids enjoy it? We're anime fans! P.S. A Japanese friend of mine used to live in Mitaka, and I visited there 17 years ago, though I can't recall much about the suburb and I'm sure it's changed greatly by now.

Chopsticks are also not generally used in Thailand, except for Chinese food. We were once gently reprimanded in a Thai restaurant for asking for chopsticks with our meal.

My mother had an old waffle iron/grilled cheese grill -- I don't remember the brand but it certainly could have been a Sunbeam -- that she used all the years we were growing up and probably until the late 1980s. It had reversible plates that could easily be switched from waffle to flat, for making grilled cheese sandwiches. I've seen new grills with interchangeable plates, but no brand being made today has reversible plates, to my knowledge. She also had a round electric grill/broiler that looked like a two-handled stainless steel skillet with a domed lid. It had one heating element and could be flipped over (top or bottom) to act as a broiler or a grill. Wonderful! [Arrgh! The typo gremlins are out to get me!]

You haven't seen "Japanese" steakhouses, then, that serve slice & dice prepared-at-the- table stir-fries, along with fried rice and a salad laced with a mayonnaise-based dressing (gak!). Or frozen-food versions of teriyaki.

Mizducky, you are looking positively svelte!

I don't think you can detect sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite by taste alone. They taste salty from the sodium component. These two preservatives are most common in sausages, ham, bacon, and other cured meats and help preserve a pink color (otherwise the products would tend to be brownish-gray). Sodium nitrite is naturally present in vegetables like beets and even lettuce.

If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric. ← You got it! A wonderful musical, especially for anyone with food-geek tendencies (not to mention a warped sense of humor). And yeah, Sondheim got off some memorable lines in that one. That whole "song" (given the almost operatic format of that musical, it's kind of hard to call them songs, but I don't know what else to call them) from which the quote comes is a riot of dark humor. I can still hear Angela Lansbury in my head singing "Have a little priest ..." Len Cariou: "Is it very fat?" Angela: "Only where it sat!" Or something like that--quoting from memory here... ← You realize that song's gonna be stuck in my head for days now... gee, thanks!

If memory serves, that would be from Sweeney Todd. Sure sounds like a Sondheim lyric.

Lapis legit/spekuk/spekkoek really does look like baumkuchen -- which is popular in Japan, of all places! We buy baumkuchen at the Japanese supermarket here. It comes in several flavors, including regular, caramel, and milk.

Whoa! Way to go!!! Congratulations on both accounts, Ellen!!! I'm so glad you're blogging again, and I'll be following this one with bated breath! [Edited to correct the spelling of "bated" (it's not "baited") which I just learned from Domestic Goddess's post below! Thank you, Doddie!]

I don't have specific Asian recipes, but here in Hawaii, jicama is sold as "chop suey yam," which gives you an indication of its use as a vegetable in stir-fries. It also makes a good substitute for water chestnuts.

Carrot Top -- You forgot the most familiar bunny of all (especially at this time of the year): the Easter Bunny! Glad to hear your son's has gotten a reprieve! BTW, friends of ours have a rabbit as part of their menagerie. It lives in a cage in the dining room, but is let outdoors in the fenced yard to play. Their other pets -- 2 dogs and several indoor/outdoor cats -- get along with said bunny just fine, as does our dog whenever he visits.