BarbaraY

Chris, I suggest you check again as Tsuji has a very good recipe for nuka zuke on page 319. I have used this recipe and it works very well. Also lots of tips from helenjp in her blog. I didn't use the reduced iron as I didn't have it. Have never used bread either. Elisabeth Andoh has one in her book At Home with Japanese Cooking. I like a bit of garlic and ginger in the pickles. I don't care for the idea of bread in the pickles , it just doesn't seem authentic to me. As you may have guessed I'm very fond of nuka zuke. I have ordered nuka on-line from Maruwa. Sorry, I misspoke. It was Marukai that I last ordered nuka from. Maruwa no longer ships. Marukai has outlandish shipping fees and I have stopped ordering from them. I suggest you check with a natural foods store or two as they sometimes have it available.

The bloomin' onion cutter went away last week along with the steamer plate that I have never used. I do love my little garlic pot that sits on the counter. The garlic keeps very well in it.

It always cracks me up to see a recipe that tells one to pick out fish bones with tweezers. Needles nose pliers were really made to do this job.

When you live in a very old, rickety house which is a mouse magnet, you save any usable jars. Every grain, pasta, etc is put into a jar as soon as it comes in. I'm gonna starve 'em out. I have never been sure of this but it seems to work. Put the plastic piece where it can get sun on it for several days. My sister swore by it. The horseradish that we used in the restaurant came in plastic quart jars. These were the ideal size for some food for back packing. I would wash them and leave them out for several days and no more horseradish smell.

If you're going to hand wash why not just wash and be done? The reason for having a dishwasher is for it to wash the dishes.

Piece meal here. I don't like having a sink full of dirty dishes when there's room for them in the dishwasher. Most pans are hand washed because they take up too much space in the dish washer. Seems my daughter puts stuff in any old how so I rearrange things several times until it's full enough to run which it just reached so I'll go turn it on soon..

Tiny Tots Cross pack sardines are just too, too delicious. Also too, too expensive! Worth it for a treat if they can be found. Amazon does sell them but I have yet to order from them.

Lots of cuts, burns, etc during 45 years of cooking in various food service. The first time I went to the ER I was still very much a novice. Time to stone the grill at the end of my shift. I put too much fat on the grill and began scrubbing furiously. Needless to say that hot grease and stone crumbs went all over the back of my hand and wrist. I rinsed it off with cold water and finished the job, signed out and started for home when I realized that my hand and arm were still burning and getting worse by the moment. ER was on my way home so that's where I went. Bandaged like the return of the mummy, I had to take several days off. Never did do that again. Same place, the chef had a tendency to tipple every night and often came to work still crocked. He was cutting up a roast turkey one day. He laid his knife across the thigh joint and slammed his hand down on it. The knife was blade upward. All I could do was grab his arm and try to stop the bleeding while screaming for the owner. More blood than I ever saw or care to see again. Took, as I recall, 18 stitches.

I bought the Wolfgang Puck electric pressure cooker about a year ago. I love corned beef cooked in it as it's our favorite sandwich meat. I also use it for pot roasts, stews, etc. The only vegetables that I find it good for are artichokes. I often see recipes for things like asparagus which I find totally ridiculous as it cooks so fast using normal methods that it would easily overcook under pressure. As to the cooker itself, I wouldn't buy another as the controls are a pain to program. For instance if you want to cook something for 1 hour it has to be set at 59 minutes. If another minute is added it returns to 0. Other than that it does the job very well so far. I have retired the ancient Presto that we used for many,many years but don't have the heart to throw it out. I guess if the power were out I could go ahead and cook in it in a pinch.

Have been craving this for several days now so it is simmering away right now. I found a big, ole, meaty ham bone in the freezer. Can hardly wait for dinner. Lacking a ham bone, I would go for the shanks over hocks. The hocks around here are little, squinchy things and don't taste very good.

Why would you do this? Some people live in areas where the water is virtually undrinkable. I have a wonderful well and don't waste money on bottled water. In our county seat, however, the water tastes so vile that I am unable to swallow it.

I have an Amana with French doors and a freezer drawer. It didn't have an ice maker but I paid the extra to have it installed. Sometimes it's a bit awkward as the ice tub is in the left rear of the freezer but, as I drink copious amounts of ice tea all summer, it's well worth the small bother to keep from messing with ice trays.

Hot left and cold right. Always, always always. IT can a very dangerous situation and also very frustrating.

How did i miss this topic? I love them both. Mom used to make "toasted cheese" sandwiches for us kids but they were actually grilled cheese but she put "Ugh!" mayonnaise on them. My first job entailed making burgers and grilled cheese in a tiny lunch shack. That's where I learned to put a heavy saucer on top of the bread as it grilled and no mayo My grandma turned me on to real toasted cheese, toasted whole wheat bread, thin slices of sharp cheddar, and sprinkled with plenty of paprika before broiling. I still love the slightly toasty tasting cheese and paprika combo.

If you want something outstandingly delicious try the Seared Lamb (or Pork) in Swarthy Pasilla-Honey Sauce. The combo of the rich dark sauce and the sweet potato is out of this world in my opinion. I got the book when it was first published and this page is looking like a favorite recipe page complete with chile splatters. I have made it with both lamb and pork and they are equally good.

I set the convection feature on my microwave/convection oven at 150º and put the plates in it. Pancakes or waffles on a cold plate are just disgusting.

WE have starts of Purple Cherokee and Green Zebra going. We have tried Brandywine but they just don't do well here for some reason.

I have been making these for years. One of my favorite ways with eggs. Used to make them for my late husband. I would sometimes put a sheet of nori between the layers. He always referred to it as spinach and I never did disabuse him.

I am so envious. And yes you do have a lovely wife to put off the long awaited move. Have a wonderful, wonderful time. We are all waiting in anticipation.

This is my go to recipe. I have used it since I got the book in the early 70s.

No photo but last night we had our very first of the season salad from the garden. Mostly mixed baby lettuces with a couple of paper thin slices of cucumber and a small wedge of Brie. Until one has had a salad of just picked lettuces, they don't know what lettuce should taste like. The difference is amazing.

I neglected to mention in my above post how much I like the convection feature for toasting nuts. So much better than heating up the house for a handful of nuts.

This is something new to me but I would gladly sample them. They do look very good.

I have had the Sharp microwave/convection oven since 1995. It's the only thing I use for baking biscuits and potatoes. It does a beautiful job on both. I think better than the conventional oven for the biscuits. Other than those things I have baked casserole type dishes in it. I don't care to cook meats in it as it makes such a mess and I'm not fond of oven cleaning. All I have ever tried was some skin-on chicken and it made a gigantic mess. No microwaved potatoes in this house. I would rather do without. Andiesenji has inspired me to try making bread in it Yours looks beautiful.

I have mainly used it in homemade pancake mix for camping. If Using in biscuits, blend it with water before adding. If added to the dry ingredients it seems to leave brownish spots that I don't care for. In our markets it comes and goes. It will be there for a year or two and then disappear for a while. They are carrying it right now.