annecros

Breakfast! The white one in the middle is a store bought Grade A Large for comparison. Not bad for pullet eggs! Hubby found them in the nest box this morning! We've only been checking it once or twice a week - but now it will be every day! This explains the witchy attitude that has been on display. I just pulled that loaf of Italian Bread out of the oven about 30 minutes ago. Yum! Free range organic fresh eggs. Now we only need about 583 more of them to break even.

(clapping and jumping up and down) I did four hours straight of Julia today and didn't get enough. Not so much tomorrow.

If they are big on tomatoes and peppers, Tomato Growers Supply has always been reliable - the seeds fresh and the selection wonderful. Best all around for heirloom seed (also roots, and poultry) would be Sandhill Preservation in my opinion. Fair warning, they aren't a "fast food" type of outfit - but they keep their stuff fresh and viable. They also have many items that just can't be found anywhere else. Victory Heirloom Seeds is another company that I have dealt with personally, and they also have a few varieties that you just won't find anywhere else. All three of these have excellent reputations in seed circles.

We have now listed our 2005 mug on eBay. Click to find it here The Society is currently reducing our inventory of commemorative coffee mugs. Once we liquidate our inventory, this mug will never be available again! Less than 20 2005 mugs available - so get it while you can! Bid on it now, or "Buy it Now!" for $15! This is our heaviest commemorative mug, and our first one! Genourous size, holds heat well. This is my goto mug for Chili! As always, let me know if you have any questions, here or via PM. (Thanks to Society Member David A. Goldfarb for photographs.)

The Society is currently reducing our inventory of commemorative coffee mugs. Once we liquidate our inventory, this mug will never be available again! Less than 20 2006 mugs available - so get it while you can! Bid on it now, or "Buy it Now!" for $15! Great deal! Click here for eBay listing Front: Back: Great opportunity to add to, or complete, your collection. Please feel free to ask questions, and I will do my best to assist. (Thanks to Society Member David A. Goldfarb for photographs.)

Randi, that is a perfect Haas. Kudos. It is heartwarming to see California bashed, as Florida has been. Location. Grow your own if you can.

Yeah, Pollan's article is dispiriting. Pollan in a nutshell. Almost discouraging what he strives to accomplish. Social distinctions and judgment. Another interesting read. Yep, cooking made us smarter.

It was overnight in the fridge. Lovely crust. How did they accomplish that without the fridge? On the windowsill?

Bread is so interesting. I really am opening a horizon for myself here. I see egg wash defined as a whole egg and water - and also defined as strictly egg white and a lot more water. I would think the yolk would add fat, the white protein. Now see, with my limited knowledge, I thought of baking as a brutal high temp dip into hell. It isn't always, I suppose! Thank you.

Ah, so the almost blistered, super shiny finish I get on the long risen Italian is due to gelatnization. Makes sense. Water and egg white wash, and steam from ice being dumped into a cast iron pan. "polysaccharides" would translate to complex sugars? So the Malliard reaction in relation to pumpernickel is an inside out toasting? So to speak?

So it is the slow application of the heat, and not the yeast's action to break down the gluten, that is the trick? I always considered steam to be a great crust maker, but maybe not. Well, maybe it's both. How does rye gluten differ from wheat gluten? Thanks for humoring me in my ignorance!

I've been venturing into pastry and baking lately. I ran across this treatise concerning pumpernickel. Click here from the site: Umm, I have been using molasses, and once cacao, I think. I read it through, and am not sure I understand how it works. I understand how it works on a steak - the Maillard Reaction - but I did not expect to encounter it in bread baking. The point may be moot, as I do not have a steamed baking chamber that can bake bread for 16 hours. But, I feel like I need to understand what is happening. And, starch is just another word for sugar? Yes, or no? Those pumpernickel baking Oma's were the bomb. Two days nursing a loaf of traditional Italian seems like a mini marathon to me now. Pumpernickel was a weekly duty to them. My hat is off.

Are customers required to show a card or can anyone shop there? ← You have to be military, a spouse or dependent, retired military, a spouse or dependent, active reserve, a spouse or dependent - and I think that's it. Yes, military ID. They used to check the ID at the door, now it is at the checkout as far as I know. Cost+ minor markup. It used to be 5%, but I am sure that it is higher now. Now doubt that it is much less than the typical retail markup.

Oh, now see, alcohol is classified under "entertainment" in my budget schema. With alcohol, between $450 and $650 or so, depending. Just food, between $300 and $400.

← Cooking vicariously. There is nothing more heart wrenching than a great cook who cannot eat. Ina Garten kicks butt. Not too keen on her personally or her personality, but she can cook. I'm not sure that Julia Child should be put in the same classification as Waters, Lagesse, Stewart, Batali, etc. Two decades (at least) and different means and motives. I'm still trying to understand how Pollan sees them all as the same sort of creature. In fact, of the four he compartmentalizes with Child, I can see at least three schools of thought.

I've read the article once, and intend to read it one or two more times before settling in on the best bits to take away from it. It is a lot to absorb, but my initial takeaway was the juxtaposition of the feminist movement, cooking, and cooking as spectator sport and athletic spectacle. I've had the privilege to meet some ladies who were real athletes, at the top of their game. Nothing's over, until it's over!

The commissary privilege is really being taken advantage of lately. It is one of the few retail outlets that is seeing growth over last year. My mother, who lives across the street from a military base, is back in the commissary lately. We are in South Florida, and I spend between $300 and $400 a month for two people. More during holiday months or when we have guests - there is an extended family thing going on that includes young adults (who are getting hit pretty hard as well) with limited cooking skills. I cook it and send it over. Now, I have been known to spend $300 on a home cooked meal, but it was certainly something to write home about! Prices went down for a while last month and the month before - but am I alone in noting that prices are back up to pre-recession levels this last week or two? Butter craziness. One week, premium butter at $2/pound - the next $3.50/pound.

Meat market half a mile away is gone. I could always depend on them to have a veal shank or two when I needed them. Family run operation.

The recipe in question calls for dutched cacao powder, semi-sweet chocolate and dairy butter. It make sense to me that the dutched cacao, in addition to the whole chocolate, would impart more chocolate flavor than just doubling the semi-sweet or something. I would think that the addition of the cacao powder would reduce the amount of flour needed in the recipe to get the proper brownie cakiness.

Seed sown, and very interesting things going on this season. *new to me **will sow two weeks from now, because they need less time in the pot Cherries: Black Cherry Galinas Pinks/Reds: Earl's Faux Albany Georgia Heirloom *German Johnson Potato Leaf (double sown) *Cuostralee Blacks: Paul Robeson J.D.'s Special C-Tex Yellow/Orange: Aunt Gertie's Gold *Orange-1 *KBX (Kellogg's Breakfast Potato Leaf) Bicolor (would really like one that does well for me in my climate): *Marvel Striped *Hillbilly Fun: *Berkely Tie Dye (technically, actually a tri-color) Hearts/Pastes: **Linnie's Oxheart **Tony's Italian Opalka That's it, I think. Of course, I reserve the right to sow again in a week or two.

I made those brownies today. Killer. I don't understand the aversion to cacao either. It imparts a wonderful chocolate flavor to baked goods.

All it is is Late Blight. But, saying all it is - well it is a bad, horrible thing. The plant dies within 48 (generous) hours. Sorry you guys. On the bright side, some growers in the area are not seeing it. It seems to be a microclimate thing. Tomatoes are coming in to the mid-atlantic now, according to growers. You guys just need about a week of warm temps. Here's wishing for ya. Remember, they went into the dirt three weeks late. That sets everything back three weeks vs. norm.

Oh man, for crackly top, cakey-fudgy all at the same time, I use this recipe: King Arthur Flour's Never Fail And yes, I do stir in the chocolate chips so that they will melt into the whole thing. Brownies are a wonderful thing.

Then there is mayonnaise, Caesar salad dressing (the real kind), Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Personally, I take them both ways, depending upon the application.

I enjoyed Black from Tula, but JD's Special C-Tex (another "not really black") did better for me as far as disease resistance is concerned. JD's actually survived long enough to give me three big flushes of fruit (LONG growing season down here) last season. It didn't have quite the flavor that BFT did though. JD's isn't commercially available, but if you are interested in starting from seed, send me a PM. I have my seed laid out all over the kitchen table right now, because it is time to start. It is a mid to late season, not as early as BFT. Best varieties for me last year: Aunt Gertie's Gold (perennial favorite for flavor, but I wish it would set more) Albany Georgia Heirloom (Robust, productive, and very good flavor) Earl's Faux (Outstanding flavor and producer, go to slicer) Won't be back: Kellogg's Breakfast (but I am trying KBX this year, a potato leaved Kellogg's Breakfast) Cherokee Purple (JD's Special C-Tex is taking this place) Beauty King (I haven't found a decent bi color that will do well in my climate) Virginia Sweets (Ditto) I have quite a few new ones I am trialing this year. Will put up my 2009/2010 grow list when I figure out what makes the cut and what doesn't!