Hawthorne

but only to certain onions from what nick says? i know for a fact that yellow onions last, oh, about 2 years in the closet. vidalias, however, they go quick. As I understand it, it's not a question of the variety. In other words, I think any onion can be fresh or cured. The fresh ones are sold in season and when the season for that variety ends you start seeing the cured version in stores. I'd have to ask the produce manager at a big supermarket how this stuff gets decided, though. ← It *is* the variety. If you are growing onions, you will find that some are recommended for keeping, others not. The sweet onions aren't keepers. The others, regardless of the 'cure' (but if they aren't cured right, they won't keep as well either) will gradually lose what sweetness they have as they age, though some are quite sweet out of the field. Once cured, you get the most mileage out of them if you can keep them dark, dry and cool. If you want to keep those walla wallas, vidalias (my personal favorites) or other sweets, put them in the fridge, and don't bother stocking up. Even in the fridge they have a limited life.

whoa whoa. some onions are treated in some way? and doesn't refrigeration take the "bang" out of onions? not a good thing. i'll just keep buying them and keep em out of the fridge. ← Sweet onions aren't keepers. If you don't refrigerate them, they will go *very* fast. I rarely refrigerate any other fruit, because it doesn't enhance the flavour. Does anyone have a *good* way to keep mushrooms? They dry rather nicely kept in paper bags, but it would be nice to be able to hold them a little longer before they get to that. Sometimes I'm a little too optimistic about how much I'm actually going to need when I buy them java script:emoticon(':rolleyes:')

But eggs keep for a LONG time, IF they aren't wasned. Eggs naturally come with air proofing, and should never be washed. When the shells are (rarely) dirty, the dirt should be gently brushed off, but the eggs should otherwise be left alone. Washed eggs go stale practically instantaneously, and when we get out of town, I really hope I can go back to having chickens again. You can't even depend on 'backyard' eggs anymore; people are not only washing the eggs they sell, they are feeding them commercial mash most of the time! java script:emoticon(':hmmm:')

I don't refrigerate butter either, but we do use it very quickly. I refrigerate PB, because I buy the kind that is ONLY nuts and salt, and it does go rancid once you've opened it. I refrigerate all washed eggs, which means any I didn't grow myself, but when I had chickens, and found nests that were who knows how old, even eggs that had to be two weeks old when I found them were fine - in fact, the only bad eggs I've ever had were washed eggs. I don't refrigerate any condiments except mayo based ones. I don't refrigerate any oils or honey, though I have a hunch that maybe the walnut oil in the pantry has gone west ... I use almonds fast enough to keep them in the kitchen, but will in future freeze all other nuts, as I've lost some off and on. I do refrigerate flour if the supply gets ahead of me, particularly whole grain flours, but otherwise it sits in the kitchen. I'd freeze whole grain flours if I had the freezer space. I refrigerate sweet onions, and beets, but not cooking onions or most other 'keeper' veg. Hey .. do you mean I can recover the space I've been using for those things? java script:emoticon(':laugh:')

That is the question of the hour~! I spent near $450 for the 20 Qt stock pot. (From reading responses above, I wish to make it clear that the SS stock pot from the restaurant supply store was not All-clad). All my All-Clad are the LTD line (I liked the idea of the charcoal finish because shiny pots and pans always get rude looking over time from the gas flame). The only non-LTD All-clad I have is the large Roasting Pan with roasting grate that comes with it. However, it is one of my favorite cooking pans, great for roasting, eggplant parmiagiana, lasagna, etc. But back to the question, I don't know what is the best cookware. I'm suspcious of anything that gets advertised as much as All-Clad. It's easy to get enthused when they show what looks like a contemporary professional staff using the All Clad pots and pans, especially the beared guy with the REALLY serious look on his face. Obviously the idea is that such a serious guy wouldn't use anything but the best. I gotta keep reminding myself that these people in any ads are not real. They're all actors picked to play a part and to look the part too. Just like the Infomercial special investigation that was on NBC TV last night, Dateline. What a ruse! They made pills with Nestle's Quik in them, found an infomercial maker that put together a really convincing 1/2 hour ad that taking these pills once a day would "moisturize your skin from the inside out". doc ← Ah .. I don't know how they advertise; I haven't watched the tube for 20 years apart from the occasional movie or olympic event. Maybe I shouldn't admit it here, but I don't watch food TV, though I did watch Julia Child years ago with considerable pleasure. I succumbed to the first piece of all-clad based on word of mouth recommendations and a really, really, good sale price. And an ever deepening irritatation with anodized Magnalite, which was not, I think, worth the price I paid for it. I don't regret what I've put out for the all-clad. AC has been around for a while, though - they aren't churning out product for foodTV or something (in their own name anyway) - though as I haven't tested those particular lines of cookware, I don't know that they aren't fine. I have bought several odd pieces of cookware second hand, and the only other piece I've scored which seems in the same class as the all-clad is Kirkland, which is Costco's 'house' brand, and I don't know who makes it. It's a little heavier than the all-clad, which is not a plus, but as it's not as heavy as cast iron, it's workable. I have a medium sized fry pan; if I can buy other pieces the way I got that one I'll probably snap them up. The exteriors are all ss, of course. One of the things I like about the AC (and Kirkland) is that the handles *do* stay cool, (no not the grab handles or lid handles, but I'd be surprised if they did) and also, I no longer buy *any* cookware that doesn't have a lid that can be looped over the handle to hang. Pot lid storage is my nemesis. I agree that the ss finish isn't the best in terms of livability, but I don't know that I'd pay the differential for the charcoal finish - so far I've got the ss and aluminum, which is probably a little better than ss, but I've always figured that if the pots look a little lived in, well, they're not there for show. Once in a while I get a bug and some ss cleaner and tart them up a bit, but I'm not obsessive about it. I might find copper more attractive if it wasn't for the cleaning issues, or if I had an independent income .. and a kitchen slave .. lol! I would expect that most of the commercial kitchen cookware pieces are too big to be practical for my regular use, and I haven't looked hard at them. I like the clad cookware better than the kind with a heavy plate on the bottom and have migrated most of that out to the RV. Actually this 6qt saute from AC looks attractive to me; there are things I cook in large quantities for freezing .. but on a daily basis, that would be about as big as I'd use. I'd kill for the AC roaster, but so far no one has offered me any such deal :-) But ... if someone knows of a better line, I might be tempted to try a little test .. always looking for something better, eh?

Steak Oscar ... how does that go? We used to eat Veal Oscar in Miami in the late 70s, and I reconstructed the recipe for when I wanted something special, and asparagus is in season. I've done it with chicken, too - My husband likes retro kinds of casseroles, but my mother never made them, so I am kind of casserole challenged .. I do regularly make beef stroganoff, pot roast, tuna casserole, hot chicken salad pie, and in fact have a fridge full of pot roast leftovers and am plotting a cottage pie for tomorrow. Haven't had any chicken a la king in donkey's years, but have been thinking about it for the last month or so. Am putting it off til I get a round tu some pastry for it, though. I think I'm going to have a pastry fit here soon :-) I'm a sucker for a used cookbook though ... maybe that accounts for it.

What do you like in readily available cookware, then? Is there a thread? I'm hammering my way down the list, trying not to miss any good stuff :-) I have several pieces of all-clad, some ss, some MC-2 (which I think I actually prefer, but when someone makes you a gift .. ) and I like it better than anything else I've had, I think. I don't have any pieces as big as a stockpot, but it's pretty nearly scorchproof here ... except of course, if you forget about it :-) I have one of their non-stick saute pans, and for non-stick it's very good, but I will not make that mistake again. What I'm cooking on is a Viking range, not small burners ... I do use a simmer plate sometimes, to get the temp down, because even the lowest flame puts out more heat for some things than is ideal. But if there is something better out there ... What am I missing?