Porthos

Thanks for the replies. I live in southern California and have ready access to coffees from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (they pre-date Starbucks). I used to be partial to their La Cascada but for whatever reason last summer it started not hitting the spot anymore. Now I am (when I can afford it, being long-term unemployed is a real drag) using TCBTL French Roast.

I have just purchased a French press to use this fall while away from home. Imagine my surprise when I found that there are absolutely no instructions on use. Quick note: I am far from a coffee purist - I just like an everyday level of decent coffee. I get the general idea: put some coffee grounds into the glass beaker, add your hot water and allow to steep for a few minutes, gently press down on the filter, enjoy your coffee. I like to use a fairly fine grind for my drip maker at home. Should I use a coarser grind for the press? Is the ratio of water to grounds the same as for drip makers? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Rough check of functionality - not a calibration-level operation.

Quarters are much easier to come by, 6 quarters = 34 grams. Using clean, relatively clean quarters should do the trick. I have a bag of quarters in my wife's truck leftover from vacation. I will test my scales with them this evening after she returns from work. I will select 2 sets of quarters measure them each and see what I get.

Educational thread - I had to look up what a "loonie" is. Now I'm going to look up the weight of US 25 cent pieces and see if they can be used.

Thank you for posting the recipe. We keep glace cherries in the freezer. One question. In the picture it looks like you use a 7 x11 pan. Is this correct?

My DW is curious if you are using fresh cherries, dried cherries or something else? I was wondering if it is a recipe you share? For me, when it comes to sweets there's cherry, then everything else.

Kerry, I am drooling over the cherry pound cake.

Is the Combo oven you have mentioned the CSO-300. I don't know anything about them so I am looking up info online. I sometimes think of myself like the robot from the movie Short Circuit, always looking for new info to absorb.

What a pretty piece of pottery.

I have never heard of these. What makes up this style of egg? So glad to have you two posting about your trip.

I will begin using a French press this late summer/early fall while doing my volunteer cooking up in central California. The woman who makes coffee for our group doesn't drink coffee, she drinks mocha and makes the coffee strong enough for the coffee flavor to still come through, about twice the grounds that make a normal pot. I can't drink this rocket fuel so I am moving to the French press so I can have my morning coffee.

For larger groups I use a 3rd party #6 cone with a Melita #6 filter set into a 2 liter air pot.

Can anyone who gardens tell me if my pasta water would be safe for my roses: 4 qts water, maybe a Tbsp of olive oil and maybe 2 tsp of salt?

Here in California we are in a very serious drought. Unfortunately it took me quite a while to understand that THIS TIME it really is serious. They have thrown the drought word around so much in the last 10 years I had quit listening to them. Now they have my attention. I don't have many good ideas yet on being more water-conscious and that bothers me. I already steam many things, both on the stove-top and in the microwave. The single largest use of water in cooking is boiling pasta. Since I oil my water it doesn't make for a very good source of pre-rinse water for stuff going into the dishwasher. I have no lawn as such right now and I can't bring myself to using water to bring it back to life. I do water my rosebushes about once a week but some of them are 30 years old and I don't want to lose them. I don't grow any edibles so there is nothing to cut back on there. I hope to get some inspiration from following this thread.

Kerry, is that an induction hob in the Kimchi pancake photo?

I just went looking (out of curiosity only) and it looks like there may be some factory-related problem. Amazon lists it as out of stock, and the other 2 sites I went to showed out of stock also. Again, this was just idle curiosity. Edited to add: this was for the whole line not just one size of pan.

FYI: My prefered pan is not teflon-coated which is why I own it. It has different coating that can take high heat well. Using it I make my omelets on my 16k BTU power burner with no fear. Edited to add: Welcome to eGullet, Bernoullli.

As my arthiritis progesses I am happier with lighter pans that I can still handle. My non-stick 10" vollrath is my prefered pan although I do have a 10" non-stick Tramontina also (thrift store find). I had picked up a 10" non-stick Cuisinart pan from BB&B because of the smooth radius transitition from the bottom of the pan up the sides. It is adequate but when I found the Tramontina I put the cuisinart away. All three produce decent omelets. With 3 adults who cook in the kitchen I need at least 2 10" saute' pans handy.

I came late to this thread. About a year ago I decided to watch the clip below of Julia Child making omelets. I was both surprised and happy to realize that the pan she is using is the same model pan I own. Mine is not dedicated just for eggs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RThnq3-d6PY&feature=kp The only difference from how she presents the finished omelet is that I prefer my eggs slightly more set with a hint of brown.

I grew up eating rather utilitarian food and, except for peach cobbler, I just don't have those particular smell memories. My sweet wife and I have just returned from our annual eastern Sierra trout fishing trip. If it had not been for the generosity of my father-in-law, who is part of these trips, there would have been no trip this year. We all got skunked this year. The drought in California is affecting "the lake." My wife has been going up there for close to 50 years, I joined this tradition over 30 years ago. We fish the same lake every year. When we do catch trout, they get cleaned and then go into the freezer and are kept frozen until we are ready to have some. What is amazing is that we can smell the lake when we defrost the trout, and that is a heavenly scent.

I agree that most of us have urged moderation as well as eating healthy meals together. However, I believe a statement like "Sugar should in fact be classified as a drug..." is demonizing sugar. Just my view of things ...

Yup. A friend just posted a picture of the lunch she is serving her approx 2-year-old child right now. You can tell that the child is enjoying lunch.

I have a special place in my heart for the copper-bottomed Revere 3 qt saucepan. It was the "used every day" pan when I began cooking the family dinner when I turned 13. I still have that pan although I don't use it. We received one as a wedding present and my wife liked it so much we bought a second one a couple of years later. A few years ago I picked up one from a thrift store and cleaned it up. Then another one. Not long after that my dear FIL wanted to replace his 50+ year-old one. When I researched what was available I found that they were now manufactured off-shore and had warping problems. So I "lent" him one of mine figuring to get it back when he passes. A couple of years ago I found another one, bought, cleaned it up and added it to my ren faire cooking gear. So yesterday I happened upon another one. But this one was different. It was old enough to be the really heavy construction from many decades ago. It weighs approximately 1 lb 11 oz. The ones I have from the 70's weigh about 1 lb 1 oz. I tried walking away from it. How many 3 qt pans does one man need? Then (I'm sure in desperation) I realized that I could clean this beauty up for my younger daughter and son-in-law. For $4.49 and some elbow grease on my part they will have a pan that should be with them through the years. Maybe my adorable 3-month-old grandson will cook with it one day.

Wood, Melamine, Stainless Steel - in that order.