hummingbirdkiss

I agree no water and you have to cook/slightly sweeten and thicken the berries to make a puree that works with a cake of anykinc ...both raspberries and blueberries intensify brighten when you cook them personally I dont care for spices or lemon juice with berries they are so good the way they are!!! but cardamom and blueberries I would try!

sometimes I think I could measure things and follow recipes better if I took some ritalin before I started about 98% of my baking failures has to do with the fact I start to measure then toss stuff in then get pissed off because what I have is not what the recipe said I should have...and keep tossing more stuff in thinking it will eventually work out I am just now.... these past couple of years been able to produce decent baked things cooking I was born to do ... I am a very instinctual cook by feel and smell and vision I know what my dishes should be like ..but baking is so hard for me ..because of the exactness of it all ..I so admire good bakers because it is so hard for me to do!!! however that is actually why I am here on this board.. I figure I am never too old to learn and so what if I break few dishes in frustration ... ok the glass pie pan through the window was a bit dramatic for even me

I love it when it is good ..good bread good olive oil and even dip it at home when I bake my bread while it is warm taste the crusts dipped in good olive oil... ..but when it is bad ..it is really bad ....I always take a tiny taste of each alone first and then figure out if I want to dip ...sometimes it is great bread lousy oil sometimes lousy bread great oil ...when both happen to be good it is really nice I think I do not see it as faddy or pretentious unless it is lousy!

Ok here you go ..I am not sure who to give credit to this for it is kind of a hybrid gingerbread cake for folks who love ginger..one of the guys I worked with made it for me and I loved it so much that I have made it several times a year since..he said the recipe is in The Joy but I could not find the same one in my version ..so here it is gingery gingerbread cake 2 cups flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground ginger 1-1/2 tsp fresh ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp of salt 1 stick butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 jumbo egg 1/2 cup molasses 3/4 cup buttermilk 1/3 cup grated raw ginger 1/3 cup candied ginger diced into tiny pieces Grease your square pan preheat your oven to 350 degrees In a mixing bowl first mix together the dry ingredients then add the wet stir well until mixed but do not beat it just stir it together then fold in the fresh and candied ginger Bake for about 45min until pick comes out clean then leave to cool in pan Serve with fresh whipping cream

just a hint you guys the dough is better if you put it in the fridg the day before and leave it over night...my final Malasadas were even lighter and fluffier the picture shows (I made those the first day of the dough) when I took the dough out and let it rise the next morning they went from really wonderful ..to the perfect Malasada ..in my mind anyway!

there is an insanely lovely gingerbread recipe that calls for 3 types of ginger... grated ginger, candied ginger and powdered ginger from The Joy I think? ..I will look when I get off work if you want the recipe I can try to post it tomorrow? ..it is quick ..very moist keeps really well for a couple of days and ...a ginger lovers dream!!!

yup it is!!!

mine overnight became covered with more aphids than I had ever seen in my life! ...then as soon as that was under control died of a blight or something ..it was depressing! I dont think I will try it again they are expensive and I get too attached to my plants

I would not go even if they took the building turned it inside out shook it really hard and then started again ..it will still be a RL just like all those places... the service, the food, the crowds, the singing ...the singing ..the singing ... I know that more people enjoy this kind of thing more than I do( just like people can shop at Walmart and I get stuck at the door and can not go in ... the bright lights and the greeters overwhelm me!) ... even if they were serving decent food ...I could not enjoy a meal in that environment... the fact they don't makes it to hard for me to go in the door when I am invited by folks I love... to go to celebrations in places like that I send a card ..a nice gift ..my love ...and give someone money to pay for the guest of honor"s meal if it is appropriate ..and apologize for not being able to over come my overstimulation enough to get in the door ... so my answer is ...no ...I can not and will not go back to a RL no matter what they do to make it better..it is still what it is and that to me is not pleasurable dining ... but I am glad there is a place like that for folks who enjoy the food and ambiance!

I just figured out I now love this on buttered corn! and yes I can taste it I split one fat bean and put it in about 1 cup of kosher salt I started using pinches the day after I put the bean just start using it on things and see what you like it with ...

Oh my oh my. Your pie looks delicious, the fruit, the crust, wonderful. Can I bribe you to send me a warm slice via FedEx tonight? thank you so much for saying that! if I could I would toss one over the mts to you! I am so happy about this pie!

thank you so much for saying that!!! there was a ton of drama involved but I am so proud of the results!!!

runny but pretty much the best tasting blueberry/blackberry pie I have ever made! this piece is already taken or I would offer it to you!

SHIT!!! I wish I had not read this!!!! sold!

Use the oldest trick in the cooksbook. Pretend it was supposed to be that way! Call it "Blackberry Pandowdy" or something, and top it with a generous scoop of good vanilla ice cream. People will rave about it! SB (and DON'T share the recipe ) ← It is intact!!! the pie at least looks nice not exactly how I thought it would but the crust is intact and you can see the flower! ...the proof will be in the cutting however ..that is usually where I go horribly wrong when even after a good long cool all the filling gushes out with the first piece cut ...and that piece is nothing but an empty crust cut in a triangle!... I like that kind of thinking btw I have to use that technique with my next disaster!!! thanks for your help!!!!

Thank you! I have the attention span of a flea so I did that and am feeling validated now ! I love to roll the crust ..but ...I think my butter to flour ratio is off because the sunflower I stuck on top with the extra dough is not very visable right now ...the crimping melted down too .. I have to stop looking at it until the buzzer goes off or I am going to cry! what if the whole crust dissolves????

I am making a pie and just realized I do not have cornstarch or tapioca but I do have tapioca starch? I have no idea how much I need to use to thicken a blackberry pie? I prefer the pie insides are firm enough so they don't fall out with the first slice (these are juicy berries!) will this work you think? I can use flour I guess but since I have the tapioca starch I would like to try it anyone know? thanks so much in advance

Ok I just straightened out my book closet and while I have some very embarassing books in there... I have narrowed my most "embarassing" down to four 1. Sunset's Oriental Cookbook wow that is pretty awful ..the title ("Oriental") ..the recipes and the fact I somehow ended up with 2 copies???? how on earth???? 2. The Soul Food Cookbook by a middle aged white woman back in the 60's I forgot her name now and I am not near the book or I would tell you 3 "Bone" Appetit A "paw" pourri of frecipes from the Cayman Humane Society ok my mother put this one together and while I am very proud of her efforts ..the recipes are awful ...but there is a very cute picture of her dog in there!!! 4. The Higher Taste a Hare Krishna publication (I stood in line to eat at a Hare Krisna tent on Venice beach one time and they were passing out this book ..I did try a few recipes from it and they were horrible ..however the food on Venice beach was pretty damn good!!!

LOLOL people do that to me all the time ..I am a nurse and they will call and ask "blah blah hurts what should I do" then maybe I will tell them and then they give me a litany about how that could not possibly work!!!! go figure huh? sometimes I wonder why they called in the first place? I dont consider purging clams much work but I do consider waiting to eat them after I dig them an agonizing period of time ... I just want an instant reward!!!

I am with Fatguy I have gotten whole prawns with head and feet and feeliers but never have they had claws? do any type of prawns have claws ?

stud hunting LOLOL!!! I have used bike hooks to hang various things including pots! they work perfectly!

after digging clams I have always cooked a pot on the beach.. ..or even eaten them raw out of the shell right there as I am digging them... .. when I steam them on the beach I sip the broth as well and if there was any grit left like he said it was at the bottom of the pot ... so I am with him too much work and way too much waiting for me to purge fresh dug clams.. however.....I have purchased clams that were more gritty than any I have dug up ..I wonder if it has anything to do with location?

I remember a friend of mine who used to take her ramen with tongs and toast it over the burner on the stove then make the soup ..it was actually quite good that way!

Bigfoot your lunches are stunning!!!!

this was my lunch yesterday ..Samosa's from Pablas in Renton WA ...my husband brought these back while I was varnishing 938475 miles of trim for our basement ...I kissed him