hummingbirdkiss

I do not like cauliflower or broccoli I know I should..most folks do really like them even when they are not big fans of other veggies...these two just do not taste good to me and really I adore vegetables the only other thing I can think of I don't care for that people around me just enjoy the heck out of is eel I will eat anything from the sea raw or cooked... but have tried this several times and can not make myself see what other people love in it...it is just too eely tasting I guess

I find these guys reliable ..predictable and always offer wonderful beans http://www.batdorf.com

I was taught to eat with chopsticks when I was too little to remember I also taught my kids to eat with chopsticks in the high chair as just another option to get food to your mouth ..they are all proficient in using them not only with great skill but they are very respectful and use them politely..if they had drummed with chopsticks I would have drummed their heads with my hands! ...manners do matter...and varry according to where you are eating..... I love sharing food and really when you use chopsticks you are not supposed to put your mouth on them just eat the food off the end ..so that way when you dip into the communal dish there is less chance of spreading germs...my girlfriend is from Laos and has this amazing trick of turning her chopsticks so quickly she can serve herself off the communal plate with one side of the sticks then eat off her plate with the other...I have tried to do this but can not flip them with any finess and end up getting food everywhere (I am practicing this in private btw) I have never been to an Asian restaurant that did not offer them as an option ..not one that I can remember anyway ...maybe this is regional? Here in my area there seems to be the popular offering on the table of most family style Asian restaurants of both the disposable chopsticks as well as the reusable ones...

OK you guys I made ciobatta bread that was to die for ...really very good ...not bad shape (my husband has the camera right now or I would post a pic) ...not a loaf of sourdough bread at all ..but it is a really yummy mistake that is for sure!!! I am having some for lunch right now with butter on it ...about just under 2 inches high oblong springy texture ..lots of holes and a very crispy/chewy crust I really love this and will quickly note what the heck I just did ..then try again to get an actual loaf of bread ..these came out pretty flat .... this tastes so amazing I like what the extra day did to the flavor and texture!!!

cold eggplant parmesan sandwiched (smashed) between two pieces of grocery store white sandwich bread or a meatball same way

oh I must confess I do eat a piece as soon as it is cool enough I love that first warm bite before the cake firms up!!!

I don't ice ..I just pour rum over it when it first comes out of the oven and then wrap it right up really well and ignore it for a couple of weeks ... it I like to serve it sliced topped with some grated lemon rind and sweetened whipped cream ..and a really good cup of coffee .. oh as far as chunks go I like mine medium ground kind of like fine mincemeat maybe? ...I will take a pic and show you ..in the end it gives just a hint of textural distinction to the cake! I think a fruitcake club is perfect!!! I have been told I resemble one anyway!

OMG I love reading your post Lindacakes!!! thank you ... I am taking pictues and documenting each step as best I can ...I dont mind sharing this tradition at all ..in fact I love to share it!!!...making this cake is kind of like making a meatloaf it morphs as you go along

a potluck is where everyone brings a dish and you eat share food together "pot luck" some have themes but the best ones I think are those that people bring their best dishes with out a theme I always make a home made roasted green chile and tomatillo salsa with just a tiny bit of heat so as not to overwhelm anyone ..easy on the cilantro for the same reason ...and lots of fresh tortilla chips .. the plate is always empty afterwards

addendum to the above ...I use only unsweetened untainted dried fruits...and the soaking is so important (and you may of course know this already)...because it is more than the fruits filling with the alcohol it is also the reverse in that the fruits let off their flavors into the alcohol and this takes a lot of time...but the cake is so worth it in the end ... I don't think there is any other fruit cake in the world that tastes as wonderful as this one ... of course right now I am under the influence of 10 year old fruit!

I love yeast as a rule ...but my goal is make sourdough bread with out any extra yeast right now ..I just really want to do this perfectly

Devlin I imagine about 80 on the water it is wrist warm ..I refreshed the main starters last night and they are bubbling nicely now should I put them in the fridg again? Lisa I am jealous but very happy for you!! Glennbech I added more flour and a tiny bit of water to the dough I was making yesterday.. that did not rise causing my meltdown ... this morning I just checked it ... it is looking well risen and smelling really good right now (I love the smell of sourdough!) so I am going to fold the dough ..let it rise again and try to bake these loaves today..they have been in process a long time now! wish me luck and thank you so much for your help you guys you are so good to share this wisdom with me!..I can not wait to tell you this came out perfect!

Try Somali markets if you have them ....I know I have gotten mutton there... I guess I have always considered mature sheep "mutton" and when I ask for "sheep meat" in many markets I get what is in my taste "mutton" Mutton imho holds up to green or red chile stews and curries ..like no other meat ..I just love it and use it often .. lamb is wonderful on it's own and best with little done to it ..but when it comes to a well seasoned slow cooked dishes I will always go for mutton ..or even a grown goat...and both I have been able to find every place I have lived ...just ask around. good luck to you and enjoy it when you find it ..I think it is a fantastic meat and worth looking for ..

PS it did not help to hear things from my friend who bake "oh just add yeast and it will work" and "so what is the big deal with the holes?" or "just buy a bread machine it is easy" they do not get what I am going for here at all or why I am putting this much effort into it....

Thank you ...I will do what you are saying now ...I am not coping well with this I feel like I went from a decent start to lousy instead of improving...I think you are right here my starter is just not strong enough is what is going on I bet ... I am going to make some brownies today to try to boost my ego a bit ...and will work on the starter as well ...I know I have it in me to do this ....

as a nurse I try to get people to drink this for constipation and have told them (after reading this) that prune juice and 7up tastes like Dr Pepper .. honestly I have never tried it but people do report back to me that it is great that way! why not eat prunes instead would that work for you ..prunes and a big glass of water!

I want to cry ..not one of my starters proofed yesterday!!! I have no idea what is wrong I will try it again today and see but this is so upsetting!!! they were so alive!!! they looked and smelled like they usually do .... I am not giving up on this but I am having a bit of a sourdough meltdown right now ... I don't have the KA book do they have the recipe you are talking about online Lisa?

the way to start this is just at any time you feel like it get a big gallon at least glass jar with a plast lid..as you go to the store buy some dried fruits of your liking ..just a few bags to start ..(If you have Trader Joes they have a great selection at a perfet price) then fill the jar about half way with the dried fruits cut up into bite sized pieces and then pour a small bottle of dark rum a small bottle of apricot, cherry or other flavor brandy and a bottle of port wine over it ..wait a month ..then add more fruits rum, brandy and wine unti the jar is about 3/4 full cover and let sit another month ..if it is not to the top then just put a few more dried fruits in.. I keep two of these going at all times you can do this anytime and the sooner you start the better ..because the longer they sit the better as well ... these fruits only get better with age and are really good on top of ice cream later as well as in this cake ...so it is good to have more than you need on hand

you guys are so right about keeping notes!!! ...I am shameful in my lack of documentation ..people tell me this all the time when they want to recreate something I made for them..I vow to improve!.. so far today .. I took a cup of each starter (three of them) put each it into a plastic container with a lid and added 1 cup of warm water mixed with 1 cup of flour (KA) ..then set them in a warm spot and will leave them until this evening... refed the starters and they are enjoying a warm room for a few hours before I put them away! I have yet to find a cooler but have the light part to make a proofing box....for the time being I have warm spots for the dough I am a nurse..this is my busiest season for stress... and this is how I relax when the weather is lousy...spending my off time btw fixating on recipes

how on earth did I miss someone with a black cake on their avatar!!! how cool is that??/

I checked out that recipe and it is exactly the same as what I do ..but completely different if you know what I mean? my combinations of spices are different and so is the flavoring....but the cake looks quite the same actually ..I have molds I like to use in shapes as well to give them away I have steamed and baked this cake and love both so now do half and half each year ... I am excited and going to post the recipe the best I can ..but honestly the fruits ...start them a year before you want to make a cake!!! or at least a few months ..this one hour two hour thing ...they will taste harsh and raw... the longer they sit the smoother the flavors ...my friend puts cheap passover wine in her fruit jars ..and I am thinking of doing that after the last batch of her cake I tried... it is kind of a "chain" cake! you can give part of your fruits to other people to get them started ...like sourdough! I do grind all my spices and use vanilla beans .... I am going to make it this week and will share all the steps thanks so much for the browning advice!!! I think I will do a batch this morning and test it out... I can not find the right browning here ..even in the Caribbean markets ..they will order it ..but I want to make the cake now ....

I am not sure where you live but you can buy the best mutton all over the southwest US at tribal grocery stores ...here in the Pacific NW I just ask my butcher for it and usually he can find some when I do ... also Caribbean ...most Halal ...and some Hispanic markets carry it or you can ask there as well ...just ask for "sheep meat"

absolutely I will post a picture I dont have an exact recipe but if you want when I make it will take pics and try to give the recipe to you .. Each person who does it ...adds to it I think and when the recipes go down in families the additions become pieces of history...my kids love my version of this cake because I use lots of fresh grated ginger in it to give it a nice edge to the sweetness of all the fruits and brown sugar... I love this cake myself . and can always tell about families when I taste others .....

I have a very strong history of Caribbean influence in my life/cooking one of the things that is a very important part of my family tradition is a Black Cake or Heavy Cake as it is sometimes called...I make one for special holidays and events ...Easter is close and my friend is graduating with a second degree and it is time to pull the jar of fruits down and get busy on this... if you don't know about this cake it is made from dried fruits soaked in booze (everyone has a secret combo they love to use) ground up and put into a plum pudding like cake base that has a touch of rosewater and browning in it I think the secret to wonderful black cakes is the fruit ... the base fruit that I keep adding to every year is at least 10 years old at this point and it is a wonderful mother to the new fruits that join in...I have for the past few years used Trader Joe's dried fruits cut up pineapple, peaches, raisens of all types, dried cherries of all types, prunes, all kinds of fruits that I think will hold up in the jar then douse it with a bottle of Appletons dark rum, bottle of cherry brandy and bottle of port wine... The browning is also a very important part of a great cake...and well... I must confess always bought the browning in a jar...and suddenly I can not find it and ran out of what I had.... so my two questions for this thread would be do you make a black cake and would you like to share your "secrets" or stories about them? and please if you have made browning can you share with me the best way to do it?

my husband said the recipe he uses was Katherine Hepburn's from forever ago ...he will not tell me ... (I will have to look for that one unless someone here has it and would like to share?) and he has been doing it for so long it is all from what he says is his "sharp memory, skilled technique and gentle hand " the only other thing this man makes in grilled cheese and scrambled eggs!!! I am going to watch him and then copy his technique!!! I know the pan he uses is only alloted for brownies he said it does make a HUGE difference in the nice shell they have....