baroness

I found some "Tart & Sour Fruit Flavor Enhancer" (contains: citric acid, water, malic acid, sodium citrate) in the cupboard -- or perhaps adding the lime PULP bits to the juice would be enough to tang it up. I'll try another experimental batch of peanuts when all the cookies are done.

Many aluminum items do not fare well in the dishwasher; perhaps it's the chemistry of dishwasher detergent.

The first iteration is cooling now: 12 oz. raw peanuts 2 T. peanut oil 1/4 c. brown sugar 2 T. lime juice 1 tsp. sriracha 1/4 tsp. cayenne 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to finish I pan-roasted the nuts a bit, removing the loose peanut skins, then took them out of the pan and made a syrup with the other items. The nuts then returned and were stirred until the glaze was attached to them. Nuts were spread out to cool and a little more salt added. Initial impressions: nice amount of heat and salt; the peanuts with the skins on are a lovely glossy dark brown and have more flavor than the bare ones. Both the lime and the sugar are NOT noticeable. I don't mind the lack of sweetness but do want a little tang. I have lime OIL, but that would not be sour; also more limes if zest would be a good idea. Hmmmmmmm?

In Hector Blumenthal's "In Search of Perfection 2", he experimented with various rubs and marinades on chicken, then scanned them with an MRI machine to see what penetration was achieved. IIRC, adding yogurt improved the results.

I stocked up on raw peanuts and limes today; also remembered that I have palm sugar here. As far as the bitter goes, is the lime sufficient to cover that as well as the sour note?

I am finishing up making my food gift items and would like a savory Thai-flavored nut to complement the vanilla-spice pecans already made. Here is some of what's in house now: coconut (unsweetened and sweetened), coconut milk, ginger (fresh, ground, crystallized), lime leaves, green curry paste, sriracha and other chile sauces, dry chiles, various other Asian condiments and a huge battery of 'Western" spices and herbs -- and almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, peanuts... Ideas dearly welcomed!

The Seven Fishes feasts I've attended (thankfully never had to cook!) invariably had a huge amount of leftovers. To avoid this problem, for the main course, I think I would figure half to three-quarters of a pound total (net-no shells, etc.) per person. The tricky part is apportioning that among the 5 dishes. For my audience, I would do the largest amounts of calamari and shrimp, then fish, then the octopus and baccala. YMMV.

The King Arthur Flour blog is featuring Pizza Buns (Danish!) today; they could be a fine savory snack : Look Here!

No sharp objects in my sink, either!

The best-received gift I gave an older version of the man above was one bottle each of truly excellent balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. A few weeks later, someone complimented him on a dish made with them, and the credit was given to the givers

John, the Overnight Apple Cake in the first post still sounds wonderful. Perhaps you could mix in some pears or even dried fruit such as apricots...

Kalustyan's has the bird's eye chile.

A gift card for Target or the like could be used for chocolate, a fuzzy scarf, or anything else the teacher desires for herself, or her class.

I think this is it, from a google of Libbys pumpkin roll: recipe

Kalustyan's Penzeys

I agree that the handles on some OXO items are a bit large for my taste. However, there is a reason for those handles: "OXO began with a few simple questions - Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands? Why can't there be wonderfully comfortable tools that are easy to use? The man who asked these questions was Sam Farber. Sam, who had recently retired as the founder of a successful housewares company, first questioned the effectiveness of kitchen gadgets in response to his wife Betsey's difficulty in gripping ordinary kitchen tools, due to a slight case of arthritis in her hands. Seeing an opportunity to help not only people with arthritis but also to create more comfortable kitchen tools for everyone to use, Sam came out of retirement and approached the design firm Smart Design with that challenge. As part of the initial research that included talking with consumers, chefs and retailers, Patricia Moore, a noted gerontologist, was brought on board to help understand the needs of the users with special needs." -- from the OXO website

Cutesy names give me a headache: veggie, sammie, etc. I'm also suspicious of ones that include delicious, tasty, to-die-for, better-than-(whatever).

Comparing packaged goods, the turron is generally stiffer/harder than the Italian torrone. Homemade torrone is transcendent; so different from the little cardboard boxes...

Ooooooooh! This sounds particularly appealing. With this wealth of ideas, you all are tempting me to go out and buy *another* bag.

Brita filters are supposed to be changed every 60 days (or some # of gallons), whichever comes first. That's what they say, anyway. I keep mine at room temp and change it every 60-90 days (with pitcher washing now and then). I have NO moldy or other icky sensations.

Oh, my! What a bevy of interesting options. I also have a crate and a half of rather tart clementines, so I may alter the avocado-grapefruit duo and see how that is. Pairing with mozzarella, cottage cheese, and potatoes are new ideas to me. And I am relieved to hear that avocados will survive a while refrigerated; my refrigerator has a great crisper. Any ideas on how to pair avocados with shrimp?

At the Asian market today, I happened upon bags of 5 large, beautiful avocados (from Chile) for 2.99. I couldn't resist. They aren't quite ripe yet. Ideas for a variety of avocado dishes are welcome!

The OXO site only shows one dish rack. Perhaps one pays more for the sur la table experience?

I *still* cannot forget a raspberry jello-tomato 'delight' that my Mom's best friend served. My, it was "different"!!!

The Nguyen book is very approachable, and the dishes I've tried are delicious. I'd also recommend "Harumi's Japanese cooking" by Harumi Kuhihara. Harumi mixes Asian and Western ingredients to great effect.