heidih

Well huiray just told my story. The only person I could stand to food shop with was my son in ethnic markets. He would wander and get entranced by unusual items; no foot tapping or constant glancing at the time.

Enjoying To each his own: http://www.gocomics.com/overboard/2013/09/18#.UjzlkIasifM and like some humans making a gastronomic mountain out of a molehill: http://www.gocomics.com/overboard/2013/08/19#.UjzmuIasifM

The pain is subsiding after several hours. No idea what I am going to wear tomorrow in public. Yes, once again I burned myself with boiling water. The first serious time was really steam - I pushed the lid back on a Le Creuset pan that had carrots boiling and wanted to drain the water. Of course all the steam rushed up onto my wrist and I stupidly was afraid to drop the pot into the sink. It was ugly. But not as ugly as a big pot of boiled eggs that I tried to maneuver from the stove to the sink with a cast on my arm. That one was a full on belly slosh. I mean all over mid section. That area is a bit hard to run cold water over unless you jump into a cold shower. I had many guests (none in the kitchen) and tried to motor through as the shower was not an option. Today it was small elbow macaroni in a pan with only 3 inch sides and the pasta was glomming onto the bottom. I wedged the wooden spoon under the offenders and got a lovely slosh of boiling water on my midsection. I had walked away while the water was going to boil and the level was too low when I put in the dry pasta. As a bonus I was wearing a gauzy top which absorbed nothing. Stubbornly I completed the dish though I was inclined to throw the bewitched pasta into the trash. I say lesson learned; sure hope so.

What's the good looking crusty carb in the middle?

I have to admit the concept does not appeal to me at all, but......it is fun to watch others have a go at it. Today Serious Eats featured ramen as pizza crust - using the word pizza more than loosely http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2013/09/how-to-make-ramen-crust-pizza.html?ref=excerpt_readmore

As others have noted, and based on experience - predators can be an issue. As noted with any animal under your care you can't just decide to stay out after dark and not have an arrangement for someone to get the hens into the coop. If you buy chicks they may say all hens but can't guarantee so you have to deal with getting it down to one rooster or no rooster. This is hands on "animal husbandry". The internet is full of chicken coop ideas like the tractors - but it is work.

EatingAsia's Turkey posts are worth checking out http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/turkey/

i have the same experience as gfweb - 15 minutes from the bay but the seafood is from far far away. Granted the bay is polluted but there is fishing further offshore. There are some places to get good fresh local fish but it requires a bit of effort and often driving outside the usual shopping zone. I really appreciate this tour of your available fish. I also like your food pairings - treating fish like the protein on the plate and not having some standard "fish goes only with.."

It struck me recently that there seems to be a bizarre emphasis on having perfect cross-hatched grillmarks; particularly on chicken breast. A friend gave me some magazines to thumb through today and every piece of allegedly grilled protein looks like it was branded with something like diamondplate. I have seen it in frozen prepared foods that I am sure never saw a grill. Have you noticed this? Do you care about grill marks?

Oh yes! The only reason we dusted with powdered sugar was for looks. Occasionally we mixed confectioners sugar, lemon juice and a bit of water for a very very light glaze. I love it plain.

I had a similar situation with my mother-in-law. She was a Registered Dietitian in a well regarded hospital, gave lectures to docs and nurses but had no interest in preparing her own meals. I always did the cooking when we visited (she was 8 hours away by car) and she stayed in the recliner. I had no idea how poorly she was eating until she had a health crisis and started to try to cook more. She mentioned some frustrations with food prep and was receptive to taking some pointers. The two things that had the most impact on her were realizing that the microwave could do more than cook a frozen dinner, and that frozen veggies are pretty good. On the MW - discovering cooking a potato in the microwave that she could have with some toppings like cottage cheese, cheese, and green onions was a revelation to her. As were kitchen scissors. The whole cutting board and knife thing threw her. As to vegetables, she had a combo "aha" that she could take what she needed out of the bag and nuke it and assemble a balanced meal with not much fuss and few dishes. Quesadillas are also a verastile simple skill to put in a rotation; alleviating the sandwich monotony. As I type I realize that learning how to shop may be the gateway skill to better eating.

dcarch - can you provide some detail on what the dishes are - images look tasty but I am unclear

That massage thing has been going around and I have never done it. Really with the lacinto kale I do not find it an issue. I don't feel like it is a chewing workout. I dress it, leave on counter for maybe half hour tossing when I walk by, and serve. Have you used the black kale?

Raw kale salads have been all over the internet for a few years, I first tried the one in Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. I was impressed. I prefer this raw salad with lacinto (black or Tuscan) kale. Recently Whole Foods has been featuring decent sized bunches of a variety of organic kales for $1.50. Though a bunch is too much for one person, the salads keep well. I have varied the dressings and add-ins. I don't do the bread crumbs with a batch I am saving, but sometimes add them when serving Have you been on this train and how have you tweaked it? The one today was dressed with a lemony hazelnut oil and cider vinegar dressing with garlic and lots of cracked pepper. Dried cherries and some shaved cheese is also in there.

Hard to describe. It holds on but right at the bottom. I just run my hand lightly across the bottom and pull it off. The bristles are so fine that it does not get up into them

They usually have an expiration date stamp. I do not find them to be fragile. In some markets they are available in the freezer section.

Liuzhou - can you address the whole wok hei at home question in terms of home cooking in China versus restaurants? The first time I saw someone use a real wok as opposed to the teflon electric ones being demonstrated in stores way back when, it was here in the states on a regular gas stove. I went to pick up my kid and the mom who was born and raised in Taiwan was making dinner. While waiting for the kids to pick up their toys I watched as she cooked a simple beef and gai lan dish. What impressed me was the progression of the ingredients into the pan, the movement of them, and the slicing. I did not have the opportunity to taste it but the smell made my tummy growl in anticipation.

I have converted many to these kitchen brooms that are generally around $5 at Korean and Vietnamese markets. They are flexible and pick up fine things like flour very well. As to the dustpan, I find that to be more about technique.Sweep into dustpan, pull pan back a couple inches and sweep again as needed.

Based on discussion like this one http://forums.egullet.org/topic/118417-woks-buying-caring-and-use-of/?hl=%20wok - it would seem that the type of wok is also a major factor in how the food cooks.

I do not bow to the health guru-gods, and cheese is very much in my life. I think the milk drinking thing is a habit that some kept from childhood and others left behind. I know people who have to stop to pick up milk on the way back from the airport after a trip because somehow a home is not ok without milk in the fridge. The recognition of lactose intolerance may be a factor as well. Then there is the whole bottled water culture competing with the milk culture perhaps?

Another simple marmalade filling would be bitter orange. Sabra liqueur as the filling flavor also sounds good to me.

I like cherries with chocolate. Perhaps simply a cherry marmalade? If you had not already baked them I would have suggested a small hole in the top cookies - just large enough to have a cherry centered in it.

dcarch - I agree that they are superb raw, but the ones I roasted above were at that leaky point - on the way out. I took the rest of the roasted ones and did a simple pasta with some added browned onion, a splash of balsamic, snipped garlic chives and basil, couple spoons of cottage cheese (no ricotta in the house), and a sprinkle of a shaved cheese blend from Trader Joes. I put it back on the heat to melt the cheeses after I took the shot. It was absolutely wonderful. If stepmom snags more of the over ripe romas at bridge this week I will roast them as well.

There are some ideas for both sweet, savory and drinks in this prior topic http://forums.egullet.org/topic/92171-preparing-prickly-pear-tuna-fruit-of-the-cactus/

Our topic which is so large it is in 9 parts is an excellent reference: start here http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145383-sous-vide-recipes-techniques-equipment-part-9/?hl=%2Bsous+%2Bvide