Tri2Cook

I've never eaten a bug intentionally. I'm not squeamish about the idea, I've just never been presented with the opportunity or went to the trouble of doing it for myself. One thing I can definitively tell you is that ladybugs ARE NOT tasty. I had one fly into my mouth while cycling and it was incredibly unpleasant. A really foul, bitter taste.

I like fruitcake in it's most boring form, straight from the grocery store with no booze or aging. I like a good homemade fruitcake even more... by a huge margin. I can't even imagine how good a fruitcake like that must be. I've never had the experience of eating a well-aged fruitcake.

Nice! Wish I'd learned about this one before I finished my baking. Pretty sure I'm not adding more at this point though.

grumble grumble grumble So in the interest of extra fun, the last minute addition to complete the cookie list requires candied ginger which the only store in town managed to be completely sold out of when I went yesterday. So I'm candying my own ginger today so that I can bake the #%$& cookies tomorrow...

I found my 12th cookie. I was a tad skeptical at first and then it occurred to me that just a few years ago I would have been super excited over a recipe like this... so I went with it. I'm doing Johnny Iuzzini's Ginger-Curry Sugar Cookies from his new book (Sugar Rush). I haven't baked them yet but I probably need to get it done quickly or I might end up eating all of the dough. It's really good.

Manngy! I've wondered what he's been up to since he disappeared from here. Glad to hear he's doing well.

I'd just use some fresh lemon zest to replace the oil. If you don't want the actual lemon zest in the cookies, just mash some around with the sugar for a bit then strain it out. The oils transfer to the sugar quite easily.

There's definitely interest... sometimes the best inspirations come when we're not looking for or even particularly wanting them.

I haven't said much, I know nothing about anything related to where you were, but I've been following and enjoying every word and picture and know more about the area now than before you shared all of this. That meal at Ask looks really nice. Their elk being our moose is interesting to me... I have quite a bit of moose in the freezer right now so maybe a little exploring the cuisine of that region should be in order.

The recipe I used is 2 3/4 cups flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt mixed together then mixed into 3 eggs, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract that have been mixed together. I just took the recipe for the orange nut biscotti, which I really like, and replaced part of the flour with cocoa, left out the citrus zest and replaced the orange oil with peppermint extract. I considered tossing in some chocolate chips but at the last minute, in a fit of creating extra work for myself, I decided to partially dip them in chocolate instead.

So at this point I've done Berlinerkranser, Pfeffernusse, Lemon Melting Moments, Pecan Thumbprints (still to be filled, I keep the tradition of the way my grandmother did them and fill them with a basic powdered sugar/milk icing in assorted colors), Orange Hazelnut Biscotti, Gingerbread Biscotti, Cinnamon Cloud-Nine Crunchies (a yeast cookie from Rose's Christmas Cookies), Lebkuchen, Chocolate Sparkle, Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti and Springerle. My goal was to do the 12 cookies of Christmas so I'll have to squeeze one more in before I can say I'm done.

Nice haul. Looking forward to hearing what the stuff with the crystals turns out to be.

Sucks the moisture right out of those little yellow devils thus allowing the proteins to bind. Try burying an egg yolk in sugar for a few days (in the fridge) and take a peak at what you get.

Obviously you buy the exclusive Hot Pot Lid/Trivet Table Protector and the Hot Pot Lid/Trivet Glove (for removing the Hot Pot Lid/Trivet from the Hot Pot and placing it on the Hot Pot Lid/Trivet Table Protector without burning your fingers).

A dehydrator works really well actually. 125F for 8-10 hrs. does a nice job with smaller pieces.

I'd probably just replace it with more butter if my only worry was that simply omitting it would mess with the texture. It looks like it's only real purpose, beyond adding more fat, is to add another flavor to the mix so, unless you want to add another flavor, butter should work just fine. Although the dulce de leche and speculoos do sound like they'd be tasty substitutions...

Howdy.

My personal opinion is that we're learning more about what's in our food and learning more about the potential health risks some of those things can cause but most of them have probably been there all along and aren't causing any (or many) more problems now than they ever did. Knowing what caused a health problem for somebody now versus "they just got sick" before we had the ability to figure out what caused the problem gives the appearance that it's suddenly an issue that didn't exist at an earlier time. Also there's The Bandwagon™ wherein people find out about something and suddenly it's a major problem for a large number of them even though it'd never been a problem before they found out about the potential for it. The media and drug companies feed into that new fear and suddenly it's an epidemic. Knowledge is a good thing but sometimes figuring out how to use that knowledge causes unnecessary panic. *Disclaimer: when I die from a combination of gluten, trans fat, high fructose and mercury poisoning, I formally request that the above be engraved on my headstone as an eternal "we told you so".

That's what I was thinking. Cayenne sauces are among my favorite "everyday use" hot sauces. They're not face-melting hot and they're full of flavor. A big bowl of chicken noodle soup with a few dashes of Crystal is a thing of beauty on a cold day.

I think you're overthinking this one. In my area, I can use tap water without trouble but if calcium is a problem where you live and you want/need to use distilled, just go to a store, buy some and use it. You'll be fine and so will your spheres.

"It tasted like a kale smoothie"... so Gerry Corcoran's #3 Cup is now marked as one not to try.

I like baked beans made with pretty much any kind of bean so I imagine they'd be good with Tarbais. The main problem for me is beans dislike me every bit as much as I like them. Imagine a raucous rendition of Chopin's Prelude in G minor performed entirely on bugle. I've yet to find any bean that solves that little inconvenience...

Howdy... and what Smithy said.

Yeah, I cringed reading it too. Asking for feedback regarding food and/or service is okay... but not so much when you preface it by putting a spotlight on their tipping preference. You're basically asking them "Did we do something wrong or are you just cheap?".

I've never had Frito pie but if I made it, I'd cut up some corn tortillas and toss 'em in the deep fryer. That or, at the very least, make Dorito pie instead. Anything to avoid the Fritos, which I'm not a fan of. It wouldn't be authentic but authentic went out the door at "Frito pie without Fritos" so I don't think that's a worry.