Shel_B

made by General Mills. How do you know they're made by General Mills? TJ's also has organic O's, multi-grain O's, and maybe one or two others. Are hey also made by GM? I read elsewhere that the O's, at least the regular O's, are made by a source other than GM. TJ's doesn't disclose who makes which private label item, so I cannot help but wonder what your source for this info is.

I'm heading into the city tomorrow or Wednesday, so maybe I'll have time to check Cookin' - Thanks! I plan to continue searching eBay as well.

Thanks for the suggestion to use panko or rolls and for the education. What you say makes sense. Sometimes it's frustrating when a "expert source" suggests something very specific, and I don't know why they've made the recommendation. I've got panko aplenty, and can always get a nice roll from any of several good bakeries, scoop the insides, and use the rest for a sandwich. And I don't have to make a special trip to the local supermarket, which I detest.

Back around 1980, I purchased a Le Creuset 4.5 quart oven, the bottom of which is stamped with the number 24. A number of years ago the lid dropped and broke, and I put the pot away thinking that, one day, I'd try to get a replacement lid for it. When I did contact Le Creuset they told me that the model I had was discontinued and that there were no replacement lids available. Again, I put the pot away and then purchased new pot. I am now ready to start my quest for a lid for this old workhorse. I've checked eBay a few times, and thus far the lids have been either in poor shape or come with the pot, which, of course, is not needed. My pot is white, but I don't care what the lid color is, only that the lid be in reasonably good condition. The lid, as far as I've been able to determine, should have the number 24 cast into the underside. Does anyone have this lid that they'd like to sell? Or know where I might get one?

Neither - in this case it's for a meat sauce (http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/4126-simple-italian-style-meat-sauce?extcode=K00NCSW00), something I don't usually make, as I was gifted with several pounds of good, grass-fed ground beef from a friend's ranch yesterday.

Those breads are unavailable here, AFAIK. Maybe someone knows an adequate substitute in the San Francisco area. I guess another question might be, "Could a cheapo 'Wonder Bread' clone, or any white bread, be used with good results?"

While I know what a panade is, and at least basically understand how to make one, the question of what a "good quality white bread" is eludes me. I'm thinking of a loaf bought at one of our local artisan or artisan-like bakeries, but that seems like an expensive proposition for a slice of bread. I suppose I could eat the bread, or freeze it for subsequent use, but a) I don't like white bread, and b) it could remain in the freezer for months, if not years. And yes, I could just give the sliced-into-loaf to someone ... however, my real question isn't about what to do with a leftover loaf of white bread, but what a "good quality white bread" should consist of - what makes one white bread good and the other dreck - especially supermarket white bread. CI tested white bread, but the ones they recommended are, at least as far as I know, unavailable in my area. Can't use 'em, can't taste 'em to see what they consider good. So, a little white bread help would be in order, please. Thanks!

Good advice ... thanks!

This evening we tried roasted butternut squash seed oil. Oh, my, just licking my fingers with this oil was heaven. We oiled some slices of kabocha squash with it, baked it, and the results were devine. Since it was a gift, I have to find out where to get it.

Toots and I were talking earlier about bergamot, and the idea of bergamot curd crossed my mind. Has anyone ever made it? Any tips? I found a couple of recipes on line, so I know it's been done.

I've not said anything because I like my fruit plain, either a single fruit or a combination. However, when you mentioned dressings, I got to thinking about a fruit salad we had at a friend's place some months ago. I don't recall the assortment of fruits she included, but she made a very simple dressing that we all enjoyed: Cathy's Honey Yogurt Sauce 2 cups yogurt 2 Tbs honey ½ tsp vanilla extract OR seeds from 1 vanilla pod cinnamon to taste Stir together, adjust seasoning This seems to go nicely with a variety of fruits.

There are over 100 species of native North American earthworms in unglaciated areas such as the southeastern U.S. and the Pacific Northwest. The number of non-native species is relatively small, although they are doing damage in former glaciated areas where, for thousands of years, plant life evolved without earthworms.

You seem to be a pretty handy fellow, and apparently have a supply of tools and the space to make some of the projects you've shown us. Good for you!

I took delivery of the Farberware ladle today, just in time for making a big batch of curried lentil and kale soup. I-2-3 Bada Bing! The pot was scooped out and the storage containers filled. The size and shape are just about ideal for some of the soups (and, I suppose, stews) that I frequently make. I can see where it may be a bit big or unwieldy for some drawers or situations, but it is a good fit here. Thanks! Interesting - the price on Amazon now is almost twice what I paid for mine just a few days ago, and more expensive that a several other sites.

I thought I'd bump this up and see if I can get an answer to the question: Finally, since CI suggests that full-fat milk may inhibit rising, how might a non-fat milk work? Would it be an OK choice for popovers, or is some milk fat necessary to make the recipe(s) work? Since there's fat in the butter or shortening, it would seem that non-fat milk could work. Could the lack of milk fat in non-fat milk be somehow compensated by using a butter with a higher butterfat percentage?

We sometimes use yogurt containers to store items in the freezer. What can be used to label the containers that is easily removable? I was thinking of freezer tape - would that work? Any other suggestions? Thanks!

That would be a Thermomix! Quite an interesting machine, but way out of my league. I'm jes' a po' ol' country boy from NYC. Thanks for making me aware of it, though. Do you use one?

A couple of nights ago I made the lemon curd recipe posted above, although I modified the technique somewhat. For the first time I used a thermometer to measure the temperature of the curd, and the results were quite good, in part, perhaps, because of monitoring the temp and cooking the curd to 170-degrees. I also stirred constantly for the first time ... I wonder if there's a way to stir the curd mechanically, perhaps some gadget that's available or which could be adapted.

Thanks for all the useful responses. A few suggestions look like they warrant further investigation, although at the moment I'm inclined towards this one: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt600c.html. They all look to be a lot better than the slow-as-sludge Taylor that I have. Fortunately, the Taylor was free.

Organic all the way. Rub cleaned and dried skin with oil, add a satisfactory amount of salt, puncture with a fork, and then 400 - 425 degrees for 50- to 60-minutes until done (in the Breville or the regular oven - these days I prefer the Breville). Gets the skin nice and crispy-crunchy. When done I usually add some pepper, maybe a bit of EVOO or just a few heavy squirts of fresh lemon juice, maybe a hit of lemon zest. I want to taste the potato, not cheese, cream, bacon, and a passel of vegetables. Sometimes, especially for Toots, I'll make an "Idaho Sunrise." She loves potatoes and eggs, and the Sunrise makes a nice brunch dish.

They were the de facto egg noodle standard when I was growing up in NYC ... I still miss them when I make my favorite noodles and cheese dish.

I'm reminded of a label on a box of sleeping pills: "CAUTION: May cause drowsiness."

Hi ... I'd like a recommendation for a simple, inexpensive, instant read thermometer. I want to stick it in meat and use it to measure the temp of my lemon curd. At this point I see no further use for it, but I don't know what else I may use it for down the road. I have an inexpensive thermometer, but it took forever to reach the 170-degrees I was looking for while making my lemon curd this evening. Thanks!

National Geographic deposited this article in my mailbox today: http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com/2012/06/26/how-to-eat-chocolate/?utm_source=NatGeocom&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=multi_20140203&utm_campaign=MultiProduct

Since this is a thread about potatoes, and it was mentioned earlier "that if you were to buy only one type of veg that's organic it should be celery," I thought I'd add a copy of a letter I received from a potato grower on PEI, the "Idaho" of Canada. We were corresponding about how insipid I found some commercial potatoes to be. As a result of this letter, some research, and growing my own potatoes, I'll never buy a commercial potato again, and especially so with russets. ===================================================================== Hi Shel, I know a little about how potatoes are grown, commercial and organic. I don't know specifically about Idaho, but similarly in Canada there is a potato region on Prince Edward Island, where like Idaho they are known as the potato capital, and potatoes have been grown there for many years. Much of the soil has become depleted and in poor condition over many years of growing potatoes, which are heavy feeders. To just supply chemical fertilizers and then spray pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, when you look at that soil, it just looks dead. Try to find an earthworm, not bloody likely. Soil erosion due to cultivation methods is also an issue, as is growing a "monoculture" where potatoes only are grown again and again and for miles. Now I never blame the farmer, in PEI, many of them are indentured in my opinion, working under contract for giant food corporations to produce terribly cheap potatoes for the frozen french fry manufacturers. So the market economy at work wants to do things to have the cheapest cost, the most profit, the public generally doesn't notice the poor quality, especially when you add the grease and salt. Now I'm not pinko or anything, but it's interesting in contrast when you go to Cuba. The whole island has been converted to organic. So to farm large quantities of potatoes industrially.... you want all the plants to die off at the same time. (When you want to harvest potatoes for storage, the skins only firm up a couple weeks after the tops die off, so that's when you want to harvest them to have a good tough skin to store well). Old school small scale organic growing would have waited for the plant tops to die, dug that up accordingly. Enter Monsanto... why not spray all your potato green tops with Round-Up, then they can all be killed at the same time, you can know the date, and go from there as to when you want to harvest. Potatoes were #3 on a list of the worst contaminated crops in terms of chemicals. They regularly are in those "dirty dozen" lists, of the most contaminated vegetables. Roundup BTW kills by being absorbed through the leaves then going down the to roots in my understanding, to kill the roots to kill the plant. Extra bonus: inhibits sprouting, if potatoes are fully dead they won't sprout at all. Anyhow, I'm fortunate that my husband grows amazing potatoes in his organic garden. He's got varieties that he's collected from various places, some red on the inside, blue, purple, yellow, black truffle, long skinny buttery fingerlings, etc... They grow very easily, although he does add some "amendments", things like compost, a little kelp and organic minerals. He puts a little pine needle with them (or pine shavings) to prevent scab, a fungus that can be warded off by acidifying the soil a little instead of needing a fungicide. The taste is night and day. The organisms we're talking about are part of a healthy soil, the organisms contribute to breaking down things to make nutrients available. A plant with good organic nutrition (rather than just chemical N-P-K fertilizer) is better able to resists pests, disease, and produces tastier food IMO.