Shel_B

Turns out that those cookies are no longer available, at least in my area. <BooHoo>

Thanks for the suiggestions. I'll check them out at my next TJ's visit. I may get the Lemon Ginger cookies for myself as I like both flavors. Don't recall seeing them at my local TJ's though ...

Thanks for mentioning this. My local grocery store doesn't carry so I stopped by a TJ on my way home from vacation and stocked up. Like to stuff them with goat cheese, warm them up, and just serve with sherry vinegar, oil , and parsley. Yum. Try stuffing with goat cheese, some ground cumin and orange zest. I saw that idea somewhere, tried it, and liked it quite a bit.

What are your favorite TJ's cookies? I like the Triple Ginger Snaps, but rarely buy cookies. I want to bring s package or two of cookies to the local senior center so the good folks there might enjoy them with the free coffee in the morning. I'm thinking that the ginger snaps may be a little much for the folks there - looking for something everyone might enjoy. How are the chocolate chip cookies? Is there some kind of cookie that might be a little healthier - lower fat, less carbs or sugar?

I am embarassed to say that I was mistaken: it's a boned leg.

Probably shoulder - it's not a boned leg, that's for sure.

This morning I was given a beautiful lamb roast, and I'd like to marinate and grill it or braise it. I have a wonderfully, fruity red wine, an unlimited supply of fresh rosemary, and plenty of garlic. What other ingredients might you suggest for the purposes mentioned. A couple of recipes that I have (but have not tried) included some red wine vinegar in the marinade. That seems like a pretty heavy handed way to add acid - any thoughts on the vinegar? Also, I thought making some slits in the lamb about putting some garlic cloves and rosemary springs directly into the meat. However, I'm concerned that, if the lamb is grilled, the inserted garlic and especially the rosemary may burn or char, and cause an off taste. Any thoughts on that? Thanks!

Thanks for all the ideas.

Of course, it's easy enough to make that you can run a test batch and see how it does with your ingredients, which may be different than the ones I used. I don't know enough about making desserts and such to unequivically say your ingredients and technique will give the same results as mine, but then again, I don't know enough to say they won't.

I made it in the morning, early, for enjoying in the evening. Didn't notice any weeping. I suspect it would keep for a day, or even more, as the gelatin should firm up and hold the mixture. Come to think of it, about half the batch was eaten the next day, and there was no weeping, even though the panna cotta had been cut into.

Do you slowly preheat the pot? Le Creuset, and numerous chefs and cooks that have commented on this, all suggest a slow pre-heating to get even temps across the pot. It sometimes takes five or more minutes to get the temperature even depending on pot and burner size. Another suggestion is to pre-heat the pot in the oven.

The frozen Wild Boreal Blueberries are terrific. A few years ago I drove to Alaska and had blueberries from the Boreal forest. These are the next best thing - far superior to big, fat, commercial blueberries that are pretty much flavorless by comparison. If you like blueberries, they are certainly worth a try (Eating some now for breakfast).

I like cheese - those little Laughing Cow Babybel varieties, or cheese sticks. Fruit - apples, pears, cherries are probably my favorites, but other fruit is good as well. Nuts, with cahews (especially peppered cahews), peanuts, pistachios being my favorites. Usually I grab something when I'm out, so preparing a snack in advance and carrying it with me doesn't work well.

I will be doing both - grilling/smoking and then making apple sauce.

Good points. Reading some web reports it became clear that the skin needed to be removed or, as you suggested, punctured. I thought that cutting the apples into rings might be a good idea, exposing the meat while the skin holds the apple ring together. I thought that an apple like, but not neccessarily, the Honey Crisp would be a good choice because it's firm and might hold up better to being heated and cooked. We get many, many varieties of apples here come the fall, so there will be plenty of choices. Perhaps an apple that bakes up well - i.e., not turning mushy - would be a good choice.

Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying that.

If you're a lemon lover , you might want to try this easy recipe - it's really good. I followed the recipe exactly, except for the elimination of the extra 2 tablespoons of sugar. http://www.sfgate.com/food/recipes/print.html?rid=18149

The apple choice will depend on what's available. It's not apple season yet, although I may try a test batch with whatever is in the store now. Usually I get apples from local growers at the farmers' market, and a neighbor has a couple of Gravenstein trees that we harvest come September. Also, I don't know how the apples will hold up to time in the smoker or on the grill, so maybe a certain type is a better choice, something with a firmness and texture of a Honey Crisp.

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, a light smoke would seem the way to go. The next time I cook with fire, I'll add a few apples and see what happens. Perhaps using fruit wood would be a good way to go ... BTW, a web search shows that a number of people have been making smoked and grilled apples and are pleased with the results.

If you've not tried them, how do you know they're done pretty well?

While cruising thru the recipes here, I saw a recipe that called for smoked apples. Well, that got me to thinking about smoked apple sauce. I like to make apple sauce, and have made it a couple of ways, but never with smoked apples. It seems like a bad idea, but I couldn't help but wonder ... has anyone tried making smoked apple sauce? Any thoughts on how it may turn out? If, as I suspect, the smoke flavor wouldn't work well, how might the apple sauce be made so that the smoke flavor might work satisfactorily?

Never having used a pressure cooker, much prefering to cook in more traditional ways, I don't understrand the enthusiasm that some people have for it. Apart from shortening cooking time, what benefits does a pressure cooker offer? There must be some down sides as well as benefits. What are the down sides to using a pressure cooker? My thoughts are that some subtlety of flavor and texture might be lost. Comments?

Here in Berkeley the customrs are encouraged to bring their own bags, whether paper, plastic, or cloth, regardless of what name may be printed on them. Many stores offer discounts of up to ten cents per bag for every bag that you supply. People use randomly branded bags at all the stores with no hassle.

Mamy of the local stores will weigh your container on the way in and note the weight on the container.

Home made apple sauce (using high quality organic apples from the trees in the neighbor's yard) is substantially cheaper than any store bought apple sauce. And while I've not actually run the costs, it seems that apple sauce made from in season organic apples purchased at the farmers' market is less expensive than the organic apple sauce purchased at Whole Foods and similar, local stores.