Shel_B

We're all aware of the tragedy in Aleppo, but this is not the place to discuss it. Another (albeit smaller and less important) victim has been Aleppo pepper. I was lucky in that I was able to get a couple of bags of vacuum packed Aleppo pepper before the situation in the area became untenable. However, these bags shall not last forever. I'll be ordering this pepper very soon. Check out the recipe for the Aleppo pepper roasted pork with shallot vinaigrette too. http://www.bonappetit.com/story/red-chile-flakes-bukovo-daphnis-and-chloe These Mellow, Smoky Chile Flakes Are Your Red Pepper Flake Replacement www.bonappetit.com A mildly spicy chile flake that we sprinkle on pizza, pasta, popcorn—okay, everything.

Ranch 99 is a smallish chain with a few stores in several western states. Here's their recent flyer for our area:

Don't you have a recycling program in your area?

A short while ago, I requested a free sample of their current issue, and it arrived yesterday. This evening I got comfortable on the couch, put my feet up, and looked forward to enjoying a pleasant peruse of the content. It was a disappointing experience. The entire content was in black and white, with a complete absence of color for the images and illustrations. There was really nothing to distinguish one page from another, nothing to grab the eye and lead it to an article or a recipe. The bland and monotonous nature of the magazine was quite the soporific. This is not a publication to which I'd care to subscribe. Do they have an art director? The content was similar to the layout - boring and uninteresting. The recipes were not at all inspiring, not a one made me want to check my cupboards, grab some ingredients, and start cooking. To be fair, there were a couple of techniques that looked to be worth trying, but most of the techniques (never mind their presentation) were nothing new even though they seemed to be hailed as a "new discovery." I think they wanted $24.95 for a six issue subscription. Not worth the $$$ IMO. Oh, one other minor annoyance. In order to subscribe or cancel the order, I'd have had to supply my own postage - no prepaid envelope. FEH!

Nice and convenient ...

Do you refrigerate or freeze the garlic? In any case, how long does the garlic keep? Sounds like it may be a solution to my problem. Thanks!

This spatula has been mentioned several times on eGullet. I suspect it's quite popular. Thanks for the reminder. I've been meaning to put it into my cart for some time. The white and the green spats are about $2.00 less expensive.

I like to make an avocado dressing, especially for spinach leaves. I use one just barely ripe avocado (i.e., not to soft, no brown spots), some fresh squeezed orange juice (Valencia when possible), a little bit of pressed garlic, and a smattering of Diamond Crystal salt. I mix it all together until I get the consistency I want, taste and adjust seasoning, and then pour it on the leaves.

Thanks for posting the link. I'm listening to the show as I type.

Can you provide a link? More details?

There are times when I like soft, soggy nachos, just like there are times I like my morning bowl of hot farina lumpy, etc. That said, I do like this Alton Brown recipe.

What are "Texas style" nachos?

Mine were about $13.00 for ten beans. Bought them a few months ago - maybe six months back.

I purchased these a few months ago and am just now posting a review. I was impressed with the packaging - beans in a sealed glass tube promised something fresh and flavorful. However, when used in a flan and in a pudding, there was more disappointment than flavor. While the price was good (not great), the value was lacking. These were the weakest beans I've ever used. Not recommended at all.

CLICK HERE to watch a PBS video on these ten groundbreaking restaurants from an earlier era. Have you been to any of them? I've been to about half, but then I'm also from an earlier era.

Overview of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) most recent meeting on the subject: Click Here

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tees-corn-pudding A couple of thoughts: don't use ultra-pasteurized cream with additives such as carrageenan, etc. Be careful not to overbake ... there seems to be a fine line between a nicely browned top and being overbaked. If you go the "southwestern" route, you can easily double the amount of green chilies the recipe calls for, and adding cumin with some other pepper, like Aleppo or cayenne, is a nice way to go. Good quality frozen corn kernels work well here. Canned corn, which has been drained, is fine, but I feel it adds too much moisture and so a little extra flour may be helpful. I've not tried mixing in some corn starch to see how that would work along with the flour. I may try such a mixture the next time I make the dish.

The recipe? One site alone that I checked had 16 pages of recipes under the search for Jiffy corn pudding. There's another site with "10 best Jiffy corn bread mix" recipes. To which recipe are you referring?

It looks pretty good ... tomorrow's the test:

The product is Sunnyside Farms Ultra-pasteurized Heavy Whipping Cream. The cream I usually buy is designated as 40% fat content, although it's not sold as Manufacturing Cream. It's not ultra pasteurized, and the only ingredient is cream. Makes sense that milk would be used to thin the cream. I don't see milk and cream as the same product, so adding milk to cream strikes me as adulterous. I read the label before buying, but I needed the cream and this was my only option. Hopefully I'll not be relegated to using this product again.

Without getting into a longish story, I'll just say that I purchased a pint of heavy whipping cream at a local supermarket. Apart from being "Ultra Pasteurized" and treated with three or four additives, like polysorbate-something and carrageenan, the ingredient list included MILK! I looked at the container of cream of the brand I usually buy, and it contained only cream. Why would whipping cream contain added milk? And how can it be called "Pure Whipping Cream" if it's adulterated with milk and all the additives?

They sure do look good. My apologies that the recipe didn't work perfectly for you without some adjustment. I guess I'm used to making adjustments as I go along, not always ending up with the recipe as written. Variations in kitchens, ingredients, tools such as measuring devices, etc., can have an effect on the final proportions. It's not unusual to make a recipe a few times before it's just "perfect" for me. I hope you'll continue to refine this recipe for your taste and situation ... it's worth it, IMO. What cornmeal and grind did you use?

I don't think it matters. More important is not using too coarse a grind, IMO.

Another "road trip" favorite of mine is Road Fever: Tim Cahill reports on the road trip to end all road trips: a journey that took him from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, in a record-breaking twenty three and a half days.