Shel_B

Canned asparagus was my first experience with the vegetable, and it set my appreciation of them back many years. I'm still not crazy about them, but do experiment with different ways of preparing them, and some methods are quit acceptable.

There are probably many reasons for someone being a picky eater. My sister didn't eat broccoli for years as she "didn't like it." At some point she realized that she'd never tried it. For some reason my mother put it into her head that she didn't like the vegetable. Once my sister overcame that, she discovered that she loved the stuff. My sister is still a somewhat picky eater, but in her defense, she's had stomach and digestive issues since she was a baby, and at that time the docs put her on a restricted diet, all of which contributed, I'm sure, to her selective eating habits. By my standards, Toots is a fussy eater as she doesn't care for spicy food, peppers, many types of tomatoes, ginger, and some other foods, and it's somewhat frustrating to cook for her. However, by her standards, I'm a fussy eater, as I won't eat offal, and I like my food prepared in very specific ways. So, perhaps pickiness is in the eyes of the beholder, just like beauty. That said, for a long time Toots wouldn't eat Indian food - didn't like some of the ingredients and the heat. However, after showing her the varieties of food available, and that she could get dishes that were not hot, she has started eating several dishes from that cuisine. Her pickiness stemmed from several experiences earlier in her life that established what Indian food was like, even though it was a small sample. Sometimes people need to be taught that a particular food can be prepared in many ways. As for eating with fussy Toots, well, she's the woman I love, and when I cook for her I make sure that she will enjoy the meal. I don't want to sit down to dinner and not have her by my side. So I compromise and adjust, and slowly I introduce new flavors and ingredients to her. Lately she's started tasting some of my spicier dishes when we go out to eat. She's started to experiment with kimchi now that she knows there are different degrees of heat and different flavors. Sometimes it's just a matter of education and, perhaps, a little patience. I do have a little anecdote to share. A couple of years ago I made a lemon goat cheese cheesecake. I used goat cheese because Toots has difficulties digesting cow's milk, and lemon flavor was added because Toots' daughter in law loves anything with lemon flavor. The DIL loved the cheesecake, and at some point she asked about the ingredients. When she learned that the cheesecake was made with goat cheese, she almost tossed her cookies. "Yeow! I hate goat cheese!" she exclaimed, yet just a few minutes before the cheesecake was delicious. <sigh>

Click here to see the first episode of the PBS show

I don't need a nonstick pan. Actually, I'm trying to get away from using them at all because of the plastic in them. When I saw this "Quantanium" I thought it might not contain plastic ... oh, well, one can hope. I've replaced my 10-inch nonstick with a 10-inch All-Clad skillet. For what I cook, and how I cook, it needs little oil and doesn't stick at all, beyond what I want it to do.

What a terrible name for a food product. Does anyone remember the movie Soylent Green? Soylent Green was a manufactured food product made from .... people. Movie trailer

Sorry ... The Quantanium coating contains PTFE ...

Never mind ... I found the answer after a second search. Is there plastic (PTFE, etc) material in the nonstick coating? Is the "Quantanium" coating more durable than typical nonstick coating? Anyone know more about this? Thanks!

I am very conservative when it comes to doing laundry. For example, I have enough T-shirts, underwear, socks, and the like, that there's no need to do laundry more than once per month. When I wash heavy items, such as jeans and sweat shirts, they are most often hung to dry rather than put through the dryer. It's easy for me to do as I set the drying rack in the shower and leave the clothes to hang until they are dry. I'm often away from the apartment for a few days, so the loss of the use of the shower is of no concern. I don't hang these items just to save money, but to reduce wear on them. Going through a dryer takes a toll on fabric. I'm happy to say that I have jeans and sweat shirts that are still in decent condition after 30+ years of use. Towels I have plenty, and I don't wash them after each use. Towels get washed about once a month as well. Shirts are sent to be professionally laundered, as are my better, dressy pants. The washer is a large capacity, so it's easy to save up laundry for a big load.

I don't know whether to laugh or to cry <sigh> Click here to read the article

I just bought some mini muffin pans at a garage sale with the express purpose of cooking meatballs in them. Never thought about any difficulty in cleaning. Couldn't muffin pan liners be used to good advantage here?

For the cake in question, shiny would not be my preference. I do appreciate the info about glazes, though.

Thanks for reminding me. I do that as well, but rather than plug and unplug appliances, I use these simple switches: There are many styles and variations of these switches, some remotely activated.

Did you read the ingredient list before you bought it? It contains a lot of junk that's not found in good vanilla extract. A decent vanilla extract should contain only vanilla beans, alcohol, and water.

I don't know what a glaze is. Cost is not a concern. How much less expensive could a glaze be?

Likewise ... why light up rooms and spaces with nobody in them?

A few days ago I went to one of my favorite Korean restaurants for lunch. I get their rice bowl, which is made with whole grains and rice. It sure seemed sticky to me. Here's the ingredients in their rice bowl: barley, sweet brown rice, wild sweet rice, wild red rice and wild black rice. I hope this is at least somewhat helpful.

I believe that HEPA filters might solve that problem. If you're not familiar with them, here's a brief overview. Some vacuum cleaners have HEPA filters that trap more dust from their exhaust. HEPA-equipped vacuums throw less dirt and fewer microscopic dust mites back into the room as you vacuum. Some people say allergy symptoms improve after using these vacuums. I only use HEPA filters in my vacuum cleaner. They are a definite improvement over regular filters, but I don't know for sure if they will filter dust mite droppings.

An excellent book on the subject of our quest for cleanliness.

We installed solar at Toots' place, and when the current water heater gives out, we'll install a tankless system. They are great! My apartment is filled with only fluorescent or LED bulbs, except for one in the bathroom. Except for the bathroom bulb, the largest wattage bulb in my apartment is 15 watts. When the fluorescents burn out, they'll be replaced with LEDs. I'd love to replace them all right now with LEDs, but I can't bring myself to discard a good bulb.

Hmmm ... I was always of the opinion that cooking SV would be more expensive than that. What do you consider a "standard light bulb" to be?

We have Smart Meters here, too. When our utility first installed them, a lot of people were upset. I didn't care one way or another, but now I find the meter is helpful in my keeping track of electricity costs. I go online and see what my usage is shaping up to be, and can even check the cost for cooking a meal (we get our usage broken down into 15-minute segments). We also have a similar tiered system for energy costs, although it's of little concern for me as my usage is really bare minimum. In the almost two years I've lived here, the most I've payed for electricity in a month was $6.19, which was in February of this year when I did a lot of cooking and made a big Valentine's Day dinner for Toots.

What do you do to save energy when cooking? Any special cooking gear that you use, or ways that you use the oven or burners? I use my Mini Breville Smart Oven as often as possible, although I've not actually tested it against my regular oven. Also, when making soup, I'll often turn off the heat before cooking is finished and let the soup cook on the residual heat from the electric burners. A side benefit to that is that my soup veggies are no longer overcooked. I never boil more water than I need, and always do so with the lid on the pot. I don't always preheat my oven, and often let certain items finish cooking on residual heat. It's not always appropriate to use these techniques, but there are times they are just fine.

Actually, I've discovered that they are no trouble to find. Without even making an effort, I found two local stores that carry them, Safeway being one and the local natural grocery being the other. At Safeway, they were on the same shelf, and right next to, other 3M sponges, and are made by 3M as well. The natural grocery had three varieties on their shelf, two of which I purchased to determine which would be most satisfactory for me. They are quite a bit less expensive at my local store than at Amazon - $1.29 Jute Sponge Walnut Sponge Thus far I have been quite pleased with the walnut sponges. As for expense, the "green" 3M sponges were the same price as their chemical and dye laden sponges (3 for $3.99), and, as you can see, the ones at the natural grocery were actually a few cents less expensive. The ones at the natural grocery are made with a higher percentage of recycled materials than the 3M sponges, but otherwise the stated contents were similar. Since I complained to 3M, they were kind enough to offer replacement sponges, and I requested their green sponges. I'm waiting for them to arrive and look forward to doing a comparison between the two brands and three versions.'

Heston Blumenthal's chocolate cake recipe looks to be a fun and easy recipe to make. However, he uses a paint spray gun to flock the cake, something that I'd like to avoid. Is there an alternative to his technique? I suppose I could just spread the mixture on with a spatula, or could I? In any case, I like the flocking idea. Click Here to view the video. The cake demo starts at 7:00 minutes in.

Coincidentally, last week I watched this Frontline episode titled The Trouble With Chickens. Just click and watch if you're so inclined. Step by step I am moving further from commercially raised meat and poultry ...