Dianabanana

Sorry to hear you didn't like the smoked oysters with scrambled eggs. It's true that tinned, smoked oysters don't have that wonderful delicious soft plump texture of fresh ones, and smoked oysters definitely do have a "strong smoke flavor," but that dish is one of my favorite quicky brunch dishes and late-night suppers. Of course, it's no secret that not everybody is going to like every thing the same. I'm glad you gave it a go! That's all anyone can ask, right? ← Oh, but I'm so glad you suggested it--I'd never had oysters with eggs before and now I'm excited to try other variations. Plus you're already at the top of my household's hit parade from the Caramel Popcorn. So thank you, Jaymes!

Did the frosting cover the tracks well enough to escape detection? ← You can't make me talk! I know nussink!

Oh. My. God. I tried it tonight. This *REALLY* works ! ← I tried this, too, and while it may be Kryptonite to garlic and shrimp, I'm afraid it's an 80-pound weakling when it comes to toasted shrimp paste. In fairness, though, I can't imagine anything that could prevail over a cloud of toasted shrimp paste fumes. All future shrimp paste toasting will be done on the grill!

I've found that all cans of smoked oysters are not created equally. I've eaten quite a few smoked oysters in my time (my mom would buy them when we were little as one of those little side-type things to eat with rice and add a little flavor/salt) and some are mealier than others. I also like them despite the smoke flavor - I usually don't like that stuff. That being said, I need to find a brand that's decent so I can make some of those tasty-sounding scrambled eggs! ← What brand do you like? Or do you mean that they vary from one can to the next? I used Napoleon brand "tiny smoked oysters." Edit--sorry, I'm blind this morning--missed the part where you say "I need to find a brand that's decent"!

One year I was making a buche de noel as part of a big Christmas dinner. When the sponge cake came out of the oven I realized that every surface was already covered with pots, bowls, etc., so, thinking the cat was outside, I set the pan on a rack on the floor to cool. Five minutes later I turned around to find a perfect trail of paw prints right through the middle of my cake. No cat to be found. Can't really call that a pet-caused cooking disaster, though--it was really my own dumb fault.

Ooh, how is this done? ← I linked to a video of hoy tod in this topic. I tried making it at home. It was good, but not as good as Thai street food. I like oysters cooked teppanyaki-style. High heat, butter, and wee bit of soy and lemon juice. Oh so good... ← Thanks! I got interested in this whole oysters'n'eggs thing recently when Jaymes (I think) suggested scrambled eggs with smoked oysters. I wasn't too crazy about that because of the strong smoke flavor and the mealy texture of canned oysters, but I did like the oysteriness with eggs. I missed the Fried Oyster Cakes thread, but that's just what I'm after.

My mom got the Sopranos cookbook and appears to be addicted to Carmela's ricotta pie, the one with the pineapple topping, except she leaves that off. Every time I talk to my her she's making that pie. Once she ate an entire one herself in a single day. I really need to try it!

Ooh, how is this done?

Wow, Helen--what generosity of spirit! Really lovely. (And I'm confident that everything you made was the farthest thing from horrible.)

I have a Toastess that is all metal except for a little plastic strainer on the inside in front of the spout (at least I think there's a little plastic strainer--I'm at work and the teakettle is at home so I can't check). I've had it for ten years, and use it probably six times a day. I love that thing. I even use it to boil water for pasta and whatnot, because it's so much faster than my gas range. The kettle itself is cordless, and sits on a base that plugs in. When the kettle gets spotted from hard water, I just take a little Bon Ami to it and it looks brand new again. It's right up there with the rice cooker as a seemingly redundant kitchen appliance that I wouldn't live without. Two thumbs up. I also have an all-plastic one at work that my husband bought. I'm with ya on the plastic thing. Boiling water in plastic is just wrong.

Thanks, Robin! Actually they had that at 99 Ranch, too, but I thought it was Thai yellow bean sauce. Maybe they are the same thing? I wound up buying the Kokita Super Tauco at Uwajimaya, which was right under my nose all along (the words "super tauco" threw me). I used my Super Tauco to make the noodles with shrimp and greens (sorry, am at work and don't have the book with me for the correct name--also no pictures). I made the Nyonya Sambal to go with it, using the minimum amount of chilies. At first I thought it was insanely hot but then I found myself putting one spoonful after another onto my noodles. The combination was addictive and I ate way too much. Once the sambal is made, the noodles are super fast to put together. I also made potato rendang and the bean sprout and chive dish for breakfast (started the potatoes the night before, obviously!), with a fried egg. Holy cow, those potatoes go so well with egg and a cup of black tea. I was in heaven. I, too, bought a cute little Cuisinart Mini-Prep Pro ($10 off at Macy's!). It's red and I love it. It just sits there on the counter cheerfully waiting to do my bidding. The only problem is that now I'm wondering if everyone can smell all this spiciness in my clothes and hair! When I got done with the rendang I went out to walk the dog. A couple of blocks down, my husband happened to drive by and got out to talk to me. He went to kiss the top of my head and said, "Ha, you smell all spicy!" It really permeates everything, especially the toasting fish paste!

Also not a confection, but . . . ice cubes? Maybe something like using heart-shaped molds to make ice cubes out of raspberry juice, and floating them in lemonade. Or cranberry juice in grapefruit juice. Also, if you've got little kids who like Jell-O or similar, maybe some mini-gelatin shapes to put in their lunches.

Not only do I suffer from all the issues discussed above (well, except for FG's state of delusion ) but also a couple of extras. -- If I notice something in the refrigerator that is near its expiration date, and I know perfectly damn well I'm not going to eat it before it expires, I put it back in to wait out its remaining days--then toss it with a semi-opaque conscience. -- What really sends me into paroxysms are items stamped not with an expiration date but with a date of manufacture (usually Indian or Chinese foods). Uneasy lies the head that has to determine when her own food has gone off. How the hell am I supposed to know? It's bad enough trying to eat everything before the expiration date bomb detonates, but the uncertainties involved in divining the shelf life of a crock of Tianjin preserved vegetable are just all too much for me. These things tend to hang around forever because there is no expiration date to grant me permission to toss.

Perfect!

Similar to the frozen premade sushi mentioned above, but more pathetic still, is frozen, cooked plain white rice. It sells for about $4 for three cups or so! The first time I saw it I just stopped and stared. Now I wish I were the genius who thought of this. Can you imagine the profit margin?

If I had some sweet soybean paste, I would happily tell you all about it, but as of yet, I don't have any. I know it is on my first shopping list, but I evidently didn't buy any (I can't find any in my kitchen at the moment) - and I don't think I've made anything yet that called for it (correct me, if I am wrong about this). I am going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I will keep my eyes peeled and tell you if I discover anything. ← Well, after tonight I have the distinction of having scrutinized every single jar and bottle in both Uwajimaya and 99 Ranch in my search for this stuff. Unless I'm blind, I'm pretty sure they don't have it at Uwajimaya, but after a comically long search at 99 Ranch I finally came away with something that looks likely. It's called Sweetened Soybean Paste, and it's made in Taiwan by Ming Ten. The ingredients are soybean, wheat flour, sugar, salt, and sesame oil. I hope this is the right thing--it's not one of the brands recommended in the book, so I'm just not sure. Edited to say whoops! I wrote everything except the word "tauco" on my list, so failed to recognize that the jar of Kokita Super Tauco Sauce staring me in the face was the very thing I was looking for. Never mind!

My mom and grandmother made these the same way as jackal10, and they were always served with creamed peas. I find creamed peas depressing but salmon cakes are pretty good. What's even better, I think, is to do the same thing but minus the salmon and plus a few peas, dredged in bread crumbs, fried in butter and oil, then served with a lemon wedge. If you have nice dry potatoes and then rice them, and are judicious in your use of egg, they can be so wonderfully crunchy and light and homey in that particular potatoey way--really lovely, and then with a squirt of lemon--I need to make these!

Robin, do you mind telling me where you got your sweet soybean paste and what brand? I went to Uwajimaya last night to lay in Cradle of Flavor provisions, and found everything but this. I had both my husband and a very helpful stockboy running all over the store, bringing me various soybean pastes for my consideration (actually fascinating to see how many different variations there are on this theme!) but none of them seemed to be it.

Wow, this does sound yucky, especially the texture--can't wait to try it! So it's just regular old scrambled eggs with the oysters tossed in? How many eggs to a can of oysters? Do you ever add anything else? What's a good brand of smoked oysters?

Many well-known cookbook authors worked as recipe developers for food companies before hitting the bigtime. I'm unfortunately blanking on names right now, maybe somebody can help me out.

Well, you won't want to do this with a pumpkin pie, but if you freeze your apple pie and then bake it, you're virtually guaranteed a non-soggy crust.

Purely anecdotal, but I have what was at the time (five or six years ago) the top-of-the-line Bosch, and right after the warranty ran out (of course) the control panel went. Only one button works anymore, so we wash all dishes on the "regular" cycle. It will cost $600 to buy a new one. I could buy a whole freakin' new dishwasher for that much!

Did anyone else watch the video of the cow-milking robot? Incredible!

I made the Russian Grandmother's Apple Cake and it was exactly the kind of delicious, homey treat I was after. Dorie's right, it definitely needs to rest before you eat it. The cake part was very dry when it came out of the oven (it was late at night when it came out and I wanted to taste before going to bed), but by morning it was perfectly moist. This is a big cake, but my husband and I polished off the entire pan in two days. I love how so many of the recipes in this book are more "foodlike" than "candylike," with lots of fruits and nuts. In a minute here I'm going to get up and make the All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake. Edit: Back again . . . yum! I'm surprised at how light this is!

Mine is cast iron but I don't think it's actually tinned--it's more like silver spray paint, only thick, and it's flaking off in a worrisome way. I'd rather have aluminum. I've never seen stainless steel.