Dianabanana

I am so glad rykomatsu started this thread, because my husband and I were discussing this very subject just last night! I have a burning question about these. I have two Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy rice cookers--the big white 5-cup one and the smaller beige 3-cup one. The 5-cup one is the one I use most of the time (because it's at our main home) and it accumulates the most disgusting, mucilaginous white glop on the underside of the steam hole. It only takes a second to clean it up but the look of it just offends my delicate sensibilities! Especially since I know that the 3-cup one always stays perfectly clean--I wipe the inside of the lid but really it's a waste of time because there's never anything there. I'm talking about the inside of the hinged outer lid, not the inner metal lid, which of course needs to be washed. I was just going to buy another 3-cup one for home and sell the 5-cup on eBay, until I started reading about the IH cookers. Now I'm convinced I need an IH cooker, but I REALLY want to avoid buying one that collects this glop. Can everyone tell me what brand and model they have, and whether it does this?

Oh yeah! Except I use only butter, no oil, and brown my butter first--I think the browning is v. v. important, gives a nutty flavor. This really is one of the best things ever!

I love this, too! Also: -olive oil, grated pecorino romano, crushed red pepper, black pepper -butter, shaved garlic, gorgonzola, and black pepper

Yes, that's it exactly--the need to feed. I'd love to have eight kids to feed, if I could get someone else to do all the other work! There are only two of us but I often get going and just cook as long as my legs will hold me up. I'm sure this is a manifestation of some deep-rooted psychological problem but it's pretty benign as such things go, I guess. What I really hate is when we invite people over and they see all the food and go "Wow, you must have been cooking for days!" It's kind of embarrassing.

We stayed at the Sotavento, too, and I really just had to laugh at myself for feeling so annoyed by the sound of those waves crashing! It's supposed to be such a soothing sound but the way it gets amplified by both the bay and the construction of the rooms, it's more like an oncoming freight train every 15 seconds. Especially during the three days I spent in the bathroom praying for death to release me . . .

I've always wanted a whole house like this. The main hangup in my mind was always the upholstery, but now with all the new Sunbrella fabrics I think it might be feasible. You could just keep all your books and electronics in cabinets that would be sealed off. But then if I'm honest with myself, the problem is not keeping things clean, it's keeping them tidy. I would still have to put all the books and magazines away before pressing the "power wash" button. I've obviously spent too much time thinking about this.

I use the organic rolled oats from my Co-op--they're firmer than Quaker. Then I cook them in half water/half milk, and let them sit as long as possible to get nice and creamy before eating them with butter and brown sugar. I've had one tin and one box of rancid McCann's--no more. I got some wonderful oatmeal in a grocery store in Victoria BC last year--it was actually made in Victoria, which surprised me. I think you would call it Scottish style oatmeal--sort of like rolled oats that had gone through the food processor. That was some of the best oatmeal I've ever had. Very fresh.

Here you go: Gastronaut

I was going to say "That's a joke, right?" but then remembered how long it's been since I was at their NYC shop & took a look at their website. You're right, they have expanded their offerings & price range. I think they've also moved; I seem to recall that their original shop was a narrow storefront on Canal St. When I first knew them - 25-30 years ago was it? - they specialized in high-end oolongs & seemed to have little else. The selection & quality were marvelous, & it was always a special treat to walk into the shop & get one or two precious little packets, but I wondered whether they were going to get enough trade on that level to stay in business. Apparently they have adapted & evolved & thrived. Good on them. ← Third vote for Ten Ren. My mom works for a pharmaceutical research company, and said all the Chinese scientists there beg her to order Ten Ren for the break room. She loves it, too, and when she bought some for me, I was hooked. I really like their Dragon Well, but everything I've tried has been good.

Thanks Helen! I will definitely give your method a try, and it should be really good if I use the Eden umeboshi. Seems ridiculous to have all these other ingredients in them when they only make them taste bad and are totally unnecessary, at least in my very limited experience!

Thanks, Ce'nedra! It's just a bastardized version of Rose Levy Beranbaum's Plum Flame Tart from her Pie and Pastry Bible, but you don't need a recipe, as long as you know how to make pie crust. I just partially baked a tart shell (I had regular pie crust dough in the freezer so I used that), sprinkled a little cornstarch on the bottom, enough to lightly dust the whole bottom, then quartered the prune plums and arranged them. Then I sprinkled Johnnybird's Toast Dope on top and baked at 375 until done. How much would depend on how swet your prunes are. After it came out, I melted some apricot jam thinned with a little bit of water and used that to glaze it. It was really good!

I have a couple of questions about umeboshi. 1) The first ones I ever tried are still the ones that I ordinarily buy, and I really love them. They are Eden brand and the only ingredients are ume, shiso, and salt. I have looked at Uwajimaya (big Asian grocery in Seattle) for other brands, but they all have a bunch of other chemical-y ingredients and food coloring. Is this what is commonly available in Japan as well? 2) I bought a package of honey umeboshi but they too had a bunch of chemical-y ingredients. I assumed that maybe more preservatives were necessary because of the lower salt content. Anyway, the umeboshi tasted pretty good but left a horrible aftertaste, really just awful. They were Shirakiku brand. Is it possible to buy all-natural honey umeboshi? Brand names?

I actually prefer Hellman's to bloody homemade for most applications. Gosh, snowangel, I hope you're all better in no time. Be careful out there!

I'm pretty meticulous about regular books, but the idea of trying to keep cookbooks clean has honestly never occurred to me. I'm sure I must have had clean-cookbook people in my kitchen at some point but I guess none of them has ever had the nerve to comment on my spattered cookbooks. So this thread has been an education for me! I like the idea of photocopying recipes, though--not for the sake of cleanliness (I'm too far gone for that) but because it would be so much more convenient than finding a place for the cookbook on a crowded counter. But then my cookbooks would stay clean and that might make me sad! Also, the pages are falling out of many of my paperback cookbooks and some of the hardcovers, too. I blame the crappy quality of books today. It's the exception when the color plates don't fall out within the first year. And I don't think I'm hard on books, other than smudges and spatters.

A pneumatic lift in the kitchen floor that, at the touch of a button, would go up just a couple of inches to give me leverage when chopping, kneading, rolling out pie dough, etc., then up a foot or so to let me get stuff from the top of the cabinets (well, from anything higher than the bottom shelf, actually), then go back down to allow my average-size husband to do the dishes at standard height.

Ooh, good one. I would buy it. Right now my low-tech version is a Sharpie. I keep it in the kitchen drawer and write the date on things as they come in. But a scanner would be way cooler.

I guess I consider wasting food to be a lesser evil than 1) wasting my one and only health by overeating, or 2) wasting the opportunity to enjoy my one and only life by eating good food. I don't feel bad about this when it's just incidental amounts of food, the odd bag of cilantro that gets overlooked in the fridge. But I wish I could get better about only buying what we're going to eat before it goes bad. I really get carried away in the grocery store!

This is freaking INCREDIBLE. A new classic. Absolutely brilliant concept and gorgeous execution.

Yes. One recipe says to soak it for 5 min. Another says to soak it for 10 min. or longer. Still another says to soak it for 20 min. with several changes of water! As for the edit button, did you realize that the button disappears in a few days? ← No, I didn't realize that. Thank you. I'm away from home right now but as soon as I get home I will make it again and soak this time. I can't wait to see if I notice the difference.

I just realized that I forgot all about the concept of soaking the satsumaimo before cooking it when I made the takikomi gohan. Should I have soaked it for such a recipe?

My edit button is not showing, but I wanted to add this picture to my post above:

Thanks, sanresho. Prune-plums are one of my favorites! So delicious dried, and so totally unlike supermarket prunes. Here's another one. Just vanilla pastry cream, fruit, and glaze. It was prettier before I glazed it and I kind of wish I had just dusted it with powdered sugar, but I was afraid it would melt before anyone saw it. Sorry about the hideous picture--it's in my Lock & Lock cake carrier, on its way to the office, and I was late for work.

Plum tart made with prune-plums from our backyard tree, sprinkled with Toast Dope, baked, then glazed with apricot jam. Doesn't it look like a chrysanthemum? Or a chrysantheplum! Before baking: And after:

Yesterday for the first time I made satsumaimo takikomi gohan. [Choir of angels singing.] This is one of the most delicious things ever! 2 (rice cooker) c. rice 2 T sake 1 t salt 1 satsumaimo, diced The SMELL coming out of my rice cooker was heavenly! We ate a bunch with dinner, then about an hour later I came into the kitchen and my husband was eating the last of it. I begged him for half of his bowl. "Oh my God, this is SO delicious!" I said. "I know," he said. "I added butter." I made it again this morning and have had it for all three meals. This is definitely a new favorite.

I'm sure I don't do anywhere near the amount of cooking that some of you do, yet I still manage to suffer from bleeding cracks all winter long, both on fingers and heels. I have tried it ALL. I recently found something that I think is pretty amazing--expensive, but amazing. The product that I have is by BlissLabs and it's called Softening Socks, but they make gloves, too. The socks are fabric socks with a polymer gel lining. You soak your feet, then apply whatever treatment cream you're using (KeraSal, Bag Balm, etc.), then put the socks on over it and leave on for as long as you can stand it, overnight if possible, although I can't fall asleep unless everything is just so, so that's out for me. The polymer gel drives the treatment cream into your skin and keeps the moisture in and who knows what. You still need to take preventive measures during the day to keep cracks from forming again, but this is such a big aid to healing. You can get them at Nordstrom and Sephora, other places too, I'm sure. Brace yourself for the cost: $50!