eskay

Ok, so I just tried the recipe today. This is the real deal guys, made the most amazing pie crust ever, and I didn't even do it right! Excuse the ugly pies, I was working really fast. Also, aren't those small pie plates the cutest? I don't have a food processor, which means I couldn't do the blending-of-the-flour-and-fat step, so mine came out a little less flaky than it's supposed to, but it was perfectly tender and tasted amazing.

This. Also, how did you transport that flat of eggs on a bike? Or were you not

So add to the above a small batch of pickles and some chocolate ginger muffins and that was my sunday And I somehow managed to burn myself 3 separate times on the same hand

That looks like something I'd really enjoy. I've never heard of halvah, what is the texture like? Is it grainy, or more chewy?

Wow, that's really interesting. Thanks for putting in the time to test these out. Do you think, from the results, that you will be using duck eggs more often in your baking (if you don't already)?

Shelby that cheese plate looks like something I could eat all myself, in one sitting! I haven't had liverwurst since I was small, but I do recall that I liked it, and I love mustard-flavoured things Also loving the various nonstandard burgers. I made roast beef for dinner, with roasted potatoes and carrots, but I put in the vegetables too late so I had meat first and then the vegetables Ah well, it all tasted good, and I'm looking forward to roast beef sandwiches later this week (I also baked bread today) Yesterday's dinner was chicken thighs stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, which were pretty meh, and roasted green beans with walnuts, which was awesome. I love roasting vegetables, it makes anything taste amazing--but I haven't tried cauliflower yet!

Does anyone have an answer for what the vinegar is for? My mom always did that as well, as I recall. I'm planning on making a few small (4inch) pies this week and trying to decide whether I want to try this

I do the same thing--weekends are when I bake or roast things or make bread. And every few weeks what I have in the house and what I want to make (minus a trip to the store for a few more things I need) kind of comes together in a sort of perfect storm of cooking plans--like tonight I'm going to stuff chicken thighs and roast green beans, tomorrow I'm making pot roast and baking bread (bought some rye flour this week that I want to try using), and wednesday I'm going to take a crack at some squash ravioli. I also want to make some small pies/tarts, which hopefully will be tuesday, as long as I can get most of my homework done...did I mention that my cooking marathons tend to coincide almost exactly with the times when I have a ton of school stuff due? Also ditto on the "need to feed" thing--there's no way I could eat everything I want to bake/cook and not balloon to 400lbs. So it gets passed off to friends/roommates/family.

Trans fat free shortening is either made from palm oil, or is fully hydrogenated vegetable oil (which "normal" shortening is not, from what I know they stop a little short of fully hydrogenating everything so that the final product is not too hard--this is what leaves the trans fats) mixed with liquid vegetable oil so that it is soft enough to work with. On the original poster's question about which is healthiest: Honestly, there's not that much difference: all three, as solid-at-room-temperature fats, are high in saturated fat, so none of them gain any points there. But that's the point--they wouldn't have the culinary properties they do if they weren't saturated fat. Otherwise, shortening may or may not contain trans fats, and I believe butter contains traces of trans fats, while lard does not. But at least butter has a few trace nutrients from milk, right? I mean there has to be something worthwhile in there, even if its only 2% of your daily calcium or whatever For my money, I'd go with whichever produces the best results with your baking, and just don't eat biscuits every day.

Ditto on that one. That said, I'd rather eat seal than water bug loin, to reference another topic floating around here somewhere. In fact, the concept of eating seal doesn't bug me very much, other than the fact that I'm not sure I'd like the taste. That eyeball description though....errrr, I'll pass on that one thanks.

I love making soup, I try to have at least one meal-size container in the freezer for those days when I'm too tired/in too much of a hurry/going to be at school late. I feel that something hot like soup is so much more filling than just a sandwich or whatever else I can get in a hurry. Right now the current batch is sweet potato that was cooked with lots of herbs, as I recall I only have one more container of that left...when it's gone I'm thinking something bean-y. Either that or leek and potato, because I've never made it. Suggestions appreciated. A friend of mine recently made leek and pear soup, which made me go but he insisted it was good. Not to say I haven't made some questionable decisions in the soup department as well--I recall a brilliant idea of mine to make a peanut and celery soup that turned out a little odd.

Honestly, I'd have to go and check carefully but I'm pretty sure that for a while now (a couple years) I have seen meat, primarily chicken, that's labelled and advertised as "air chilled". I always took that to assume that there was no water weight added but I should check more carefully I guess.

Oooh lemon/lime oatmeal. Definitely going to have to try that soon.

Rolled oats for me, steel cut is nice but takes too long and I'd rather make them fresh in the morning while I'm making my lunch... Quaker makes these "large flake" oats that are like rolled oats but bigger which I like. 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, heat that up then add the oats. A little salt, a little brown sugar, some cinnamon, sometimes nutmeg or even cloves, and usually some form of dried fruit: cranberries, apricots (chopped up), apples (also); haven't tried cherries yet, probably will tomorrow. Tried peaches and didn't like it as much. I have oatmeal for breakfast about 60% of the time, closer to 80 or 90 if you only count weekdays. Mmmm oatmeal

Beautiful tarts, Diana I found these huge pears of a variety I'd never seen before in the grocery store today, so I bought one and decided to do something with it for dessert. Ended up cutting it up and poaching it in a ginger syrup and eating a few pieces with some very soft because I just churned it vanilla ice cream...mmmm.

I suppose it depends on the application--chicken-y stock that was destined for soup or some other chicken dish would probably benefit from this method, but as you said maybe it wouldn't be the best thing for grits

I know I'm a little late past the post, but I'm pretty handy with photoshop and wanted to offer my services if anyone has image editing they can't do.

I'm going to try this the next time I make tomato sauce...the simplicity of the ingredients appeals to me. And if I want something chunkier I can always add some peppers or something when I use it.

Ohhhhh that reminds me, I need to get the new one (magazine I mean) Butter tart muffins sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to pick that up and give them a try

I LOVE muffins! I bake them all the time; they're pre-portioned, easy to make, freeze well, and come in pretty much any flavour. Plus they're super versatile--they can be breadish and/or healthy, or chock full of sugar. Mmmmm, muffins The last batch of muffins I baked came from a random cookbook I own and leaned toward the breadish side, which I think I prefer. They had a bunch of diced dried apricot in them and orange juice and zest, as well as a banana (more for moisture than flavour I think, although mine was slightly less than optionally ripe) They turned out really well, I like the apricot-orange flavour combination. I'm betting they'd be even better with dried cranberries, but that will have to wait till later. The next batch of muffins (when I finish the apricot ones, I think I still have 5 or so left) will probably be these. I bought some flax meal a little while back on a whim and have been looking for ways to use it, and this recipe seems to fit the bill rather well. Also, it uses canola oil--a plus for me, since I'll sub in soymilk for the buttermilk and then I can share them with my lactose-intolerant roommate. I also have a hankering to make some sort of nutty muffin--probably walnuts, but I haven't found a recipe yet, although I do have a walnut loaf recipe that I will probably adapt. Last Christmas I baked a variety of things for my uncles: lime-poppyseed and apricot almond (I really like dried apricots...these had both chopped almonds and almond extract in them) being the muffin varieties. Both were tasty.

Thanks to both of you, this was a fun read

Is there a way to convert between egg sizes? To be specific, I have a recipe that calls for a jumbo egg, but I only keep large eggs around. Is it likely to affect the recipe much? I figured that since it's just a single egg I'd ignore the jumboness and carry on, but will it be lacking in liquid or something? Thanks

I roasted a chicken My first time doing it without 'adult supervision' anyway. It is now in pieces in my fridge/freezer, and the carcass and extra bones are in the freezer waiting to be made into stock later this week. Another milestone passed!

If only it was that easy

Good luck with the grocery store dilemma. I used to live in an apartment where the closest grocery store was a not-particularly frequent bus ride away. And then another place where there was one a 5 minute walk away. Let me tell you, I prefer the latter, but like you said it's mostly a matter of being organized