Lora

I have done that. You only need a few tablespoons per quart. It gets things going really fast, for almost instant fermentation gratification!

I'm with you - flour for apple, cornstarch for all others. I thicken lightly and almost always use a lattice top crust to let excess moisture escape - thick filling, but not jelly-like.

Here in MO, we understand St. Louis style to be basically the exact opposite of Chicago style - a crisp, cracker-thin crust. And it is commonly made with Provel cheese - a processed-cheese type.

It is now so crowded at City Market that if you are not there before 8:00 AM, you will not park. I got a flat of Arkansas strawberries Saturday and they are going in the jam pot tonight. I too am very very happy about this time of year!

I heat to 170° and I have never had a problem with sliminess. I have tried different fat levels in my milk and I have noticed that it makes a big difference in terms of things like skin formation and sticking to the saucepan I heat it in. Whole milk definitely behaves the best. Even if you don't intend to keep making whole milk yogurt, I recommend trying it at least once, to see what differences result.

I often have bread dough in the fridge or freezer, which I roll out and fill. It's like how other people feel about fried rice - you wrap something in bread dough and bake it, it's gonna be good. I often make a pan of calzone type things, of a few different kinds, to use up bits of this and that. Biscuit dough also works great. It's simple to do but it makes the meal feel special.

I found that my yogurt got both thicker and less sour when I lowered the temperature. I take a big soup pot, fill it with a water bath at 105°, put in my Mason jars of milk and starter (also at 105°), stick the whole thing in a small cooler, and walk away.

First true produce sighting at City Market! Huns Garden has early greens (lettuce, mustard, spring onions). I know them to be truly local, organic, and sellers of only what they grow themselves - they're my go-to greens providers all season long. Mr. Huns said, "It's good to see you!" and I said, "Oh, you have no idea..." Last week, Shatto Milk had cheese curds for sale, but not this week. I don't know if they will be a regular thing or not.

I would describe this strawberry pie just as you did: http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/06/strawberrypie It's utterly delicious, with a perfect, pure strawberry taste. I make it in an almond crust sometimes, which is as follows (I think I invented this recipe, but I can't remember now): 2 cups almonds, ground fine 1/4 cup melted butter 1/4 cup brown sugar salt to taste Mix together, press into a pie plate, and bake at 350 until toasty, 10 minutes or so. Push into place with a spoon if it slumps.

Last weekend at City Market there were garden plants but no finished veggies or herbs. The meat/egg and honey people are there though. Lots of folks milling around, though, waiting for something good to show up! Oh, there were the fake farmers. Those who bought a flat of tomatoes off a truck, then put them in little paperboard containers like they grew them. Does this drive anyone else nuts? They are easy to spot now (sorry, kids, no home-grown tomatoes in Missouri in March!), but later in the season it gets more difficult. As I go every week, and see the same vendors over and over, I have developed a mental list of cheaters from seeing evidence of their treachery. I go back, though, because the honest folks have stuff too good to miss.

I went three weeks and managed to completely empty my freezer and refrigerator (good thing, because I had to unplug it to get a new floor installed). I realized that I do genuinely like the feeling of having plenty of food around, both in case of emergencies and because surveying a well stocked pantry makes me feel rich and domestically competent. BUT - I have to manage the inventory better from now on. New rules: Nothing in the house over a year old. Unless it is a daily staple, let something completely run out before replacing it. If I buy something experimental, I have to commit to it. I can't make one recipe and then push it to the back of the cupboard.

I am ashamed. I spontaneously did this challenge after initial strenuous mental resistance. My week's almost up, and it wasn't even hard. I won't describe any meals because they required zero ingenuity. I am a longstanding food hoarder, and I also hate to throw anything away. Last summer I preserved a ton of food for the first time - pickles, jams, frozen stuff, etc. I thought fondly of my grandmother, whose home canned and frozen foods I ate all the time growing up. The shelf holding all that stuff is still full. I go shopping every week. I'm pretty sure I have a net increase of food stored through this winter. I got the memo about putting food by, but then the memo about ACTUALLY EATING IT seems to have missed me. It's not that it's not good. I love it all. It's that I resist using it because, well, what if I need it later? I actually thought of a great use for a three-year-old lump of tamarind paste and briefly discarded the idea, because then I'd be out and wouldn't have any if suddenly, what, I had a tamarind emergency? In that case, GO BUY SOME MORE! And it will taste better because it's not three years old! Thank you, all, for making me discover a bizarre irrationality in my thought processes, which I am duly weeding out. I am going to strenuously resist all new food purchases (except the usual eggs and milk) until I have made a serious dent in my stash. Because after all, I'm already collecting pickle and jam recipes for this summer...

I always mean to use it to glaze a fruit tart or a cake, or sub it for honey in a recipe, but before I know it I've made a batch of waffles and whipped some cream and it's all disappeared into my sticky, happy family. (Well, they're sticky and happy afterwards, anyway.)

As I am a carb-head of long standing and by preference don't eat much meat, my biggest expense category is alcohol. To stretch it out, I've started fermenting my own hard cider. It turns out to be one of the most stupidly easy processes there is. My husband and I think it's pretty tasty, and even if it doesn't end up cutting my expenses by much, I'm having a blast. How to Make Hard Cider

Granola bars. I tried to make homemade ones for my daughter's breakfast, and no matter what recipe I tried, they were (to her) vastly inferior to any box pulled at random from the supermarket shelf. And she was kind of right. Even chocolate chips didn't help.

It IS suspiciously simple, isn't it? But I've had fantastic luck with this method. I took a lacto-fermentation class and they broke it down for us: You can ferment ANYTHING. Just follow that same process: -- cut and mix your veggies -- add plenty of salt (at least 1 Tbl per finished quart) -- add a little yogurt liquid (1/4 cup per quart -optional, but helps you know you're going to get the beasties you want) -- pack everything tightly into clean glass jars -- if it's something like sauerkraut or kimchi that will make its own juice, ram it into the jar until the juice rises; if it's something like cukes or green beans, fill the jar with water so that with the salt it becomes a brine -- keep solids covered with liquid during fermentation, weighting and topping with brine if necessary -- check it daily and eat it when it tastes good! I have a tendency now to keep several jars, many experimental, working on my counter. It hasn't let me down yet.

Last summer I made a fermented chile paste (lactobacillus fermentation, same method that makes sauerkraut and sour dills). I threw some Thai chiles, red bell peppers (to cut the heat a little), ginger, garlic, and salt in the food processor. Then I added a little liquid drained from yogurt, to get a lactobacillus culture started. I jarred it and set it on the counter to culture. I started eating it about two weeks later. I've still got a jar left and I know it won't last nearly until new chiles start to come in this summer. It's so good it makes me cry (or that could just be the tongue-searing heat).

I generally use pancakes to absorb my leftover odd grains and flours. I find that I can throw in pretty much anything if I keep it to no more than 25% of the dry ingredients. I bake a lot, and I am often throwing leftovers into breads, muffins, etc. Usually the result is fine, and if it's different than usual, the "hot homemade bread product" factor trumps any weirdness. If in doubt, use no more than a quarter cup in a recipe and see what happens. It will still take a while, but a quarter cup into most of the things you bake will certainly chip away at it.

I've probably made more recipes from this book than any other in my collection. And I've really liked most of them. Here are the ones I've returned to at least a dozen times each: Yogurt Corn Bread. Got some on the counter in fact! Vienna Bread is our standard sandwich bread. Egg Bagels Kolacki (ain't Sunday morning without those...) Buttermilk Dinner Rolls Maple Blueberry Whole-Wheat Braid Lemon-Poppy Seed Bread I'm trying another new recipe today - the Sour Poppy Seed Rye. Now I gotta run try that shallot poppy seed braid!

Yeah, I noticed that with the NYT cookies. I made the dough and baked it off in batches over time, from 24 to 72 hours. The more the dough was aged, the darker it appeared when baked. I ended up lightly touching the cookies to check firmness to assess doneness. However, the taste was never burned or overcooked and I am extremely happy with the recipe.

If you're interested in whole wheat doughs, I use whole wheat pastry flour in my bread baking, often at 100%. I love the results - they're far better than with whole-wheat bread flour, which tends to make heavy and dense breads. I make almost exclusively home-style breads - sandwich loaves, dinner rolls, bagels, pita, etc, so I can't speak to how it would work in more bakery-style bread-making (baguettes and the like). I became a better and happier bread baker when I stopped obsessing over the details and just baked away. I used to stress over whether I had the perfect flour, or the perfect hydration levels, or the exactly right proofing time. But then I realized that fresh bread is fresh bread, and it's almost always very very good.

As someone who tends to avoid interaction with strangers (I actually like automated phone systems and always use the self-check line at the grocery store), I love the idea! I think we will see more of these, inevitably, once they figure out how to make ordering idiot-proof and how to make delivery systems that don't cost an arm and a leg at start up. There will always be fully-staffed restaurants but I have a feeling they'll be more high-end, with career waitstaff. Which means there goes one more way of paying your way through college...

Yeah, I hear that too. My Hungarian family makes a version of the eggy braided bread - not a dessert, although lightly sweet. It's marvelous warm out of the oven (although my Grandma never lets us eat it then, because she makes it Saturday and it must be SAVED FOR EASTER!), but after that, while it's certainly fine, it's nothing spectacular. The spectacularness returns in the way we eat it on Easter - in open-faced sandwiches, piled with ham, mayonnaise, hard boiled eggs, and horseradish. The bread's egginess makes it soft yet sturdy, a perfect sandwich base, and the slight sweetness balances the horseradish. I don't know if other Hungarians do this, but it's a solemn ritual with us.

I tried it. I liked it and it was considerably less trouble (my handmade ravioli tend to fall apart and make me cry). But I must state for the record that I am not a ravioli geek, so purists may still weigh in with many cons.

I made my own cake. It was butt-ugly. I had a marvelous time. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I hate thinking about shoes and dresses, so I asked for help and spent a minimum of time on stuff like that. My husband and I are 12 years married, and I wouldn't change a thing about our wedding. It's your wedding. Have a good time!