Katie Meadow

@ElsieD I just noticed that Smitten Kitchen is currently featuring a farro recipe called French Onion Baked Lentils and Farro. I'm not a fan of French onion soup, so I can't decide if it appeals or not, but there it is.

Yes, farro is delicious. Makes wonderful grain salads and i especially like it in soups. Great in various minestrone or vegetable soups along with beans.

Okay, that makes me feel a teensy bit better. I'm having one of those days when everything grim comes flying out of the walls. I just bailed on a sci-fi movie that was just too depressing.

Both swordfish and shark top the high mercury list along with other big predators like tuna, mackerel and marlin Swordfish are also prone to parasitic worms so if you see it on a menu at a sushi restaurant....just don't. Not exactly on topic, but concerning shark, many species of which are endangered, which is one more reason to avoid eating them, I just saw an article about how the Chinese are now getting around the anti-finning laws. They simply take the whole shark instead of just the fin. So I assume that the folks who supply the fin market are eating a lot of shark. Back to swordfish. It's been so long since I've eaten swordfish or shark I can't remember what either tastes like. If it's true that shark can be sold as swordfish because of taste or texture or just because consumers don't know the difference, then best to avoid anything called swordfish. Yech, what a mess.

Here's a stupid piece of information about me. Ed Ruscha picked me up at the Met and took me to his apartment, which, by the way, was really nice. I was a college student at the time. However, he started to get very grabby and I escaped and ran. God only knows what I was thinking.

The packaging is iconic. I loved seeing the giant towers of Spam in Hawaii store displays. I've opened a can to taste it exactly once. See what Paul Theroux has to say about it--or don't, it's very creepy!

All I can tell you about the desired temperature is that our candy thermometer registers 212 F and at the same time, the thermapen registers 228. I don't know why there's a difference, but we generally go by the Instant Read results. Marmalades run the gamut when it comes to the set. We prefer ours on the delicate side when it comes to zest (thin cut with no pith) and not too densely set, so it is easily spreadable. I have no idea if our temperature gauges are accurate, but it works for us. Marmalade has enough sugar so that the finished jars don't need further boiling. We make enough product in a couple of months during Seville season in CA to last all year, usually about 24 jars. We do sometimes add other citrus, but always of a sour/bitterr nature, such as grapefruit and lemon, often meyer lemons, but the greater percentage of juice comes from the Sevilles. One fun addition is Bergamot, two or three per batch, including the peel. Subtle and different, a little floral, still bitter. And yes, it's that time again! My husband spotted some Sevilles the last time he shopped, but he said they didn't look very good, so hopefully the quality will improve over the next few weeks. I admit, we are both addicted and can't imagine not having a generous supply all year long. We do eat a lot of toast at our house.

Briefly, without telling you the quantities and measurements, here's my process. Citrus is juiced and measured, and put in a large dutch oven. Twice as much water is added, and the bag of pips. This gets simmered for about 30 min. The zest/peel gets added, and the mix continues to simmer another 30 min. The pips bag gets removed, then the liquid gets measured and the sugar (I used regular white granulated)is added (3/4 cup sugar : each cup liquid) That gets boiled until it reaches approx 228 degrees on an instant read thermometer. We don't do any kind of test. This temperature always seems to work for us. So there are two stages: before the sugar is added the mix is kept at a med simmer. After sugar is added the mix gets boiled, otherwise you would be in the kitchen til midnight.

It's nice to know that using pith in with the pips didn't result in cloudiness; that's the reason I always avoided the pith. We've been making marmalade for so many years that a while back I invested in a pack of Celestial Gifts 5x7 muslin bags. They do seem pricey, but they are reusable two or three times or more and save me a big headache. I bought them five years ago and have plenty left for the foreseeable future. I typically make 4 batches a season, and each batch yields 6-7 jars.

Of course you use as much juice as you can squeeze from the oranges. Also, when making up a bag for pips try to remove as much pith as possible and just use the seeds. And make sure the bag closes tightly so no seeds escape into the liquid .Yes you can certainly use other citrus fruit in the mix, but depending upon which ones you use you may need to adjust the sugar.

If you are too lazy to make the banana pastry cream or you can't find artificial banana flavor I suggest calling your doctor for a Rx for Children's Augmentin syrup. That would be a win win: super artificial banana flavor and a healthy dose of antibiotics just in case.

Yes, a pot with wide surface area is of course one way to shorten the time when cooking down marmalade. But that and sugar alone won't get you the consistency you are looking for and the bitterness as well. I use the pips (seeds). Put most of the seeds after juicing, and with as little pith as possible, into a muslin bag and add that to the mix. I tie the bag to the handle of the pot so it hangs below the surface of the liquid. There are gelling products you can buy, but this seems to be the easiest and cheapest way to get the control you want.

If you have read any of @liuzhou 's recent posts you already know that Chinese food is almost endlessly varied. However, I believe it is possible to learn to make a relatively easy and basic stir-fry using vegetables that are available to you and with a small investment in basic condiments. The trick is that a decent wok and a relatively high flame are essential. Many people try to make stir-fry in a saucepan with inadequate heat, and that's really just a sauté. Personally a stir-fry is my go-to easy and fast meal, and the best way I know of to combine different vegetables. And one technique or method can get you started. There's a short learning curve when it comes to what ingredients to add when, but that will make sense quickly. And you do need to prep all ingredients before cooking, because you will probably need to work fast. Maybe someone else can suggest books that get you into Chinese cooking; I've honed my technique from various sources, and can't think of just one book to recommend for a beginner. Where do you live? What kinds of ingredients are you most likely to find near you? That might get you more specific responses here.

Maybe a Moulinex would work for you? Would work for a cheese like cheddar or mozzarella. https://www.ebay.com/itm/176085735904?hash=item28ff8719e0:g:H04AAOSwpsVlcelS&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwIow3GiaxW1T0I7w%2FSe00WE4n4As02LGzrxxWKeoebCHJZd2HqJwbNgojUGHveU0kABrzksvtNqyioihhyWGCuf6ORAqqRUAz%2BdcF68aCc%2BqGHkSVoACwzncgb7y%2BXSGj8odq%2F4NXN2busVtolYNXI1qRnW6DEiw3VSH9lDWfjpbcLgP72bv6uOBaVmbs7svdTAsNEmkhBNA%2BQFnBrV8mUwB6pLt5CABnXI3DZKjRcfvxEvUvGodsP%2FRgIf%2FyShaTQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-6ltJqXYw

I guess these are all useful comments, but honestly, have you ever known anyone who wouldn't grate cheese because they lacked the "proper tool?" I'm not trying to be snarky, I was just born that way.

Agree: schmaltz is just the fat. Gribenes, to me, means chicken skin cooked in the fat until it's crispy. As far as I know, my grandmother never cooked anything, except for gribenes. My mother, not a great cook, learned nothing from her. Most of what I got from my mother I had to unlearn. My father did make a mean chopped chicken liver, though lacking schmaltz he used butter. And he always added cognac. I'm planning to do the same for New Year's Day! though, and that's what I am planning to have on New Year's Day.

If, god forbid, that happens, your obit will practically write itself.

Miroco milk frother. The quietest electric appliance on earth!. Heats and froths in short order, with various froth settings. I long ago gave up on those little stick frothers which are far too frustrating to deal with in the morning. My husband claims I said something a few months back about wanting one, however i swear I don't remember. The joys of memory loss! You get stuff you want that appear like magic. This toy is totally fun. I'm trying to limit coffee and increase calcium, so this is a win win, and perfectly timed as one of my gifts to him this holiday was.....coffee.

Is that eggnog as blue as it looks? And what's that iceberg floating in it? Methinks it need a teeny tiny replica of the Titanic floated at the top. Then you can call the drink "The Last Eggnog."

Shout out to George Howell and @weinoo! Gift of coffees was a hit. I bought two med roasts, an Ethiopian and a Guatemalan, and one dark roast from Costa Rica. We broke out the Guatemalan for breakfast this morning....delicious made in the French press. Sadly I'm on a restricted coffee regimen, so I love the change from my husband;s habitual default of French roast Peets, which is very strong and no longer has the thrill that it once did when it came on the scene a million years ago.. Also a source of awe was the vacuum canister, now the home of the Guatemalan beans. My husband finds that little whoosh of air to be very satisfying. In the last few years he's upped his game with a nice burr grinder and a couple of new coffee making contraptions, but hasn't tried any different beans. Of course he went to the GH site and was, unsurprisingly, amazed at some of the pricier options. Hey, it's a gift! \

Christmas prep? What is that? I'm very happy to report that this year I'm doing less than ever. I made a vegetarian black bean soup to bring up to my sister in law's house for a small xmas eve dinner. Christmas eve has always been celebrated by my husband's family. This year the venue has changed and the party is small; My other SIL has come down with covid, so and her sons will not be coming. I'm also pleased to say that no decorating has taken place, no visitors for xmas day, just the two of us and a quiet day. Breakfast will be my husband's fabulous biscuits. The afternoon will see a grazing menu of appetizers, all of which are unfussy and can be made with hands tied behind backs. We plan to bake a simple poppy seed cake and treat ourselves to Irish coffee made with my gift of exotic coffee beans to my husband. No rushing, no stressing. Great opportunity for doing essentially nothing on xmas day. Lazy! Happy Holidays to all!

I hope so! Achh, you and your corn phobia! If it wasn't for corn we wouldn't have huitlacoche. How sad is that?

A wild guess, but broccoli will probably be one of the last species on Earth to go extinct. Just my luck.

It may be ridiculous to call gai lan Chinese Broccoli, but in most restaurants around here that's what it means on the menu. I always check before ordering, since I detest regular broccoli and I love gai lan. So yeah, I think they are pretty different. Gai lan is most often served here as part of the vegetable section, by itself in a garlicky sauce. Broccoli is often served in a mixed stir fry with other vegetables or beef. And they definitely look different as well as taste different.

We live in a dangerous world!