Icanmakeit

Thanks for the help - I think it's going in the freezer for now.

Spanish is her second language, English is her first, so somehow my request for pork belly to make homemade bacon with turned into pork stomach when she got back from the market. Now I have about 5 pounds of it! I have googled recipes and found only a scant few that are for tacos or using the stomach as sort of a casing for other fillings. I have found instructions on the proper cleaning of the organ, so I'm good there. Does anyone have any suggestions or good links? The meat will probably be going back to work with me as lunch for me and my co-workers as my husband and daughter probably won't touch it!

Always more garlic usually more onion - depending on what I'm making If I'm baking and it calls for cinnamon, I usually add nutmeg and a bit of clove - unless it's something specific like cinnamon buns Always, more salt and pepper - haven't actually measured either of these for eons Unless it's baking - almost everything is 'eyeball' and my tried and true recipes are in my head with printed recipes used as reference. Like lasagna, I can never remember the order of the noodles, to cheese to meat to sauce and have to refer to my 1974 Better Homes and Gardens cook book. (This is actually one of the best recipes I have ever used). The butter thing - it's always salted - and butter to me can be a 'snack food'.

Last summer I bought a knock off on ebay. Looks exactly the same but whatever fabric was used ripped in half in our triple digit heat and the weight of the water. I woke up to hanging wire, shreds of green material and my plants crumpled on the ground. I tried to save them but the deformity to the vines caused by hanging upside down didn't fare well when replanted in an upright container. I think the 'name brand' "topsy turveys" are probably OK - I just won't buy another one and find out it's not. I did plant more tomatoes in containers that are doing quite well - my husband put them on his painting scaffold to keep our dog away from it (he likes tomatoes). I lost my little tag too. I think they are some kind of Roma tomato.

My daughter worked at Sonic in high school - she was a car hop. She described an operation that was very clean, strident on keeping everything fresh and making food on request and not pre-cooking things and keeping them heated. While I'm not crazy about most fast food. They had some pretty good items at the time - the burgers and tots were OK. I have seen them try to be more like Jack in the Box and serve a mish-mash of everything and not doing any of them very well. The drinks are really good and you can buy a bag of that pebble ice for less than a dollar.

It really depends. If it's an apt. electric connections are cheaper than gas. I hate electric ranges but in my younger days, managed to make do. For people who don't cook or don't have a preference it will more than likeley be electric.

I have a Chargriller that I bought used with cast iron grids. The moron I bought it from preferred gas and didn't know what to do with a charcoal grill so he loaded it with a ton of coals and created this over-kill of burned on, store bought bbq sauce goo on virgin cast iron grids. I soaked them in super hot water for a couple of hours and used a brillo pad to get the gunk off. After proper use and eventually seasoning, the hot water bath got easier and easier to make cleaning the grids a snap. Last Fall, I bought a Royal Oak grill with ceramic coated cast iron grids and they are wonderful. They still get the hot water bath, but the gunk just slides off with very little scrubbing.

I make my own potstickers - all homemade ingredients from a recipe given to me by the owner of my favorite Chinese place the day before she retired. (I had spent years begging her for the recipe and she finally caved. The first time I made them I thought I would be a true purist and make my own wrappers. Easy enough with a recipe that pretty much consists of flour, water and salt. Never again. Roll, roll, roll those small disks of dough - about 200 of them. Hours later and they haven't have been filled or fried/steamed yet. And they stuck together a lot. The worst part? They didn't taste any different from the frozen ones I get at the Asian market. I do make my own lasagne, Thanksgiving from scratch, and a few times Menudo. I have gotten 'trapped' by the attack of the tomatoes a few times, green and red.

Yes, they are. Since yours are fresh you can pop them in salted boiling water for about 8 minutes strain and plunge into ice water. You can pop the beans out of the pods and eat them straight or add to stir frys, salads, etc Lucky you, I haven't seen them at our farmers markets and have to pay $$ for them at the store.

In my area we have In n Out burgers that while not claiming to be gourmet either are pretty good. A Fudruckers opened up last year and while not primo - pretty good for going out. They too will not cook even med rare. They have a pretty decent buffalo buger.

OMG - this just reinforces why I can't stand this woman. Did you notice how she licks her fingers then promptly grabs the food - shared food - at that. Ugh! She might be the next Typhoid Mary! I think she wants people to eat her food and die.

I have always been an adventurous eater/cook all my life. I would probably turn down anything that needs to be eaten 'alive', insects or potential small pets but anything else is pretty much a 'go'. I have had a pretty low tolerance for picky eaters and rarely accommodate them when I cook. Sorry if you don't like garlic (incentive to add a few more cloves). When I met my husband he was Mr. Meat & Potatoes only. His mom - God love her - was a single mom in the 50's and cooking well was not a priority. They ate a lot more potatoes than meat most of the time unfortunately. When I told him I wanted to go have Sushi, he almost threw up. I said I would not continue to date him if he wouldn't at least try it. We have been together over 25 years and he not only loves Sushi, he is a regular customer of sushifoods.com and makes it himself for both of us. Our 22 year old daughter on the other hand has some very strange food aversions. I cannot believe she is 'ours' sometimes. Her dad offered to share some scrambled eggs with her and she requested that he remove that 'white thingy' attached to the yolk before mixing. I made the mistake of telling her a long time ago that the 'chalazae' is where the chick starts. I also told her that if there is no rooster, there is no chick, but apparently that part didn't sink in. Never mind that the 'white thingy' disappears after cooking.... She also dissects meat like a surgeon, doesn't like dark meat chicken and will cringe if she sees a 'vein'. I work with a picky woman who will eat suspicious taco truck burritos voraciously. But will ask me 'whets did you put in it?" when offered homemade banana (yes, made will reeeeallly ripe gassy ones) bread. Grrr...

This was year ago back in the 70's. My mom would buy blue cans of Dr. Bronners chopped chicken livers. They were delicious and a great substitute for pate' in a hurry. The came in a little blue can that I can't ever seem to find. Has anyone else heard of these? And if so, can I still get them?

I am so amazed at these Costco posts! I stopped being a 'member' nearly 8 years ago because of the rediculous lines and no 'express' checker. My paltry little (albeit) FULL basket of items was no competition for those other 'members' (AKA resturant/catering folks) with double pallet jacks full of stuff. I remember calculating a wait in line of at least 45 minutes. I didn't go back and I didn't renew my card. A few years later, I recieved letter asking me why I didn't renew my membership and I gave the long lines as my reason in a postage-paid envelope. I was sent a nice letter asking me to reconsider and a 30 day free membership pass which I promptly threw away, the memories of those endless lines still burned in my memory. After these posts, I am rethingking my descision. I swear at the time I used to go, I don't remember all this great stuff being there. Things must have changed a lot in the sheer quality, magnitude and variety of what Costco carries! Another reason I may re-join is that I now realize that since I quit going, about 3 or 4 other Costcos have sprouted in several neighboring towns probably trimming down some of the constant volume of the one Costco I am closest to - literally behind the company where I work. I remember the great wine, some good tomato products, cheap ibuprofen, flowers and cat litter but that's about it. Reading some of the Bay Area/Central Valley posters run down of items like The Marin French Cheese Companies Rouge en Noir is making me drool. You can't get it anywhere even though the place is less than 200 miles from here! My birthday is coming up - maybe a new membership card will be a present to myself.

My old cast iron has better non-stick properties than some of my newer cast iron (less than 10 years old) but better than any of my stainless. However I do prepare them by heating quite high with a bit of oil before I ever put anything in them to cook. As for fat being the reason why my old cast iron sticks less - bring it on! I can cook just about anything with no added fat tho- and it doesn't stick.

In Paul Prudhomme's classic book "Louisianna Kitchen", for all his recipes that use a roux, he pours hot stock into it. The roux is atomically hot if you use his technique.....he gets to dark brown, almost black roux in about 15 minutes, so you know its done over jet-exhaust level heat. Gumbos, etoufees, jambalyas, sauce picantes, all of them use the same basic method, just varied by the color of the roux. I've probably cooked 50% of the recipes in that book and always use his technique, and have never had a problem, or a lump. ← I have always done my roux/gravy/sauce this way - Nary a lump! Seems like I have added cold to hot and had to whisk the *$#@ out of it to smooth things out!

My mother in law gave me a bread machine a long time ago. My husband refused to eat anything that came out of it. He has been so spoiled over the years with homeade bread that the machine became and 'interloper'. I didn't mind it, taste was OK, shape was kind of weird when it came out but serviceable when sliced etc. I traded it for a computer - Prior to this, I have had the basic Kitchhen Aid mixer for 16+ years (they now call it "The Artisan")before my husband bought me the Pro 600 last year for Xmas. I gave my old mixer to a good freind who would have never bought one for herself but loves to cook. It looked like it had been hit by a train, but still worked great. I kept all my attachments. The pasta maker, shredder, meat grinder and sausage funnel thing and they all work with the new machine just fine. If you love to not only bake bread but cook in general, you will kick yourself wondering why you kept 'just a breadmaker' for so long. It's great for mixing, whipping, kneading etc.

OMG!!! I know the dreaded "smick-smick-smick" oh too well - You know a cat(s) is up to no good when you hear that sound. My mother had a giant hate of cats getting on the counter. I now think it's not so much for sanitation purposes (as well it should be) but for a couple of our cats who climbed up on the counter and demolished the entire breast of a Christmas turkey thawing in the sink. Any of my cats have the fear of god put in them as kittens if they ever jump on the counter. If sprays of water doesn't work, mousetraps do!

I'm sorry, but ICK! And I am not a big clean freak or neat-nik. But it has been my belief that Cast Iron can be seasoned, Stainless Steel cannot. This just looks like plain crud. Please, go buy a can of oven cleaner as suggested by other posters. Get a black plastic garbage bag, get all of your pans that look like this and take them outside to a sunny place. Lay the pans crud side up, clean side down inside of the bag. Spray liberaly inside of the bag and cover the outside of the pans with the cleaner (use the whole can if you have to). Close bag tightly and leave in the sun all day - even the next day. It doesn't have to be warm or hot temperature wise - the dark bag will get warm enough to allow the cleaner to work and not stink up your house. After 'soaking' your pans, remove them from the bag. (Wear gloves if you have sensitive skin). Hose them off in a place where the water won't kill plants or grass etc. Take them into the kitchen and finish cleaning them off in the dishwasher or sink. This is a trick my mother told me about a long time ago when I was first starting on my own. I bought some pans at a thrift store that while servicable, looked like yours. Good Luck - Here's a picture of my contrasting pans at http://www.glittercity.com/potsnpans.jpg A little scratched - but I have had the stainless for over 10 years and some of the cast iron was my husband's grandmothers and those pans are at least 75+ years old. (I just used the big cast iron skillet for homemade pancakes this morning)

I would toss the flour too. I've had off-tasting flour and couldn't figure out why. Had more of a starchy-pasty flavor than flour-ey. Once I splurged on an expensive brand and didn't like it. I think it was half flour and half rye or some combo.

I suspect she bought self-rising flour possibly on accident or she doesn' t know the difference. That might account for the 'rapid rise' without using rapid rise yeast from the baking powder, salt etc already infused in the flour.

This is the way I have been making gravy for years and this is a fabulous demonstration. I have family members who have never known they are eating the giblets because I have whizzed them up in the blender with a little giblet water and added them during the cooking process. (Sounds and looks gross, but rinse that blender out quick and no one will be the wiser) I have cooked many Thanksgiving meals and here is a bit of my planning schedule. Order your bird fresh and pick it up one or two days before the meal. Brine your turkey the night before cooking it. A good one I've been using is at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...36_8389,00.html The day before I make potato rolls, cranberry relish, macaroni and cheese. I peel and soak potatoes in water in the fridge. I bake the sweet potatoes with butter and a little brown sugar (no marshmallows -ugh) so they only have to be reheated the next day. Brussel sprouts are washed and trimmed as are any other fresh veggies for dips etc. Hot Artichoke dip made and ready to be nuked the next day. Slice baquette in serving slices. Prepare dips and make sure there is enough pickles etc for relish trays. The day of: Get up early. Prepare the stuffing - mine favorite is oyster with walnuts but with picky people, the bird is not stuffed with that version, but rather the traditional version made with the packaged french bread mix that I 'doll up' with more spices, celery, onions etc. The oyster stuffing is made seperatly. Make sure you have a sense of timing. Your bird should not keep your guests waiting because you didn't time it right. About an hour before serving, boil potatoes for mashing. When done, mash them (lots of butter and a little milk and salt) and keep them covered. While the bird cools make the above gravy, place items that need to be reheated into the oven, save the rolls for the last 10 minutes or so. Steam brussel sprouts or other fresh veggie you are serving. Have a glass of wine (yes, I know it's only 11:30 am but you deserve it) I know there is a lot of other little things I am missing but some other words of advice is to borrow a microwave if you can. I only use mine for heating things up but it is a real timesaver. Make use of appliances. I thank God for my Kitchen Aid mixer and my big range. Have others set the table and pass the beverages. Most of all have fun and enjoy!

You need one of these. http://www.tupperware.com.au/dir063%5Cwebt...ges/burgerpress I always wondered who would use it. ←

Since the idea is that the interior of the smoke box never exceeds 90 degrees, and the food is never in contact with the plastic itself, it should not be a problem. Especially during the winter, when the smoke will cool substantially before even entering the smoke box. During the warm months the bottom will get filled with ice to keep everything cool. I haven't decided whether to poke drainage holes or not... thoughts? I wish I could claim the idea as my own, but of course I saw this sort of setup elsewhere on the internet, which is what sparked the idea. ← I recall Alton Brown setting up a smoker using a cardboard box. It worked - I was amazed

The meat is pretty much mush by the time it has simmered 1-2 plus hours. The flavor 'leaches' into the stock. The veggies are mushy too and also inedible. Whole chickens usually are cheaper than parts. Sometimes on sale around here I can get good brand name chickens for 68 cents a pound on sale. I don't mind chopping up a fryer. I learned how to do it a long time ago and it's a worthy skill to have. For stock I sort of 'rough chop' the chicken, not seperating all the parts as I would if I were preparing it for a regular meal. I usually save the breast but everything else goes in the stock pot. Some carrots, onions, celery, a few bay leaves and peppercorns and a little salt covered with water simmered for appx 2 hours your good to go!