ElsieD

That reminds me of something. I have a stainless steel teapot that used to be my mother's. When I got it home I was dismayed to see that it had been left on the stove and the entire inside had baked on crud. I tried the usual baking soda and it wasn't doing much good. My husband suggested using some Diversol which we use for cleaning our winemaking equipment and it worked like a charm. It did no harm to the pot and it is like new. You can buy it at any home brew place. I'm wondering if that is the same thing as Powdered Brewery Wash?

In Canada, all labels must be in both French and English which is why "javelle" is on the label.

I too have had luck with baking soda.

I just cut my thyme plant back completely because it was very woody. As the new stuff grows in, I will use the tender stems along with the leaves. As the plant become woody, I'll strip the leaves off and discard the stem.

Yes, they are expensive but I've found that as I get older my back starts to bother me if I stand for any length of time when prepping food. These mats really do take a lot of the strain off my back so to me they are worth it.

I have two GelPro mats, a longer one in front of the sink/prep area and a smaller one in front of the stove. I love them. The longer one started to curl in the corners so I wrote to them. They asked me to take a picture and send it to them which I did. The immediately wrote back and said they would replace it, which they did, at NO cost to me. Not even shipping charges. Their customer service blew me away.

I also have a Miele and I agree with the two posters ahead of me. I usually run it at night, but that's mainly because we pay less for energy at night. As for quiet - my husband was standing next to it tonight (it was on) and opened it because he did not know it was on. I too really like the top cutlery rack but I wish it had a speedy cycle. The fact it takes so long to run is, for me, the only drawback.

Georgeous!

We have been enjoying these beets for some years now, ever since we were introduced to them by a local organic place. Haven't tried them raw, though. Just got back from Jean Talon Market in Montreal where we picked up chiogga beets and also some yellow ones. If you haven't tried yellow ones, you should - along with the white and orange ones. They are very sweet, and not as "earthy" tasting as the red ones.

Thank you, Kerry.

Kerry, what size are the tart pans? Are they the mini, about 1" ones?

Marlene, what is the recipe you use for your cheese buns?

Can custard based ice cream recipes be halved successfully?

I really, really, really wanted to be there and had planned to be there but life intervened. I plan on making it next year. Everything looks so beautiful. Sounds like a good time is being had by all. Love the pictures - keep 'em coming!

The red chili oil is nothing but oil and dried red chili powder. What if you dried the chiles, ground them into a powder and put that in some oil?

I actually bought lemon salt once. It was just salt and lemon - extremely lemony. I think it was at a fishmonger. You might try looking there.

There is also this link (if this works)

How about Chocolates & Confections by Peter Greweling or Chocolates and Confectons at Home with The Culinary Institute of America, by the same author?

I can't imagine sausages without corn and I'm firmly in the scalloped potatoes with ham and mashed with turkey & chicken. I also always eat corn with ham. I also like a green vegetable with fish - asparagus or sugar snap peas come to mind.

Can't wait to make this. I'm the proud owner of some gulf shrimp I got from a fish wholesaler and they are just lying about in my freezer looking to be put to good use. Usually, all you can find here are the farmed Asian shrimp and they give me the heebie-jeebies.

I second the recipe request.

Trinket, hot water takes care of the chocolate and cold water will help you clean starchy things like flour and stuck-on potatoes.

I also have saltpetre. Can this be used? If yes, is this equivalent to pink salt? I'm sooooooooooooooo confused.

I'm mixing up the ingredients to cure bacon and I have some stuff called Prague Powder with a sub heading "The fast meat cure". It is white. It is not labeled as # 1 or # 2. It also does not have an ingredient list. Is this the same as the pink powder called for in Ruhlman's recipe? I also have a jar labeled Sodium Nitrate. It is white with some yellow flecks in it. Is this the stuff I am supposed to use? To confuse things further, I also have Morton Tender Quick. Can I just use this to replace the kosher salt and pink salt in the recipe and then add the maple sugar and maple syrup to it? I knew the answer once but I haven't made any in a while and can't remember. I know there is a bacon thread re: Ruhlmans' bacon but I could not find it hence this post. If anyone can help me I'd appreciate it. This mix is for my brother in law and I'm going down to see him tomorrow. He's 5 hours away so I don't get there often so if someone can help me out ASAP I'd really appriciate it.

I guess that explains why my glad stuff doesn't dry but my Rubbermaid sort of does - this particular Rubbermaid being the hard plastic kind, not the more flexable kind.