ElsieD

If you haven't already, go to a wine making supply store. They have a wide assortment of bottle cleaners.

We used to give out bags of Orville's microwave popcorn. The kids loved it. We moved from a house to a condo this year and sadly, there will be no kiddies coming to our door.

I just made Mac and Cheese last night. After I make the bechamel sauce I add a package of MacLaren's Imperial cheese which is a sharp cold pack cheddar and have never had any problems. I bake it at 350.

Oh, dear God, I want some.

Thanks. Next loaf I bake - no steam. I did slash my loaf before I put it in. I used a bread knife which is nice and sharp and it did not pull the dough. I have a lame thingy but I never did learn how to use it properly and find my bread knife makes a cleaner cut.

How do loaves baked with steam differ from those baked without? Thank you.

Strawberries. I only ever buy them locally when they are in season. I like the picture of your cat.

Just got caught up on all your activities. I wonder if the apples with the white flesh are snow apples? I remember them fondly from childhood days when my dad and I would go to orchards and pick apples for home consumption. I used to love them, with their white flesh and pink tinge. Whenever I have gone to farmer's markets where there were apple farmers I would ask about them but no one seems to grow them anymore. Pity. They are delicious.

Lindacakes, I don't really have a recipe as such for either. But, I can tell you what I do. The cranberry orange relish is simply a package of cranberries cooked with 1cup of fresh orange juice and one cup sugar. Once the berries start popping, I add in some Grand Marnier, maybe 3 tablespoons. I just eyeball it. Sounds as though you make the same type of stuffing that I do, except I don't add mushrooms. For the stuffing I use a loaf of cubed plain old sandwich bread. Cook up a large diced onion and a couple of stalks of celery in about 3/4 cup of butter. Once softened, mix with the bread, celery salt, savoury, thyme, poultry seasoning, sage, and pepper, all to taste. When that part seems right, I add enough chicken broth to moisten, just enough so bread sticks together. We don't like it too moist. I like the idea do frying slices of it and eating it with gravy. Given that there are only two of us, there will be stuffing and gravy left after tonight's dinner so I will try that out. Thanks!

Host's note: this discussion began as a side discussion in the topic Yeast as a Flavoring Agent: I am trying to develope some starter for sourdough bread. It didn't work the first time and I have started a new batch today. Are you saying that if I buy some grapes with a white film on them and throw the skins in my nascent starter it will help it along?

Cranberry orange relish with a splash of Grand Marnier and buttery bread stuffing with celery and onions and, as per hubby.,NO embellishments.

Patti, when did you start your starter? Looking forward to reading what you did with it.

Where exactly are you? Several Manchesters come to mind.

I keep fish sauce in the fridge and also cucumbers. Maybe that's not necessary?

Oooh, that looks good!

It use a focaccia recipe by Peter Reinhart and add dried cranberries and raisins (have also added dried blueberries) and divvy them into buns in my hamburger pans. No extra sugar as I find the dried fruit sweet enough. Once baked, I love them halved and toasted, spread with a good unsalted butter.

Thank you for this post. I found it very interesting.

That would be the one I have - KitchenAid Compact Food Processor. I have had it for 10+ years so it doesn't owe me anything but I need a new bowl as a piece of plastic on the top of the handle has broken off and it has become fidgety to lock in place. But alas, I can't find a replacement bowl so need a new unit. One thing about this one that I really liked was it came with a reversible blade, one that shredded one side and sliced on the other. I used the shredder a lot. The new "minis" seem to be choppers only.

I'll take three, please.

I came across an interesting thread recently for making bread using the Tang Zhong method. Basically, you make a roux, cool it, and use this as an ingredient in your bread dough. It is said to keep your bread fresher for longer. Never having heard of it I decided to try it today and rather than baking a loaf out of it, I chose to make sandwich buns. It makes quite a wet dough and it is very elastic due to the (I think) long kneading time. Anyone else ever heard of it? Or maybe everyone has, and I've been living under a rock?

Thanks, Shel. That was the one I was referring to when I said the one site I found appears to have gone out of business. The web site looks active until you go to order from it and then it tells you the web site is undergoing maintenance. Further sleuthing revealed that it has been under maintenance for months and that no one is answering the phone, either. That said, I appreciate your looking and if you come up with another site I'm all ears.....er, eyes!

Lots of interesting suggestions and I thank you for them. I did decide to buy some Nittaya curry pastes but the only on-line source I found other than Amazon, which was very expensive, seems to have gone out of business. Does anyone know of an on-line source for this? I am in Canada and I doubt it can be shipped here, but I can have it shipped to a USA address.

Thank you so far for your responses. As mentioned, I find the Mae Ploy unbearably hot so that one is out. I love the flavour of curry pastes but would like less heat than the Mae Ploy but more than the Thai Kitchen brand I am currently using. Part of my original question has to do with the differences between red, green and yellow curry. Is the only difference the colour of chiles used? Or is there a difference in heat levels between them. I would greatly appreciate it if someone could give me the answer to that. Kenneth T, if you are still following this topic, can you express an opinion on the heat level of the Nittaya pastes and how they compare to Mae Ploy? If I think it more suitable for my tastes I will try and chase some down. I did go to a Thai grocery yesterday but they do not carry it although they did have the Maesri. Cheap, too. It was $1.45 a can. Thank you for the Patak suggestions. Those I can find no problem, and will give them a try.

Mine has a red top and is labelled Maggi HOT. It is the Dutch version.

I occasionally cook with curry pastes and while I realize I could make my own, I don't want to, for various reasons. Thus this question of pre-made purchased curry pastes. To date, I have been using the Thai Kitchen brand of red curry paste. However, I see they also have green and yellow pastes. I am wondering how the heat levels and flavour profiles compare? I am also wondering about the different brands and if their heat levels can be compared to the Thai Kitchen ones. For example, I once tried the Mae Ploy brand of red curry paste and found it to be so much hotter than the Thai kitchen red curry paste that I couldn't eat the dish I had made using it. Are there any other curry pastes out there that I should try? Thanks for your help!