Darienne

Today's lunch featured the World's Best Braised Green Cabbage from Molly Stevens found on Kim Shook's website. Thanks Kim. DH said he'd never tasted cabbage that was so delicious...just before he began to give his additional directions: more carrots please and maybe even some parsnips. Still a great winner.

DH and I live on a very old farm in the middle of nowhere in the Rollin' Hills of Cavan. And we don't have garbage pick-up. So we have to haul the garbage (not recyclables, not compostables, but true trash) to the local transfer station, affectionately known as the Cavan Mall. Last week Ed brought back a Proctor-Silex electric citrus juicer which he used with great joy this morning and announced that it extracted much more juice than any other method used so far. And these were zested limes and lemons. It looked as if it had never been used at all. The accumulation and disposal of equipment never ceases to amaze.

Nothing new or exciting from this post. Just a chance to say that DH and I love Egg Foo Yung and eat it regularly with our home-cooked simple Chinese food. As in today's lunch.

I'd certainly like a source or recipe for the Salted Caramels. They look like something I could master. Thanks. Your other pieces are lovely.

Slaw would be my first thought. My DH makes a mean cole slaw. But Chinese dishes would be my second. Hot and Sour Cabbage and also Singapore Noodles, two of my favorites.

I expect the puffed rice would make the bars less sticky...if they were sticky in the first place. Some of her bars are and they need to be wrapped. At this point, I'm not interested in having to wrap bars because so far we're just eating them at home. What 'dried fruit' are you talking about?

Those two variants sound really good and I think I might try the second one. With my own twist, of course.... . I find it easier to heat the date in the microwave. and I think I'd like the fruits, oats and dates finer than the nuts. Just bought some fresh ground espresso and that should perk it up for morning. Thanks, jcg. Hmmm...my mixed dried fruits are also candied. Could cut back on the dates a bit. Glad the recipes turned out well for you.

And Gorilla tape.

I haven't made the Nick bars. We once tried a Clif bar in Utah and neither of us liked it. But one try is not enough to form much of an opinion. I seem to recall that there is more than one kind of Clif bar. As for the Lucy bars, I did make the variation out of the book, Carrot Cake Bar variation, p.51, and we found them just fine. I'll try a Nick bar for sure. Today I made a double batch of Citrus-Seed-Fruit bars, my current go-to favorite.

And while we are on the subject of shoddy goods, we will speak of my Kitchen Aid food processor. I am not crazy about it...it has little power in my estimation compared to my long-lasting Cuisinart which finally died last year. And here I am using the Kitchen Aid today when two little plastic bits...little tiny no account plastic bits...just break off from the handle. They didn't break...they just broke off. Well, they are the parts which make the contact which sets the machine in motion. Quickly I figured out how and where they fit and used a finger in the opening to make the contact. Probably, He-who-can-fix-anything will be able to put it back together or rig up something else for me. Silly machine.

http://powerhungry.com/power-bars/ The No Bake Oatmeal, etc bars are not in the book, but are in Salusbury's blog at the URL as noted. On this page you'll find all the bars which were published before the book was out.

I have no former boyfriends or husbands...never knew how handy they might be... ...but we get a fair number of kitchen items at second-hand stores. Things with...wait for it...METAL gears and metal parts and metal casings. We all remember metal...

I agree with gfweb. Should add that you can ask on eGullet and there you WILL find out what is shoddy and what is not. Let's hear it for the eG members!

It is very frustrating and annoying. Annoying when it doesn't send you into a rant about how things 'used to be' in the kitchen appliance realm. Things I inherited from my Mother have lasted for decades. That was before the time of plastic gears. New things bought in the past couple of decades are toast. Replaced over and over. Aarrghhh!

Gosh, just have to share that I am having 1 1/2 plain baked potatoes for lunch today at Wendy's. Living the good life... Correction: we actually had fish and chips at a local Captain George. It doesn't compare with the exotic nature of Anna and Kerry's luncheon, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Hi CKatCook. Should add that the book is inexpensive: USA: $16.95 and Canada: $18.95. We are almost out of Citrus-Seed-Fruit Bars, p.62 and so this time I'll make a double batch. They are definitely the favorite and interestingly enough, the lowest in calories at 105 per bar. The entire ingredient list is as follows: pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, orange zest, lemon zest, orange juice, lemon juice, chia seeds, dried apricots, figs &/or dates, sea salt. Of course you could make them subbing a number of ingredients or leaving them out. Next time, I'm going to add finely chopped nuts to my take. Saulbury does list variations for this bar using nuts. Now, if my food processor can't handle one batch of this mixture, it sure as shootin' ain't gonna handle two. I think I'll pulse the seeds and nuts separately and put them into a bowl. Then pulse the fig/date combo separately and then using hands, mix it all together. I was already using my hands for the final mixing. Couldn't possibly use a spoon. I will also make something new this time. (Have to say that I don't like the 'fudgy' consistency at breakfast. ) (Oh, but they are fine later in the day.)

Our daughter's BF is a terrific cook, from Grenada originally. He always cooks something when he comes to our house and often with dried fish, in his case King Mackerel. I couldn't tell you the names of any dishes he cooks.

Hi Elsie, Did you buy them online or locally in your city.

Back to making power bars. Report on the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars, p. 110. They tasted pretty good but the texture was not really suitable. Made them again today, and again I didn't like the texture. Too oily. Next time I'll cut down on the coconut oil called for. You can't just grab one of them when they are oily in your hands. I said I would make the Mega Marathon Bars. Sorry, I didn't. I made another batch of the Citrus-Seed-Fruit Bars because I really like them and they were all gone. This time I used half figs/half dates. They were fine. My food processor will work if I am very careful about ;what I put into it. Not a good way to have to make things, but then I'm not ready to invest in a bigger more powerful machine at this point.

Have to admit that I'd shove a wooden shim under the offending leg.

Ed presumed from what you said that it was a leveling foot, but OTOH, if all the feet protrude the same distance from the legs, then they are likely not leveling feet (as noted by dcarch) and the problem may be some warpage in the table. Or the possibility that the floor is not level? Hey! I'm just the messenger and I solve all my problems with Gorilla tape.

DH, Ed, who can fix anything in the world, advises as follows: - turn table upside down - clean out gunk as best you can using a solvent and rags...depends upon nature of the gunk what you use. First try would would probably be lacquer thinner... - if you can see a join or crack between leg and foot, use something sharp to get as much of the gunk out of there - wipe dry and get WD40 into crack - try to unscrew (counterclockwise) by hand and if that fails, tape the foot with duct tape (gorilla is best) and 4 or 5 times around and use large vise grips to unscrew it. - if all of that fails, take off the tape, and use a butane torch on the leg and with something insulated, try again to unscrew the foot. The butane torch will cause expansion to the leg but not as much to the foot which is in it. All of this assumes that there is some evidence of thread on those feet which extend further from the leg. (he quit talking here and went to shove the walk...) If you can't get the foot off, then you're on your own from here. Sorry. My answer would be to do the thing about the plastic with the divot and something rubbery to help keep it from slipping at all. Good luck.

Thank you Anna, (and Kerry) for our weekly fix. What would the rest of us, living in the restaurant boonies, do without something to dream about? That chocolate dessert looks delicious. We had guests for lunch yesterday and I did serve Dark Chocolate Ice Cream for dessert . Our male guest had never had homemade ice cream before and chocolate is his favorite flavor and he was most appreciative.

I always make my own birthday cake and I think this year it might just be rajoress's pick. Found it on Google. Wonderful cake! Will add some Grand Marnier to one of the fillings. Might sub something for the white chocolate...don't know. Thanks Rajoress.

Like Huiray, we eat soup all year long. Supper is usually an alternating menu of soup or salad, interspersed with "Dessert as Supper" and popcorn with orange juleps. DH made his very first potato soup and we had it last night. Best potato soup I've ever eaten. The man is a soup genius.