Darienne

I'm going to try those Apricot Confections. Sounds good. Thanks.

Thanks to all who answered my question, and Jaymes, I await your report.

Yep, I am old and my hands don't work well any more. And I make a lot of dishes which take a lot of cutting and mincing and dicing and shredding and so on. Particularly salads in the summer. And nuts for muffins and anything else I can add nuts to. DH loves nuts in everything. DH Ed will do the cutting and mincing and dicing and so on for me whenever I ask. But then he's often not there when those cutting bits are needed...or I just don't want to ask him AGAIN. I have a food processor with no shredding part to it, a couple of those cutters which you bang on the top with the palm of your hand...that hurts the hands also. Knives, box graters, microplanes, etc, but they all hurt to use. And if they don't hurt while I am using them...they hurt later and sometimes for a couple of days. This is ridiculous. OK. This is not to gain sympathy, but rather as background from which to ask about the usefulness of buying a Salad Shooter...or some other utensil which works as well. (I always thought a Salad Shooter was one of the useless things which you watched some poor guy work at the Exhibition in the Food Building.) Apparently not. All advice is appreciated.

Middle East classic: Claudia Roden.

Check the thrift stores first. I see a lot of them there. Thanks, Kerry, but as noted before, there appears to be quite a difference between thrift stores in your area and in mine. I've never seen a Salad Shooter in any of our thrift stores...not to say that one hasn't turned up... Your area thrift stores remind me of the ones we have frequented in Utah. I might just buy one online.

I'm sorry I pulled this topic off center, but I am going to look on Amazon.ca (Canada) and see if I can find one to buy. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks furzzy, but I cannot get it to work.

Are you saying you like this machine?Yes! It grates anything for you and you put the parts in the dishwasherI always thought the salad shooter was one of those tv things which were of no consequence. Apparently not. I will get one. My hands don't work well anymore and cutting and chopping can mean much pain later. Just one of the possible joys of getting old. DH is always more than willing to do this job for me, but he's often not there when I feel like making something. This might solve all our problems. Thanks for the help. Anyone else have thoughts on this appliance?

And what about grape juice? I once thought Welch's tasted pretty good. I knew nothing else. And then one day I took the grapes from the supermarket...we are talking run-of-the-mill produce purchased from a large grocery chain in East Central Ontario which is about as diverse and exciting as a piece of cardboard...and juiced them. My tiny mind was blown. So THAT'S what grape juice can taste like.

Are you saying you like this machine?

My birthday. Guess how old I am. And I made the cake. Not fancy, but delicious. The cake base has cocoa in it. The top mousse is milk chocolate. The bottom mousse is 54% dark chocolate. The topping ganache is 70% chocolate. It should have white chocolate decoration on it, but alas! I have no white chocolate. I had better had another birthday next year to make up for that. The plastic wrap is because our daughter will take the cake home with her on the bus and train and we have to move the remnants to pack them. Today for lunch with Moussaka and Spanakopita. Which I also made. Happy Birthday me. Older than dirt.

How long will it keep in brine or fresh water changes? We had been eating Feta cheese constantly and then one day neither of us wanted it again. So that's when I froze it. I hate to tell anyone how long it sat frozen in the freezer but it worked fine in the Spanokopita and Moussaka. I fear I simply am not a taste expert for much of anything (except chocolate).

For me it's chocolate. Folks know I work with chocolate and so give me chocolate for gifts. Lovely thought. Much appreciated. But dreadful chocolate. And there's a lot of that around. So if it ain't good chocolate, I ain't gonna et it. End of announcement.

I must shamefully admit, I break it into smaller pieces or amounts...and freeze it. And so far so good. Just made Spanakopita for the weekend and it's delicieux. (I know, I've been instructed on how to make an e acute, but I can't seem to recall how. )

We live in the middle of nowhere, about one half hour from a very conservative small Canadian city in east central Ontario. You couldn't get less exciting. 'Nuff said. We have chip trucks...a few...which sell French Fries and hamburgers. End of story. Very sad. Any food trucks would be welcome.

Wow! Lucky you and wife.

What a hoot!. I grew up in Quebec and Ontario, Canada and in a family which never made any kind of buckle/cobbler/roly-poly/slump/grunt/?. I'd never even tasted one until I made one from a recipe. Probably have to make my blueberry "buckle" this afternoon after thinking about it for two days.

Thank you pastrygirl. I always wondered why you were supposed to follow those directions. It's truly clear now. (Yeah, I'm a slow learner some times.)

I don't know of any blackberry cobblers, but this cobbler recipe (an amalgam of three plus my own take) is so delicious that I serve it often. Can't see why you couldn't just use blackberries instead of blueberries...but then I could be completely wrong. (Never been that crazy about blackberries...too many seeds.) Blueberry Cobbler Recipe 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 1 cup all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup milk Preheat oven to 350˚F. Melt butter and pour into baking dish. (I use an 8" square glass dish, but a pie plate will work) In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in milk and mix into smooth, thick batter. Pour into dish and spread fairly evenly. In a bowl toss together berries, zest, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch until combined well and place on top of the batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes (Until bubbly and browned)

Maras dondurmasi Learn something new everyday. Do report if you try making some. Very good-natured young person buying the ice cream.

You could eat a whole meal snacking on samples at Costco. Although you either have to join or go with a member friend.

Back to Jayme's getting 'dog' bones for free and using them for soup. Not likely to happen anymore. We have to pay for dog bones and they ain't cheap. As for buying a bread machine. There are always lots for sale at second hand stores. They are unused gifts. Get one for Christmas...never use it...finally get rid of it. I've purchased at least 3 second hand machines...one was filthy...and they all have worked perfectly. Welcome, heichmanron, to eGullet.

We've been to El Bruno's twice since my last post, 2011 & 2012. Always the Chile Rellenos. Can't get enough of them and I'm too lazy to make them very often. (As for Chaco Canyon: been there, done that a number of times. Last time Ed nearly drowned there. Yep)

The only financial definition for the RM I could find after MUCH googling is the Malaysian Ringgit? Is this what RM25 means? Thanks.

Wow! Never even thought about it. Thanks for the question and information! Always something new to learn. :smile: