Darienne

Hi Lindacakes, I know nothing about this gentleman but my ears perk up at the word 'ice cream'. Have you made any of the desserts yet? Do they feature making your own ice cream? And what method? Any really mouthwatering desserts? I take it that it is well-illustrated. Thanks for any feedback.

From FG: Fear not. I am still quite heavy. (I still can't do multiquotes properly) GOOD FOR BOTH OF YOU AND GOOD FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO MEET THEIR GOALS OF LOSING WEIGHT!!!

Ya got me! I guess I 'forgot' to say that sometimes I just take them and jam them into the garbage under some stuff so he won't notice...

Two more things hit me tonight that I despise doing: emptying out and then cleaning out the kitchen compost bin, and rinsing out and drying plastic bags which go into the plastic bag recycling bin. The compost thingy must be done and I agree to that. We do share the job although this year I find I am the one doing it most of the time. We eat a LOT of vegetables so it doesn't take all that long to get filled. As for recycling plastic bags. I hate doing it. I don't mean the large grocery bags...no one uses them any more...no, I mean the ones which contain meat, especially the dogs' meat, and other sticky, gooey or otherwise not dry and solid ingredients. Yuck. It's HIS (DH) job and he promised I wouldn't have to do it, and then he leaves the bags sitting in the sink, with water in them, and I have to. And I hate it. End of crab!

Gotta say that this ice cream thread is incredible. I have ice creams ahead to make for weeks...nay, months...thanks to us all!!!!

That is an excellent idea. Making birthday ice creams, I mean. I reserve judgement on the flavor mentioned above until I can taste some.

Now that I've made sweet tomato jam, I might well try this. Last week I also made Tomatillo/Lime jam. This appeals to me even more as an ice cream flavor. The jam has bits of lime peel in it. Have you made the tomato ice cream? And did everyone like it? Or just you?

OK. Basically I am much lazier than you, Heidi. I would simply coat all the vegetables and flowers lightly with olive oil and whatever seasonings you might want, if any, and roast them in the oven in large aluminum cheapo pans if you have a great lot.

This sounds sweet and simple, but I couldn't disagree more. Not everyone can look at themselves objectively, physically or otherwise. I grew up looking in the mirror and hearing my father tell me I was fat. I grew to think I was morbidly obese. I look back at my childhood photos and i was chubby, at worst. This tainted me for life. I look back at photos of me in my 20s and 30s and wish i could tell myself, relax, you look fine. I might add, you won't believe what's coming down the road! Sorry if I'm reacting. It stuck me like saying if you want to lose weight, just don't eat so much. RG, you have every right to 'react. You and my husband. I've seen his kid photos. He was never really fat at all, just chubby, but those words can stick in the mind forever and color whatever happens, good or bad.

You have said it all, Susie Q

Many kudos to you, sir. My DH was a fat kid back when there were no fat kids. 1940s. Now he is a slim adult. He's probably the only person I have ever known who did the path from fat to thin and kept it off for about 30 years now. He's 5'10" or so and weighs 144 or so. He's thin to everyone's thoughts (but his own. Being a fat kid scars you forever) In the 1980s he weighed about 130 for a couple of years and looked like (here's age telling) a Biafran. He looked awful. He didn't think so. I can't imagine many 5'10" folks weighing that little, but he's of French Canadian and Oddawa extraction on his Mother's side and the men are skinny (and the women fat). Why his metabolism changed in that directions no one knows. Mine, like many women's at menopause, went the other way. Rats. I have no idea if this is of any help or interest to you, but there it is.

The first thing which comes to my mind is a sauce made from yoghurt, some fruit liqueur, fruity jam, a bit of sugar if necessary depending upon how sweet you like things... We often use this where whipping cream is called for.

Gosh, I had no idea that the 'free sample' issue was so complex for so many. I figure that first of all, the companies figure the cost of the samples into the end price of the product. It's advertising. Also, because we eat so sparingly in terms of buying prepared foods, many of the samples in Costco are things we have never tried before and I'm interested in trying new bits in case something really good emerges...like Mary's Organic Crackers...which I simply love now. Or their cashews which Ed likes. We don't normally buy pre-made egg rolls or pirogis or hummus or salsa or that sort of thing, but it's nice to know when you can count on a useful product when you run out of time. This way we get to try the product before we commit ourselves to several dollars' worth. The Costco container of cashews costs about $11.00. A fair exchange I think. Or, at least, that's how it works for me.

Good luck Peter and do post a photo and also tell us how much and what kind of coffee powder you used. Should be an interesting taste. Are you putting anything else into the bark or on top of it?

Thanks for the link, kalypso. Found it. Today's production was something simple, but still delicious. Right in tune with my current discovery of the taste of piloncillo. So amazingly complex. Makes brown sugar look like a mere piker. Nogada de Nuez / Piloncillo Candied Pecans from Fany Gerson's My Sweet Mexico. Out they go tomorrow.

Sometimes things just have to percolate for a while. Tried the ice cream for supper tonight and it's truly delicious. I know I will make it again.

On Amazon.ca (Canada), I can get the book for about $34 with S&H. But that doesn't help our daughter at all. This is supposed to be a surprise through my DH and he can tell her that I'd be thrilled with any book by Rick Bayless (except the one I own already). No muss, no fuss. I don't want her having to spend a lot of time and energy on this. And I will be thrilled anyhow. Thanks for the great information!

Oops. Looked up the cookbook on Amazon.com. I will not be asking my daughter for this wonderful book. $$$$$ That leaves me only about 79 other Mexican cookbooks to choose from...

Worth noting for Canadian readers: American Comet and other cleansers do not have the same formula as Canadian products. In Canada, we still have abrasives in our cleansers. I can't speak for ALL American cleansers and ALL Canadian cleansers, do check the label on your cleanser if you are going to use it on enamelware.

Looks delicious, C.Sapidus. Thanks for the heads up on the cookbook. My daughter intends to buy me a cookbook for my birthday and now I have to pick one...

Some might think the Philadelphia style lacking in mouth feel. You don't need anything except cream (heavy, half & half) for that. I have yet to use xanthan or any of the other thickeners/ stabilizers/ etc so can't comment. I'd try EmilyR's idea just to see what happens.

I do have kosher salt...I just didn't see the point of using it in this recipe. And as I review the recipe this morning, I don't think it's one I'll make again. As for the "Chili pepper (from Nahuatl chilli, chilli pepper, chilli, chillie, chili, and chile)" issue: the jury will always be out.

I would be interested in reading those reviews. I do like the book immensely and your point about the work of the editor is well taken.

Right. But we are talking 1/4 of a teaspoon in something which is opaque and pink. And has hot chile powder in it...

Today I made a new ice cream that I found on the Homesick Texan blog. It's called Strawberry ice cream with guajillo chile & lime, but I changed it so much as I made it, that I don't know what to say. It's strawberries and Guajillo chile and Lime but the quantities are altered, and I added Ancho and Chipotle to the mix, upped the lime juice, changed the brown sugar to Panela, and mixed half of the macerated strawberries straight into the base mixture. I also used regular salt...what could be the purpose of using 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt rather than just regular salt? and also cooked it although it is supposed to be a non-cooked ice cream. I guess that otherwise, it's the same recipe. Oops. Forgot to add that the strawberries were so poor that I added some homemade strawberry jam just to beef up the strawberry flavor. The end result is pretty good.