Darienne

As you might no doubt suspect, I know very little about glutamates: monosodium, disodium, calcium, free, whatever they are. I did google the word and the one article I skimmed through was very interesting and I shall have to find out more about these glutamates. I have never had a reaction like that dramatic one in Chinatown since and I may well be totally mistaken about its source as you pointed out. The list of foods containing glutamates is very lengthy and we do eat corn chips a lot and french fries sometimes. We also eat some sausage meat although not much. I'm making my own chorizo now. We don't eat much pre-prepared food, no soy products except for the fermented ones, no cold cuts, canned soups, etc. And I won't touch Aspartame. I suddenly became epileptic at the ripe old age of 56 after a few years of taking in a LOT of aspartame...but then as you note...it could have been anything and we'll never know. According to some experts...epilepsy can be a result of Aspartame, along with about 96 other ailments, including death. Maybe it was being sprayed repeatedly, including in the face, with DDT as a youngster. Life is, according to my youngest, a crap shoot.

At least I can say in my defense that my deeply flawed logic was post-soup. I didn't know that they put it into soup (and most everything else), so it could not have been any kind of placebo effect at work. I am not about to do any double-blind studies on the subject.

This question has been bothering me lately too. Because I now have considerable hand issues, I have been drinking for the last five years all my beverages, hot and cold, from plastic mugs. These mugs are all quite old, second hand because when this need for a lighter mug first appeared, there was a dearth of plastic on the market. Folks were moving to earthenware, etc, for outdoor eating. A plastic mug weighs about 4 oz; a ceramic or glass at least 10 oz and most often about a pound. Our daughter noticed this at Christmas and began to harangue heavily on the dangers of what I was doing. Answers? Perhaps I am at almost 70, too old for it to make much of a difference? Gagghh. I can't believe I am almost 70. Sorry I mentioned it.

Anecdotal info: I should preface this by saying that I can eat everything pretty much. Hotter than Hades doesn't faze me. All nuts, all grains, whatever are fine. Plus I do not get headaches and never have. Years ago we were dining at our favorite Toronto Chinese Restaurant, starting with the Hot & Sour Soup. Soon it dawned on me that my head was being crushed inwardly as if a circular vise were being tightened. It became so bad that I thought I would go mad. Although it was pouring like mad outside, I ran outside and stood in the pouring rain until I could breathe normally. DH, Ed, was fine. What else could that be except for the MSG? They must have made a mis-measurement that day. Never ate soup there again.

The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession. Adam Leith Gollner Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. Steve Almond. Two fascinating books from the decade. The title, Candy Freak, is one that the publishers must have picked because it is purely sensational and does not reflect on the nature of the book at all. I would recommend this one for a good read. It's the engaging history of the many little regional and family candy manufacturers of the USA and how they have just about all disappeared in the face of the marketing practices of the current biggies. It sent me on a hunt in Moab for all the regional type candies I could find which still are out there.

Them's fightin' words, gal. Our neighbors around the corner (a country type corner, y'hear) make and sell their own maple syrup, as do many in our township, and I'd bet our maple syrup against your American product any day. So there. I took our local maple syrup to a friend in Moab last year and she adored it. What can I say? Syrup snob? Hah! ps. The Harbingers of Doom were still hanging there this morning.

Dear rebgold, There are NO stupid questions on this forum...and if there were, I am probably the one to ask them. I like to think of myself as a fearless ambassador for the timid.

:laugh: That was Mtn. Dew up the nose laugh! Harbingers of doom :laugh: Does he hang them there a long time before he cleans them? As for his timeframe...I don't really know. We met him out there a couple of weeks ago and he was cutting part of them off. They had already been hanging there...and they are hanging there still. I didn't ask...he didn't say. We exchanged brief polite greetings but that was about all. Mountain Dew first thing in the am? You are a fearless one!

Your BLOG is great fun to read. You supplied my first laugh of the day with you pie crust story. As for Canadian geese, hunters where we live do kill and eat them. Our neighbor behind us hangs the dead carcasses at the far corner of HIS property so HIS family doesn't have to look at them hanging there like harbingers of doom...which makes them completely visible to US on OUR daily farm perimeter walk. So thoughtful. To HIS family. Rats.

Thanks Andie, and Sharon and Calypso, for all the information.

There are recipes for the first three desserts in My Sweet Mexico, but not even a listing for the tortitas de Sta Clara. I found it on Google, but with two differing definition: one is a shortbread type cookie, the other a pumpkin. Please tell me which is correct and where you found your recipe. Thanks.

What: Chiles Rellenos with the usual sides and Churros for dessert. Nothing fancy or special. Horchata to drink (first (and last probably for now until I learn if that's what it's supposed to taste like. If it is...then last) With DH, Ed, and good friend, Bob. Next time another friend had some version of Tamales. I just mostly kept eating Chiles Rellenos...we can't get them in Ontario as far as I know. Where: Moab, Utah, on our last stay there, fall 10. Why: To celebrate our return to Moab, to be with one of our best Moab friends again, to try this new restaurant. I use the term restaurant loosely. It's really a 'hole-in-the-wall' with take-out and four tables. We were the only gringos in there at the time with a steady stream of laborers in a line ordering lunch. The outlet caters to the area's Hispanic workers who are currently at a number of huge projects, including a new bridge into the town on the main highway. The rest of the country may be curtailing public spending: not Moab. The menu is incredible with many dishes and from at least 6 Mexican states. Most of the staff don't speak English. We went there often while in Moab, but I fear the restaurant won't be there by next fall. The bridge is finally finished. We took all our Moab acquaintances there and they were all favorably impressed, but this is not a place which is likely to be popular with either the regular townsfolk or the tourists. Too bad! The really good small Hispanic restaurants disappear quickly and the old regulars and chains live on. We also had a wonderful meal at the much touted Mexican restaurant, El Bruno's, in Cuba, NM, on our way towards home.

Oh, Darienne. In all your travels, you must come to Arkansas, and I will fry okra for you. It will change your life. I swear. I'm not sure I can stand to have my life changed again, but if we ever get near Arkansas again, I'll take you up on this. Thanks. Ditto for the homemade tortillas.

You have been busy. Any photos???

I probably have never eaten, or maybe even heard of, half the dishes which will become challenges this year. In the meantime I have: - my own chorizo - Capirotada, traditional style - brioche sticky buns - croissants - spun sugar - wontons

Of last year's resolutions I kept the ones about the freezers and their contents. (We did buy another 2/3 size freezer and that has helped a lot.) And the one about making bread. I did not cook or eat okra. I did not teach my neighbor about chocolate...her responsibility, not mine...but it remains on the books. And I never grew the indoors herb garden and probably won't this year either; although I did grow ginger, which I must add, was a complete bust. Sorry Andie. In 2011, I will eat okra (probably not) I will make more Mexican dishes and desserts, but not Menudo I will learn how to work with phyllo properly I will go to the Toronto downtown Hispanic markets although I hate downtown Toronto with a passion. That's enough.

Great to find a fellow Mexican dessert maker. I went straight to the recipe for Huachibolas and they sound wonderful. Too bad there isn't a photo of them in the book. Too bad there isn't a photo of them on Google either or in any of the many websites I went to. Fortunately I did find a picture on Google of the Pemoles which I want to make, because Gerson's description left me boggled and there weren't any English language websites available. Now I admit I am a novice cook and baker, but I don't find Gerson's description of how to close the Huachibolas all that clear. Actually, I find it quite unclear. But then I have found so far that her recipes are very unclear in certain spots. As I recall...although I can't find it again...in an earlier thread in this forum someone did say that this book was not for the beginners. However, I am keen and persistent and I shall make it a goal to try as many of her recipes as I can this year. How's that for a New Year's resolution?

I searched the entire Mexican cooking and baking forums and could find nothing to cover the dessert aspect of Mexican cooking. So here goes... Currently I am fascinated by the desserts aspect of Mexican cooking. On a whim I purchased Fany Gerson. My Sweet Mexico and although I don't think I'm going to do a "Chris Hennes" through the book, I do intend to try a lot of the desserts this year. To date I have made Empanadas de jitomate. I was so taken by the idea of tomato jam. And this was the third time in 50 years that I had made pastry, two of the times being in the last month. They were delicious. Next I have made the familiar Bizcochitos from a recipe given to me by a friend. They turned out very well. Not a difficult or complicated recipe. My next dessert will go back to the Gerson book: Pemoles/Coffee-Flavored Corn Cookies. They sound like nothing I have ever eaten: cookies made with Masa and flavored with brewed coffee. And I still am intending to make a Capirotada but will wait until the Lenten season and make a traditional Lenten variety. Anyone else making any Mexican desserts of any kind?

I have put off trying it. But having now made some luscious tomato jam, I guess I could spring for bacon. Can you please point me towards the recipe? Thanks. There is a link in my original post. Thanks. Did I mention that my mind was going....????

I have put off trying it. But having now made some luscious tomato jam, I guess I could spring for bacon. Can you please point me towards the recipe? Thanks.

Ditto from me. But inquiring minds want to know if you ever sleep?

dystopiandreamgirl. You are my heroine for sure!

I have one which was brought to mind by answering another thread: how to hard-boil and peel quite / too fresh eggs. Using the regular methods, the eggs are often impossible to peel. The answer is baking soda in the water. Then plunge the cooked eggs into cold water. Crack them all over and leave them to sit in the cold water for a while. Then peel them. That should help. Of course, that is not a 'fix' in the real sense of the word - but rather a pre-fix.

You no doubt know the old remedy about putting baking soda in the water with quite fresh eggs. Works every time. Then plunge the eggs into cold water and crack them all over. Leave them in the cold water and peel them in a while. Running them under cold water as you peel them can also help. We are old hands at the too-fresh eggs scenario. (Personal aside: I hate hard-boiled eggs in any way, shape or form.)

Two Cuisinart appliances: a food processor and a grinder mill. The old versions just died in the past month. Not too exciting, but very necessary.