Darienne

I finally have a system that works for us. Fifty years for us. Only three sizes of storage containers only. In a big drawer that is the bottom drawer beside the stove. (The drawer is not full at all because we have made Hot and Sour and Beef Barley soups and they are in the freezer. The containers are not Tupperware and they fit quite nicely into each other.) All other containers go ruthlessly into a Rubbermaid container in the garage marked: Miscellaneous and they go home with other folks, with contributions to Pot Lucks, etc. And I don't want them back. And other people must do this too, because that's how I amass most of them. All extraneous acquisitions of plastic containers go into the recycling bin. No more lids without containers nor containers without lids and all higgeldy-piggeldy sizes either.

Chef Eddy van Damme just did a tutorial on using the Buddha's Hand here on his blog.

Hmmm. Well put. We have a lot of apple trees on our property and we make apple juice each year. ...well, the DH does...

Reading Chris Amirault's post this morning, in Food Foolishness: Why Make it When You can Buy it, brings me back to this thread. I suppose there are some people who love to make their own pomegranate juice. I tried it once and thought...why bother? It didn't really taste any better than the store-bought stuff and was a lot of messy work.

I particularly like the drawers with the wooden dowel separators. Must show that photo to the DH.

My DH is dictating this as I type. My husband, who is a disorganized slob in every other part of his life, cleans up as he cooks, while I end up in the most awful mess you can imagine, cleaning nothing as I go along. So he says I hate it. I don't hate it: I just am incapable of doing it.

Not to mention all the specious ingredients and preservatives which are in the commercial varieties of much of anything.

Yes, it can be. But I (we) prefer to think of an Americano as a cocktail, so there's another one for you to try! Particularly great before dinner. 1 part Campari, 1 part Sweet Vermouth - build it on the rocks, top with club soda/seltzer/fizzy water and an orange slice for garnish. To DH and me, who stop at Starbucks across the North American continent on our way back and forth to Utah from east central Ontario, an Americano is the decaf coffee that Starbucks will make for you after 12pm when most of the outlets stop brewing decaf. Americanos are better and more expensive than plain decaf. (I can no longer drink regular caffeinated coffee past lunch or I'll be awake until about 2 am.)

If there is ONE thing you can find in the kitchen wares of a second-hand store, it is a mini-food processor! I must have picked up at least 3 over the past years. (Oh, and disposed of them here and there...to son, friend, etc.) This time, I am keeping mine.

What I would really like is a bigger kitchen but that is never going to happen. When we remodeled this end of the farm 15 years ago, I picked the size and space in the kitchen. Then I had zip interest in cooking...I had to do it...I did it. Now it's all changed and I am challenged greatly to store ingredients and utensils. The house absorbs all of I need and use, but in so many different locations. Oh well... In the meantime, I don't really want anything I guess. (No I don't own everything...I just couldn't possibly use much else at this beginning point in my cooking avocation.) Oh wait: access to fresh chiles and tomatillos and other Mexican ingredients that you can't buy in Canada. And that isn't going to happen either.

I would like to see a photo of this dessert for sure. Let me know how it turns out. Oops. That would be Christmas day. Never heard of a rockmelon and will look it up. Just what is a ginger jewel?

OMIGOSH!!!!!

OK. So I'll start. Today my DH cut orange peels for me to begin the candying process for chocolate-dipped orange peels. And I have begun the confection give-out to friends and folks who help us in various ways all year long. Folks like vets, computer guys, oil delivery guys, postal lady, etc, etc. I've had a huge...well, less huge every week it seems...bottle of rum-soaked fruits for a Black Cake which never got made last year and I guess it's really too late to make it this year either. Should add some more fruit to the mix. I have a list of cookies and cakes that I intend to make. Plus Pot Lucks we are invited to. Plus the Christmas Eve Party to which Ed always brings his French-Canadian Tortiere and I bring some confections. And, and, and... Who else has started on Christmas or holiday goodies? And what are you making?

G'day mate. (Do you really say that to each other?) Looking forward to reading about your week down under. I'm surprised you find any time to cook at all with your schedule. What do you do for three hours while traveling every day. (We in Canada would actually write 'travelling'. What about Australians?) BTW, Margaret Laurence lived for some years in Lakefield and I did get to know her a bit. Lovely woman. I do have a couple of funny Margaret Laurence stories which I can PM you some time.

Nothing exciting being made here...just the usual favorites of friends and so on: chocolate dipped candied ginger, chocolate-dipped candied orange peels, Chocolate covered toffee. Have to get the toffee out of the house before I eat anymore.

So grateful :wub: for ALL the replies.

Repeat of September 15th's post only this time with toffee. How stupid can one woman get? Burnt the upper inside of my mouth just behind my teeth. I realized the toffee was too hot to taste as soon as it touched my teeth, but did not count on the curling effect as the hot toffee curled behind my teeth and stuck. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Thanks Lisa. Just what I wanted to read, that I could freeze them almost whole.

Way to go, Ms Kim!!!!

Thanks Kalypso, much to think about. It's all so iffy at this end. How long will the manager be able to get them? Will he continue getting them? How much should I buy with the idea of cooking them all to utilize them? In the meantime I have a small bunch in the kitchen and I just love looking at them as I pass.

The scene: we live in the Canadian frozen north and never get fresh tomatillos or chile peppers except for Jalapenos. We cannot get canned tomatillos or chile peppers except for Jalapenos. Well, maybe somewhere in Toronto, but I don't live in Toronto. WE brought back canned tomatillos and Hatch chiles from the Southwest. Now, to my open-mouthed surprise in a local higher end grocery story, Sobey's, I find what? FRESH POBLANOS. Smaller than usual, but beautiful dark green, proper shaped, etc. I ask the manager about it. He says he's trying it and so far so good, and they'll have them as long as the season lasts. And he can't speak for any other local Sobey's. SO: how long does the 'season' last? He didn't know. (That's better than another store in which the manager had never heard of a tomatillo.) Should I buy a huge lot and what? I know I can cook and freeze them. Can I freeze them whole and use them for Chiles Rellenos? What else? Give me your best shots please.

As usual, Dystopiandreamgirl, you have blown me away. What a reputation to keep up with!!! Keep 'em coming always.

Sichuan Hot and Sour Soup!

We dined at El Bruno's in Cuba, NM, a couple of weeks ago and all the glowing recommendations were 100% true from the excellent chips and salsa to the complimentary dessert sopapillas. We ordered Chiles Rellenos and beef Chimichangas, neither of which I have ever seen in Canada. Delicious. Service was good. What's left to say? Go there if you get the chance.

Oh yaas, I like the sound of that!