Darienne

I'd have to think about it. With two people cooking...one pretty much always can do something. And the freezer always has lots of stuff in it to eat. Can't come up with any one thing at all....

I can't say it's a 'go to' book particularly, but I do own it: Full of Beans. Violet Currie & Kay Spicer. 1993. Sponsored by the Ontario Colour Bean Growers Association. Published in co-operation with the Canadian Celiac Association.

I am delighted to announce that Best Buy took back the hated microwave and gave us a full refund. Ed is currently at the Restore buying us an older model which for the time being suits me just fine. Of course, he's also bought a new set of 'deeper' shelves for the garage. I could hardly say 'no'.

For years I was in exactly the same position...never used one disc. Then Carpal Tunnel Syndrome hit in a big way and I reluctantly began to use those WONDERFUL discs. Carpal Tunnel long repaired and I still use the discs. In fact, the on/off function in the processor is long dead and Ed, who can fix things whether he understands how to do it or not, has made his own on/off system for the machine. Of course, I have a large sticker on the machine that warns all users that the safety mechanism is no more. You simply can't buy those kind of processors any more it seems.

No one has mentioned the LG microwave. It ranked tops on Consumer Reports. Our old Panasonic died suddenly when we had company and Ed bought the new one at Best Buys. I hate it so far. Why can't they ever leave the designs of household items alone?

I've recently signed onto a new Canadian government website: Your latest Recalls and Safety Alerts from the Government of Canada. Every day there is something. This morning its undeclared gluten and wheat from a vegetarian ham product. Every single day there is something. It's almost unreal. And now palo posted about cleaning solution inadvertently put into juice pouches. Sure glad it was 'inadvertent'. You really have to wonder why...

I'm afraid I'm with Tropicalsenior on this one also. Sadly, but truthfully.

After one of the worst months of our lives, an incredible present arrived today...and such a surprise. If you know us, you know that I am constantly making ice cream for Ed and friends. I bought this wonderful little Ice 100 machine, the kind with a bowl you have to freeze, about 14 years ago in Moab, Utah, for $5, second hand. It's had yeoman service all these years. Well today began the Annual (and last ever) Dog Weekend and the guys from New Jersey arrived bearing a commercial quality Ice 100, the kind with the freezing compressor. I am in 7th heaven and tomorrow we make our first gelato. Now that is fun indeed.

I'm going to try it. Just for fun if nothing else.

Ed makes large batches of macaroni and cheese sauce and then I freeze it in suitable meal portions. He's never paid any attention to the niceties of undercooking the pasta or much of anything else, and it's always been perfectly good. But maybe then we aren't connoisseurs where macaroni and cheese are concerned.

Guests arrive this week on Thursday afternoon and the Double Chocolate Mousse Bombe birthday cake is to be served at Saturday lunch for two of the gentlemen. That's two days later. And it was specifically requested and agreed to. This chocolate cake is refrigerated and contains both a milk chocolate and a dark chocolate mousse, and is covered by a chocolate glaze which the instructions suggest you apply only 30 minutes before serving (and which I cannot realistically do.) In fact, the entire cake is now practically speaking beyond my energy level these days...but there you are...don't bother going there, please. I've now already listened to a lecture by my dear Ed ( who never listens to sense himself.) The cookbook says you can refrigerate the cake with the two mousses up to 48 hours before serving. That would mean making the second mousse Thursday morning for lunch on Saturday morning. Could I realistically make the cake on Wednesday? Or is that pushing it just too far? The recipe comes from One Cake, One Hundred Desserts, by Greg Case and Keri Fisher, 2006. Plus I have salads to make and they can't be made far ahead either: potato salad, cucumber salad, pepper salad, tabbouleh, and bean salad. I'm planning on laying them out in a sort of mise en place style ahead of time. Might just skip the potato salad. Yes, I used to be able to do all this...but that was then and this is now. I would say that this is definitely the last time I do this at all. The last three years have not been good ones health wise. Sorry to whine while asking Pastry & Baking questions.

Here's a HUGE one: https://www.consumerreports.org/food-recalls/drink-brands-recalled-due-to-potential-contamination-a8309767530/?EXTKEY=NF28NCP1&utm_source=acxiom&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220806_nsltr_food&utm_nsltr=food

Good idea. I think that Covid plus encroaching old age with huge changes in my health really changed our lives for the last 3 years. No more dinner parties. No more cooking of certain foods, using certain ingredients. Oh, about the Triple Ginger Ice Cream...I've decided to make Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream instead. Much easier. Need nothing I don't have on hand. It's not Ed's favorite, but trooper that he is, he'll force himself to eat the leftovers after the weekend is over along with the other 3 batches I've made.

...not check the state of the frozen fresh ginger until I was ready to use it tonight in making Triple Ginger Ice Cream (Dog Weekend next weekend) ? Only to discover that it was totally shrivelled and completely unusable. Well...maybe it has been about four years after all. Probably haven't used it since I last made that ice cream.

Sauce? Noodles? Cooked noodles?

Basically, it's unmaintainable. Sad to say.

Sorry. Never really thought about it carefully. I'd say 400° Fahrenheit and up.

Not a faulty myth at all. They took the borosilicate out of the formula some years back which changed the structure and has led to many occasions of dishes exploding and causing terrible wounds and so on. My sister-in-law had one explode on her and luckily she wasn't badly hurt, but the shock and the mess was enough. They neglected to broadcast that change. Consumer Reports did a major article on the subject a few years back. I think we discussed the situation on eGullet also. All the dishes I use are old but undamaged. And I just don't use glass at high temperatures at all. From Wikipedia: Borosilicate glass is a type of glass that contains boron trioxide which allows for a very low coefficient of thermal expansion. This means it will not crack under extreme temperature changes like regular glass. Its durability has made it the glass of choice for high-end restaurants, laboratories and wineries.

Exactly what I use. Thanks.

The article is fascinating. When I got my rice cooker, I immediately measured the volume in the little cup, thinking I'll lose the darn little thing and then won't know how to measure the rice for this unit. Sad to say, I saw the strange measurement as just one more 'screw the customer' ploy on the part of the market. This is not a natural stance for me, naively believing that the vast majority of us are honest (naive, my husband would say), but in the face of so much dishonesty on the part of the market, what else could anyone think after such endless proof of blatant dishonesty on the part of manufacturers, distributors, etc, etc? Except that I was totally wrong and I formally apologize to the rice cooker folks. How interesting to learn about the traditional Japanese measurement system. Why is this not mentioned in the little manual? Oh, I've lost the little cup, of course.

Well, not really sad...but it's almost beyond belief. Almost...but not quite.

I wonder...from what percentage to what percentage??? How many illnesses and deaths are permissible per year?

You? Never!!!

To me, the main problem always with mashed potatoes is that they are mashed. My Mother didn't make them either. Ed loves them. His Mother made them. What else is new?