Darienne

Tangy Quinoa Salad would use your quinoa supply rather quickly and you might find yourself going out to buy more. Cooks quickly; tastes wonderful. We (I) did a massive cleanout a few months ago and currently am in Ingredient Heaven.

Thanks for the information. I think I'll get at it immediately. There's a local dairy that produces goat dairy products and I met the owners at the Saturday market.

Downloaded and printed out your recipe for dulce de leche. Great. Thanks. Now the questions start. My crockpot holds 8 cups. This is large enough for your recipe, yes? Can I with impunity halve the recipe and make it in said 8-cup crockpot. There are only two of us and we are not in Moab for all that long. Of course, I could donate the leftover, assuming there is any, to a worthy cause. DH, Ed, LOVES dulce de leche, a new eating experience for us.

Porthos, Porthos, Porthos , you go straight to your nearest second hand store and buy yourself a wonderful crockpot for $5 max. I kid you not. Well, maybe $10 if you live in an upscale city.

A friend had this triple crock pot buffet server. In it she had two main dishes and a hot dessert dish in the third cooker. They also make a double slow cooker server. Oh my! I just may be in love again. It's out of my snack bracket for stuff I really don't need, but a girl can dream.....

It is lovely, I agree. I have an obsession with things Art Deco. But an Art Deco roaster is definitely over the top.

Dearest Mz Shook, You may be humble about your work, but I say it is excellent and merits great praise especially because of your neverending generosity to your co-workers, family, friends, and fellow eGers. I am proud to say I 'know' you. Darienne

Thanks for the information and further threads, Jaymes. I made the mistake of spelling it only one way when I looked it up to find out if there had been such a thread before. Found lots of threads...but none devoted to the crockpot per se. Shoulda knowed better. Thanks.

In recent topics in this section, there has been some pooh-poohing towards crockpots and it occurred to me that this wondrous kitchen beast deserved a topic of its own. I own four crockpots: 1 ginormous, 1 big and 2 medium. (I brought one medium with me to Moab and since arriving have done a small pulled pork roast.) I candy citrus and ginger and other fruits in my crockpots. I do pulled meats. I keep Chinese and other foods warm at the buffet table. Particularly handy for Hot and Sour Soup. Well, pretty much any hot food for that matter. Not much quantitatively, but oh so important to me. I haven't casserole things in them. I just asked the DH could he think of anything else I made in a crockpot? And he laughed, pointing out how many crockpots are available in 2nd hand stores. Only one of mine was new and it was a gift from our daughter...the huge one. What do you do with your crockpot and why? I love my crockpots ...do you love yours? Show these crockpot skeptics that crockpots are worthy of praise.

Darienne -- try this link and order them. Dried, true, but better'n nothing. http://latinmerchant.com/productlist.asp?cat=Peppers&SubCat=Dried%20Peppers&subCatID=20 We can get some dried peppers thanks. Can't recall if Poblanos are available or not. Right now I am in the land of fresh poblanos and have a couple ready to use tomorrow.

Ditto from me!

Never used tapioca flour for anything. Never even eaten tapioca pudding. And never heard of using tapioca flour for making any confections. So count me in a curious too. ps. What DO you use tapioca flour currentlyl?

This is so cute. The librarian at the local library found this little lollipop tree on which to display the goodies. (She gave me a tree also as a gift. Now that was great!)

Hi JeanneCake All best. Soon you will be a lollipop maker extraordinaire. Hope the information I sent you is useful. Darienne

Absolutely beautifully done and adorable, Genkinaonna.

Not exciting, but still useful. Five dozen butterscotch lollipops for two small local libraries to sell. Gives me an excuse to make them. First time using a heat gun to smooth a couple of late poured items. Worked quite well. Learn something new each time!

I will certainly echo lemoncurd's above post. I have now made 3 batches of butterscotch lollies and found that reading the unstirred surface of the roiling mixture is anywhere from 2 to 10 degrees cooler than the stirred mixture. But still...anything is better than those dreadful glass abominations which clip onto the pan.

I love it! Not a bad article on making lollipops, especially for someone who has never made lollipops before. I don't follow everything exactly as she suggests...but then that's the way it usually is in cooking, as in everything else in life.

I have never heard of this lollipop, which isn't saying a lot, and I certainly have never made a very thin lollipop. You have my sympathy. You probably need to have another talk with your patron. Good luck.

A new one for me. Making lollipops yesterday with confectionery partner, Barbara, and while she pours, I make sure everything is lined up and in place. Things do slip now and then. I use a couple of thin knives so as not to touch the hot candy nor the hot metal molds. Well, all of a sudden all heck broke loose and there were more slips than normal. Sticks askew, leakage under the molds, etc. Somehow, touched my finger to the hot syrup, and then for reasons I cannot fathom, brushed said finger against my upper lip...taking at least one layer of skin with the candy. Oh my, how stupid. How it hurts. How strange it looks. I hope it heals without a scar. ...but then at my advanced age, one more scar won't mar my beauty too much...

Two useful replies. Thank you, both. Good easily have been stray crystals. I was working on overload I think when I made it. I also accidentally allowed it to go a few degrees over the called for temp. It hit the correct temperature, I went to remove the pot, and suddenly the temperature was up 3 degrees. I was fine about the care for the temperature basically. Have one of those new-fangled instant read out jobbies. Love my my toy! Yes, it tastes good. Just a question of to whom to give it now. With an explanation. The veterinarians would be fine... Have to check my list.

But then why is the second batch faster than the first and by so much? It was made only a very few hours later and is now much softer while the first is still crispy sharp? As for making sense...well, the weight of all those medals is heavy on your brain perhaps!!! Hey! You always make sense to me.

What could I have done to cause more inversion of the sugar? Do not recall doing anything different. However, maybe I did? Fortunately the toffee still tastes good and if you didn't know it was supposed to crunch sharply, you might still eat it with satisfaction. I hope.

New problem with a familiar recipe: Made two batches of nut-sprinkled, chocolate-coated English toffee on the same day. The recipe calls for: sugar, butter, salt & nuts. Dusted with cocoa, spread with melted chocolate, dusted with finely chopped nuts. Both batches successful at this point. Put into air-tight container. Batch #1 is the usual...still crunchy on day 5. Batch #2, tastes the same as batch #1, but is losing its sharp crunch. Another learning experience is about to take place...I hope...

We are off to Moab, land of red rocks, blue skies, low humidity and not much in the way of food-related stores. But first a stop in Grand Junction to pick up some Chinese food items (can't recall the name of the store, but can find it on our GJ map when I find it.) Also know where Enstrom's is on Colorado St. And the Liquor Barn, on F I think. I'll send to Bakers in SLC for couverture unless there is something in Junction. What else is there in GJ to take with us to Moab in the way of food-related items? Thanks.