Darienne

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.

Good news, Milt. If you hear anything, do let me know. We spend some time in Albuquerque on our way home each trip out west and that would be a bit better than trying to fit in a meal in Cuba which is just too far to wait for lunch, and too close to lunch to make dinner. Mid-afternoon snack or dessert might be just the thing.

Made the chocolate ice cream from the recipe which Rancho Gordo sent me...thank you, sir...with the usual mucking about which I do. DH and all others takers loved it. It was good. I found it a tad less deep in chocolate flavor than I would have wanted it...but that could well be my doing. When you mess around with a recipe, you cannot blame the recipe for not turning out as you might wish. On the other hand, it could also be the chocolate. Mexican chocolate, as interesting as it may be, is not 70% dark bittersweet Belcolade either nor is it trying to be.

Looks lovely but fair to boggles the mind. Are these sweet cookie layers with a savory filling? Obviously it works if you like it, but I am at a loss...

Would that we actually could. I wrote to Rob a number of times when he was on eGullet and still miss his contributions. I do follow his blog. I know that you taught classes down there in Silver City. It must have been a great time for all. Last time we were in Silver City was in the 80's. However, many years have passed since our roaming days! On the way home from Moab, we have only two destinations in NM: Gallup & Albuquerque, and then it's the I-40 east. If we took more 'time', then it would be spent in Moab. Blinkered, I know, but Moab is my 'home away from home' and I don't ever get enough of the red rocks, blue skies and low humidity. Still, talk about a place with dreadful restaurants...Moab is it. There are a very few 'upscale' restaurants which are out of our snack bracket. We were once treated to one of them, Mi Vida, and found the food good, but not at all warranting the steep prices.

Wow! And Wow! Who knew? We will be going through Cuba on our way to Albuquerque near the end of November. This piece of information is invaluable! Thank you so much. Do tell what you eat next.

" Canada will not allow a U.S. citizen into the country who does not have the proper documentation to return home." Americans need a passport to GET BACK INTO THE USA!!!

I can't believe how stupid I have been about it all. And I thank you and all the others for pointing me in the right direction. I'll get some canned chicken from Costco, and some canned salmon and one of my favorites, which is yummy and wicked, corned beef. This, with tortillas from the cooler, will more than do it. Some of the other suggestions are excellent, but this should do it. I finally realized last night, late at night...when things can suddenly come and smack you up the side of the head...why we get into trouble once in a five day journey, year after year. It's our own stupidity. We compulsively hit the road as soon as we can after breakfast (toast, or granola, or shakes in the motel room), thinking we'll pick up lunch on the road. But in states like Kansas and eastern Colorado, there are few if any on the road grocery stores. OK. How can two intelligent people be so stupid? Well, a few cans will mean never again.

Thanks for the suggestions. I could certainly get off my duff and do that very thing. Just wondered what, if any, others had tried. Some clever obscure notion which I would never think of... BTW, I eat cold canned chili only under extreme duress.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess I didn't explain myself too well. We travel quite well and have been doing so for decades now. What I am looking for is only some new ideas of foods which need no refrigeration and no cooking which can be kept in the van for the few emergencies situations which can arise out of seemingly nowhere. Something which I don't know about or haven't thought about which comes in a box, a can, or a package and can be eaten almost right out of the container...like salmon (which I can't believe that I never thought of before), or tuna (which I hate and won't eat) or sardines (ditto, but Ed will eat)...or whatever. What food exists in a box, can or package which we can have in reserve for those few stupid emergency situations which we somehow get in from time to time? The canned chicken from Costco is a great suggestion. We've never tried it. Anything else we are missing in that we don't usually buy canned, boxed or packaged? Thanks.

Claudia Roden, A Book of Middle Eastern Food is the best although it is not vegetarian. I use Mabeeb Salloum, Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa for a lot of recipes. The book does not call for traditional ingredients...it was written for a North American audience...the but food is good. How 'authentic' do you want to be?

You broke the rules and now you must pay the penalty! It's not that we CAN'T, it's that we choose not to. We have traveled for years with an assortment of this and that and mostly it has been an unused pain. We actually have a cigarette-lighter food cooker. Phooey. Never could get around to using it, what with in the dark, looking for a place to get off the highway to fee the dogs, motels to find (which will take 2 huge dogs), the map to read, the front of the van stuffed with a variety of things, etc, etc. Hmmm...it's very much the front of the van. So, I am talking OPENING A CAN, RIPPING OPEN A PACKAGE, OPENING A BOX only..five days there and five days back. Don't care about haute cuisine, but I don't really want peanut butter sandwiches either. However, it fits the requirement of no cooking and no refrigeration. We'll try the Costco chicken immediately!! Thanks.

We are soon to go on the road again and no matter how cleverly I plan, we always run into eating problems. I will forbear on those stories. I need a few ideas. I am talking only cans, packages or boxes which can be brought with us or bought at the first American grocery store. (We can't bring meats of any kind into the USA.) Adding cold water is acceptable for this exercise. No need for heat or refrigeration please. There is canned chili (if we are desperate), canned salmon. I hate tuna and sardines. DH will eat both. I've never tasted canned chicken. I guess I should. No power bars please. I bring them homemade. Granola things are fine for snacking...I am talking 'mealish'. Wraps we have. What else? Thanks.

Hooray for the Chocolate Doctor!!!! Nothing stops this woman!!! Do you get the keep the new toy???

Such a lot of excellent advice. I now have two recipes for the chocolate ice cream and will compare them before starting out. No doubt I'll go for a cornstarch base anyway. As for the cake...now that intrigues me. Have company coming tomorrow...what else is new?...and just might make it this afternoon. Except perhaps for the fact that the frozen north is hot and humid today where we live. Thanks, all.

Lots of good advice. The sort of thing I really gobble up on eGullet. Thanks so much. It's a short on-line workshop.

I would be very interested in a recipe for broccoli giardiniera.

Sounds good to me.

Nope, I think they simply were not around. Well not in Quebec or Ontario, anyway.

One of the surprises about the salad I listed is that the broccoli is not steamed at all...thus saving the harried cook one step...particularly if she is harried at the time...but it's still perfect. I didn't expect to be carried away by it.

By accident I found this wonderful Marinated Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad on line. ...but then we are salad eaters every second night...

Thanks for the answers. I revisited your posts on the ice cream and mole. I don't have the book, but can get it by ILL when I hit Moab. I went to the library catalog and they carry a fair number of Mexican and southwest cookbooks. Kennedy's Mexican Cooking is in our local library and I own Bayless' Mexican Kitchen. This is deepest Canada where I live. I see that Bayless has a recipe for 'Modern Mexican Chocolate Flan', p. 390-91. Calls for Mexican chocolate. I assume that the type I have is what he is talking about? And a later recipe, 'Crunchy Amaranth Tart' calls for piloncillo in the crust. Got it. Could fill the tarts with the Aztec Hot Chocolate Ice cream. Still have some in the freezer from last weekend. It's not everyone who appreciated this ice cream...although those who liked it really loved it. I'll try these out. I'll find what I need no doubt...just wanted some eG feedback and encouragement. Thanks.