Darienne

Goodness, those cupcakes are adorable.

Great post, MaxH. I learned a lot.

Nothing special at this end for a strawberry ice cream. I'll try it with my usual cornstarch base and see how it goes, also adding the corn syrup or invert sugar to counteract the iciness factor. It's all still just one huge experiment for me.

I think we could all use one of those!!!

A search of this thread reveals that no one has made DL's Buttercrunch Toffee. Said lacuna has now been filled and it awaits the vanilla type base for the ice cream. I'll make it with cornstarch...more or less DL's Fleur de Lait, but Mark Bittman's recipe which I use constantly. Making ice cream to bribe, payoff, influence, console, pacify, etc, seems to work quite well. Two hulking young men are going to help DH maneuver the new shower-stall and the bathtub units upstairs tomorrow. This is a favor, not for payment, and I think a quart of Buttercrunch Toffee ice cream will go over well. We have a young man working for us right now and he has asked for strawberry ice cream. Unless I am mistaken, DL does not have a recipe for plain strawberry ice cream but that should not be difficult to find.

That is quite the website. Thanks.

Hi Andie, And thanks so much. I have learned something from all your answers that I did not know. Remember...this is the northland. Tostadas are NOT a thing, like corn chips. They are tortillas to begin with, not just a snack food. But then you'll tell me that chicharones are not necessarily chicharones as I have known then. All I ever knew of tostadas was this cellophane wrapped package of crispy discs. Who knew? Never eaten one while in the SW. My go-to dish was always a Chile Relleno because you can't get them here, not even in a restaurant. So there.

Also slightly off topic...have you made Champurrado?

Darienne, you may not want to know. I picked up a bag (same brand and size) for $2.38 at my local HEB grocery store today. What can I say? You have made an old woman happy today. And you can't come to my next birthday party, either.

A woman (or man) cannot have too many silicone sheets. I keep mine in three cardboard oatmeal cylinders. New ones, old ones, old and scorched ones. My DH assembled all the silicone (and not silicone) spatulas that we have and asked if we really needed that many? I have this fairly ugly, old, yellow, multi-storied carousel that I found in a second hand store. They were using it to hold their for sale wares, but I am ashamed to admit that I bullied...nice bullying tho...the gentleman into selling it to me. The owner, his wife, had stepped out. I'll bet he got heck when she returned. I love it.

Well, I gave away my tortilla press some years ago...non-use...but found my comal only a week or two ago. It was my Mother's and I thought I had disposed of it too. I'll look in the second hand stores for another press for fun.

Cost: 2 kilos at $8 = 4.4 pounds at approx $1.81 per pound. What do you pay for it? Or do I really want to know?

Well, could do that...or could use my new oil sprayer doodad instead. As noted above, I bought it on a whim...it was a sudden moment of whim buying. Happens.

We are a family of two cooks, and although we use different utensils often...Ed's are larger than mine...I can't handle his large spatula, knife, etc...we have 3 and 4 of everything pretty much. I couldn't live without a generous set of both stainless and plastic mise bowls close at hand always. And we have two peelers and three can openers (one electric, two hand types). Yes, and two hand mixers. No wonder our kitchen is so 'full' of stuff.

I am following Rachel Perlow's recipe for Eggplant Cutlets which calls for spraying the breadcrumb coated slices of eggplant baked in the oven.

Thanks you two. Yes, there are instructions on the bag and in English, French and Spanish. Looked up the home website. Lots of different things available. Still no idea of why the Canadian import says 'Instant' on it.

Making eggplants cutlets in the oven for Moussaka and Eggplant Parmigiana.

"Is what is sold as "masa" up there prepared dough (that's what we would call "masa") or dry meal? The standard brand around here for dry meal is the Maseca brand, although generics and store brands have made some inroads in the past few years. I'm not sure I've ever seen prepared dough in a store. " It's dry meal, Maseca brand. Ingredients: selected corn treated with lime. Milled in Irving TX. That's it. Hmmm...how does that get to be a mix?

Took the mister from post #1 back from whence it came. Today, on a whim, bought a Paderno brand mister half-price and thought what can I lose? I'll keep the receipt and take it back if it doesn't work. OK. Fill half full. Pump several times to get it started. Well, several times was exactly 31 times. Picked it up again after three hours and it is still pumping. Who knows? Thanks for all the helpful posts.

More on Tostadas (now I know how to spell it). Can't recall the brand of the last package I had bought but the tostadas were quite thick and the package did not rip (identification only) Bought a package today finally, Charras, made in Mexico, very thin and crispy, thinner than any corn chip I have ever seen. The disc completely broke and fell apart as soon as I bit into it. They were packed in a cellophane package which ripped from one end to the other upon opening it. Tasted good tho... So there is much variety in what is called tostada? BTW, I would guess that Charras might well be the only brand I'll find in Peterpatch. Not too useful. Forgot to mention that DH bought me a package of what I thought was masa and now I discover that it's not plain masa, but rather instant corn masa mix. Now what? Should I take it back or use it?

I assume you mistyped and meant 'momofuku miso'. In simple words, please, what exactly is that? Too much info on google. Thanks.

Antipodean...ya gotta love that word. Thanks Sandra. Also the spinach angle. I do love spinach so it's no problem. A home favorite is Spanakopita (with Moussaka). I'll try the Paneer dishes very soon. First, of course, I have to make the Paneer. No problem from what I can see.

Reporting back on the Shortbread Cookies with Cacao nibs in them. I chopped the nibs quite finely and so far so good. The cookie dough...oh do I love raw cookie dough...is great. My question re the Vietnamese Ice Cream is for DudeI'mHungy...how much nib did you use in the recipe and how finely did you chop it? My guess is that a) I used too much and b) it wasn't finely chopped enough. ???

Lovely. Looks delicious. And I learned something new...Lambic beer. You go, Rodi.

I'll try the cacao nibs next time. Sounds good. Tried the cocoa nibs, finely chopped, in the Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream but did not like it. Too bitter and intrusive for me, DH, and company. Might try them again as Caramelized Cocoa Nibs (Recchiuti, Chocolate Obsession, p. 140. In the meantime, we'll eat the ice cream with homemade Magic Shell, which is kind of kidlike, but still good. Somewhat off topic but if I might be allowed. I recently found a recipe for Cacao Nib Shortbread on Pastry Girl's "Dessert First" blog. 1/3 cup nibs to 2 cups of flours and wonder how that can taste, given my negative (and surprised) response to the nibs in a sweet ice cream. Any thoughts?