Darienne

The thermometers are not in the CTC flyer, but rather an in-store special for an indefinite time, not in housewares but in tools (Peterborough anyway), about $60 instead of $100. Thanks, Kerry

I am blown away by your energy, your dedication, your enthusiasm...and your finding a IR thermometer on sale at CTC in Sudbury. I'm getting out the flyer and taking another look. Right now!

Anytime I've made halvah this way I ended up with it softer than I wanted. I wasn't sure if a higher temperature would have helped. I think you are essentially making a fudge with the ingredients - which is essentially a fondant. I think beating longer might be the solution until it starts to thicken. But if your syrup was starting to colour - to me that means it was reaching 150C - so I wonder if your thermometer is off a bit? Kerry is no doubt correct about your thermometer. I did a careful check of all my thermometers...tossed a couple...a plague on all their houses...and found one that was bang on! So my syrup was removed at exactly 121C. (I am going to look at the Canadian Tire thermometers tomorrow. Might just bite the bullet and buy one not on sale. Actually, I read the CTC flyer faithfully and carefully every week and have never notice a IR thermometer for sale. I must have missed it.) A good idea to put the nuts and vanilla in first. Actually, I was so discombobulated at the syrup solidifying on the side of my honking big bowl, that I forgot the vanilla. I'll try it again after tomorrow, with a larger amount, with the bowl set up ahead of time, with the beaters lifted up so that I can more easily pour the syrup in, etc. And then I'll get back.

Welcome back. We have missed seeing your contributions, especially on the Halvah thread. Well, it was not a great success in that it did not harden properly and it also wasn't sweet enough. Not the fault of the recipe, but rather mine. I didn't have enough tahini to make the complete recipe which meant that my sugar and water portions were not really large enough for the stand mixer which is a 7-quart. I should have just done it with my hand mixer. I spilled some of the syrup down the inside of the huge bowl and it solidified immediately which meant it never went into the mixture. Monday, I'll buy the ingredients again and this time I'll get it right. DH and I agreed that it did have a good taste and was rather like the halvah from Israel. Thanks again for the recipe. I'll get back when I get it correct.!!!

Thanks Ilana, I'll try it this afternoon. But without pistachios. Have none. I could use pecans. I couldn't watch the video very well. My computer speed seems just too slow for the download. I did catch the word 'halva', but that was about it for my Hebrew. Thanks so much for this recipe. I'll report back. Returned to the site and this time the video downloaded quite nicely. What was she drinking from the little electric appliance? OK. Now we try it. Thanks again.

Thank you for the answer, kind sir, especially because you couched it in non-scientific terms. I shall be careful to check the ratio when I purchase a thermometer.

Tuscan Wine Grape Pie Recipe - Schiacciata con l'Uva. You can Google it. I made it once. Interesting. I don't think I'll make it again. Probably needs particularly tasty grapes.

However, the 4:1 distance:spot ratio (wide angle view) would seem to make it a poor choice for targets that are boiling and spitty ... you (and your instrument) don't want to have to be close to such things!

Strange, we have the refinished and rebuilt white pine plank floors in our house, up and down, with area rugs, and two large dogs (if not more). Dogs don't do slippery very well. And we have never ever had a slip problem. Our floors are semi-gloss urethane. Ed is redoing our upstairs bathroom and it will be wood also. I loathe any kind of vinyl flooring...dog hair magnet...and if we ever refinish the downstairs bathroom which Ed built 15 years ago, it will be wood also. (This house was built with NO indoor bathrooms) Just reporting.

We live in a century farmhouse, so the kitchen floor is in keeping with the rest of the house: white pine planking. No2 grade, dyed to a dark honey color and now with 5 coats of urethane. Yep, it scratches and dents and all the rest, but I love it. In fact, when my DH laid it 15 years ago, our male Rottie, Nigel, walked in the drying urethane and now his paw-prints are forever immortalized in one corner. We do have an absorbent rug in the most vulnerable spots for wear and tear. After having a variety of floors in my kitchens over the last 50 years, I would never want anything except wood ever again. Next, Ed is going to make me some pine counter-tops. I had them in Moab and fell in love with them. All the more charming to create your own distressed look.

If I may: [from Wikipedia] Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984. He also appointed the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. Reagan recognized the popularity of ice cream in the United States (90% of the nation's population consumes ice cream) and stated that these two events should be observed with "appropriate ceremonies and activities." Let's get busy and celebrate! I know I am doing my part!

Just made DL's delicious Classic Hot Fudge sauce again...which reminded me...that last week I found the first batch I made hiding at the back of the fridge, weeks and weeks after it was made, and it was still excellent upon reheating.

Thanks for your help. I actually came up with another solution to the problem and will get back...if it works.

The combination was a happy accident. I had no idea of whether they would mesh or not. I did like the idea of the spinach, but had none. Living in the 'middle of nowhere' is not conducive to last minute purchases...

I am not sure what you are asking, Darienne. I grew up with the main meal being served at lunch time and I still think that is the healthier option but it does require an approach to the day that is different than when the main meal is in the evening. Hi Anna, I guess that I'm not sure what I'm asking either. You are correct...serving the big meal at noon does require a different approach to the day and I just can't seem to do it with any ease. It seems that I will have to step back and take a close look at why I am balking at making this change properly. I do have some ideas on the subject but don't want to hijack your thread. Thanks.

Grade Seven, Home Ec with Mrs. Hutchinson (we called her 'old lady Hutchiballs' behind her back, although I don't think any of us knew what the 'rude' part of the name meant yet. It WAS a long time ago.) White sauce. First thing we learned and heaven help us if we didn't get it correct. Thin, medium and thick. Wonderful article, MaggietheCat. Really enjoyed it. Thank you.

John, I think that's the one I found for Anna - she is very happy with it. Thanks John and Kerry. Kerry, did you find the one for Anna in Ontario?

You may just be correct about being the only one!!

Lunch today was a delicious combo of Linda K's Chana Punjabi with Cathy Eats' Curried Quinoa with Cauliflower, accompanied by toasted sliced almonds and an interesting melange of the end of the yoghurt, sour cream and coconut milk, all mixed together. DH was in heaven.

The last post to this thread was January 2008 and no doubt much has happened in the IR thermometer world since then. And many more eGulleters will have IR toys now. I'd like to buy one, either online or in the Ann Arbor, MI, area in August. Any new thoughts? Kerry, are you still using your Cooper IR which you mentioned in this thread in Jan of 08? Has its accuracy changed? We used an IR thermometer at your chocolate lab last month, but I didn't note its brand...wasn't considering buying one then. Thanks all. ps. Went to Amazon.com and found a huge number of these things with a huge price range. Are the inexpensive ones, some at $40 or so, just what you would expect for paying such a low price????

OK. So buckled down on the badly-designed lollipop issue after psantucc went to so much trouble as to answer my questions. Seemed the least I could do. A lollipop stick is (give or take a scientific smidgen, using a mm ruler, finely cut to the proper edge) 3.75mm. Measured about 8 of my regular inexpensive lollipop molds and the trough was from 5 to 9 mm. Measured my special flat molds which are aluminum strips from a company in Utah which are clipped around the stick. They measure 13mm and I can put the stick wherever in that allotment that I want to. So the moment of truth comes. The moose lollipop trough is only 3.5mm which as you can see is unsuitable, particularly since the moose is a whopping big sucker. I now have three options: throw the darn things out, close off the stick trough and make them as separate candies...or reconfigure them at some trouble. So, I am now set to cut out the trough and hang it below its current position, in a sort of a duck tape sling...unless my brilliant DH, Ed, comes up with a better (and much more complicated) idea. Thanks again, psantucc

I have successfully baked a bundt cake in 2 pans of 8 mini-loaves each, 20 mins instead of 40 to 50 mins. Not much help if you don't own them, but just more information to the mix.

Thanks for your helpful answer, psantucc. As for the stick. It's not a good photo, but trust me, the trough in which the stick lies is so shallow that it barely sits in the candy at all. I don't see any good solution to this one. You could cut the mold up but that would leave you with other problems. And is it worth the trouble? Sorry I can't do close-up photos with my camera. Your other suggestions are ones which I will try to incorporate into my next foray. Another person helping...namely, my confectionery partner...will make a big difference. Four hands. But nothing will help that stick problem. The mold is badly designed from the get go. Thanks so much for the help.

It was delicious. Absolutely delicious. I added a red bell pepper to the mix because I have an excess of them right now, and it fit in very nicely.

"treating lunch as an afterthought project" I thought about Anna's remark and wished devoutly in some ways that I could treat lunch in that fashion. DH and I eat 'dinner' at lunch and it often drives me crazy. Morning is when I have to dash around physically and in my mind also to get the day sorted out. But then there is the lunch to be considered. Maybe I'll start a thread called 'Lunch as Dinner' and ask for help.