Darienne

Many thanks. I did drain the meat, and put the sauce into the freezer to let the fat coagulate, removed it, put the meat back into the now beefed-up sauce and all was well. Just ate it with yesterday's failed sticky buns which became rolls (before any sticky was applied. But that is another story.) Next time, cole slaw for sure. Maybe even tomorrow when a guest plus 4-month old Bouvier is arriving for the weekend. For the human, not the dogs. Thanks again.

Thank you. If I might ask another question. The pork butt had a thick layer of fat which was topped by the skin on one side. I left it on the pork because I didn't know what to do and I was at the time overwhelmed by other issues...yadda, yadda. Should I have left it on to cook? Or taken it off? My friend who was here said what are you going to do? (Never cook something new with a friend visiting) and I said...I have no idea. I'll leave it on. And then things got even more complicated which is more than you wanted to know...

Thanks Dale for the information. Haven't seen a copy of Cook's Illustrated in either of our libraries but will check at Chapters. Can't afford most US magazines in Canada. The penalties are often horrendous. And. Doodad, sir, just what is the difference between carnitas and pulled pork. You are instructing someone who has eaten neither. Thanks.

Another learning experience. Actually several yesterday and I feel a tad drained... Started Pulled Pork late yesterday afternoon with the Mustard Sauce in a newer crockpot set on low. The recipe called for 18 hours. Lunch today. Round about 2:30 am, I checked the pork and thought...'oh no, it's on its way to evaporating to dry and hence to burnt.' Dumped in about 12 oz of water...was not up to thinking at that hour. End result. The butt is more than cooked this morning at 8 am and the sauce is boring in the extreme with the addition of the water. I'll rectify the sauce later. This might tie into a discussion elsewhere on eG that the "LOW"setting on the older crockpots is set lower than it is in the newer crockpots. The recipe was posted in 2005...could have been an old recipe by then...could have been designed for the formerly lower "LOW". I have both new and old crockpots and I have been meaning to do a temperature test...which I somehow never got around to doing. Now I will. Glanced at a recipe for Pulled Pork Enchiladas in a 2010 Mexican Cooking magazine this morning which a friend lent me yesterday...same crockpot idea...no, wait...only 10 hours set on low. Interesting. Well, to me.

Could be why I was just given them by the store owner...new in Canada. from Emmalish, a fellow Canuck: "Huh. I've never seen them, but I followed the link to the Callebaut site and they have a big "NEW" tag on them." (I don't know how to multiquote) Now I feel somewhat better... And thanks Lior for the lollipop suggestion. And, of course, I love the ice cream suggestion.

Good one! I like that. Thanks.

Gosh, Kim, just found the reference to my pulled pork event on your post now, about half an hour after finally making up my mind to do the butt in a slow cooker for 18 hours with a eGullet sauce from Mark "South Caroline Mustard Barbecue Sauce". Next time...your recipe. Thanks.

Oops. I thought they were new.

I am not tall and my DH lowered the counters on the non-sink side of our galley kitchen so that I would have a more comfortable surface on which to work. (He also lowered the stove...what a guy ...he likes symmetry and lower is better for me.) And now he is building me a table on casters under the window with a marble slab dropped in and it will be even lower. Three heights to work on. Perfect.

Yesterday the owner of our local bulk food store, who also supplies Belcolade and Callebaut chocolate couverture, gave me two little baggies of Callebaut's new product Chocolate pearls. Little white and dark chocolate balls, with a tiny crunchy wheat center, not a big crunch, just a little crunch. They are tasty little things,to either eat or use as decoration he said. Has anyone else tried them?

Do you ever use coconut milk? I love it and use it all the time. For ice creams too.

A few years ago an allergic-type friend asked me to make her a chocolate dessert called Torta Divina (also in honor of her last name which is Devine). It called for an entire pound of chocolate. I guess she and the others liked it. As I recall it was a certain amount of work...however the main thing is that it called for one whole pound of Belgian dark chocolate. Served it again for a small dinner party at home a few weeks later and the invited husband remarked how good it tasted...just like a Tim Horton's brownie. Never again!! For me chocolate works best when paired with orange or raspberry or something other than more chocolate.

To do the realistic one with contrasting colors/artwork would not be sensible at all. The photo doesn't show the entire effect of the mold...hey! I need a macro lens... Ed said the realistic one looked sort of creepy almost. That was not his word...but it will do. I think the 'cartoony' ones need some refinement in the decor still, but they really do say 'Boston Terrier' to me. It'll be up to our BT friends, of course.

Confectionery partner, Barbara, and I have been given a commission by a friend who rescues Boston Terriers...make lollipops for the rescue society to sell at their next function. Glad to make a contribution. First Barbara made some test dog head forms using aluminum strips that we had cut last year and decorated them with Royal icing. I think they might be decorated a little less heavily and maybe some muzzle lines put in. And then I made a test lollipop tonight using a silicone mold made by our friend's husband who works with Powertex. It's more realistic. He made only the one mold but can make many using the same original. I found that the candy took a LONG time to harden and cool in the silicone form. I also used white coloring for the first time. Not sure if there's a point to white although the dogs are white and black. Can't really decorate this realistic head very easily. So it's up to the rescue folks to decide which one to use...or to go for something else. Might try to make some more dogs' head in the less realistic format for the annual dog weekend in August. ps. a) I really need a camera with a macro lens and b) I like the more cartoony head better.

Boozy Baked French Toast by Smitten Kitchen french toast Leave out the booze part depending upon your state laws. Of course, the cooking burns off the alcoholic content. ...7 tries to get it right later...

Thanks for the replies.

Have just started back making bread after a hiatus of about 15 years. In a bread machine so far. However, we have eaten so little bread in the intervening years that the loaf has always been plastic wrapped and put into the fridge or freezer until the next use. What is the best way to keep bread? Fridge? In plastic? In paper? In an airtight container? And why is artisan bread sold in a paper bag for that matter? Thanks.

The Fruited Challah is gone and so is the next loaf, a Sweet Potato bread with cranberries and pecans. And now I have a loaf of Pan Negro (chocolate) with a Rum-Chocolate sauce to spread on it. Great fun! What I learned is that bread machines have come a long way since I last made bread regularly. I did not post a photo of the Challah with fruit in it because the crust looked so dark, it looked burnt...but wasn't. I now know that it should have been done in one of the newer machines which has crust settings (light and dark) and more basic settings (sweet, quick, etc). OK. I think it's way past time to make bread by hand, or at least in a stand mixer and then into the oven. Yep. That's what I think.

Not exciting but it's what we often eat...compilations of this and that, lessmeatarian (Mark Bittenism), mostly what we have. Seldom is a meal built around meat. And the big meal is at noon, with supper time alternating mostly between huge salad (every second night) and such delights as soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and popcorn and orange juleps. This starts with a spiced Chickpea and tofu casserole with multiple additions of spinach, chorizo and mushrooms, etc, then three kinds of cheese with an Impossible Pie topping of 3 egg/ 1 1/2 cup milk/1 cup flour kind of biscuit. No name. One meal from just cooked and the rest divided and frozen for later times. Next, though, I would like to cook pulled pork. Recipe anyone please?

Could never send a photo of the inside my fridges. The garage fridge looks dreadful. It was painted a few years ago and badly needs repainting. Kitchen fridge. Sears Kenmore. 5'5". Hotpoint. 5'.

We have always bought roadside pastries in the Southwest and Mexico. The best ever churros were made in an old cement mixer on the path to the Bufadora in Baja Mexico filled with boiling oil tended by an old man who had seen cleaner days. Probably the mixer and oil had also. Although I must admit to getting food poisoning once from some chicherones. In the bottom of the bag I subsequently discovered dead flies.

Hi Robyn, Which of DL's coffee ice creams did you make? The 'Coffee Ice Cream' on p.34? I have not tried this one yet. How could you not win with the almond brittle inclusion?

Just found this topic. Aarrgghhhh! We have two full size fridges. TWO! One in the kitchen and one in the attached garage. (I also have my kitchen 'stuff' in the garage, the breezeway, the kitchen and my studio. Oh, and the cellar.)(And the stairs down to the cellar. But that's a different whine. ) We also have two roughly 100 pound dogs who eat (house and garage) raw meat and crushed veggies and refrigerated supplements and from late April until the end of September stored several filled hummingbird feeders and/or containers of made hummingbird food. (No, you would not believe the number of hummers we get in a essentially gardenless farm homestead.) And like many of you out there in eG land, we also cook from many different cultures so we have opened bottles of(house) cheeses, meats, dairy items, fresh vegetables and fruits, 2 or 3 dozen eggs, Asian, Middle Eastern and African condiments, and (garage)Indian condiments, Caribbean (garage) ingredients, North American condiments, soda water, beer, and no doubt on and on. Not to mention storage of the leftovers. What can I do? This morning was a tiny crisis. We have begun to eat more varied cheeses and now the cheese container had to be changed for a bigger one. Which necessitated moving a lot of other things around. Minor, but telling. I need an efficiency expert to help me. Help! I can't cope. I have stuff gathered together in containers, but I still can't get a handle on it. Plus, the DH, the light of my life, the rocks beneath my feet (and the pebbles in my shoes ) has no order to his life. If there's room, he'll put it anywhere...assuming he puts it back at all. OK. There probably is no answer. While not an engineer, I am the daughter of one and as such an obsessive/compulsive order maker. All suggestions gratefully received.

Perhaps some kind knowledgeable person might reply to my question about making the pumpkin bread with sweet potatoes of which I have an overabundance. Perhaps just cutting down on the sugar slightly might be an idea???? Or maybe finding a sweet potato quick bread is another...

Thanks for the interesting post, JFLinLA. I looked up the recipe online and have saved it to look at it further. However, given the fact that I live and work at home, I cannot see myself following your procedures for making the bread. They obviously work well for you and that's all that's needed. Thanks again.