[Freezing cookie dough]

While looking for answers, I came upon the following: According to Natalie Haughton Food Editor of COOKIE CONFIDENTIAL. December 2006

You can make and freeze formed unbaked individual cookies months in advance if they are well-wrapped in plastic wrap. But be aware that some doughs -- such as meringue and biscotti cannot be frozen.

Too bad.

[Freezing cookie dough]

I was just thinking about nuts in ice cream. Some of them seem to get softer in the frozen mixture. Would freezing the nuts in unbaked cookie and biscotti dough have the same effect? Or would the nut crisp up again when baked? Sorry I didn't think of this earlier.

[Freezing cookie dough]

Biscotti keep so well - if no one eats them - that I wouldn't bother freezing them.

Thanks, but what I meant is freezing the unbaked biscotti dough...

And what I need most to know is how the freezing would affect the nut, if at all.

[Freezing cookie dough]

It appears that unbaked cookie dough freezes well and for quite a long time.

No one spoke specifically about doughs with nuts in them, so I am wondering if you can freeze both cookie and biscotti batters with nuts in them. Thanks

[Shelf life of homemade confections]

Rum balls, in a tightly-sealed tin, keep practically forever.

Thanks Jaymes. I've never made a rum ball. Truth be told, I'm not even sure what a rum ball is, but I'll look up a recipe right away.

[Repurposing Food & Kitchen Stuff You Usually Throw Away]

In the bad old days, before I took up my late life of cooking, I used to order muffins each August for our Dog Weekend. They came in these plastic flats which originally held cheap margarine by the 2-pounds. Oh, these are WONDERFUL storage containers, coveted by all. And shared with only a hand-picked few.

Oops, I did not use the margarine.

[Shelf life of homemade confections]

Caramels, brittles and toffee may become rancid after 3-4 weeks, depends on the butter content.

Thanks Lisa. I think I'll make a chart of often made confections.

[Modified Cornstarch]

Thanks, Beanie.

Now I know more than I did in the beginning, but I don't see myself using this product in the near future. But you never know...

[Shelf life of homemade confections]

Thanks, gap. That's a good start for me.

[Shelf life of homemade confections]

I know, I know, it's very early to mention the word "Christmas" or whatever holiday one celebrates at the end of December. I am partial to the Solstice myself, and we always have a Solstice celebration, and so far it has worked.

Still, confectionery partner, Barbara, and I have to make goodies for a Christmas festival which is held in mid-November. Presumably folks are not buying for gifts, but rather for immediate consumption, but with a Christmas theme.

So, I know from previous posts that hard tack lollies are good for a month and that chocolate covered (but not immersed) turtles are two weeks. I tried to find the earlier posts, but gave up after a while. Immersed in chocolate turtles are good for, if I recall, a bit longer than just coated.

I need a bit of a chart. Answers to any or all of the following will be gratefully received. And I am sure others might well add other confections. I have hardly scratched the surface.

How long ahead of time for presentation/selling/donation/etc can the following be made:

* marshmallows, undipped

* marshmallows, dipped in chocolate

* candied ginger, dipped in chocolate

* peanut/nut brittle

* chocolate-coated toffee

* chocolate-coated pretzels

* candied nuts

* candied nuts, dipped in chocolate

* nougat, undipped

* nougat, dipped in chocolate

* caramels dipped in chocolate

Thanks.

[I will never again . . . (Part 3)]

A new and stupid mistake. Using the Kevlar oven mitts when the fingers were wet. Guess what? They don't work when they are wet.

I was taking out of the oven something wet and sloppy...mind, and so I held on and wailed and got it up onto the stove top before rushing over to the cold water tap.

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

[Cookbooks That Use Weight-Based Measurements]

I couldn't decide whether to post this here or in the Ad Hoc at Home topic. In the opening pages of , Keller lists what he considers to be four essential counter top appliances:

• vita-mix
  
• stand mixer
  
• scale
  
• food processor
  

I need a bigger counter space to take all that plus work on it. Both my food processor and stand mixer are in a large armoire type thingy in our breezeway. The scale is inside a kitchen cupboard and the vita-mix, which DH picked up at our local transfer station (aka dump) is in the garage awaiting our attention...

[Repurposing Food & Kitchen Stuff You Usually Throw Away]

We save the plastic caps that come on dairy products...but only the ones which fit nicely onto our hummingbird feeders. And we have well over a dozen. Oh, the caps are for cleaning and storage purposes. Ed has take on the job of chief hummingbird caretaker and he takes it very seriously. We use more sugar in the spring, summer and fall than seems seemly.

We have more hummingbirds each year that you could ever imagine in this northern clime and considering that our flower garden is laughable and almost-non-existent after 15 years of benign neglect, I can't figure out why we have been 'picked' for home base. Sitting outside almost anywhere in the 'back yard'is an amazing experience, and can be unnerving for those who are not at home with being constantly whizzed past by many little feathery bodies. I think the ultimate experience is catching and taking one of the little guys out of the sun room in your hands. They go limp when you touch them and you can feel NOTHING in your cupped hands.

And all this from a few dairy container caps.

[Clear Untoasted Sesame Oil]

Ah, it's all making sense now. How do you find the flavour? I find it adds a real nuttiness to whatever your adding it to, very tasty.

Love sesame seeds, sesame candies, sesame oil, both toasted and now untoasted, tahini, hummus, halvah...

One year, at Chinese New Year's, my friend who gives a big feast each yea, was given the usual boxes of New Year's candies, and in one, only one, was a compartment of chewy candies, with NO seeds, but the distinct smoky toasted sesame flavor. No one else liked them, so of course I ate them all. Tried everywhere to find out what the candies were and how to make them, with no luck. Tried on eGullet too under Chinese candy. Maybe I'll post my question again...might be some new members there who would know. (Maybe not. My question was the 3rd last post.)

[Clear Untoasted Sesame Oil]

Interestingly, the Spectrum website has a recipe search function. They've got recipes for all their edible products on their website. Not a lot, but certainly enough to get you started if you're wondering what to do with it.

I never noticed that there were recipes...will return to the website. Thanks.

[Clear Untoasted Sesame Oil]

This sesame oil IS unrefined.

Apologies, must have missed that. Any chance you can post a picture? I'm confused that an unrefined sesame oil should be so clear.

Hmmmm my mistake also. When I actually poured some out for the photograph, I realized that it was more amber than I had thought at first tiny pouring.

[What's your worst kitchen habit?]

Now, my bad habit is a little strange. First, I have to say, I clean as I go along usually. I wash dishes at stopping points, and during big cooking, I keep a pan of soapy water to wash certain things that I use a lot. Like, I've cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner with one bowl. I'm very tidy and efficient, in that regard...

But my horrible habit comes in when I'm prepping vegetables or fruit. I just shove the trimmings, cores, and peels off the back or sides of the cutting board. I'll peel carrots or potatoes right on the counter. During a big cooking session, or making a salad, it looks like I'm working in the center of a compost heap. I clean it all up very well, after, but when I'm on a tear, I just shove stuff around.

Ditto to all of that. I wash up my dishes as I go so I don't have a big pile to wash at the end. But like you, I just shove all my peelings and cores off to the side of the cutting board. But it's all clean, right? So no problem. Right?

Oh, and Anna, I do the thing with the broom too. But not just in the kitchen.

As I noted far above in the posts, my kitchen always looks as if a tornado went through it when I am cooking. DH often points this out. So many of us are in the boat, or kitchen, so to speak.

However, framed on my kitchen wall is the following that my departed Mother said long ago about my kitchen habits, and keep in mind, my Mother had little or no sense of humor or whimsy...she was dead serious:

Keeping a dirty kitchen is better than living a life of thievery and killing

What more is there to say?

[Mystery No-Name Utensil]

We have one that looks just like yours but with the handle. The handle is just a plain wood dowel with an eyelet screwed to the end. We purchased ours in New York's Chinatown over thirty years ago. I suggest just making your own handle out of a piece of wood dowel and glueing it in with some epoxy. It will be much more personal.

Thanks for the suggestion, but DH wants a couple more, that's why I am chasing this one down.

[Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 1)]

got a domed clay bread baker--sassafras brand--last week at the thrift for $3--works great for the no-knead bread. Need to exeperiment on times for this --my first loaf was a little under-cooked to my taste--i like a little char in the crust.

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=186451&CCAID=FROOGLE186451

Ah! The simple uncomplicated joys of second-hand shopping!

[Homemade butter]

You can shape portions of the butter into balls and roll between the paddles to for a cross-hatch design on the surface - or you can buy butter molds from Lehmans or if you have silicone chocolate molds, you can use them if you want something fancy.

When I was a little girl, my Aunt Eileen made butter balls with a cross hatch design on them. I was enchanted by the process and loved to go to her house to watch her make the butter balls.

[Mystery No-Name Utensil]

Very sad to report that Amazon does not carry very much in its Canadian version, and no kitchen stuff. Had I but known when I was in Moab...

I will look at the Oxo chuan, but seeing as Ed does most of the lifting part of the cooking, he may prefer the stainless steel one.

Thanks all.

[Clear Untoasted Sesame Oil]

This sesame oil IS unrefined.

Strange that the directions on the clear, untoasted, unrefined, bland taste, etc sesame oil say to keep it in the fridge after opening...while the toasted, pungent, etc sesame oil says not to put it in the fridge.

[Mystery No-Name Utensil]

Thanks all. Turns out Ed has not been looking in his twice weekly visits to the second hand stores looking for some other bits and bobs. We do see the occasional used wok so we might well see the wok spatula.

Plus we are heading out for a major tour of Markham (north of Toronto) which is predominantly Chinese very soon.

Thanks again. Who knew?

[Mystery No-Name Utensil]

This stainless steel utensil with missing handle came into our lives at some point during the last 50 years...well, March 2010 will be 50 years for us...probably from a second hand outlet. It's DH's favorite. Good for taking Chinese dishes from the pan to the dish.

DH would like to find/buy another one, with handle, but so far I have been unable to find one anywhere online, in catalogs, etc.

Can someone help? (This sounds like a job for Wonder Ginger Lady, Andie )

[Clear Untoasted Sesame Oil]

I use sesame oil for most of my cooking. I am assuming by "clear" you mean untoasted. I don't think it would be suitable for deep frying, but it works fine for me in stirfrying, sauteeing, and so on.

Hi Jenni,

Clear: I should have specified both untoasted and colorless, like water, that kind of clear.

The bottle says: 'medium heat', thus not for deep frying.