Darienne

We devour a lot of Hot and Sour soup, with lots of cellophane noodles in it. My basic recipe comes from my favorite dear old cookbook, Regional Cooking of China by Margaret Gin and Alfred E. Castle, but of course I depart from the recipe according to what's on hand and what we feel like .

I did enjoy reading your reply. It is how I like to feel about the cooking that I do, especially when Ed and I make Chinese food together.

That was a minus? I like sherbet! Sounds like it was a big success all-around. Where are the pics? ← The DH does not like sherbet. And I always forget to take photos until the stuff is half-eaten.

If you google MSG, you will find a number of sources of information, including articles like 'The Hidden Names of MSG'. Should be an early morning downer.

Just curiosity on my part. Where would you purchase shells already sprayed with chocolate? The only catalog I have is from Qzina and they don't carry them and my googling did not turn up any empty shells to purchase. Do premade shells taste as good as the ones the pastry chef might make? Are they actually cheaper because of work hours saved? Thanks.

I'll know I'm an eGulleter when...? I still don't take photos of the stuff I make...most of it looks like an experiment gone slightly haywire. I still love the photos taken by others. Such beautiful cakes and all. However, I have now belonged to egGullet for over one year, have sent over 900 posts, and started a lot of new topics, and while that may not make me an bona fide eGulleter, it is a good start. This forum is the most amazing thing I have ever encountered in my life and I thank all of you who have helped me and been so patient with my endless questions over the last year.

I don't know much about chain food eateries and their ingredients, but when we are on the road to and from Utah to Ontario, we sometimes break down and grab something. You know how it is... you forget to get stuff ahead of time, it's way past eating time, you are tired and sore, etc, etc. Quickly...get something to eat before you disintegrate into little pieces... As far as I can see, you are most likely to get 'real' food in Subway Subway. We stopped for wraps at one somewhere and discovered that we could order salads also...for that night's supper...and that the salads actually would contain more than lettuce and tomatoes, stuff like onions and peppers. That was a pleasant discovery. Of sorts. The quality of said onions and peppers I know nothing about. Don't want to think about it.

DH and I make a lot of Chinese food...he is my sous chef and I love it ...and we are definitely bowl preppers. Of course we are making at least three dishes at a time. I must admit I have occasionally lost a bowl in the end.... Confectionery partner Barb and I are also bowl preppers. I have amassed this staggering number of small stainless bowls over the last 50 years although I can't remember ever buying any of them. They must have followed me home.

If you are going to count the yeas and the nays...throw it out. Period.

I can't say that I 'cook' with salami, however I do know a dish which incorporates either salami or hot spicy sausages, etc, and is not overwhelmed by them. A good family lunch type of dish. It's a real oldie: Impossible pie. I think originally it called for cream of mushroom soup and hamburger, my idea of heck on earth. So. First a layered effect of the salami cut pretty fine with whatever vegetables you choose: mushrooms, spinach, green and red peppers, etc. Next three kinds of cheeses. Anything pretty much. I made a chicken impossible pie for the dog gang using cheddar, jack and parmesan. Top layer is the biscuit dough made with 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of milk. 400 degrees for 30 minutes. It's really flexible. Another thing I would make is Picadillo. I have my own variation of it, called Picadillo a la Cabana (we live in Cavan) which includes lots of fruit and nuts and olives and chocolate and tomatoes and so on. To top a bed of pinto beans. Hope you have fun whatever you do.

Congratulations on such a good and generous job well done. As long as you are dithering, my vote is for NO peanut cookies, period. End of all potential problems.

A chum on low-carbing introduced us to using shredded cabbage for spaghetti and cabbage leaves in lasagna. Not bad at all .

I was standing in the kitchen just now, staring at a container of grape tomatoes purchased for a tabouli salad which never got made over the mad, mad weekend. Suddenly out of the blue came the memory of a salad which I used to love and had forgotten all about: Chick pea and tomato salad. Now it's for supper tonight. It used to be a favorite for a group gathering. Canned chickpeas, halved grape tomatoes, green onions, sliced black olives, with a lemon & olive oil dressing, lots of mint and parsley and then some chili powder liberally sprinkled over everything. Yum.

Had to Wiki Bramley just to find out what they are. They sound a bit like our Northern Spies, not a very common apple anymore, but great for pies. The Wiki article suggests cider. That would certainly use up a lot of them. (I'm in east central Ontario...we're not too exciting either .)

Thanks for the help. Potato ice cream...fair to boggles the mind. Do you have some kind of reading list for the history of various foods? I have read the history of chocolate by the Coes, and some histories of coffee and sugar...as much as I could bear...their histories are so grim, but do you have some titles of interest?

Carrot cake ice cream? Sounds interesting. Thanks for the link.

I decided that if folks also admitted to having messy plastic-bag filled cupboards, then I could have the courage to post a photo of my little spice cabinet which Ed built for me between two studs on a little side kitchen wall. I have other spices and stuff in my larger cabinets.

Quoting from Andie's website given: Andie. I am not sure I am up to such a pepper. I have always been a pepper love, albeit a very unsophisticated one. I found that making and eating DL's Orange-Szechwan Pepper ice cream to be pretty significant in my pepper life. I didn't really know anything about the range of peppers available. Talamanca sounds incredible. Thanks for telling me about it.

You must share this recipe. I love Sichuan peppercorns. ← Hi chappie, The recipe is in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop. so of course I cannot put it online. If you don't have the book, you could always get it from your local library or even order it on Inter-Library Loan.

Please do report on the recipes as you make them.

I've had trouble with eggs as a separate item to eat since an unfortunate childhood incident. But then I made my own scrambled eggs and loved them. And my own Egg Foo Yong and really loved it. And I can eat my DH's easy over fried eggs...most of the time. Perhaps it's time to try a fried egg sandwich. I'll still never even try a soft or hard boiled egg.

I am dipping into two food history books right now. One is A Medieval Home Companion: Housekeeping in the Fourteenth Century. Interesting life if you were the mistress of the manor...not so good for the servants. One thing which has always intrigued me is the fact that a number of confections seem to have been the result of accidents. However, about savory ice creams. I have yet to try one and am working up to it. Barring 180 year-old recipes, can you recommend one?

Hi Peter, I am not particularly up on computer lingo, but on chat lists DH is generally Dear Husband. (I googled it just for fun and did come up with some interesting and politically incorrect terms )

My current favorite is Viennese Crescents. Very short. I make them with ground pecans instead of ground almonds. Easy to make, yummy to snitch cookie dough. People LOVE them! My recipe comes from an old Fanny Farmer cookbook but I expect you could find the recipe anywhere pretty much.

Shalmanese's excellent topic on what we are the most and least excessive about, I kept thinking about obsessive...what am I the most and least obsessive about and decided that this topic might go in 'consumer' better. I share the cooking with my DH, but I am still obsessive about MY Paderno pots and pans. No one uses them but me and they don't go into the dishwasher either. When we had company last week and they had to help with the cooking, I simply took all MY pots and pans and hid them away. I also hate it when Ed adds something to my sauces or interferes in anything I am making unless I ask his opinion. But then I am a home cook and professionals would never do that anyway...would they? I am very casual about cooking neatly and make the most gawdawful mess as I go. I am very neat about the rest of my life, but can't seem to cook without mucking up everything. My DH is appalled by my cooking habits.