Darienne

Oh, kitchen scales which malfunction after about two or three years. I can't count how many we have purchased. No, it's not the batteries...it's the computer mechanism in the works. Ed and I use them constantly...at least three times a day if not more. We do weigh the dogs' food. Yes, they eat raw. We've fed raw for over 23 years now since we restored the health of a dog near death on commercial food. And as for electric stoves...I wish we could get gas...why does our stove have the slow small burner at the left front and the fast small burner at the right back. I have never ever used the slow burner. I could add that we own two chest freezers, the smaller one in the garage for the dog's food, ice cream, and oddments and the larger in the cellar for people food only...chest freezers were not designed for women who are under 5' whatever. I'm probably down to 5'3" or even less now and I have great trouble with the larger of the two freezers in the cellar. Yes, we have a cellar and not a basement in this very old house. However, this I have to tell you all...we bought it in 1975 when many of you were not even a twinkle...and it's still running perfectly. It will probably break down in the next month, thanks to my audacious boldness. A former of Ed's students who worked for years in a now-defunct appliance store told Ed a few years ago...don't expect a stove, fridge, freezer, etc to last more than five years. Hey! I'm running out of crabbiness. And it's not raining today and the sun is out and we don't need jackets and mitts to go outside. Oh, it's raining tomorrow and the next day. But my heart aches for the folks in the Midwest and Southeast.

I know the church key...but trust me, it's not a patch on the Lee Valley one.

Aha! Have one for tight jar lids. It's from Lee Valley (which Americans can get now) and it's wonderful. I've bought them for friends. http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=44271&cat=2,75357,75413&ap=1 Get one. You'll love it.

I am getting old and cranky. No, I am already old and getting crankier. We've had to buy several new kitchen appliances in the last few years and there are things about each of them I loathe and I feel like ranting today. Furthermore, I have severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and am awaiting seeing a surgeon (since February...this is Ontario and I live in an underserviced area) so some stuff is just harder to use. My new microwave has buttons which are too hard for me to push with any ease at all. Even Ed finds them very stiff. Our new toaster oven gives three tiny beeps when it turns off which you can't hear from very far away. (The microwave gives 5 loud beeps in its favor.) The wire shelf kept falling out if I wasn't careful and Ed had to fix it so that it stopped doing that. Otherwise I love it and scarcely use the big oven anymore. However, I've yet to find a regular 9x13 pan which fits into it. Ed curled the edges on a normal 9X13 pan so that it would fit and then I remembered that a friend had given me two stainless lidded steam table pans and they are perfect. The new food processor weighs as much as a big lead weight and has one part on it which will break if you more than breathe on it. (Ed, of course, bought the largest one on the market.) It's the strangest configuration you can imagine. I hate cleaning it. I'll say one thing for it...since the major onset of CPS, I have really learned how to make good use of the adjustable slicer unit and the two sided shredder. The carafe on the coffee maker drips when you are pouring it. It didn't when it was brand new. Then after a while it did. I don't know... There is no such thing as a food chopper which doesn't break after 10 or 20 uses. No point in saying anything about can openers. I ask Ed to open the cans. Our electric one hit the dust years ago. We actually have one from Lee Valley which is very unusual looking but works very well. I'm done for now. My apologies. I promise to read any complaints that anyone else posts.

No information whatsoever. Just thrilled for you, Shelby.

Oh my goodness. Well thanks for that lengthy and useful answer. Sorry to have caused so much work on your part, but life sure throws some curves. We used to grow industrial hemp...granola, etc... on our farm...it contains .0000000whatever THC. You'd have to smoke an entire field to get high. And we had to jump through hoops. And the government folks could come on our property at any time to see if we were growing marijuana hidden inside the fields of hemp. (Which would ruin the marijuana if you did.) And they did. I particularly remember one summer because I had Shingles at the time. Not a good time was had by all. Of course now it's legal to grow your own marijuana. I think a person is allowed 6 plants...but I don't know. And the hemp producers gave up growing it long ago and now just process other farmers' hemp. Thanks again. You are having such a terrific life in Ecuador.

I'm sorry, but you can't just touch on this subject without some explanation. I did Google it 6 different ways but couldn't find any useful answers. No rush. You can sit down for a rest first.

Wow! What a tour. It's terrific. Two questions: Can you get a proper old cheddar (like Canadian cheddar)? And what about an equivalent of the deep fried Navajo Fry Bread (my favorite when in the southwest USA.)?

You speak of eating lamb. Is it as expensive where you are as it is in Canada? Oddly enough, when Ed and I were first married, in the dark ages, 1960, poor students...lamb was the cheapest meat we could buy. That was then....this is now. And Ed won't eat lamb anymore anyway.

Just incredible, PanaCan. You know exactly how much street food is available in most of Canada...Toronto and maybe Vancouver aside...and I would go crazy, not to mention putting on vast amounts of extra person. But wot larks!

Hi PanaCan, so good to hear from you again. Wonderful piles of fruit. Amazing to see for your average Canadian who has just left ice and snow behind. One question: When you say something costs a dollar...what dollar do you mean?

Well, some do and some don't. Glad you do.

And just what do you suggest as an alternative????

Will do that tomorrow. Time to call an end to this day. Thanks.

We have two rhubarb patches just to the west of the farm. I cannot imagine how old they are...how far back they go. The house is far more than 100 years old. How long can a rhubarb patch last?

Dear Shelby, thanks so much and I dare say I've lost more brain cells than you have. I also Googled LEM and found more meat grinders than you could shake a stick at. Metal, granted, but not the 'old-fashioned' one (which I now I have somewhere in our Drive Shed...I think) Thanks again. Oh boy! Does it cost more in Canada! (What else is new?)

Thanks for all the replies. I think something is wrong with my reception from eG because none of these responses were posted to me as usual and I just now found them because I decided to go straight to my post. And I apologize for not posting enough material to make myself clear. Yes, he can use any kind of grinder and yes he does most of the cooking and a plastic or electric one is acceptable. He is fine (and she is too) with some of the plastic models...just isn't ready to pay that kind of money. And I don't know why his wife objects to the metal one. I would not think of asking him. And they are both quite grown up, thanks. And neither of them is a complainer. At all. We all do have our peculiarities. And he won't buy pre-ground ground because more additives are in it than in the unground. And they don't need a lot...there are just the two of them. And no, they are not financially strapped...we all won't pay more than a certain amount for certain items. Ed bought two inexpensive peelers yesterday...I would not do that. That's life. I think that he's facing a possible death for the first time in his life, having had nothing like heart trouble before. And it was an accident that they even found the problem. I won't explain further as I have already pulled this thread way out of straight 'cooking' terms. Amazon.ca or com is probably my best bet right now. I'll read all the reviews and base my purchase on those. Thanks again.

Our beloved son feels he needs to grind up chicken and turkey to make a spaghetti sauce and so on. Unfortunately he is currently living with a 90% blockage to his aorta with a stent procedure on June 24. This is since early May. This is also Nova Scotia. Our daughter-in-law will not have an 'ugly' metal meat grinder in the house...and they do not own a stand mixer so an attachment is out of the question. Ed and I are about to send them a cheque to cover last month's expenses....long story...he was taking unpaid leave to come to stay with us when this completely unexpected problem was discovered. He's not working until after the procedure but has lost one month's pay and an airline ticket (this is Canada) also. If I send money to cover the cost and more...he won't buy an expensive grinder. I've said, of course, a cheap plastic grinder is not worth buying. So I'll buy one on Amazon.ca I expect and ship it to him. Sorry for the long explanation, but as you might imagine, I'm more than a bit worried. So what are your suggestions please?

I tried to find out exactly what these things are...went to images...no suitable photos...and still don't know. But I promise we won't buy any. And don't you either. Oops. Only in ON and PQ. Sorry.

I have done the same sort of thing with the fairly vinegary liquid into which I put thinly sliced cucumbers. And wondered also. I've not used the liquid past the third go-round.

Never. We do have a pasta situation in our house. I like it al dente and Ed likes it what I 'lovingly' call al mushe.

Is milk chocolate just harder to use and temper than dark chocolate? I tend to stay away from it...don't like it anyway... because I always seem to have trouble with it while I don't with dark chocolate.

Loved the cake. Overjoyed to see you back again. Darienne

Glad to meet you, Kasio. eGullet is a good place to be.

Thanks Elsie, but I had already found a recipe for cookie butter and will try it soon. I figure it's because we don't eat out much and don't eat commercially prepared foods that we are still alive and kicking...