snowangel

My two woks (they are about 16" at the top) look exactly the same, except that it looks like one had a 50 lb. cement block dropped on the bottom of it. Whatever manufacturer imprint (in Thai) was ever on this is illegible. Remember, I've had it since mid-70's, and used at least twice a week ever since. They are really lightweight. But, I've used them for so long, I don't think I'd know how to cook in any other woks.

I have two cheap, probably crappy woks (one flat bottom, one rounded bottom) woks purchased at Pratunam Market in Bangkok in the mid-70's. I probably paid 5 baht for them at the time. I have no clue whether they are stainless or aluminum. They must be "stamped" because the handles are not rivited on -- they are part and parcel of the woks. I should mention that until I redid the kitchen, I had a stand-alone propane burner thing with a lot of rings of jets. My stove is electric. Both of these woks heat and cool very rapidly. I have learned on the electric stove to use two burners at once -- one high, one medium or low. I should also add that the kitchen remodel was extensive cosmetic, but did not include new counters. The fact that my kitchen no longer has a place for my propane burner thingie has prompted me to tell DH that next summer, we will be replacing the counters on either side of the stove (probably with granite) and will be building in said burner thingie (techno talk). I've used these old woks for years, and love their responsiveness to heat. I can't imagine why anyone would want a "high end" flat (or round) bottomed wok.

Easily available at my local Thai market in Minneapolis, but then again, they are selling numbers "under the table." I think they have Thai porn videos in the back room, but I haven't ventured there.

That's usually my intention. But, it tends to evolve into a "it's 1:00 in the morning, standing in front of the fridge, door open, doggie bag in one hand, steak in the other hand, gnawing. I confess.

lxt, your post, and Cab's reply, was like a prose massage. I feel relaxed and ready for sleep.

Since it was a bazillion degrees below zero, I had a freezer full of bones, and a brand-new Chefmate stock pot (to replace the crappy thin one I had) and since my folks were coming for dinner direction from the airport following a trip to Berkeley (they brought Acme made this morning), soup was a natural! Chickeny, noodley, vegetably, beany...wonderful with fresh Acme and Hope butter. We washed it down with cold milk (kids) and cold Pilsner Urquel (sp?). It was what we had on hand. The Pilsner was warm, chilled on backstoop for 13 minutes!

When I was working outside the home, it was my "fall back." Walk in the house, the kids were all hungry, and especially on the nights when either Paul or I had to be out the house in a hour for a meeting, and I hadn't done any planning, it was frittata. I bet we had it once a week. Great, fast, one dish meal that everyone liked. Good for little kids, too, because we didn't have to cut it for them. Now that I'm home, we still eat frittata fairly often, but now I have time to plan. But there was something about those impromptu ones...

Oatmeal Cookies 1/2 c Butter 2-1/2 c Rolled oats 1 tsp Cinnamon 1 c Brown sugar 1/4 c Butter 1/2 c Flour 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1 Egg 1/2 tsp Salt Preheat oven to 375. Heat 1/2 cup butter in skillet; add oatmeal and stir constantly until browned. Cool. Mix sugar and remaining 1/4 cup butter. Add eggs and mix until thick. Add dry ingredients and oatmeal. Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet; flatten. Bake until done. Keywords: Dessert, Intermediate, Cookie ( RG159 )

Coconut Cookies These call for fresh coconut, grated. I usually bake the coconut (whole) at 350 for about 10 minutes. This makes it easier to crack open. Remove coconut and take the brown remaining with a vegetable parer. 1 c Sugar 1 c Butter 1 tsp Baking soda 2 c Flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1-1/2 c Coconut (fresh, grated) Mix all ingredients. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 325 for about 8 minutes. (There are no eggs in this one) Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cookie ( RG158 )

Grape Pie Another goodie from my great grandmother. It turns lips and tongue purple, which is a real hit with kids. 1 qt Concord grapes 3/4 c Sugar 1-1/2 tsp Lemon juice 1 T Orange rind, grated 1 T Instant tapioca 1 Pie crust (bottom and top) Slip grapes out of skins, saving skins. Cook pulps until seeds loosen, then press through sieve to remove seeds. Mix pulp, skins, sugar, lemon juice, orange rind, and tapioca. Let stand 5 minutes. Pour into 9" pie pan lined with pastry, cover with pastry strips. Bake 10 minutes in "hot oven" reduce heat and bake an additional 20 minutes. This is verbatim, written in fountain pen. I take hot oven to mean 400, and then turn it down to 350. Keywords: Dessert ( RG157 )

Custard Pie This recipe comes from my great-grandmother. Note it makes an 11" pie. Yes, you can buy an 11" pie pan, but they can be hard to find. Mine is 100+ years old. Leftover custard pie makes a great breakfast. 1 qt Milk minus 2 T Bit of butter 5 Eggs 1 c Sugar Pinch Salt 1 tsp Flour 1 T Vanilla 1 Pie crust Bake pie crust (remember, 11") in 400-425 oven until set. Rub butter in sauce pan, scald milk. Beat eggs (while milk is scalding) until foamy and add sugar, flour and salt. Add milk to eggs and put in hot crust. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 (or lower if it bubbles over) and bake until a silver knife comes out clean. NOTE: Be sure and put a cookie sheet under the pie tin because this may bubble over. It's easier to pull rack with hot crust out of oven and fill with filling than carry filled crust to oven. Keywords: Dessert, Breakfast, Vegetarian, Healthy Choices, eGCI ( RG156 )

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes A variation on the classic using a roast, not ground beef. Great for pot lucks. 1 Chuck roast or pork shoulder roast Onions (large dice) 1 Can beer 1/2 Bottle ketchup Put all ingredients in crock pot. Browning roast is optional. Let cook on high for several hours. Remove meat and shred with two forks, return to crock pot and cook an hour or two more. It thickens up once the meat has been shredded. Freezes well. Keywords: Main Dish, Easy ( RG155 )

Rice Waffles A great use for leftover rice 3 Eggs, separated 2 c Buttermilk 6 T Melted butter 2 c Flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1 T Baking Powder 1 T Sugar 1/2 tsp Baking soda 1 c Cooked rice (cold) Sift dry ingredients together. Beat eggs yolks until lemony and thick. Add buttermilk and melted butter. Add dry ingredients and stir briefly; add cold rice. Fold in eggs whites (beaten to soft peaks). Cook on waffle maker. Top with lots of butter and syrup or whipped cream and fruit, or with a an over-easy fried egg. Keywords: Breakfast, Easy, Vegetarian, Waffle Iron, Healthy Choices, eGCI ( RG154 )

I mis-spelt. They are "sorel" boots. Huge, clunkly books, with a tremendous felt liner. One wears them when trudging through mountains of snow, ice fishing, and other such activities. They are made in Canada, and different "models" are rated to different sub-zero temps. Mine are rated to 40 below zero. They are wonderful because one can replace the felt liners when they wear out. Walking through snow drifts in them is a lower body workout, but one's feet are warm (the high today was close to 10 below). I take it you live south of interstate 90.

The recent thread on bussel sprouts reminds me that they have a place in every garden. They can be ornamental, and there is nothing as fun as going out on Thanksgiving morning, wearing one's sorrel boots, and digging them out of the snow. My grandmother (the Wise One about gardening) always said "it's not a good sprout unless it's been through a hard freeze and some snow."

So Diana and I, over the past couple of months, have plowed through every recipe on this particular thread. We got a mongo bag of chocolate chips at Costco, and made batch after batch (not all at once!). They are all winners, but we did prefer the non-Hershey/Nestle bag recipes to the others. The winner for raw dough eating are the ones made with the pudding. That one only baked up to 1 dozen cookies as a result.

Thanks, Eddie. This is the method I learned many years ago in Taiwan. I also learned that you don't just plop the dumplings in the pan; you start at the center and arrange them concentrically, and sort of tight together, so that when they are done, you can invert them on a place (and they are all stuck together) and have a nice, pretty pattern. When I make them, I made tons of them and freeze them. I've found it's best if you cook them still slightly frozen. And, for further clarification, when I learned to make them, the filling is raw when you assemble the dumplings -- not cooked as I have seen in a few recipes. Is there a prefered number of pleats on each side?

A "third" here. This has been, for me, one of the most enjoyable Q & A's ever. Thanks, John, for taking the time to answer our questions. You certainly seem to fit right in!

I always try and check books out of the library before I buy them. Great way to decide if you want the book.

Hie thyself to a grocery! Homemade tapicoa pudding is easy. In the "baking section," you should be able to get Minute Tapioca or Small Pearl Tapicoa. Follow recipe on box, using whole milk. Orgainic eggs, if possible. Real vanilla. Sugar. Pinch of salt. That about covers it. Super easy, super good, super comfort food. (So, how many ingredients were on the label of the packaged stuff??) It is easy and wonderful. I make it at least weekly for a daily special occasion -- the kids coming home from school. It is great warm or cold.

You must live somewhere south of Minneapolis! I'd need hip waders to get to my vines...

Thanks, John. I'll keep tweeking, and if I come upon the magic formula, you will be the first to know. On another note, many moons ago, my dad gave my mom, my sister and me each copies of Simple Cooking for Xmas. My daughter Diana, age 12 (many e-gulleters will recall tales of this budding and talented cook), is currently reading Simple Cooking. It is "I Love To Read Month" in the Minneapolis Public Schools, and this is one of her chosen books, and she is enjoying it (and getting ideas). Come to think of it, I should probably go and get the book out of her hands -- she is probably asleep -- and turn off her night light.

Maggie, that is a great book. I have never really planned anything, just decided at times that "oh, this would look better here" and "I really need something blue here." I'm more in the lines of cottage garden rather than landscaped. I don't have a big veggie garden anymore, so tend to stick those in where appropriate. Before I planted my wisteria, the posts of the pergola had pole beans. Dead plants/things I don't like are often replaced with tomato plants. Adds surprise.

My recent bedtime reading lately has been the seed catalogues! Interesting that I didn't pull them out until we got our 1' blanket of snow (we'd been snow free until early this week). I do take pictures of my various garden areas over the course of the summer (so I can refer back to what it looked like in June, July, August and September), and spend time in the winter looking at them and making plans for summer. Depending on what is budding, in Minneapolis, I'd be a bit nervous because we are still sub-zero at night, which means I probably won't have to worry about it. I'd leave the dang hydrangeas in and see what you have, as you said. In fact, since you moved in during the winter, I don't know that I'd make too many concrete plans until you see what comes up where. We moved into our house in August (1986), so I knew that all I had were four ugly potentillas (two on either side of the front door). In the back yard, we had one sorry rose bush and one horrid peony (it had never been cared for), just sort of stuck in the middle of the back yard. So, I pretty much had a blank canvas, and it has really evolved over the years. The tendency is to want to do everything at once, and I know that now that I've adopted a "let's take it slowly" attitude, I'm much happier with how things are progressing. I remember Christmas of 2001. We went to Berkeley to visit my sister, and the very first thing I did was wander around her back yard and do some weeding. Dirt under my nails and all of the green was a Christmas present in itself.

It's a thread called "stuff they say is easy, but it ain't, and yes, the post was by project. In the cooking category. Click! This is pretty much how I do it, and mine are always flaky. Remember that depending on what you are putting in the crust, it is often wise to pre-bake it somewhat.