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Exactly! I only use cotton or linen. And as long as I wash in no-hotter-than-warm water, all the stains come out, even the pre-stained stains from the second-hand napkins. Oxi-Clean works wonders, but so does a soak in borax. I use, typically, a homemade mix of grated bar soap, borax and washing soda, which I've mixed with hot water, then let sit until it gels up. I use that for all my laundry, and it works well. I have a high-efficiency washer, and it works in that, and it also worked in my non-high-efficiency washer in a previous life. If I have stubborn stains on vegetable fibers (cotton, linen, ramie, etc.), then a dose of Oxi-Clean gets added if the first wash doesn't remove the stain. Tracy

I use cloth napkins for everything, and when we eat messy foods, we dampen them with warm or hot water. I have never had trouble getting stains out of white linen or cotton napkins in the regular wash, but I don't use hot water. I get my napkins at thrift stores and yard sales, so I use the fancy ones all the time. Tracy

Growing up, we had a glass and metal nut chopper. The glass caught the chopped nutmeats, and there was a metal hopper with tines that pushed the nuts through a grid (not really a grid, but I can't think of a name for it). Low tech, but it worked. I've seen them in plastic at some store, but I can't remember where.

Awesome, thanks! I finally got a copy of the manual from T-Fal, and I ordered the missing pressure regulator. It appears that it's a 13-pound regulator, so the addition of the quarters seems about right. I'm glad you have had success with it.

It is not safe to use a small pressure cooker to can. It is too quick to heat up and doesn't allow for enough processing time. If you want to pressure can, get a pressure canner. Presto makes a 23 quart canner for about $130-ish, and All American makes another one for a bit more. I found an All American canner on Amazon with a busted box for a significant discount over a "perfect" one, and the ONLY thing wrong with it was that the box had a hole in it. Both are aluminum canners. The Presto takes a rubber gasket, but the All American does not require a gasket, which is why I went with it. It's also a tank. It's significantly thicker than the Presto (I've seen them side-by-side). You can use the pressure canner to pressure cook, but not the other way around. Take a look at this link for more information, and do some searching on your own to verify.

No, I hadn't. Thank you! It doesn't look like they have the manual for my model. Hopefully, T-Fal will respond to my online inquiry, though. The parts supplier couldn't help me.

It's not the right season for it, now, but I got a couple of sets of really nice, heavy stainless bowls, Ecko Eterna, and some other kind, at yard sales. The Ecko Eterna are wider than they are tall, and the other ones are about the same height as their diameters. I think I'll have these for the rest of my life, and maybe beyond. I also have a couple of Pyrex bowls and an Anchor Hocking, and the bowl to one of those old countertop mixers that's not a KitchenAid. I don't use those as much as the stainless, but that's mainly because they're in the back of the cabinet, whereas the stainless are in the front.

Yup, I got one last week from Sam's, and I LOVE it. I made gumbo with it, first, then a barley/lamb stew tonight. It's incredibly easy to clean, and it works like a champ.

I picked up a Member's Mark 6.5 qt. dutch oven at Sam's Club two days ago for $40. It's definitely thicker than Le Creuset (compared with one I saw at Williams-Sonoma). I inaugurated its reign with gumbo. It's pretty sweet. You can get any color you want, as long as it's red.

I was recently given a T-Fal Safe 2 pressure cooker by an acquaintance. I think she gave it to me because it had stuff burned on it, and since they were moving, she didn't want to deal with it. I've cleaned it up pretty well, but there were no instructions with it, and no parts list. I've e-mailed a supplier of parts for my pressure cooker in hopes they will have a diagram/parts list to share with me. Anyhow, does anyone else have a T-Fal pressure cooker? If so, how do you like it?

Ok, I had to buy frozen veggies, as I was out, and don't do canned, but other than that, I'm still working on stored food. I will not be doing Thanksgiving tomorrow, as we were invited to someone's house, but I think I will be doing a private Thanksgiving for just us two on Friday. We're going to smoke the turkey, a first for me. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks, ambra!

Cool, I'll have to try that. Thanks!

I have a pair by KitchenAid. Actually, I have two pair. My only gripe is they only make the one size. KitchenAid Tongs

When I started making overnight stock, I found that vegetables -- aromatics, that is -- tend to get very bitter with long cooking. Leaving them out makes for a much cleaner tasting stock. If you really want their flavor, I'd add them only in the last couple of hours. Better yet, add whatever vegetables you want as you use your pure meat stock, instead of adding them to the stock itself. Also, as Chris mentioned, I think clear stock is somewhat overrated. Sometimes it matters, but often it doesn't. I leave my stock on low on the stove, and from what I can tell, it stays around 195 or 200F. It's fine for my needs -- I don't make consomme or aspics. I make my stocks with only meat, since about 2 years ago. I prefer adding the vegetables, herbs and spices when I use the stock. Works out fairly well, as it's very versatile.

Ah, unfortunately, he's allergic to peanuts. He's not very adventurous when it comes to food. He likes seafood and meat, and some veggies, but not much else. For instance, he can't wrap his taste buds around raisins in Middle-Eastern-inspired dishes.

Anyone have any idea what I can do to use up (and hide the taste of) whole wheat noodles, i.e. egg noodles, penne, etc? My SO abhors whole wheat pasta (says it tastes acid), so I need to get through a bunch of it to get rid of it. The whole lacking-a-job thing has me reluctant to just give it away, but I will if I have to. I'm looking for something where maybe I can crush the pasta and use it not as pasta, but I'm not imaginative enough to come up with ideas on how to use it. Might it work in bread, somehow? Thanks!

Yes, and it works very well. I've done it a few times now since posting about it here. Awesome! Thanks!

Thanks, Sus.

I don't really know, but when I started with a whole vanilla bean, that was dried out, I didn't open the sugar for a week, I think, and by that time, it was smelling vaguely vanilla-like. I cut mine into 1/8-1/4-inch pieces, though.

Has anyone used rendered tallow in place of lard? I have found myself in possession of a whole lot of tallow, and not much lard. The tallow is mildly flavored, and in my opinion, doesn't taste much like beef.

Where did you buy it? I'm interested in finding some.

I think I can manage a no-shopping T-day. I have, at last count, 4 turkeys in the freezer. I was planning on cooking the smallest of these, anyway. I have canned and fresh pumpkin galore, thanks to both a great find at Big Lots several months ago, of canned organic pumpkin, and the purchase in October of fresh pie pumpkins to try making pumpkin pie from scratch. I've been busily rendering lard and making stocks to empty the freezer of stock stuff. I think I pretty much have all I need for Thanksgiving dinner, and I usually only shop to stock up on stuff, anyway, unless it's for fresh produce. I'm not currently in need of fresh produce, and I think I can get by on the frozen through next week, although I will have to buy more after that. I have no intention of diminishing my stores of food "just because," because for me, they are an emergency fund of sorts. I was laid off in April, and because of my food stores, I have been able to get by. I did shop on Sunday, I believe, because I needed some celery, but other than that, I haven't really been shopping in several weeks, as it is. I'm not very imaginative, when it comes to meals, so I probably won't be chronicling what we eat, unless it's something I'm particularly proud of.

I started a cacao nib extraction in a tiny bottle a few days ago. It's a light mahogany color, and whiffs faintly of chocolate, so far. We'll see what it's like in a week, then in a month, and so on. Has anyone else had success with chocolate of any variety?

I'm not an expert, by any means, but I think you should be able to smell it when it starts to go rancid. That said, I've had bacon grease get moldy in my fridge. I'm guessing because it got wet.