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Which Food Saver models would you recommend? I have been through two in the last few years, but neither were high end (not the super cheap ones either - the FoodSaver was maybe $125). I'd like to keep it around or below $200, but I also want something that I can use for a long time and can use for both sous vide and preparing things for the freezer. I don't see getting a chamber vacuum anytime soon, for a couple of reasons. Price, obviously is a big one, but space is another (my kitchen is, to say the least, limited in space). Also, correct me if I am wrong, but the smaller (affordable) chamber vacuums geared more towards home use than commercial cannot be used to pack larger items, and since we live on a farm and freeze things like large chickens and bigger bags of produce, I would think the ones that work on the edge are going to be more applicable to both sous vide and general storage. So, is the FoodSaver brand the one most would recommend? Any other brands I should consider? And specifically, what models should I look at? I have a small propane torch already (I make a mean creme brûlée). And I have several reasonably good thermometers (but will look at the W-S one next time I'm there). Thanks! Oh, and Rob, I'm with you on the temperature scale. I absolutely prefer metric for weights and volumes, but as far as temperature, the main reason I can see for switching from F to C is to be consistent (everything metric) rather than significant advantages to the metric temperature scale.

I saw those recently at a local wine festival. We live in central VA, so I suppose it is somewhat appropriate. I was tempted to get one as a gag gift (along with a bottle of fruit flavored VA wine), which is what I would think the sales pretty much represent.

Cool, thanks. So looks like I am on the right track with the controller and the slow cooker. I'd like to know if anyone has the vacuum sealer I mentioned. It looks pretty heavy-duty for the money. There are so many brands, and models within brands. I have had two vacuum sealers in the past, and they both did a pretty terrible job, so this is where I could use more help. Would like to stay at around $200 (or less if I can get a good one). We didn't get to do much gardening last year because we just moved and needed to augment the crappy soil, but are in better shape for next year and will also want to use the vacuum sealer to freeze fresh produce. So I want something that can last with a lot of use.

Yea, we had some last year. Bought a bottle a couple days ago but have not had it yet. Last year's was pretty good. I've had similar beers from other breweries that were similar, a malty dark ale with spice added (I seem to remember clove and other autumn-y spices, but it's been a year and I've had a few beers since then). I should mention that I tend to go for more hoppy stuff like IPAs, but I do like a good stout on a cold evening too. Jess

A little help, please? Lots of reads but no responses... I have waded through some of the many looonnng threads but it seems like most are more are for people already doing sous vide, and they get rather technical very quickly. I'm looking for basics just to get started. I would especially like help with the decision about the vacuum sealer, as there are a gazillion out there, and I have had a couple (including a mid-priced FoodSaver model a few years back) that did a really crappy job. Also, is the controller sufficient with the slow cooker or do I need something to circulate the water? I have a large electric roasting pan that we use for making cheese: http://www.amazon.com/Rival-RO230-B-22-Quart-Roaster-Black/dp/B002Y4FQYU/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1324299175&sr=1-1 Will that work for making larger quantities? I work a fair number of hours during the week and have to take call (so sometimes will have to leave with no notice in the evening), so it would be nice to have some packaged and ready sous vide meals in the freezer that my husband can just heat up for him and the kids. I tend to do lots of cooking on the weekends but evening meals are usually rushed in their preparation. I see sous vide as helping with this, since I do have both the time and the desire to make lots of food on the weekends. And the method seems fairly forgiving if I am making something while on call and need to leave for a little while during preparation - just leave it in the water bath a bit longer. I am looking at the sous vide technique for a combination of being able to make some really interesting new meals and for the convenience and flexibility that it appears to give.

I'm interested in getting my feet wet with sous vide. I want to do so without spending a fortune. Although I am planning a kitchen upgrade in the next year or so, for the moment, counter and storage space is at a major premium. I have looked on the forums quite a bit, and to be honest, I am more than a little overwhelmed. I have a couple of slow cookers, so I was considering the following: A slow cooker that I already have with the SousVideMagic 1500D Controller For a vacuum sealer, Best Vac from minipack®-america. (http://www.dougcare.com/foodstorage/homeequip.htm#bestvac). Chamber sealers are more $$ than I want to spend. So, for similar or less money, can I so better? Thanks! Jess

I use a recipe almost identical to that of Darcie B, except when the toffee is still very hot, I sprinkle the chocolate (chips or chopped) over the toffee. The heat from the toffee melts the chocolate, which I then spread with an offset spatula. Then sprinkle with pecan pieces and press them in a bit. Perfect recipe for a half sheet pan. I dump all the sugar in at once and I generally cook to 315F. I have never had the chocolate separate from the toffee with this recipe (have made a lot, it is my go-to holiday gift). I have a few pecan pieces fall off when I break the toffee up, but I recycle those in the next batch along with the chopped pecans. There are usually a few little pieces of toffee mixed in but that's fine.

Things that have made a big difference in the quality of my baguettes - A good baking stone Steam in the oven (nothing fancy, just a shallow pan with water in it when I put in the bread) Shaping technique Scoring technique For the last two, I found the following to be very helpful: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI-WstoakmQ www.youtube.com.sg/watch?v=rb0lljsKk80 In general, I think Ciril Hitz's videos (and books) are very good.

I've had good luck with the recipes from Ciril Hitz's books, Baking Artisan Bread: 10 Expert Formulas for Baking Better Bread at Home and Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads: Sweet and Savory Baking for Breakfast, Brunch, and Beyond. He also has some helpful videos on youtube about shaping and slashing loaves.

I like the third one, with the red on red.

Giving lots of goodie bags out at work this holiday season, so I made a variety of stuff. Now I need a glass of wine - marathon baking session today. Peanut butter cookies, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, PB/oat/chocolate chip cookies, strawberry marshmallows (from recipe here), mango marshmallows, caramel corn (Jaymes' recipe), chocolate covered toffee sprinkled with pecans. And a batch of bagels rising in the fridge to boil and bake tomorrow. Tomorrow, finish the bagels, chocolate marshmallows, and rosemary shortbread with a light sprinkling of sea salt. And package everything up to give out Tuesday.

Actually, the MyWeigh KD-8000 does do baker's percentages. Weigh out the flour, then set it to baker's percentages, then everything after that will show up as percent of the flour's weight. Very easy. It's a good home scale, and costs under $40. http://www.amazon.com/My-Weigh-Digital-Weighing-Scale/dp/B001NE0FU2. Another plus, no strange batteries to buy - it runs off AA batteries (or an optional power cord, which I don't have). I use mine a lot and it is still on the first set of batteries, after well over a year. I got a small scale off ebay made for jewelry for small amounts, such as the salt, yeast, etc in bread.

Just picked up some kaffir limes (the fruit, not the leaves) at Whole Foods a few days ago. No idea what I was going to do with them, but I can't resist something new. Would love some ideas. I have zested a few and thrown it in the freezer for later use.

Thanks for the link. I could use those brackets for so many things. I make lots of bagels for the kids and proof them in an old fridge on half sheet pans covered with plastic wrap. Had been using old spice jars in the corners to stack them (no shelves in the fridge). These will be great. I also do a bit of baking in my Grill Dome (similar to a Big Green Egg) and this will make life easier there too. Great find.

Ow, wow, veal loaf, or as my relatives called it "vealoaf", one word. I grew up in Illinois but my extended family was pretty much all in CT and MA. We went on vacation to Martha's Vineyard every summer and stopped to visit in CT on the way, and one of my mom's cousins ran a Polish butcher shop. We loaded up on house made Polish sausages, veal loaf and a grain based sausage called kishka, that my dad loves. I have not heard "veal loaf" in years, and it brings back lots of memories. Sandwiches on good quality soft bread, toasted, with fresh summer tomatoes and mayo. I always associated veal loaf with my Polish relatives. My dad's side of the family is all French Canadian but it was the Polish side that ate the veal loaf. I guess I would eat olive loaf the same way. Toasted white bread, ripe tomatoes, mayo.

Keep them coming, I'm eager to learn more about how to cope with a crappy kitchen. My current kitchen is not the worst I have ever had to deal with but it is by far the worst in a home I have owned. We moved fairly recently from a house that we built. We left because my job had become miserable but when I took that job, we thought we were going to stay there until retirement. So the kitchen was my dream kitchen. Tons of custom natural cherry cabinets, 48" commercial style gas range, granite counters, huge farmers sink, gigantic walk in pantry. I loved that kitchen, and tons of thought went into everything in it. Then we moved, and the new kitchen is the cheapest builders grade everything, with very little counter and cabinet space, and no thought in the placement of anything. Built by people who used the kitchen to heat up their frozen dinner in the $50 microwave.. There is quite a bit of floor space though, and the gas range, although tiny, works well enough. We will eventually redo the kitchen (when the house with the dream kitchen has sold) but in the interim, creative ideas for dealing with a crappy kitchen are very helpful.

Seems to be a theme of sickly sweet stuff with no redeeming qualities. I agree. Peeps, necco wafers, candy corn, Cadbury eggs, licorice of any kind, etc., etc. All variations on the same, sickly sweet theme. Yuck. But then I'm with whoever else said chocolate must be dark and a minimum of 60%. I also agree with that person that orange and dark chocolate is a wonderful combination when done well. Someone else, Pierogi, I think, mentioned the Trader Joe's chocolate covered sunflower seeds. Sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? Chocolate and nuts/seeds can't be bad, right? I love Trader Joe's. And Trader Joe's chocolates are usually pretty decent for mass produced chocolate. I love their bars and dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds. But the sunflower seeds are just rank. Tried them once, thought the first one might have been rancid, tried a couple more,hoping they would be better and would get that disgusting taste out of my mouth, threw them in the trash. The worst chocolate candy I have ever had. Ever.

I posted mine in the recipes section recently at I have successfully doubled but have not tried more than that. SHould be fine as long as you keep stirring. I have never had an issue with it separating. Mine is similar (although a smaller batch) to chocolate's, except the slivered almonds go in the syrup as it cooks. I just use blanched almonds. I cook to 315F. Using chips or chopped chocolate makes spreading the chocolate easy, you just sprinkle the chocolate over the hot toffee, wait a minute for it to melt, then spread with an offset spatula.

I'm downloading it, will report back in the next day or two.

I'm doing chocolate covered toffee (recipe posted in recipe section, BTW), cookies, marshmallows, and maybe the popcorn recipe posted here (Jaymes). I like to do little gift bags with a selection of goodies.

"Artisanal family handiwork"? It's mozzarella. My 11 year old makes a great mozzarella. I learned how to make it in about an hour. I would not call my excellent mozzarella "artisanal" and I make my own curds from milk I hand milked from my own animals. Homemade? Sure, but mozzarella requires no skill to make. I love a good, fresh mozzarella, but I think this is gross overuse of the word "artisanal". For the record, I think that this word, mostly due to marketing, is among the most overused words in the foodie world today. Stepping off soapbox, back to the topic at hand...

We make this bread frequently and use it for pressed sandwiches. It can be made from scratch in a few hours. Probably a little less flavor than a long cool rise but for sandwiches, it is excellent, and the texture sounds like what you are looking for. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2984/jasons-quick-coccodrillo-ciabatta-bread I usually make the semolina variation - there is a bit more flavor. I also sometimes use up extra sourdough starter to add flavor. I maintain a 100% hydrated starter, so if I have an extra 100 grams of starter, I subtract 50 grams each of water and flour from the recipe. Oh, and if you can get it, King Arthus Sir Lancelot flour (high gluten bread flour) makes for excellent chew. If using semolina, get the fine grind.

I've got mixed feelings on this. As someone who has made fresh mozzarella from raw milk from my own cows and goats, I do see it as sort of false advertising. Maybe calling it freshly pulled mozzarella would be less of a misnomer. That said, I have no animals in milk at the moment, and my local grocery that buys pre-made curds and pulls them there is a very good substitute. As good? Not quite as good as what I get when I use really fresh (still warm from the cow) milk, but pretty darn good. The goat mozz has a different flavor, which I prefer, so not a fair comparison there. By the way, lovely eggs, chezcherie, do you have Araucanas or Ameraucanas? We have some Ameraucanas for blue/green eggs and some Marans for dark brown ones. Love my hens!

I too was told not to use plastic with egg whites but I have also read that this is more of an issue with hand whipping. I make sure not to use the scrubby portion of the sponge on the plastic bowl, and since the metal bowl covers the vast majority of what I do with the machine, I don't think it will be difficult to keep the plastic bowl in good shape. The replacement plastic bowl is relatively cheap ($25) so I think if I got into making lots of meringues, I would consider getting a spare bowl just for egg whites. Most of what I do is bread and pizza doughs, and occasionally cookies (I use the roller scraper for that), so for me, this is a much better machine than the KA. For someone who makes lots of lighter batters like cakes and meringues, the KA may be a better choice. Or even a hand mixer might be fine.

Yikes, all these beautiful pictures. I need photography lessons before I post a picture here. We had stuffed pizza, Chicago style, with fresh homemade pork sausage. Delicious but not pretty!