cookingofjoy

I had my first failed batch of marshmallows today, and I'm wondering might have been my mistake. I tried a cranberry version that ended up more like taffy in texture than marshmallow, and rubbery. I think the rubbery-ness is because I overbeat it since they never started getting fluffy like they normally do. I've liked this lemon marshmallow recipe, so I tried using it as a base for cranberry. For this half batch, I boiled 1/4c cranberries and 1/2c water til it was reduced to about a 1/4c, then strained it to make a cranberry puree, which ended up being 3TB puree. I added 1TB fresh lemon juice, subbed this puree/lemon juice for the lemon juice in the gelatin bloom, and then followed the rest of the recipe like normal. I've made half batches before that have been fine, so I don't think that's an issue. Last week I made a half batch of clementine/honey based on this recipe that were the lightest I've made. I did get distracted and let the syrup get to 258 instead of 250. It was the last packet of gelatin in my 32 pack, and all other batches have been fine.

The one that has always irritated me is TJ's pound plus chocolate. The way they score the bar, 3 squares = 1.3 oz. For all the recipes I have asking for chocolate in multiples of 1.3.

My mom made more cookies and bars, especially brownies, and cakes were for special occasions. Every Valentine's she'd make a heart-shaped red velvet cake with a cooked milk frosting using her mother's recipe called Waldorf Cake. After she frosted it, she'd let us decorate it with red hots candies, which I guess my grandma had done, too. We loved that cake, and one year we convinced her to make a green one for St Patrick's. That only happened once And the other two were my dad's favorites and made mostly for his birthdays. A poppyseed with a penuche-like frosting. The other was my dad's mom's recipe for a chocolate cake with walnuts and dates and sugar sprinkled on top, no frosting.

Like others, that's a fantastic idea! And one I'd never heard of before, but I'm going to have to try! I got a Chemex, a Messermeister bread knife and Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. Looking forward to doing some baking!

I really like a turnover based on one from Fields of Greens - roasted squash, leeks, garlic, & thyme and then add gruyere to fill the tart dough.

I love the pumpkin brioche! It's great for french bread, and it's my favorite for the crescent roll recipe, too. I like the master, and my husband likes the flax. And not that I've done a lot of gluten-free baking, but of the maybe four loaves of gf bread I tried making, their gf olive oil bread was by far the best.

My mom always made the cinnamon-sugar crust with the leftovers, too. I very infrequently make pie, but that's still my favorite, I sneak it before the kids find it This is just past the season, I guess, but I really liked these truffles that used the ginger.

I know you already mentioned this doesn't really fit what you're looking for, but a local place has a granny smith, dipped in caramel, then dark chocolate and then sprinkled with sea salt - my favorite caramel apple by far! And I googled to have something to offer - here's a apple hazelnut chocolate cake, though both the mozart cake looks like a better idea

Your sink of knives reminded me of my first real knife, a rapala fillet knife. I got it from my dad when I was nine or ten, and he really tried to build it up as a reward - now I was old enough to help clean (ha!).

I love your stories! Your home is beautiful. My dad is an avid waterfowl hunter, so much of this feels very familiar. And, of course, I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder. I thought I'd share I was never able to get a pie crust right, til I tried RLB's flaky pie crust. It's kind of involved with cutting and freezing the butter, but it was the first time I got the sense of what the texture was supposed to be like. Just thought I'd share http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Basic-Flaky-Pie-Crust-101858

Thanks for the tips! How interesting about the long johns - it'd be kind of fun to wrap some up with all the other supplies for him Those are good points, too, about needing to start outdoors and to keep a continuous boil. Neither of us have done this before, and I can kind of imagine if it's totally unsuccessful it'd be a while before trying again. So the guidelines about boiling are really helpful. Hopefully, I'll have something to post in a few months!

I was hoping to get my dad the supplies for the process, and I'm wondering if anyone might have recommendations? I found taps in 5/16 and 7/16 - would there be a preference? Also, how do you filter the sap? I noticed various filters and prefilters. I thought the taps, sap saks, holders, and some sort of filter. Is there an essential piece I'm missing? He does have a propane burner, but I was kind of assuming he'd do the reducing indoors. I'm wondering if I don't have a good sense of the scale of the project....

This sounds similar to something my aunt used to make called Russian Tea, except hers was Tang-based like the one linked.

Eileen Talanian's Marshmallow cookbook has a marshmallow "fluff" recipe, if I remember right. The first part of the cookbook is in Google books, but it doesn't preview the fluff chapter. I've never tried making it and I didn't really look at that chapter, but I'd think if you stopped beating a little earlier it might work, and then add the krispies? Then it'd still be able to blend, but would set as a bar.

I don't know what level of kid participation you're hoping for or how much time you've been given, but could you bring the roasted halves for the second trip so the kids could scoop out the roasted pumpkin. I can imagine my kids getting a kick out of that. And then it could be processed there (if that's ok by the school). It could make the whole process of transforming the pumpkin more clear for them, too (it seems like the goal is seeing food from farm to table?). Is it one pumpkin? Are the kids going to be in groups with each group going through the whole process?

It does sound like the main decisions are aesthetic - I don't have anything offer regarding stove tops. But for the cabinets, maybe painting them could help? There are some gorgeous kitchens in the Kitchens forum on gardenweb and in the finished kitchens blog.

I liked these quite a bit, too! I think they're my favorite standard brownie. I made them with the full salt, and thought they were a little too salty, and noted to try halving it next time. I'm glad you found halving it worked well!

What a fun topic! In this one I was ISFJ, other times I think I was INFJ. In education lit, I've read that introverts participate more in online courses/discussions than in face-to-face. I'm guessing the same may be true for online forums? In any case, my type "the nurturer" fits well with my food interests. As I've been at home with my kids the past couple years, I've been able to do more and learn more about baking. Baking's always very warm/homey. All very ISFJ

In our last kitchen, we had a kahrs oak engineered floor, and it worked really well for us. We didn't have problems with denting from the fridge. We never ran into a water problem like leaking from the dishwasher or icemaker. We did have a dog and two young kids, and I was really happy how well it held up (natural finish oak hides things pretty well, too ). We're in the process of deciding here at our new place. We're getting the existing asbestos vinyl removed the end of the month, and we're hoping they'll be able to save the maple floors underneath. Otherwise, we're looking at linoleum (marmolite, I think?), it's a 1912 farmhouse, and everything else in the house is wood.

I made Ferber's Strawberry and Red Currant jelly with Whole Strawberries and Black Pepper a few days ago. At first I thought it just didn't set at all, but when I opened, the top with the strawberries is just syrup, while the jelly set below. I wasn't clear with the directions, so I did cook the strawberries for 3-4 minutes instead of just bringing them to a boil. I'm wondering where I went wrong and what I could do differently next time. Was it that I cooked the strawberries? I would have thought the opposite, that they were still holding too much liquid. I'd love any suggestions! The only other Ferber recipe I've tried that didn't set was the cherry-mint one. I seem to have trouble with ones with whole fruits.

I'd gotten the book from the library last summer and loved the no-bake blueberry. I'd also tried a currant tart, I think it was just pastry cream, currants and currant jelly to glaze. Her pie crust recipe was the first one I'd ever gotten to work, now I've been able to make a crust without all the freezing, but her instructions were really helpful for me.

I know nothing of marketing (and hopefully this reference isn't inappropriate), but this conversation made me think of Friedan's interview in Feminine Mystique: It's kind of like a next step - make the person feel like they're really cooking, but also make the value-added product crucial. It requires more involvement than a spice packet. I also wondered if it might be more appealing than the spice packets because the individual spices can be identified, it might seem healthier? I don't know if any of this would make it more likely for the packets to catch on, though The camping or vacation property idea makes a lot of sense.