Mjx

I've definitely seen it done in here, in DK, and have seen mothers from Greenland do it, too. Never saw it done in Italy, however, I think it might feel too much like going in the direction of 'brutta figura' (what with taking chewed food out of your mouth), but it may just have to do with the particular parents I've known.

I've been thinking of that, but the thing that makes the oven sort of challenging is that it seems to have random, unpredictable fluctuations, mostly downward, but occasionally upward. I'm not planning on baking anything finicky, that's certain! Thanks, and you have a good point. I braised some chicken thighs tonight, and they went down well, so I'll probably try that again. I really just need to sort of wean myself from being so stove-top reliant. One good thing is that it's already very cool here, so the heat generated by the oven over several hours is actually a plus. Good ideas, although I'm thinking of making the latter experiment with toast, since baking a bunch of cookies and having them kind of tank would be a little depressing (it happened once before, last year around the holidays). This is really new territory for me, so I'm trying to look at the positive side of it

Here in Denmark millet gruel is a popular first solid food, along with mashed vegetables and fruit... pretty much what I remember my mother giving my sister, in the US.

Hah. The thing is, we're sharing the kitchen with my boyfriend's parents, who naturally have dibs on its use. Typically, the stovetop is taken, and when they're done, the pots and pans go in the dishwasher. They aren't running the hot water in the kitchen (something about the pipes) so washing up in the sink is also fairly frustrating (and messy, because they have a 15cm/6", shallow sink, lots of splashing on the wood surround). They only want the dishwasher run once a day. Expanding my very limited repertoire of things that are done in the oven is looking like the best option, at the moment.

Have any of you relied exclusively on probe thermometers when roasting (as opposed to apparent oven temperature), and if so, how has that worked out? Recently, my boyfriend and I sold our flat, so our super-familiar and reliable Gaggenau oven and stove are sitting in boxes next to our bed in his parents' place, where we're staying while we house-hunt. I won't even go into all the kitchen utensils and appliances (each of which was chosen with the sort of rigor normally reserved for selecting a heart surgeon) languishing in their boxes, and for which there is no room. The stove works a bit oddly, and it isn't possible keep on hand things like stock, since there's no room in the refrigerator, but my biggest concern is with the oven, which goes back to the 80s, and fairly unreliable. My first thought was that I could simply rely on a probe thermometer, but the oven's temperature may be off my as much as 30C/85F (judging by a few results so far), and since the rate at which something heats does have an effect on final results, I'm wondering how this is going to work out. The oven thermometer is a no-go, because you cannot see in through the front of the oven. I'd love to hear about anyone else's efforts, results, or workarounds in this area.

Well, yes, if you accept the concept of 'supposed to', here, since that hinges exclusively on subjective, personal reactions to the technology and its results. Nothing. It's just not your thing. What's great about food and its preparation is that it offers something to everyone. There doesn't seem to be any basis here for contention, or debate, even.

What are you using for storage? I put dates on things (I just use whatever marker is laying about), but I use clear, lidded containers or clear, heavy-duty freezer bags (both of which are reusable, mitigating my environment-related guilt pangs), so I can usually tell what's inside without making a note of it. If the item being frozen is not so easily identified (e.g. gravy or some other brownish substance), I do add a note regarding the contents. When I reuse the container, I cross out the previous date/note. Over time the older things wash or rub away completely, so the container never actually gets covered up with writing. If you're tossing the container after you use it, that wouldn't even be an issue.

I too have sometimes encountered this assumption when dining alone (and hadn't even considered dining with someone else, so there was no question of my mis-stating this); evidently, this is still regarded as unusual. Because of this, I doubt I would have questioned a booking noting a party of two, either, not because I'm careless or lazy, but simply because I would have assumed that it was a boilerplate response, and that questioning it would have been a pointless exercise likely elicit an irritated response from whichever staff member addressed my query.

WWoOFing is something I highly recommend: It's the way I first visited Denmark, and the family I initially visited as a WWoOFer are now decade-long friends (it also meant I got a great inside view of the country, since the family I stayed with brought me along to various family and other social functions). Get your request in early, though, because these countries are some of the most popular.

That was my thought, too: CI discussed (can't remember in which issue) the need for modifications to pizza dough recipes, when they're intended to be baked in home ovens, for the simple reason that few home ovens reach the temperature of a commercial oven, among other things.

What Paul said.

I'm not sure what you mean by my having to take them at their word. If they eat in my home, I'll honour their wishes and take care to ensure they don't get that food. I'll not prevent them from taking on whatever diet they want. In fact, I point out new GF food sources around town that I trip up over to my GF friends. But I most certainly will not accept it as true simply because they said so, nor will I necessarily 'agree' with them by keeping silent if keeping silent would indicate consent. Self observation is pretty close to hopeless. If people want to try out various things and make their conclusions, that is ok, but you can't expect everyone to roll over an agree just because those people have found comfort. I wish I could explain exactly why this offends me so - this, and many of the other posts on this thread. First of all, please do a little reading and have some idea of the facts. There is no test for gluten sensitivity, or other food sensitivities that don't rise to the level of an allergy or celiac. You go on an elimination diet, you see how you feel, and your doctor tells you not to eat what made you feel sick. There is NO TEST. The science has not caught up, and it remains a guessing game. You do not have to agree with what I think or what I eat. My doctors agree with me, and that is more than enough. It is my body and I will eat what I want. I'm not asking anyone - including restaurants, or you - to make accommodations for me. But the constant denial of my experience on these boards - and that of thousands, if not millions, of other people - is beyond insulting. Just because there's not a test to prove to you that I'm right doesn't mean I'm not. To Country's and Darienne's point, allergies (as well as autism - another phenomenon there is no explanation for) have skyrocketed in recent years. Our food systems are practically beyond repair, and grains are often genetically modified. Is it truly surprising that there might be a backlash? I would think that there have been enough posts on here and elsewhere reflecting experiences similar to mine for some of you to have a little more consideration for what we are saying. My experience does not depend even remotely on whether or not you agree, but it would be awfully considerate if you could open your minds and ears a little. I'm a bit curious as to why the questioning and scepticism offend you. I actually have some food sensitivities, and agreed, there is no test for them, and all you can do is eliminate things from your diet, and see how that goes (it's only really effective if you arrange with several of your friends to sneak the potential problem ingredient into your food at some point, so when you test your reaction, it is unbiased by your awareness of its presence). However, I'd love for someone to prove to me that I'm wrong about my apparent reactions some of my favourite foods, that my failure to, say, chew a specific number of times is actually responsible for my symptoms, or that some (fixable) psychological issue is at the back of them. Most people are unscientific in their thinking, and the media/public tendency to simplistically stamp various substances as 'bad' actually undermines the credibility of those who genuinely have celiac disease, or various other sensitivities/allergies: legitimate questioning is not inconsiderate, it's crucial. If we reject questioning, science cannot ever address this field, because science is an approach, a process to which questioning is intrinsic, not just sets of imposing sounding results.

I like blueberries with yogurt, even more so if vanilla is involved. I can't think of anything else that really adds to the yogurt experience; I sometimes get fruit yogurt, then sort of wonder why. Don't regret it, but there's no love there, either. Sliced fresh fruit seems somehow too wet to mesh nicely with yogurt. But if you like it, why not (that goes for foie gras, too)? On one occasion, I did have an (initially) inexplicable, pressing craving for strawberry yogurt and artichoke hearts (not as a mixture, however). And no, I didn't go there.

Never tried this particular brand, but in my experience, the best you can expect from chocolates packed in a plastic jar and coloured cello is 'acceptable'. This isn't to say that I believe fancier packaging to be any sort of guarantee of good chocolate (I've had some mediocre chocolate that was packaged and priced like fine jewellery), but cheap packaging does seem to live down to its promise.

I'd be inclined to go with the egg nog, if I had to choose just one, possibly because a new chocolate shop downtown has the most amazing egg nog and saffron chocolates, and although they sounded good, they taste even better (three of them were my breakfast, a couple of days ago).

If you reserved for yourself alone, the error is in their assumption, and I don't see how it is even legal for them to charge a cancellation fee. I think this should be discussed with the manager.

I'm not so dubious, at least when the consumption of gluten-containing substances is taken in conjunction with the amount of food people have been able to – and do – eat in the Western world today. I'm basing this conjecture on very limited, empirical evidence, but I think it is suggestive. I have unpleasant problems with wheat and a number of other starch-based substances: no suggestion of celiac disease, but instead, upper respiratory-tract symptoms, alarmingly rapid joint swelling, and a sense of general malaise. However, if I've fasted the entire day, I can eat a bunch of croissants, or a big batch of potatoes, and suffer little more than a runny nose. I know about a dozen or so other people who have problems similar to mine (if we get together and indulge in those things that we love but with which we have problems, the gathering looks like a hay fever convention), and who respond similarly to the overall amount of food consumed over the course of the day, which does suggest that this plays a significant role in individual response to problematic substances in food. Hardly conclusive, but a suggestive pattern. For thousands of years, even 'enough food, most of the time' was inconceivable for most. Most people ended up fasting fairly often, and those who couldn't handle that presumably were less likely to survive/reproduce. Today, overeating can actually be difficult to avoid, and with that, it's hardly surprising that people's overloaded systems are responding far more emphatically to potentially problematic substances in our food. Given the pervasiveness of both overeating and wheat (anyone who reads ingredient labels is aware of how pervasive wheat is, even where you wouldn't expect to find it), that allergies and intolerances can worsen over time with ongoing expsure to the allergen/irritant, increased awareness of the condition, and improved diagnostic techniques, the apparent explosion of celiac disease diagnoses doesn't seem surprising. You'd lose weight too if you were faced with the choice of gluten free bread or nothing. I admit that gluten-free bread (like most would-be substitutes) is relatively wretched, but the weight-loss aspect goes beyond that: I've lost breathtaking amounts of weight, even with not-infrequent breakfasts featuring a lot of bacon and sausage (Wasa and carrots are involved too, but that doesn't cancel out the other items... and I don't do 'lite', 'lo-cal', or fat-free).

Is it this model (e.g. http://www.amazon.de/Rösle-Küchengeräte-Passetout-Siebeinlagen-Edelsthl/dp/B003HIK7K0/ref=sr_1_40?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1317491427&sr=1-40, on German amazon, which would be my best bet, since I'm in Denmark)? I don't mind paying a bit, if the product quality is good.

skyhskyh, leaving aside the 'touch' bestowed by the magical caffeine pixies, before you make any decisions, you need to be clear on what you consider 'a good cup of coffee'. Neither spending nor saving a bundle is going to do you much good if the end result is simply a kind of coffee you don't happen to like.

Giving this a major bump, since I'm planning on getting a food mill, and the prices are all over the map, which I have a hunch has more to do with the various brands' perceptions of themselves, than (necessarily, anyway) actual quality. Who's making reliable units these days?

The dough looks a bit warm/the butter may have been a bit thick (but it's a bit hard to tell). More details, please?

There is no 'best' kind of coffee maker, just 'preferred'/'reliable'. I like a moka best, but for some reason, have never been able to get predictable results on a glass-ceramic stovetop (the only sort of stovetop to which I have access these days), so I'm now happy to rely on the Silvia (which, incidentally, I got my boyfriend for his birthday--many thanks to weinoo's recommendations--so I wouldn't give up hope yet, PassionateChefsDie).

As a general rule, if I use the sink or any surface for cleaning/prepping something that may bear pathogens (produce, meat, whatever), I just clean very thoroughly after I'm done, and forget about it. On the surface-materials front, I go with non-porous surfaces that can withstand high temperatures and chemical abuse (i.e. plastic and wood surfaces are only used for things that can be safely eaten 'as is').

Seconded.

I'm still trying to repeat one of my attempts to reconstruct a pumpkin chestnut soup I once had at someone's club, but for which I never got the recipe. On this particular occasion, I inadvertently completely reduced and caramelized an entire pot of chicken broth in which I was simmering some chestnuts (got sucked into a detective novel, and didn't look up until a delicious smell yanked me out of a small English village), which I then pureed (apart from the half dozen or so chestnuts I ate right out of the pot because they tasted so fantastic). The soup was incredible--not identical to the one I was trying to reproduce, but even better. Unfortunately, I'd paid little attention to what I'd added to the broth in terms of seasoning, or the amounts of chestnuts or broth, so I've never been able to reproduce those results. Hell.