Mjx

I have the same problem: Can't afford it, so I'm biding my time until further editions come along, and the price drops a bit. The chemistry and physics grab me a bit more than the gadgets.

I've always thought of heavy cream as one of those single-ingredient things (unlike 'convenience' creams that are pre-sweetened, or intended for coffee). The Homemade butter topic opened my eyes to the fact that, in many places, heavy cream containing various additives is the norm, to the point that finding unadulterated versions is almost impossible. In Denmark, there doesn't seem to be any difficulty in finding plain heavy cream: The stuff I have in the refrigerator, purchased at the local Fakta chain, lists cream as its only ingredient, and indicates a fat content of 38% (it is 'økologisk', which is roughly equivalent to 'organic'). Does the heavy cream you find in your area tend to be unadulterated, or does it contain extras? And, if it does contain extras, what are they, and what's the fat content of the cream?

That's amazing, at least to me. You'd think they'd have at least one version that was unadulterated. You might have luck finding pure cream at a health food store or farmer's market.

The Cook's Illustrated recipe for lemon layer cake (March & April 2007) involves a lemon filling that uses gelatin as a thickener, as well whole eggs and yolks. CI is pretty reliable, in my experience.

Could the cream you got hold of be specially intended for coffee? I've never heard of stabilizers being present in other sorts of cream (I just took a look at the supermarket cream we have in the fridge, and it contains only cream [38% fat]; I always have to be careful to not turn it into butter when I'm whipping it). Although it may not be the only culprit, it seems to me that carageenan would definitely interfere with breaking, since that's part of the reason it's there. Carageenan is also a thickener, which suggest that the fat level is fairly low, making it less than ideal for butter production.

The caramelized apricot that Steven was kind enough to provide a picture of, from his dinner at elBulli. I cannot stop thinking about it, and keep going back to the image to look at it. I want to know how to make this, even if it may prove technically impossible outside a specialized restaurant kitchen. It is self-containedly perfect.

If the yolk:white ratio is pretty close (I don't know where you could find this information, however) to that of a chicken egg, you could just beat them, and then measure out an amount of beaten egg that equals that required by the recipe.

Dessert blintzes, mayhap? Cherry and blueberry blintzes are wonderful things.

Andie, thanks: I would never have guessed that these juicers were intended to be used this way (this is not an intuitive design).

Paying for plastic (and some paper) bags has been standard here for about a decade, and runs from DKK2 to DKK4.50 (about 40 to 75 US cents each, if I've done the math correctly). I've never actually bought a bag, though, since like most people do here, I bring a backpack/reusable cloth shopping bag(s). I didn't realize this was happening in North America, too.

One thing I often bring back with me is Ghirardelli hot chocolate mix, it's almost guaranteed that what she'll be able to find in this category will be a bit dismal (she could make a mix herself from available ingredients, but if she's not much of a cook, she probably won't want to go there). BTW, write something like 'Happy birthday' all over the box; some friends of mine advised me to do this, since otherwise, there is the chance that she'll be required to pay an import tax, if the authorities decide that what you've sent is 'merchandise', even if it should be pretty evident that it's a care package.

All the restaurant dreams I recall, involve either trying to find a bathroom window to escape from, because I'm dining with a bore, or I'm trying to tell someone at table with me about something dreadful in their food or drink (I think I recall... a raw human eyeball in someone's coffee?), but can't, because I'm afraid of being accused and executed for killing the individual whose body part in the other person's food. Or, suddenly realizing I'm stark naked, and worrying that I'm going to be yelled at for this inexplicable transgression (and frantically trying to recall whether I left home like this, or my clothing just, you know, vanished). Yet, I haven't had particularly unpleasant restaurant experiences (although I have seriously considered escaping by a window from a boring dinner date).

I have no idea of the costs involved, but could this situation be tied in any way to it being financially risky for places that sell both, to invest heavily in both coffee and baked goods?

I saw this marinade as a way of giving game flavours to non-game mear. I'd like to try this with pork, to see if I can get a gamier hog/boar flavour. Does anyone know other flavours to use or even methods of cooking to give normal meat that extra dimension? gfweb has a point, these seasonings can't make meat taste more gamey (although they are popular seasoning with game, so it might evoke game dishes, even in the absence of gaminess). The best bet for adding a game-y note would be incorporating fat from game into the your recipe, although game animals do tend to be pretty lean. I had some rendered deer fat for a while, that I used in a lot of things. You could also try aging the meat.

Peeled and pulled apart as though it were an orange. Membranes and pith partially eaten. This makes a terrific mess, and I do not this around other people!

What sort of tastes does she have, and would things like spices or kitchen utensils be an option? I spend a lot of time in Denmark, and from what I've heard, things are quite similar in Norway: relatively limited selection when compared to what you'd find in a similarly-sized US city, high prices (incl. 25% tax), and things you take for granted in the US are priced as luxury items (you can pay the equivalent of USD50 for a Microplane grater, and OXO utensils start at about USD20). If she has favourite herbs, spices, or other seasonings, odds are good she won't find them there. Same holds for many teas, not to mention, grape jam is unheard of, and Heinz's ketchup is much thinner.

The moment I saw that, I suspected one of the Northern European companies, such as Grohe or hansgrohe, since that seems a popular design with them. I believe the thinking behind this arrangement is that push/pull is more intuitive, or easier with wet hands than left/right.

I'd just get some of those little circular stickers (get white ones, and colour them in with markers, then you can use the rest to mark herb jars or something), and affix them to either side of the lever. That unit looks identical to ones I've seen here, and they're never installed facing forwards, but facing to the right, so Hot and Cold are actually related to 'push' and 'pull'.

The risk of burns is a reasonable concern, but everything I recollect on that matter has had more to do with unsupervised children playing in the kitchen/particularly hot water coming out of the faucet (close to boiling). If the plumbing is altered, but the control handle can't be reversed, so the hot/cold markings no longer match the actual temperatures, this would still present the possibility of unpleasant surprises.

Looking forward to following your blog... and Happy Passover!

I'd leave it, unless you really enjoy messing about with plumbing/paying plumber's fees. In two weeks, you probably won't give it another thought.

Agreed. I'm just wondering whether the labelling is regulated in any way. Purely academic curiosity.

Not with the product I was talking about: That was clearly labelled (I know not everyone reads ingredient lists, but it's still the consumer's responsibility to check). What I'm wondering about is whether meat bits that are bonded together with transglutaminase are labeled as such. If not, I'd consider that deceptive.

Did they contain actual crab? The things I'm talking about definitely had no crab in them (according to the ingredient list), but were described as 'crab style', or something of that sort. But if you did read the label, you knew what you were getting.

Can't argue with that: Meat costs plenty, even when you're not defrauded outright. I'm a bit confused, however, since I'd expect the USDA to require that this be mentioned, as is the case with 'enhanced' pork, and 'crab' sticks that are a sort of melange of everything (but crab). The .pdf file of Rules and Regulations Federal Register Vol. 68, No. 82 Tuesday, April 29, 2003 discusses the use of transglutaminase in meat briefly and non-specifically, but does list a contact (p. 10, middle column, about halfway down).