Cyberider

I can see from the comments that everyone needs this book as much as I do. On that note, I ordered about ten days ago and Amazon still hasn't shipped it.

Good find, Andie. I recently discovered that Jet.com carries a lot of White Lily and Martha White products at what I consider good prices and deliver quickly. Been eating a lot of corn bread lately and plan on biscuits and gravy as soon as the weather cools off. I like ordering online and not having to go shopping, especially among "Walmartians."

The water has to boil and vaporize in order to build up pressure. Sounds normal to me.

I had a mini-infestation a few months ago. First a few small flies and then more and more but I didn't discover the source until a few weeks later. They turned out to be coming from a recently purchased (several months previously) bag of dry beans. I've never had that problem from a bag of beans before but once I got rid of them, the fly population decreased and, fortunately, didn't get into anything else.

Am looking forward to my copy. I caved in and bought it so I could get free shipping on some other stuff I needed.

And costs as much as a one-pound "brick" of active dry. . .

My late wife was from Tennessee and we used to pick up sorghum syrup when we visited there. Ran out years ago and haven't thought of it in a long time but may have to check availability here in AZ. Good addition to a lot of baked goods!

Agree on both counts. Been riding for transportation my whole life and am over 200K miles. Maybe I'll make a quarter-million if I don't get run over! As for hot peppers, I've only developed a taste for them late in life but put them in anything I can. Not only that, but they're supposed to be good for us as long as we don't overdo like a few have.

A consideration when baking cookies is the need to be rotating baking sheets. The baking pan supplied with the BSO takes advantage of the BSO's depth and there is room for 16 cookies from a 1" (I think) scoop. The readily available 1/4 sheet pan isn't as deep and only holds 12 cookies. If I were frequently baking cookies in the BSO, I would consider purchasing a second Breville pan to get the job done faster. (Breville pan with cookies. These are oatmeal, wheat germ, chocolate chip cookies I make frequently from a recipe I got online about 15 years ago. Delicious.)

Won't work because I'm skinny and don't drink.

Uh, oh. I've managed to go nearly a year without acquiring any cookbooks but Dorie's Cookies sounds tempting. It's in my Amazon cart but I haven't yet pushed the button. Will someone please talk me out of it?

Welcome to the forums! There's a lot of knowledge here and it sounds like you can add some of your own.

At an early age, my mother taught me how to poach eggs in an egg poacher. Slightly later, my grandmother taught me how to make an "egg in a hole." That was cutting a hole in a piece of bread, dropping an egg in the hole, and frying the egg and bread together. I still have "egg in a hole" frequently.

I haven't found a frozen chicken pot pie that tastes as good as what I had as a youngster, 50 or 60 years ago.. Not sure what changed, me, them, or both!

Was contemplating these at the store last weekend and if they had used the chocolate cookie I would have gotten some.

This is very tempting, even if I already have two or three dozen books specifically on bread. However, I plan to sit it out and wait to see what the verdict is when it comes out. Being a traditionalist, I'm always a bit suspicious about anything modernist.

I like just about any kind of bean. If it doesn't have enough flavor on it's own, there are plenty of things to season it with. When the weather is cool and I have the time, I'll cook a pot of dry beans and freeze the leftovers. If I have no leftovers, a can of beans is quick and handy. I rarely have meat at home so beans are a good alternative source of protein. Beans are an amazing food and a staple for me. Love 'em!

Call me old fashioned but I like the "throw-back" ticking mechanical timer. Heck, my old Toastmaster didn't have a timer at all and I used a wind-up mechanical plastic chicken-shaped timer with it. Anyway, the Oster wins for me, digital or manual. In my mind, the only thing "smart" about the Breville is the marketing and, yes, I was taken in. The Oster can do anything the BSO can plus a lot of things it can't. Decided that side-by-side took up too much counter space so I've stacked them so. I'll use the BSO for small things and the DDO for large things. Between the two of them, I don't expect to ever have to buy another portable oven in my lifetime. In the meantime, the weather is becoming more conducive to baking in the Arizona desert and I expect to do a lot of it this Fall and Winter. Happy Baking!

Very interesting on steam vs boiling. As for broccoli, I microwave it frequently. I first microwave the stems and then put in the florets and finish them all off together. Apparently, there are several varieties of broccoli and it seems to me that the ones with the coarser florets have a stronger, more bitter, taste and odor. For that reason, I try to buy only the fine-floretted varieties.

Thanks for all of the interesting answers. I do most of my vegetable cooking in glass bowls with glass lids. I don't add any water to steam in as the vegetables seem to have enough of their own and, indeed, there is usually a little liquid in the bowl after cooking. At least until I retire and have more time, I'll probably continue microwaving most things. It's nice to know the alternatives, though.

When my wife died fifteen years ago, I dutifully followed her cooking examples as closely as I could. One thing she did was to steam vegetables so I did the same. I noticed that the water left in the steamer was of the color of the vegetable when it was ready and I wondered how much flavor and nutrition was lost to the water? I also didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking when I got home from work because I was tired and hungry so began microwaving my vegetables, without any added water, instead. My question is, which is better and why? Are there some vegetables that respond better to one method or the other? Is there any reason not to microwave? I've been wondering for many years but never thought to ask. . .

I never cook meat at home but will eat it if I'm out. However, I don't really care for prepared foods, much preferring to put the individual ingredients together myself. A good recipe for veggie burgers, sure. Already prepared veggie "meat," no.

One more pizza in the BSO. This time, I preheated for two minutes after the "preheat" beep before I put the pizza in so that it would be close to the set temperature. Again, I didn't bother to rotate it during baking because it seemed to come out evenly enough baked the last time. It came out pretty close to perfect at the end of the pre-programmed time. It was actually darker than it appears in the photograph. The BSO works well for pizza and anything that isn't too large or too tall. If one can live with these limitations and has limited counter space it would be a good choice though I imagine there are less expensive options that would do as well.

Baked brownies Saturday in the ODO. Why the tall ODO for brownies? Because the usual 9" X 13" pan with "tabs" for handles will not fit in the BSO. This goes for 9" X 13" pyrex baking dishes too. Note that there is plenty of room in the ODO. While we're on the ODO, the control knobs are large and very solid feeling compared to the wobbly controls on the BSO. Needless to say, there was no problem baking the brownies.

Guess it's time for me to 'fess up that I have a "few" cook books. Before my wife died 15 years ago, I had a few baking books and she had a few cook books. In the interim, I found it comforting to read about all kinds of food and recipes and found a number of economical sources to feed my habit. I rarely cook or bake directly from a recipe but just use them for ideas and hope for the best. I have a weakness for large and beautiful cookbooks even if they are less than useful for actually cooking/baking from. In addition to what you see, I probably have half again as many spread out in my regular library shelves with other books. Yes, I have slowed down considerably but occasionally find one that I "can't live without."