cyalexa

I remember Bill Knapps! My mother loved their potatoes au gratin. My grandmother used to bake dimes in to our birthday cakes, one for each year. Seems crazy now but we loved it then.

Patti, I keep a stiff rye starter on my counter in a covered jar. I make a new one weekly. When I want to bake I use a little of the rye starter to make a 50% hydration white starter. I switched to a rye starter as a result of this blogpost: http://bewitchingkitchen.com/2013/08/09/sourdough-blues/ If you have not already done so, you may want to visit http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

I freeze a thick paste of basil and olive oil in an ice cube tray. I have never frozen completed pesto. The paste can become pesto or many other things after thawing. I also stack dried leaves and wrap them like a cigar in plastic wrap for freezing. Run your knife through the unwrapped basil cigar, re-wrap and return to the freezer. I have not had success at drying basil and no longer try.

Happy birthday Shelby. Your celebratory food choices are amazing - love them all! Did you order the foie online? Don't cry, I am closer to 60 than you are to 50!

Thanks bobag87. I will have a closer look at my door seals next time. My smoker has an internal probe that appears accurate based on comparisons with my Thermopen. Unfortunately, it is a fairly thick probe and difficult to place in smaller pieces.

I made sourdough (modified Tartine country dough) flatbread with fresh figs, prosciutto, and fontina for diner last night. As soon as I can get more fontina I will make it again! I have a tree in my yard that is very prolific and have been picking about 4 figs per day for a couple weeks. If I recall, you don't live that far north of me and are a gardener - do you have a tree?

bobag87, I am intrigued to see that you have cables that are closed in the door of your smoker. I have been afraid to do that.

The recipe in Peterson's Baking is pretty easy to work with. The pictures below are of my 3rd effort and I was quite pleased with the results. Here is the dough stretched with a coating of crumbs: Here is a line of cherries and slivered almonds on one end: Beginning to roll: On the pan: Finished product: I also made one with cabbage and sour cream:

In addition to the uses upthread: covering things in the microwave on top of the scale; weigh, remove and set aside until needed to make a clean surface on the counter, especially for grating cheese or repeated sifting

Figs (from my garden) in mini-prosciutto cups, topped with blue cheese. Two sweet, salty bites each!

Smithy, thanks for the pudding recipe.

I remember seeing that recipe on the cracker box. Was it good? We sometimes ate City Chicken when I was a child. Was it pork? I only remember that it was breaded squares of something on a stick.

If you think the pudding was good, and it's not too much trouble, I'll take the recipe, thanks. Semifreddo is a good idea. I have never made it so this might be a good reason to give it a try.

Shelby, did you boil or steam the eggs? Also is that a mac and cheese with tomatoes? I love BLTs and need to make my own mayo sometime (been on my list for a while!).

Today I am "processing" a bucket of basil leaves. I only trimmed the about-to-flower stems. It is unlikely that we will have a frost anytime soon so I will continue to have fresh basil in the garden. Would anyone like some epazote seeds? I'll cover the postage inside the US.

Smithy, I might give a cookie recipe a try, care to share? Hi Maedl, we "met" on CooksTalk (I was cindydvm). I have not yet succumbed to the temptation of buying an ice cream-maker. Thanks for that great link. I might try to dry some pulp.

I leave salted leap-frogged chickens uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. Slow roast them to 155F in the breast. Let set on the counter while the oven heats to 550F then crisp the skin. I used to spatchcock but learned the leap-frog method here and far prefer it as it preserves the yummy back.

There will be a bumper crop of wild persimmons on my property this year. I need to find someone that would like to use them.

Have gotten excellent results many times with these techniques: Slow-roasted Standing Rib Roast Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before roasting. Season as desired and tie parallel to bones if they are unattached. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°F (not convection). Roast on rack until internal temperature is 128°F (for rare to medium-rare). This will take approximately 30 minutes per lb for smaller roasts, approximately 45 minutes per lb for larger roasts. Rotate roast and insert thermometer approximately half way through roasting time. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Rest for 20-45 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 500°F about 45 minutes before service. Uncover roast and put in hot oven about 30 minutes before service. Roast until brown and sizzling, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and rest 15-30 minutes before carving. Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder Rub or season shoulder as desired, insert thermometer (dial-type), put in oval, enamel covered cast iron pot. Preheat oven to 350F. Put covered pot in oven and decrease temp to 225F. Remove when it reaches an internal temp of 190F, about 6-7 hours. Turn oven off, roast can stay in turned off oven for a long time if necessary. About 45 minutes before service, remove the LC from the oven and increased the oven temp to 500F. When the oven is hot put the roast on a rack in a shallow pan and put it in the oven until it has nice crust, about 15 minutes.

PIMENTO CHEESE Adapted from Frank Stitt’s Southern Table: Recipes and Gracious Traditions from Highlands Bar and Grill YIELDS: 2 cups 1 pound sharp yellow cheddar 1/4 pound cream cheese, softened 2 large red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped (try microwave to loosen peel?) 3/4 cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoon sugar ¼ tsp hot sauce, such as Tabasco, or to taste ½ tsp Worcester sauce, or to taste Grate the cheddar in a food processor or on the small-holed side of a hand grater. Add the remaining ingredients and blend all together thoroughly. Refrigerate and serve chilled. The spread will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

My technique for serving hot french press coffee: I made a cozy for my press pot with a removable top so it can be used before and after pressing. It's just a piece of that silver bubble-wrap type of insulating packing product secured with a rubber band and a rolled up hot pad for the top. I make the coffee double strength. To serve, add half coffee and half boiling water. If the coffee has already cooled to room temp I find a very short blast in the microwave is enough to get it warm without a cooked taste; the addition of boiling water provides most of the heat.

I'll check out Hollyeats and Chowhound - thanks.

Jane, I'm planning on spending 2-3 days in Nashville and will definitely check out the farmer's market. I think my first night will be in Memphis. I'm leaving OKC on a Sunday morning and have to arrive in Marietta by Tuesday around 4pm. I think I'll try to get to Memphis for my first night. As I am traveling alone I usually try to have an early dinner and be safely locked in my hotel room before dark. Can you recommend a restaurant on the east side of Memphis? I'll probably spend my second night in Birmingham and will try to go to HIghland's. My trip back home will be more leisurely - Nashville and Little Rock will be on the agenda.

Hope the Aldi in my town has them. I cracked one recently.

I'll look for the book, thanks.