AlaMoi

butter melts at roughly 90-95F coconut oil melts about 20 degrees less - there's a lot of temp variation depending on how refined / etc coconut oil is - even tho a recipe may call for melted butter, when the product cools the butter does not remain melted. I suspect the coconut oil is simply remaining liquid after the cookies cool.

well, one can hardly debate the issue of tiny dough ball in huge mixer bowl.... but that said, with a KSM5P and "standard" dough hook, it works. keeping in mind - the dough hook is actually not supposed to tear through / divide / separate the dough at every revolution. first it mixes, then it kneads. banging a lump of dough against the bowl - imitation of what one does on a bench when "kneading" a hunk of dough.... but - - - at a much higher squish-per-minute-rate. my 5 capacity model does one pizza crust or one bread loaf qty without issue. I can envision an 8 qt bowl not hooking up to 'standard' for 'one each' quantities....

by tradition, every year prior to (USA) Thanksgiving I go thru my knives and decide which need attention. the heaviest used are a 7" santoku and the 8" chef. DW likes the 6" chef.... so I gave that a complete edge re-do. note: I use a steel at just about every extraction from the block. basically my knives rarely get to a 'dull' stage....but the finish angle does morph over time - and does benefit from a "complete" re-grind/re-set now and then. today I dragged out the Edge Pro - printed out my 'sharpening log' for reference.... used the 220 grit to re-establish the basic edge, + 600 grit to polish - or in the case of the chef knives - double bevel the edges. the santoku I re-ground and polished down to 18 degrees. don't stare - it'll cut you.... this whole escapade took roughly 20 minutes per knife. the drive to post office takes longer.... if one is serious about knife care and sharpness, 'doing-it-yo-self' is highly recommended. it's not hard, it does not take long. note: I don't do or recommend or think about "motorized" sharpening. just isn't necessary - and can be grossly harmful.

I've seen the funny business inside and outside of profit/non-profit. people abuse their position, their authority, their privilege. absolutely zilch comma zero question about that. true personally known example: economic downturn all over-night travel required signature authorization from VP or above. then: VP takes private limo to NYC VP flies Concorde/SST to London VP stays overnight in London - one of the most expensive cities at the time. VP takes next day connecting flight to final destination. rules only apply to peons. peons take 12 stop connecting flights to save the company $100 on airfare.... VP fly Concorde and stay in lux overnight accommodations before a direct non-stop connecting flight the next day. Citigroup was the same - thousands for shower curtains in their executive bathroom and thousands for umbrella stands in the foyer of their private office suites.....

search "how to sharpen recurved knife" multiple approaches.....

something's a tad wonky. the USA site gives nutritional info, and there's 5-7 grams of sugar in the sandwich(es) a single slice of "brand name" type breads has 4 grams. I know many 'chains' adapt their seasonings to local tastes - I wonder if the Irish Subway bread is intentionally made 'extra sweet'

these are DW's favorite - actually just one among many favorites... essentially home fries - can be done with any variety - these are small red Pontiac. sliced, par-boiled ~8-10 minutes pan fried in very little olive oil. individually spaced and flipped - which makes the dish impractical for large quantities - this for two:

how do I cook thee? let me carrot the ways . . . there's the concept of glazed carrots - this implies a bit of sweetness.... julienne the carrots - parboil about 8-10 minutes drain, leave 1 tbsp water add real maple syrup (fake stuff does not work....) continue to cook as the bubbles get smaller the maple syrup has thickened and coated the carrots. the trick to this method is not to overcook them in the parboil stage. the temp of a sugar syrup goes up dramatically as it thickens - one does not want to turn the carrot strips to mush.....

does that make her a beefess?

my kids don't get all too excited when I break out the Edge-Pro....seems doing it right is a problem for them. so I made the a simple concave sharpening "block" - based on Chad Ward instructions: some maple, a cut up mouse pad - all stainless hardware. provided basic instructions, a variety of wet/dry grits cut to size. as a added feature a side bar to assist in 'getting the right angle' the gadgets are getting rave reviews from all two kids and one son-in-law....

did you flour/coat the okra? I've found at seriously hot/fast saute produces the best non-gooey result using frozen pcs. definitely one of the most under appreciated veggies - albeit definitely requires proper prep/cooking!

for USA, don't forget the Federal Government decided it knew better what good food was. my wife witnessed 80-90% of the new and healthy food going into the garbage can.

I served in half-a-dozen US Navy ships. the quality of the food varied rather a lot - and the ingredients all came from the same supplier(s), and they all had the same budget $ per person. some chefs are more talented than others.... places that have long service hours - schools, etc - have a challenge keeping food 'instantly' available for hours. I've noticed that places which do a 'better job' tend to make stuff in multiple, smaller batches - a small batch is served, and a fresh batch arrives.

my experience has been much more simple. when the dough doesn't clear the bowl with the dough hook, it's too wet. gets back to the elasticity / pane test / etc. pretty good indicator, actually. one adds flour just a heaping tablespoon at a time - WAIT for the incorporation. it takes 4-5 minutes to incorporate and hydrate the added flour. meaning . . . adding too much in haste is not a good thing.

thanks - is it the general opinion the reference to "orange" is an orange liqueur? (vs. 'orange juice'? - that's not on the shelf, 'nuther trip to the state store....) appreciate the link - proportions in less than "cups of" work better for me. the lemon/lime juice/twist I see as variations on a theme -

DW had this at a resto - and liked it. only the first mixed drink she's ever liked . . . . the title is how it appears on their drinks card. I looked up solstice - had no idea the solar solstice was such and knee walking event!! all kinds of things concocted. the closest I found to this combo uses orange liqueur (such as Cointreau) - silly me, I assumed it would be orange juice... any opinions on the orange and (?) lemon juice ideas on proportions also welcome! ps: I'm a mixed drink dummy - ice is about the only I use.....

I think for his day, he was potentially more than less correct. what he did not foresee is technology advances that now enable fishing fleets to virtually scoop all the fish out of the ocean in one pass . . .

anyone else old enough to remember Jacques Cousteau telling us the infinite bounty of the sea can feed the world . . .

around here, a quick trip to a lousy restaurant usually cures any loss in kitchen interest.

we've had heritage pork a number of times in restaurants and it's always been super good. but finding it even at a butcher shop can be very difficult. last week dining in a local/farm-to-table/grassfed/etc etc resto I asked why no heritage breeds (they own half a farm....) and they said it does not sell well. go figger. with their sub-specialty of local/responsible foods, one would think their clientele would go wild over it. btw, a bit of trepidation on the visit - all their beef is explicitly listed as grassfed. but I had a dry aged grassfed ribeye done med-rare that was one of the best restaurant steaks I've ever had....

I have finally found a local source for retail Berkshire pork - Rooster Street/Lititz, PA. many mail order sources - but with two people, I really don't need half-a-hog..... so - what is the most succulent cut on a Berkshire?

I suspect the weight loss was poetic exaggeration. altho..... my father came up with a old floor mounted water bath grinding wheel, originally peddle powered, which he adapted an electric motor. used for axes, etc. - but in short order every pocket knife and kitchen knife resembled a steel toothpick....

I use a mini-blender. rather classic . . . olive oil+yolk+white wine vinegar+dijon+garlic+anchovy filets x 3-4 or more....I like 'em but I don't add the parm to the dressing - I grate it off a block at home. no green can stuff. sprinkle on romain prior to dressing. curiously ... of late I have been using extra virgin olive oil (Kirkland). it quite noticeably makes for thicker/creamier than my usual olive oil. don't know why or the mechanics of it - but it makes a serious difference. edit to add: the mustard acts as an emulsification "aid" - I don't recommend going light on the Dijon.

I got the 3. have not used the coarsest stone all that much - but the 1000 frequently to mirror polish on my slicers (brought down to 18') get the magnet accessory - very helpful. as I recall, 2011 when I bought the kit I priced some of the stones as extra/separate/'maybe later' and decided to go for the fullest kit and be done with it. never regretted. what's nice about the DIY thing is being able to put sturdier angle (22') on the chef's / heavy duty knives, but a sharper angle on the slicers. I use thickness sticks and a 10" slicer to peel off 3/16" thick beef slices for roulladen - also skins fish like nobody's scales.....

not to rain on any parades, but supermarkets rather frequently put up "loss leaders" to stimulate business. i.e. an item priced at/below cost to attract a crowd....