AlaMoi

okay, it's just my own personal experience cooking stuff , , , but using dried pulses/beans/peas/lentils produces a seriously superior final dish than "canned" stuff texture is different - basically "beans" vs "mush"

for , , , apparently those people lacking in spatulas . . .

depends on the knife condition - all bunged up, 200 grit wet/dry. a touch up, 600 grit wet dry. for a close shave, 1000 grit . . .

I've been using a stainless steel bowl plopped on top of a pot . . . what does silicone bring to the party?

the stroke is from the clamp end toward the free end. the clamp holds the abrasive - stroking toward the clamp will crinkle the abrasive sheet.... for long knives you traverse the length while stroking away from the clamp.

@Norm thanks! couple ingredients I'll need to source - sure looks good!

Norm - how did you do the Cornish hen? I've got two in the freezer - working on 'scrumptious' . . .

"convex" edge sharpening is utterly duck soup. made these for my kids - who 'decline' kitchen technical stuff . . . based on Chad Ward's pubs . . . the "side lever" is a simple guide for steep=chef / not steep=slicer angles. (not shown) wet dry paper clamped, resides on top of the mouse pad (the blue bit...)

uhmmm, okay. that's sane. the mega-biggest issue I have with clubs aka Sam's and Costco , , , is 'the quantity' large qty per "unit" is a proven 'profit margin' issue. works, but regrets , , , is not 'in tune' with current demographics. "baby boomers" are a very large influence - for the next 1o years or so Generation XYZ is a negative influence - not married, no children, no household, just me,me,me,me. every time DW comes up with an internet recipe, I have to reduce it from 12 to dozens of "servings" to two servings. her and me. no left overs. places like Amazon focus on 'max value' - okay. but there is zero value in buying stuff that is eventually thrown away for "non-use" I buy "high end" stuff that has long shelf life at Costco. for meats, one can get USDA Prime grade for less than supermarket USDA Choice. but, the quantity of "Prime" package requires us old geezers/baby boomers/empty nesters . . . to 'freeze the rest' now , , , all honesty applied, , , , frozen any grade fails to meet one's expectations of the listed grade. it is what it is. accept, deny, introvert to some la-la land non-original excuse. some stuff works, some stuff does not.

uhmmmm,,, "a case" ? we buy it dry in a bag. I stock / have all manner of dried beans, barley, rice - 3,4 varieties, pastas of every shape, orzo (ok ok, it's a pasta) they all make their appearance regularly in the cycle of home cooking. 'not fond' - can relate . . . it maintains a chewy consistence. it is not, for example, my choice for a 'stir fry' type dish. works in a stew dish - subject to what percentage is a chewy grain vs. 'other' . . . the one downside to cooking 'such stuff' separately is ... they may miss out on the 'secondary' seasoning effect of being cooked 'with the dish'

we're farro fans - used in 'all the above' + as a 'plain side' as a 'plain side' a couple drops of lemon or lime juice really brightens up the flavor. oh, and moderate salt is required - like potato, the taste is vastly improved with two smidges of salt....

theory holds that two will cook the same as one . . . they may vary a bit because there is meat mass to absorb the heat when the oven is turned off....

don't throw your old style can opener away . . . seems the Asian canners have invented a new can "lip" / "seal" that the side openers do not work on. ran into that problem on some tuna cans from Costco, and more recently on Bumbee Red Salmon can - had to resort to my old P-51 C-Rats opener . . .

DW, for reasons I've never "explored" . . . likes to buy scented soap pumps - kitchen, powder rooms, bath . . . when the kitchen scented pump-foam dispense goes empty, I refill with (diluted) hand soap of the super-cheapo-generic variety. works peachy keen. like 2-3-4 years . . .

this recipe is essentially 100 yrs old + my grandmother arrived as a 3 year old in 1901 - her mother made them, she made them, since 1970 we've made them.... pretty sure the qtys/units, etc must have 'been modified' over the century - my grandmother was born/came from ye' olde' lovable Transylvania of fame . . . . this I copied from her 3x5 card to computer disk . . . lest it get lost . .

there is a product :"Marshmallow Fluff" - would that work?

being the thorough luddite I am . . . I keep a couple dishes/delectables "reserved" for 'the holiday season' . . . . buy/make them, enjoy. no interest in 'freezing' / et.al. for all year consumption. they belong to the season. stollen and panettone great-grandmother cookies - cherry walnut bars, Bad Boy cookies, pizzelle pfeffernuesse (anything) fruitcake & hard sauce orange-pineapple-cranberry relish somehow they become less special when forcibly 'available' all the time.....

imho, there is no difference. hot pan, some oil, (de-stemed) spinach into pan, splash of water for stem . . . cover . . . in 60-120 seconds, it's "done" "wilted" (to me . . . ) would imply spinach leaves deprived of water as 'a plant' spinach leaves subjected to rapid moist (aka steamed) cooking is 'da bombe' many other "issues" with descriptions and "terms" as it applies to such an-in-a-heartbeat cooking of leafy greens.....

(sigh) I need more friends . . .

I use bread flour + semolina. nadda an issue . . .

I am regularly left stunned at the beeeeeeeeeautful loaves produced. I do however have a curiosity question..... what does one do with all those loaves? as an empty nest household fighting the battle of the bulge . . . it would take us a long time to eat all that . . .

I leave the parchment in for the full bake - remove / slide the pizza out of the oven with my cookie sheet peel, then off the parchment onto a rack. I doubt the parchment would last the full bake at 550'F - certainly not the edges, under the crust, probably. everything is "theory" until one gives it a try - then it becomes 'it works' or 'dang what a mess' (g) I recently quite ridiculously got careless 'scooting' the pizza with parchment off the cookie sheet onto the stone. half the pizza&parchment slipped over/sagged over the back side of the stone - onto the rack and continuing "en masse" dropping, all toppings and sauce,,,, to the oven floor. mess? oh what a mess I made . . . 4 hours of 900'F self clean reduced it to ash . . . but the smoke, the smoke, BOSS! de' smoke!

I use parchment because my "peel skills" suck seriously big time . . . I bought "rounds" the same size as the "stone" - so when forming the crust I've got a real good size guide . . . . crust onto parchment, do up the toppings, I use a cookie sheet to slide under the parchment on the counter, and off onto the oven preheated stone.... not much else to say - it's easy, foolproof, lazy, , , , and works!

I use parchment rounds for pizza-on-a-baking-stone. at 450'F the edges of parchment turns brown, is totally crisp, and falls apart if I touch it.... at the tv advertised temps, methinks the parchment "around the edges" would burn and shortly be ash. I'd give it a try in a carefully watched scenario, with fire dousing & heavy handling mitts at the ready - if the parchment is cut to allow only a smidge past the crust edge, it might be okay - but a generous overlap I suspect will not work. next thought . . . . preheating..... just like searing meat in a pan - the pan has to be hot-hot-hot in order to 'sear-and-release' pay no attention to the marketing department's idea of 3 minute to preheat a chunk of granite! pizza dough on an actual hot stone should not stick . . . this is pizza @ 425'F on a parchment round this is pizza at 425'F on a square

it is possible to outlive the usual and customary term of dried beans. that said, and within reason, more simmer time could indeed salvage the situation btw, a three hours soak is not 'a thing' - try overnight.