Margaret Pilgrim

I am an embarrassment to this forum. A wart on its nose. I deep fry in a dedicated 50 cent garage sale Calphalon pot using 2 cups of oil. I turn on kitchen fan and crank up stovetop to high, wait until oil shimmers, then toss in a bread cube. Fry battered prawns or chicken, potatoes, moderating heat when necessary.. Meanwhile, back in the cave,..

LOL or wincing in pain. I have a CSO, but no yogurt maker, pressure cooker, rice cooker or crockpot. It seems I've been limping along with pots and pans, stovetop and oven. Our microwave has a dial. I think it's from the early '80s. One of these days, I'll learn how to use the CSO beyond simple bake.

Oh my, now I need a Thermomix in addition to the Joule? eta, I have been completely happy with my Osterizer that was given to me as a college graduation present, which was "a few years ago"!

Every day here I read about some apparatus' extraordinary usefulness. While I have a lot, really too many, appliances, there remain a lot I don't have. So I thought I'd ask advice on what you all considered really worth the storage or counter space. Starting out, air fryer. Tell me why or that I need one. I see the luscious looking stuff coming out of yours. Are the differences in final product or mostly calories saved. Sous vide apparatus Please add your own queries.

Bingo!

My minimum requirement for a decent restaurant is "would I be happy to serve this food to a guest in my home?". If not, why am I wasting my time and money.

Amen, Bro.

Heartiest congratulations and felicitations! Well done.

Ooof. I just took a picture off the web of the style. I bought mine from the "dollar lady" at the flea market. You know the pegboard kitchen utensils at your local supermarket? Rather than fill in stock, it is cheaper for the jobber to replace whole categories. He then sells the mishmash to flea market vendors. Lots of what I buy from her is preticketed from 5.99 to 9.99. I would just make sure that it is metal, seems to have a good connection top to bottom and feels good in your hand. I should cost around $8. My guesstimate. You put the fruit in cut side down, which is slightly counterintuitive.

Try to hang on to some. It only gets better. Then add a splash to chocolate desserts, cakes. A couple of tablespoons will keep ice cream from getting too hard. (Of course, you can always have a nip or so with coffee after dinner.)

Lemon/lime squeezer. I have used a wooden reamer, any number of small glass or plastic reamers, and then this. It does the most complete job effortlessly. Strains at the same time.

The first thing I notice upon being seated in a restaurant is the quality of the flatware. Your knife and fork should feel good. They will be your "transport" for the entire meal.

I am reminded of a little place in Florence, Il Padrone, maybe. All housemade pastas. And after the waiter had served the table, this head would pop out of the pass, the chef, looking to see our reactions. It became almost a game, with our showing our pleasure and his beaming his appreciation.

Probably 15 years ago we happened on a garage sale where a jilted lover was selling his ex-partner's toys, among them this Simac ice cream maker, then somewhere a nickel under $500...for $35. Instruction booklet included. Today, in the country where this beast lives, temp of 98 is forecast -> PEACH ICE CREAM! Husband enjoyed the dasher and bowl for 10:30am snack. The rest is curing in freezer for later on. Saying good-bye to the last of the Elbertas.

Bouncing off a review of an exchange between Eric Ripert and Bourdain re fine dining, I started musing about how I/we prefer a night out. Asked this question, i always used to gush how we loved "fine dining". And I guess we did then. But now I'm just as happy with bare table tops and odd (but comfortable) chairs. A single flower in a Perrier bottle makes me as happy as a $1000 arrangement. I care about the food, how well the chef's intentions come across on the plate, the sensibilities of the people dining around us. (Don't tell me I've gone Brooklyn!) But we are finding delight in holes in the wall where the chef is living his dream...until he finds he isn't making any money and goes upscale, most of the time losing a lot of charm and soul the process. But what joy he brought us until then. You?

Same here but I have the Oster attachment. I almost never use my regular food processor. This chops raw and cooked meat, veggies, nuts, cheese. I'd be lost without it. I have one in town and one in the country, both flea market purchases at $10 a piece. They are no longer made but available used or ebay. Oster model 5900. Also several handheld ceramic mandolins. French working jars for both storage and making mayo. A wisk just fits inside for instant emulsions.

Near 100 today. Still taking the easy way out with dinner. Pillsbury pizza dough circle (half price from Grocery Outlet) baked on oven floor. Sauce from freezer. Surprisingly decent considering ingredients and effort. Starter of red peppers.

I'm so glad YOU said it. I have very little faith in their recipes. I thought it was just me.

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Arrive in the country. DH asks for something simple for dinner. "Hamburger". Some "different hamburger" Channeling the old SF Hippo teriyaki burger, I found the "Becker burger" in Joy of Cooking. Essentially, cook burger until slightly under desired doneness. Anoint with soy and port with dash of hot sauce. Off heat, cover for 5 minutes and serve over a slice of whole wheat toast. Okay. I can do that. Side of dressed bean sprouts. I won't say that it was disgusting, but it came mighty close. If this is the Becker family favorite burger, I'm happy to claim no relationship. This concept might have legs with a Marchand de vin sauce poured over after cooking, or green peppercorn sauce or.... but not reduced soy/port.

96+ F degrees here today. Baguette and soppressata and a bowl of cool tzatziki and a bowl of Thompson grapes and another of sliced peaches.

Fabulous! I always roll my eyes when I read on the carton that the hens have been fed a vegetarian diet. Poor deprived hens! There is no such thing as a naturally vegetarian chicken.

Another esoteric rat is the coypu or nutria. I have seen nutria meat (as well s pelts and pelt products) for sale at farmer's markets in France.

So how do you crack your eggs? it seems everyone is now touting cracking eggs on a flat surface rather than edge of pan or other sharp edge. I'm a pan-edge cracker, but willing to learn. So I've started cracking eggs on the flat stovetop. They never open with one whack, and many/most times the yolk is broken. So I'm not convinced and am going back to my old wrong ways. And do you think that kind of egg makes any difference on shell toughness? Supermarket, organic, cage free, free range, pasture, farm?

For us this morning, lazy country breakfast. Corned beef hash (out of a can) with sunny side up eggs. Sliced peaches. Coffee.

Good habit. There was a family joke that one aunt could make a cup of tea and dirty half the pots, dishes and silverware in the kitchen while her sister could put on a dinner for 10 and have one tablespoon dirty at the end of service. I soon learned which to emulate.