Tropicalsenior

Actually, the accessories are appropriate to the product because my instant pot is a Chinese knockoff supposedly by Telstar. But it has nothing to do with Telstar it's just a knock off. I love it anyway. It has 15 settings plus manual and I haven't even figured out what three quarters of them do. I got it just because my old Oster pressure cooker blew up and I needed a new pressure cooker. I didn't realize what I had until I got on the Internet to try and figure it out how to use it. The manual that came with it was written by some poor Chinese person who had a limited knowledge of English, and apparently no knowledge at all of the product he was writing about. Since I've learned to use it, I use it almost everyday. Right now, you can see that I have a cheesecake cooling in it.

Here are the toys that I found for my instant pot. Because I live in Costa Rica, I can neither find things for it here nor can I order them from Amazon. I found these in my favorite little Chinese supply store. It's a double Chinese steamer that I paid $12 for and each rack was a dollar a piece.

That asparagus was not your fault. I have been cooking with a microwave for many years. Yes, cooking with one. I learn to use them many years ago when I was working in restaurants, and I love mine, especially for vegetables. But, saying that, I have found out that there are two vegetables that you cannot cook in a microwave. Asparagus and green beans. For asparagus, I put them in a shallow skillet with a little bit of water for about 3 minutes until the water evaporates then put in butter and lemon juice for about 2 minutes and they are done. I do cover them with a lid.

All his life, my father had a "delicate" stomach. He only ate meat and potatoes, salt no pepper, "it would have killed him". Butter only on his sandwiches, " condiments would have killed him". After my sister married and left home, she used to bake a chocolate cake for him and loved watching him eat every bite. It was a mayonnaise cake. She was a mean woman! but oh how he love that cake and not even a twinge in the stomach.

I would love to be able order spices and other things but unfortunately Costa Rica has a terrible customs system. First, if it's green leaf something or a seed, they want to send it for analysis that you pay for. Second, their tax system is such that you pay almost as much in taxes as the product cost. Third, things get lost all the time, in other words, if it's something they want they just take it. It's almost impossible for an ordinary citizen to go to customs to pick something up so you have to deal with a Courier agency that further adds to the cost. If you want something from the states, you just about have to have a friend bring it in. For example, I wear a 38D brassiere and I have a friend from Argentina that brings a specific brand in for me from Buenos Aires. Thank you for the suggestion and believe me, if it were feasible I would certainly take it.

Thank you so much for all the information. I am interested in everything and I will check all of these out. And I am finding out about all these great people.

Thank you for letting us know about the blog address. Your food always looks great and it is good to know that we can have the recipe. I am new to this whole Forum business but I am going to see if I can do the same.

I agree! The instant pot is the only way to go. I have a lot of time on my hands but I can think of a lot of ways that I'd rather spend it then stirring cornmeal for an hour and a half.

I live in Costa Rica so I am unable to find a lot of the spices and herbs and Specialty Foods but can make a special dish really special. I would be interested to know the substitutions and homemade condiments that others have used in my situation. I like to cook good food and I believe that this forum is going to help me a lot.

My husband hated stroganoff so for years I fed him beef with mushroom sauce and sour cream. He loved it.