Tropicalsenior

Bureau of Land Management. It is federal owned land.

If you look far enough into the recipe that @weinoo gave, you will find this recipe for Japanese curry powder. https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-curry-powder/ I know that the recommendations from @Duvel are always good but there are some of us that just don't have access to these products so making it ourselves is the only option.

I'm fairly pleased with the longevity of my Hamilton Beach. My first one lasted 5 years and I noticed on the photo information that I bought this one exactly 4 years ago. I live in Costa Rica so my selection is pretty Limited. Either I get the cheap ones from China or the super expensive Imports. Which incidentally, are also made in China. I managed to find this one in PriceSmart which is our version of Costco. Wasn't terribly expensive so I don't feel bad about replacing them if they don't last up to expectation.

I too would go with a standard countertop convection oven and a very small microwave which is exactly what I have done. I have a Hamilton Beach convection oven that I love. It is 15 in high and the shelf above it is another 6 in up which is plenty. I have an 800 w microwave and I do a lot of cooking in my microwave. I had always gone with the big ones until I got a little one to use while my big one was being repaired. I wound up giving the big one away. My oven only goes to 450°, but I have found that that is enough to cook a very decent Pizza. I make cakes in it and bread and just about anything that you can think of. One thing that I really like about it is that it has an extremely low setting and I can use that to make yogurt.

I haven't been posting much on this topic lately because with my diminishing capabilities in the kitchen our meals are nourishing but visually pretty boring. But the last couple nights I did take some pictures. Asparagus is something that you rarely find here and when you do it is prohibitively expensive but the last few weeks I've been able to find it at a really good price and we are taking advantage of it. This was a breaded pork cutlet with asparagus and lemon, butter sauce. Although it is the rainy season here, it is still hotter than the hubs of hell in the afternoons. I decided to make a shrimp Louie with a base of romaine lettuce and avocado slices and a Crab Louie dressing. It was delicious and practically no after dinner clean up which was a real bonus in this heat.

That's the beauty of doing them in the instant pot. I have never had one of them crack.

I guess they would be handy if you like eating in bed.

The book is also available as an ebook. That's how I have it and it is one of the better ones to be able to read online.

I was just about to answer this but Patrick beat me to it. I agree completely with the idea that it is in the shaping. I have a pebbly glass tablet that I use for shaping the dough and I used to shape it without using any extra flour. I found out that the drag of the board sometimes prevented proper tension. Now I use just a tiny sprinkling of flour and it helps to eliminate pockets and makes for smoother surface.

In Costa Rica, hot dogs are sold with plastic skins that must be removed before cooking. I don't think there's a gringo here that hasn't thrown a hot dog on the barbie and wound up with melted plastic skin the first time. My friend Lenora couldn't figure out why would they would wrap them in plastic to sell them. I had to explain that they were made that way and that they were just too lazy to take off the skin before they sold them.

That was so true here. However now the only special International sections that you find are Italian and Chinese.

When we moved to Costa Rica 34 years ago, if we wanted a product from the states, we had to go to a specialty store. And they were super expensive. Today, I would estimate that 30% of the products on the grocery stores are from the states or from Europe. I can't even estimate the amount of products that are US copycats. And many of the copycats are more expensive than the imported products. A recent example that I saw was 12 oz of Walmart brand bacon for $8. A comparable brand of Costa Rican bacon was about $13. A package of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was about $1.10. A comparable brand of the Costa Rican copycat, which I have to admit is delicious and much better, is about $2. Editing note: When I dictated this, instead of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese it came up with crapped macaroni and cheese which I thought was quite appropriate.

That's fine if you don't mind eating meatloaf for the next month.

That's what I used to do until bacon went to $15 a pound here.

Excellent advice so far. For tasting for seasoning I put a tablespoon pressed flat into the microwave for 18 seconds. If you don't have a microwave just use a small skillet. I use my KA to mix up the meatloaf now. For years I did it by hand but it got to be kind of hard for me and to tell the truth, I like it much better made this way.

I haven't had any experience in cooking octopus myself but I always heard that the rule for cooking it was 2 minutes or 2 hours. If you cooked it over 2 minutes it took 2 hours to get it tender again.

Well, here's my report on my shopping today. A little over 500 Colones equals $1 so this is about $10. It has .950 liters. This is the 'half gallon' of milk that I buy. It used to be 2 L but now it is only 1.8 and the price has gone up. I can get about 2 liters of yogurt from this and my favorite yogurt that I used to buy, is now 2600 colones a liter or about $5.

I'm also rather baffled by your intention to can already canned tomatoes. Canning is such a PITA and unless you've been doing things like this, the danger of botulism is high with tomato products. If freezer space is a problem, freeze them in Ziploc bags. I make a big batch of sauce and put it in quart size freezer bags. Freeze them flat on a tray and then just stack them in the freezer. It takes up a lot less room than jars do.

That's about the same as it is here in Costa Rica. I don't remember what the price was the last time I checked I just remember I thought gasp, shutter, I don't think so. Going shopping tomorrow so I will check for sure. As for Tang, it is Alive and Well down here in Central America. I can get it in about 10 flavors and it costs about 40 cents a package.

Have you tried it? @Smithy damn me if you like, but I always keep a big supply of these I'm sure you can find something comparable up there if you can't find Tang. I use them to flavor my yogurt and make a yogurt drink. My favorites are Fresa (strawberry) and Maracuya (passion fruit). They're great to have for a quick drink with dinner or for flavorings in desserts. A couple teaspoons of the maracuya make a super cornstarch pudding.

Shame on you. Why not try mixing the two together and inventing a new, wonderful beverage. @Smithy I would suspect that part of your problem with the graininess is the length of fermentation. I can only speak about my experience with yogurt, but the times that I have gotten grainy yogurt is when I have decided to leave it a little longer to try and get a thicker product. All I got was separation and granules.

I'm not sure if this would still be up to date, but I would look on Google Maps at the addresses or locations given and see if I can find the ceramic shops and give them a call.

That's putting it mildly and as I remember, it's practically all year long.

I think it was set up primarily aimed at business owners that sold their business. They weren't allowed to set up a competing business within a certain time limit or within a certain area of their previous business. Now, businesses are using it so that former employees do not carry business secrets and proprietary recipes to competitors.

This is the recipe for enchilada sauce that I have used for years. Although the recipe calls for making it in a skillet, I often make it in the microwave. If you don't have the New Mexican chili powder, any good chili powder will work. I also sometimes add sour cream to it for a richer flavor. Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce A super speedy enchilada sauce with a truly authentic taste. 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 tablespoons flour 1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 1-1/2 cups water 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon onion salt salt to taste Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.