Tropicalsenior

Interesting question. Like I said I've only tasted them a couple times and I don't really remember much about them. I do know that they are in the market all the time. I'll see if there are any tomorrow when I go shopping and pick up a couple. I'll give them a taste and let you know what I think.

They have tree Tomatoes here all the time. I don't use them but then I've only tasted them once or twice. They have a hard shell and you have to scoop them out. I can only describe the taste as kind of like a tomato but with a citrusy note.

@ElsieD I think that you could just use whole milk if you want to. I have substituted in the following recipe and it has worked out just fine. This is a nice light dessert to serve with Chinese food and I usually serve it with mango. Almond Jelly with Fruit 3 cups cold water 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin powder ½ cup sugar 1 can evaporated milk, 14oz. 2 teaspoons almond extract 2 cups fresh or macerated fruit (to serve) In a large glass measuring pitcher, heat the water in the microwave until it boils. Stir in the gelatin and sugar and stir until it is completely disolved. Stir in milk and almond extract. Pour into a 9 x 9" pan (or individual serving cups if desired). Allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate until set, 3 hours. To Serve - Cut jelly into 1" cubes and place in individual bowls. Top with fresh or macerated fruit of your choice. Serve chilled. (Optional) Top with a splash of ginger syrup to taste.

@Smithy's mention of using gelatin reminded me of this mango pudding recipe that I have. I have also made this using pureed strawberries and a passion fruit nectar that I can buy here. This makes about six small servings but I usually cut the recipe in half. Mango Pudding 2 envelopes unflavoured gelatin 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup water 3 cups pureed fresh mangoes 1 cup evaporated milk 1 tbsp lemon juice, optional Lime wedges, for garnish, (optional) Fresh mango slices for garnish, (optional) Dissolve gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water and whisk well. add sugar and whisk until dissolved. In a large bowl mix mango puree, evaporated milk and gelatin mixture. Add lemon juice if desired. Pour into a large bowl or an 8 by 8 pan. Note: You will need 3 ripe mangoes, weighing at least 12 ounces.

I believe it. When my oldest daughter was little we had friends that had a pony ring and they had tiny little saddles. Somewhere I have a picture of my oldest daughter at 6 months old riding on their smallest pony. She used to go riding out there all the time and we bought her her first pony when she was a year and a half.

I've seen several recipes that recommend using creme fraiche or Greek yogurt instead of cream.

This makes me kind of sad because growing up on the farm, one of my favorite animals was an old donkey that we had that was his docile as a kitten. It followed us around like a dog and we could climb up, over and around it anytime we wanted. Now if you were to say mule, that's an entirely different thing. I never met a mule that I liked. As far as I'm concerned, you can eat all of those that you want.

I'm glad you asked that question because it sent me to my friend Google and I found out that yes, you can freeze mustard for up to a year and they even recommend freezing it in ice cube trays. Most replies say that it isn't necessary to freeze commercial preparations of mustard because they have a long shelf life but I make a version of Gourmet Mustard that has eggs in it and invariably I wind up pitching some of it because I'm not sure about the shelf life of this.

The only spice racks that I have in my kitchen sitting out are these two. This is one that my husband made for me about 25 years ago. These are the shelves of a butcher table that he also made. Only the spices that I use most often are here. My bottom cupboards are extremely deep, Costa Rican Style. I bought a whole bunch of cheap cake pans about 14x18 inches and everything that I have is in those pans so that I can use them as slide-out drawers. I have one cabinet that just has spices. All the bottles are labeled on the top so that I can just look down on them and choose what I need. I also have all my flavorings and food color in these. The rest of my spices are in the refrigerator or freezer because in this climate they go stale fast. I couldn't even imagine trying to cook with one or even two computerized racks. Although I did have one friend that only cooked with salt and pepper. She didn't believe in herbs or spices. Lunch at her house was always very boring.

Great minds think alike. I'm making something quite similar for dinner tonight.

That's a lot more than I can find in Costa Rica and we're practically neighbors with Mexico.

I make my own only because I like instant gratification and I've developed a darn good Italians seasoning mix. That the only mix that I don't make myself is Herbs de Provence because I can't find lavender. I don't have anything either that is very hot. The only thing that I have is some new Mexican chili powder which I have to be kind of careful with. I forgot about my saffron and when I went to look for it I realized I have another cabinet with about 20 other spices such as asafran, achiote, three types of mustard seed, Goya Sazón, Etc. I wish we hadn't started this. I can see a project in my future of spice reorganization.

I've got you beat! I just counted 86 bottles. Some Are Spice mixes and a few are large backup spice bottles. I'm not even going to try to photograph them because some are in my freezer, a lot are in my refrigerator door and only the ones that I use the most often are in the open in my kitchen. And when I need any one of them I know exactly where they are, no blinking lights for me, please.

I think it's just somebody's convoluted way of saying you can order it with whatever spices you want. It seems we are now contending with a generation that thinks that everything must be done with an app. They are all dead in the water if the power goes off or the Wi-Fi goes out.

The only thing that I can figure out that MIA stands for is missing in action and what is missing in action is common sense. Besides that. 20 bottles? I would need 4 racks. I'd have a new full-time career just managing my spice apps.

Thank you, the recipe seems pretty straightforward but I do have a question. Do you really make the caramel sauce in such a small batch or do you double it?

Yes, some of the ones that we get here are huge. And we have some that are completely round about the size of a croquet ball.

I have the same problem here. And I can't even order these things by mail because they have a law that if something isn't on the specific allowed import list they just pitch it when it comes in and send you a notice.

Our national avocados are very similar to the ones in Florida. I don't like them as well as the Hass avocados because it's flesh is too watery for my taste, but they have started to grow the Hass down here now. They still cost about twice what the nationals do.

When I made my Japanese Curry I made it completely from scratch even down to making my own Japanese curry powder. It seems like I pulled out every spice in my cabinet except cinnamon and star anise.

Sometimes I see that in our national avocados. My favorite vegetable man explained that it happens when the avocado tree doesn't get enough water during the growing season. The seed grows just the same as usual but there just isn't as much Flesh on the avocado.

That sounds delicious. I Googled it and recipes that I found that they called for coconut water. Do you have a link to the recipe you use or can at least explain how you do it. Thank you

All this talk about pizza made me hungry for pizza so I decided to make some individual pizzas for lunch. These are certainly not in the league of what you are making but they sure were good. I used @Duvel's emergency pizza dough and instead of just putting it in the pan I rolled them thin and cooked them briefly on a griddle, just enough to Brown them a little. And I put them on a cookie sheet and added the condiments. Just pizza sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. The next time I will put the pepperoni under the cheese because I like a lot of cheese and it all slid off. Two of them were the perfect size for lunch and the other two will go in the freezer for the next time that I get a craving.

Pork loin is one of my favorite cuts of pork. I cut them into individual cutlets and freeze them in packages of two. Some I later pound out for schnitzel and some I cut thicker and make tonkatsu. I have found out that if I brine the meat in one tablespoon of salt to one cup of water for about 4 hours they are really moist and tender.

Thought I would post a picture of my finished product. It's not terribly thick and it's not terribly tart but I'm happy. It is yogurt. Perfect for eating and perfect for baking and sauces. I've tried various methods of flavoring the yogurt and the best one that I have found is this. It makes a yogurt drink better than any that I have been able to buy. I would think that any drink powder that you can get would work.