Tropicalsenior

Not only that, some mangoes have big seeds and some have little seeds. You need to x-ray the mango to see how big the seed is.

I appreciate your integrity. I've had people say, well, it's really not mine to give but I will change it enough so that it's different. Thank you, no. If it's a completely different recipe it's not the one I want.

Unfortunately, many restaurant kitchens are designed by this guy instead of the ones in the background who really have to use it.

I can't see that it would have much value here because our mangoes very in size from 8 oz to almost a kilo. One would be always looking for a mango to fit the tool.

I checked all the references they had on the internet and they had no photos. I think the one that Michael and I stumbled into must have been the very first one that they had. As I remember it, the contestants had a lot more than two cans of spam and more than 15 minutes to complete their sculptures. I remember one contestant made an almost recognizable bust of Abraham Lincoln and another had a pretty passable pig. The mess I remember had to have been more than two cans of spam.

Mangos?

Hmm, curiouser and curiouser. Perhaps a tool for cleaning squid? I have to admit I'm stumped.

How big is it and is the principal blade or scraper adjustable?

Looks like something to scrape out avocados or to make avocado slices.

@Kim Shook seems great minds think alike. I made Char Siu last night using my own recipe. Stir fried vegetables. Just served it with rice and a homemade cottage cheese and vegetable salad. I've got plenty of char siu leftover so Sunday meat buns will be Char Siu Bao.

Sorry about that. Turns out it was white trash party food. I find some of the most intriguing threads just by looking at what guests are reading.

Years ago my grandson and I went to Seattle's spam carving contest. It was a rather messy affair.

That could be partly my fault. The ones that I made and showed are smaller than the ones that you would get in China. Hence, they probably look more like English muffins. However the Chinese buns are thinner and have a bit chewier texture than English muffins. Another difference is that the English muffins are cut from a rolled dough where the Chinese buns are formed. English muffins have the shape of a hockey puck whereas these have the shape of a pillow. They also have a much finer texture.

You are entirely too modest. Your dedication to authenticity and flavor is truly inspiring. Since I don't have a prayer of being able to source any of the ingredients that you use all I can do is admire and drool. Although your specialty isn't Chinese food, I would venture to say that you are familiar with most of the ingredients. As promised. Here are the final results. As everyone knows, I can't use garlic or peppers but other than that the recipe is just like @liuzhou's. They were delicious.

Just finished making a batch exactly to @liuzhou's recipe. It's only a half batch because we like smaller ones. I don't make the coil and flatten it because mine have had an occasion to separate. I make the initial role, cut them into rounds and roll them into flat biscuit like shapes with a rolling pin. Fry them on a dry Grill and then into a 370° oven for 10 minutes. They fluff up slightly on the grill and then more in the oven. The texture is perfect. @Mianbao if you are looking to learn about Chinese food there is no better place than the Forum, both in articles that you will find from the past and from present members. If you get an answer from @liuzhou, @Duvel or from @KennethT you can take it as gospel. Information on the Internet is always iffy but these three will never steer you wrong.

This article on common baking ingredients will give you an overview on the action of sugar and yeast.

You couldn't be more wrong. If one hopes to duplicate or copy the food of another culture you must first understand exactly what it is. Without knowledge one is doomed to failure.

I can personally vouch for @liuzhou's recipe. He gave it to me some years ago when I had a Chinese luncheon. I served it with rave reviews. I'm glad you posted this topic because I had almost forgotten about them. I'm going to make them for dinner tonight. They are outstanding.

Spam here costs about $12. That comes pretty darn close.

I can get dried cherries here if I want to take out a loan on my car. They also had fresh cherries a while back. For about 4 oz they were $14. My only other option is maraschino cherries and I can't quite see that.

Well, I made the chocolate cherry snack cake. Since cherries are almost non-existent here I had to make a few modifications. They only cherries that I had were some cans of cherry pie filling which I drained and rinsed. I baked the cherries in the cake and used the sauce to brush over the top after it was baked. As I expected, the cherries sank to the bottom and didn't add much flavor to the cake. It is still a delicious moist chocolate cake. Maybe next time I will add some mandarin orange chunks. I won't be cutting into it until tonight, however, I did have a little extra cake batter and made a small cake for cook's treat. It was delicious. I'll be making it again, with or without fruit.

It made me think of a very early thread that I read the other day about redneck party food. They had a recipe for Twinkie tiramisu. It sounded rather ghastly but reading the thread in its entirety made me realize just how much redneck food I like.

When my girls were little, I used to make Black Forest Chocolate Cake, German chocolate cake and the Ghirardelli chocolate cake from the package all the time. They are all almost impossible to size down for just two people. Nowadays a small 8x8 is just perfect. That's why I like the snacking cake recipes.

That sounded so good I went looking for a recipe and found this one for Chocolate Cherry Snack Cake. It also reminded me of an aunt of mine that wasn't a terribly good Baker and she only had one good cake recipe. Her idea of changing it up was to put pieces of her favorite candies in it. The one she made with chocolate covered cherries was delicious. She slipped up badly one Christmas when she chunked in whole, hard Christmas candies. Broke my grandmother's false teeth right in half. After that we approached her cakes with much trepidation.

@ElsieD your cakes always look so down home delicious. I haven't tried this one but you have turned me on to some really good recipes. Thank you. I have three little bananas that I didn't want to throw out. They look terrible but these little bananas that they called dados are best when they are almost black. They are still firm and as sweet as honey. I made 12 Mini muffins. I love these silicone molds. They are just the right size for a couple bites.