Tropicalsenior

After I finished my post I got to thinking, why not candied garlic? So I went to mister Google and absolutely no help whatsoever. Someone had a concoction of garlic and honey but it sounded too much to me like somebody's idea of an old time recipe for cough syrup. However, I have made candied ginger, candied lemon and orange peels, all kinds of candied fruits and made stem ginger so I should be able to come up with a recipe for garlic. I have two more heads of garlic to go so I'm going to try one using the basic method for stem ginger and the flavor profile for the garlic pickles. The pickling liquid was delicious. The black vinegar gives it a smoky flavor that is really good. Right now I am busy peeling garlic so I will report back on the results later.

Well, it's time to report back on my pickled garlic. I was supposed to open them on Wednesday but I couldn't get the jar open so yesterday Carlos opened it for me and it was a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for something that was soft and sweet and instead I got something that was almost still raw and almost took the top of my head off. There were some cloves in the batch that had turned green but I know from prior research that that isn't a problem. In fact, the Chinese make a jade green pickled garlic that is highly prized. Maybe mine turned green because it is Chinese garlic. At the same time that I pickled the first batch I also made a batch with just a regular pickling brine. Some of that turned green, too, but in contrast to the batch made with soy sauce and black vinegar, it is quite mild in taste. So back to the drawing board. I drained the liquid from the dark ones, sterilized the jar again, boiled the liquid and poured the hot liquid over the garlic cloves. I'll give it another week and see what happens. Maybe garlic pickles aren't exactly what I'm looking for. Has anybody ever heard of candied garlic?

This might have been done before. I know that I have seen it around for quite a while but it just seemed appropriate for today.

You might want to try this garlic cream cheese recipe that I posted a while back. It seems to me that this cream cheese would work fine in it.

Yes, this one is quite sweet. Since it is baked in the oven, it is not smoked but it is delicious and addicting. I haven't made any for quite a while but I may just have to make some now.

I have a recipe for something that claims to be Chinese dried meat called Bak Kwa. This is made with pork and I wonder how authentic it is.

I think that they would be awfully hard to grow inside. They need a lot of sun. They grow about 6 feet tall and need a trellis to grow on. I had a crop about twice a year and it takes about two years for a plant to really get going good.

Until last year I had a pepper plant that supplied all of my black pepper needs. The only problem with it was that the green peppercorns were so hot that I couldn't use them. I even tried brining them and they were still too hot. Then last rainy season we had so much rain that it killed my plant. I really miss it.

I'm using a lot of alcohol gel on my hands because of the pandemic but I haven't resorted to alcohol showers yet. Aren't Mai Tai showers a bit sticky?

I'm with you! Goo Gone is my best friend. When we moved here, 30 years ago, we couldn't get storage containers to save our soul. Now I just can't seem to throw any jars out.

Yeah, but it does also give us that nasty little gleam of hope because there is really is somebody out there as clumsy as we are.

What scares me is that you know darn well that she is going to do it again, and again, and again...

It's also worth mentioning that an amount that can just cause a nasty case of food poisoning for younger people can be fatal for the elderly and children.

How right you are! This is a subject worth mentioning again and again. I was not aware of this for years and have often thought of the risks that I was taking. According to the CDC, "You cannot see, smell, or taste botulinum toxin – but taking even a small taste of food containing this toxin can be deadly." I had a slight bout of food poisoning for my birthday this year and I still think that it was the chicken breast with butter sauce with fresh garlic. It was from a restaurant that is usually very busy, but with the pandemic and less business they probably just kept garlic in melted butter too long at room temperature. Unless you plan to keep some in the freezer, garlic oil is so easy to make. Just make up what you need and pitch the rest. It's not worth the risk!

I agree! She gets a lot more involved than she needs to. When you get old and lazy like me, things aren't that involved.

I guess, just kind of, The Book of Life. It's something that I just figured out on my own. But if you follow the directions above, that should pretty much tell you how to do it. I even make gravy in the microwave just following this formula for the proportion of pan drippings plus flour plus liquid.

Thank you. Years ago I learned that you could actually cook in a microwave, not just heat and reheat. It has become my right arm. I know that a lot of people put them down, but I use it for every trick in the book.

Me too but I can't tell you how many pans that I have scorched because I have been distracted. (kids, husband, television, dogfights, and now I have old age to contend with). To me, this is so much easier.

No one has yet talked about my favorite way to make Bechamel. For years now I have been making mine in the microwave. No more scorched pans and no more constant stirring. I put the butter in a pyrex Bowl and melt it for 30 to 45 seconds, add the flour, salt and pepper, and mix well with a whisk. My wire whisk is like this. Microwave for 45 seconds to cook the flour. Add the milk and whisk well to combine. Microwave for 1 minute and stir well. Continue microwaving at one and a half minute intervals stiring well each time until it is thickened. I use the classic proportions, 1 tablespoon butter plus 1 tablespoon flour plus one cup of milk for a thin sauce, 2 + 2 + 1 for a medium sauce, 3 + 3 + 1 for a thick sauce. If adding cheese, add it just as it reaches the thickness that you want and heat for 1 minute to melt. Just don't overcook it. I have better results with 1% or 2% milk.

Making Pizza in a square pan gives me the maximum amount Pizza in a small oven but eating square pieces of pizza just doesn't seem right to me.

Actually it's even easier then this. I just cut it into four quarters and then just cut each quarter in 3 triangular pieces from the center like a regular pizza. The only reason that I cut it into quarters first is that I have to make 1/4 without anchovies for Rosario.