MokaPot

Hi @ElsieD , no, I did not strain the yogurt.

Thank you so much, @KennethT . I have some sambal oelek in my fridge and should use it more often. Sounds do-able.

Thanks so much, @liuzhou . I'll be sure to look for the unsweetened. The yogurt I've been making is sweet enough as it is.

Thanks, @liuzhou for the tip about the powdered milk (for a more custardy yogurt). Do you have any particular brand that you can recommend? TIA.

Hi @Smithy Thanks! Yes, I made it in that Ball jar. Recipe (I have no food thermometer): 1/4 cup Mountain High whole milk yogurt 3 cups whole milk Heat milk on stove until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat. Let milk cool until it's "baby bath" temperature. Mix yogurt & milk together. Pour into Ball jar. When you put on the jar lid, flip the flat piece upside-down so it's not air-tight. Put in oven, no heat except for the oven light. 5-6 hours.

@KennethT Can you say how you make your Hainanese ginger chili sauce? (I'm hoping it's not too complicated.) TIA.

Made some whole milk yogurt. Recently started to experiment with yogurt-making. I'd like it to be more custardy. But this is nice, IMO.

I use C&W / Birds Eye chopped frozen spinach (you guys might like it): Comes in a bag and is sort of crumbly, rather than frozen in a solid block. No "off" flavors that I can detect. Not the same as fresh spinach, but I don't expect it to taste the same.

Sorry, @JoNorvelleWalker ! I didn't scroll down far enough on the yeast (Nuts.com). If I find yeast elsewhere, I'll post.

@Nn, M.D. Your pie looks really good. I love a recipe with a very short list of ingredients. Is that whole wheat flour in your crust? Also, I notice that you say to not peel the apples for the apple butter. But the apples in your pie do look peeled. What kind of apples did you use? Thank you in advance!

I made some kimchi. This photo is from a batch I made a couple of months ago. But I made the same thing (daikon radish) this time. I might make some yogurt. Feeling very lazy.

Nuts.com sells yeast and other staples. Their website says that due to volume, orders may be delayed 2-3 days. Right before this pandemic, I ordered some dried tomatoes (not in oil). Really nice taste and texture, but they recommend you store even unopened bags in the fridge. I.e., not really shelf-stable.

Here's a curry stew I made a couple of months ago. I use the S&B (Japanese) curry powder. Or I use the Frontier brand "muchi" curry powder, which I can buy from the bulk bins. I also use canned coconut milk (not low-fat). It has potatoes, carrots, green peas, and mushrooms.

I freeze ginger, too (in a "snack"-sized plastic bag). I sometimes use a microplane grater (the finest one), like @blue_dolphin . Otherwise, just slice like normal. I don't really notice any loss of flavor or that I need to use more ginger (after it's been frozen).

@robirdstx Your breakfast looks really good. Did you make that hash brown patty or is it something that we can buy from the store? It reminds me of the McDonald's hash brown patty (different shape, though), which I really like. TIA!

I bought a small, white bean from Rancho Gordo. I can't remember the name of the bean and possibly they don't even sell that particular bean any more. The bean stayed hard, no matter how long I cooked it. I read the comments sections (on Rancho Gordo) and, IIRC, someone else posted the same thing. On the other hand, the garbanzos did cook normally and I enjoyed those.

I "bloom" my drip coffee as well. I pull the coffee pot out from under, so that the cone (where the paper filter and ground coffee go) is plugged up. (Coffee maker is off at this point.) Then, I pour in hot water and let it sit for a minute or two. Then, I push the coffee pot back under the cone, which unplugs the cone & lets it drain. Then, I turn on the coffee maker and let the water in the tank drip through like normal. Hope that made sense. But that's a real nice way to get more out of your drip coffee.

For your spaghetti sauce (from a jar), how about trying beer? A couple of years ago, I experimented with cooking with beers (lagers, Heineken and Corona). Had good results with chili, French onion soup, and, IIRC, even Japanese-type curry. The only beer that overpowered a dish was Guinness Dark.

Hi @andiesenji -- Do you have any particular products that you could recommend? I would be interested in shelf-stable half 'n' half powder and/or shelf-stable whole (4%-ish) milk powder. Thank you!

IMO, the coarseness of the grind for French press causes lower extraction / strength (you have to use more ground coffee vs. other methods). Also, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but the coffee seems to cool off too much by the time it's done steeping. I have a friend (Italian American) who uses a French press and just lets it sit there forever, steeping, before he drinks it. I guess that's a way to get more extraction. I hope I'm using the word "extraction" correctly. Others can correct me if I'm wrong here. I feel like I have to use so much ground coffee when I use a French press.

I like my T-Fal stuff, too. It's really underrated, for the price. If I had to get new nonstick pans, I'd probably try out the Zwilling brand because it looks cool, all black, reasonable price, and supposed to work well.

I make a drink (non-alcoholic) that is ginger-based, not really a "ginger ale," though. It's just simple syrup (water & sugar), fresh lime juice, and ginger juice. Delicious & refreshing. I use that round, white, ceramic grater (Kyocera brand) to get ginger juice. You could use sparkling water and make it carbonated.

@David Ross Thanks for answering my question. (The cookies look good, though.) What about ginger snaps? I heard a lot about how good the Trader Joe's triple ginger snap cookies were. I tried them and was disappointed. Maybe you can improve greatly on those, when you get the time.

I have an over-the-stove microwave oven. I use the microwave oven every day. It broke once and I replaced it. I don't have a venting system.

@David Ross , How did the cookies come out? IMO, fresh ginger root probably used to be an exotic and hard-to-obtain ingredient. I think people used ground (dried) ginger because that's all that was available. All of those old recipes can probably be improved with fresh ginger root.