jsolomon

Of course, that's just for the sausage horns (two wee pieces of plastic); you've also gotta buy the grinder, which is significantly more. Mea culpa. You are quite correct.

I just made 4 different sausage recipes over christmas from Bruce Aidell's book. My family and I used a kitchen-aid sausage stuffer attachment, and pre-frozen ground meats in our freezer (beef, pork, and some lovely venison). We got some beef fat and fat back for free from our local meat counters and a local meat packer. I think you can get the KA sausage stuffer for about $10 US + S&H from amazon. Then, if you get everything ground at your local meat locker or butcher counter, you should be able to get by pretty cheaply. Then, with your first experience, you can decide whether you want to invest more. My suggestions are going to quite closely mirror Mr. Aidell's: start making small batches. Mix your meat, fat, and seasonings, then fry a patty and taste. Adjust seasoning if necessary, then stuff. My family was greatly impressed with everything we tried, though. I think you'll be quite pleased with your results.

Do they have any info about keeping it longer if you store it on dry ice or liquid nitrogen?

I decided I would try to make fifi's mushroom soup, as I am not a normal soup-eater, and it sounded easy enough. I went to the grocery store and this is what they told me: "We are out of mushrooms" ?????!!!!!!! I'm astounded. I'll try later this week.

So, I'm going to give up fame and fortune by simply throwing out my million-dollar idea. We have non-dishwasher-safe antifreeze filled ice cream scoops, but why don't we have some which, instead of having sealed antifreeze in them, have a screw-in plug at the back, a hot-pad styled handle cover, and you fill it with hot water? Hmm. I may have to talk to Leonard to machine one and try it out.

This scoop is a reasonable one. It's not dishwasher-safe, though.

One ought never use a small scoop.

Many sugars that are small enough to taste sweet already undergo anomerization in solutions of water, and in the blood stream, so suddenly, your zero calorie donut (through that route) would be hoist by its own petard. Also, the shape fit tasting enzymes tend to respond to only one orientation (or respond best). I'm curious how long the shrimp paste can be left in the piping bag before it becomes too cross-linked to behave appropriately. I can see the kinetics of piping it into boiling water, but it doesn't show the whole process, given my understanding of that nature of enzyme. I have to agree with culinarybear that it is a rather generous use of the term "discovered". Having been in academic protein chemistry of one form or another for 3 years, I had serious questions regarding that, but semantic, nothing worth arguing on eG, IMO. Hence my suggestion of egg white. Now that I've heard a little more about how it's done, it's a cute process. Personally I have a hard time getting excited about it because it seems like a really mixed metaphor to my aesthetic values. But, if presented it on a menu, I would try it at least once.

Sheesh, I feel like I'm way behind the curve... I'm detoxing by eating more, exercising more, and ingesting more dirt... Time to start counting down to decathlon #1... And then marathons 1-4... *whimper*

Well, I wasn't speaking of this morning.... It's Boulevard Wheat for breakfast today. But, I like the idea of thermosensitive ink. However, I think it is important, especially for wines, where different types are best consumed in different temperature ranges, to have appropriate ranges with the ink instead of just "yes, it's warmer/colder than X" have the ability to know "it's between X and Y" Clickety for a better explanation

Zywiecz, a Czech or Polish beer has that sort of thing on the label. The unfortunate thing is you usually want 2 at different temperatures. So, you could use it like Green and Blue is drinking temperature. Red and Blue is too hot, and Green and Purple is too cold. I've had several literally frozen Zywieczes. Edit to fix spelling.

True, but not in acidic and anaerobic environments. You can brush the surface with some lemon juice prior to cryovac-ing and you should be good for the requisite week.

I was recently in Chicago for a cycling event. We met in the morning at the Twisted Spoke for some hair of the dog before we started. I saw one of the Santas drinking a beer that I didn't recognize: some odd herbal beer with ginseng and guarana. I looked at the waitress and said "I'll have what Santa's having." Santa [John] fixed me with a pie-eyed gaze and stated, "Santa's [me] making a mistake." Santa [John] knows best. That was, bar none, which includes a botched batch of homebrew, the worst beer I have ever tasted. It didn't even soothe the hangover I had from the night before with Dave (non-eG-er) and Yellow Truffle.

Gargle with warm salt water ~ 1 Tablespoon per 8 ounces of water. Gargle for 30 seconds or more. Then, drink whatever you would like as soon as the salt taste is out of your mouth.

Its always best to vent stuff directly out the window, especially if you are doing something illegal. ← And, never forget to record your illegal activities for posterity with a camera and postings on the World Wide Web

Sounds like egg-white to me.

Yes, but they use CaO and water... if my chemistry education serves me right, that's what welders used to use to produce acetylene. So, if you want the coffee just a tish warmer, light a cigarette and place it nearby ← Nope, Calcium Carbide (CaC2) like what miners use in lamps. ← Yeah, I suppose we're not adjusting the nuclear structure of anything. D'oh. You should still be able to light the hydrogen evolved, though

Yes, but they use CaO and water... if my chemistry education serves me right, that's what welders used to use to produce acetylene. So, if you want the coffee just a tish warmer, light a cigarette and place it nearby

Keep up the info on the I-roast, FG. After my recent trip to Chicago, and subsequent coffee tastings at Intelligentsia, I have decided that The Coffee Roaster in Lincoln, Nebraska has, by a hair, the best beans I've come across. So, when I move out of Lincoln to go to medical school, I shall have to roast my own beans. It's looking like the I-roast may be the winner... provided it can roast a nice bright roast. P.S. An mpeg of the smoke detector's aria from "The Roasting Attorney" would be smashing

Fresh, good quality fruit can rarely be faulted as a good breakfast food. Of course, neither can biscuits and gravy

Wow, you people are all on the ball. I usually send out my Christmas cards when I start shopping... on the 23rd or 24th! I'm looking forward to hearing about the weekend, too!

I ended up having the GdB BN last night. It wasn't a perfectly horrible quaff like Jason was indicating. Certainly overpriced for the flavor, but I've had more disappointing bottles for higher prices. It was a pleasantly simple, light, fruity wine. Basically adult kool-aid. I was pleased enough that I'd purchase something of a better pedigree than GdB without reservation.

It's snowing outside, and a friend has an outdoor hot tub that hasn't been used properly yet. If nothing else, I'll drink it alone in the tub watching the snow come slowly down, silencing the night.

Legal is a function of location, and humans have been known to hunt things to extinction in the past. Pretty small leap in logic.

Both parents, and both sets of grandparents were born and raised in Nebraska. We usually have 2 pies. If we're at my mother's side it's apple and pumpkin. If it's on my dad's side, rum cheesecake (in a pie tin, so it counts) and pumpkin. This year we only had chocolate meringue. Odd.