Text 40738, 154 rader
Skriven 2010-08-04 15:51:54 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 40701 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: A dinner party.. but you have to work first! :)(3)       [2]
====================================================================
Hi Ruth,

>> > He doesn't seem the type tho--so quet most of the time.

>> Yes, he is quiet :)  took him a while to get used to all the hubbub at
>> my parents home  :)  But pumpkin bread is favorite cake of all time..
>> oops, also angelfood (bg).

> Steve can be quiet, unassuming, etc until you get him going on
> something.  Then he'll get rather emphatic with his opinions. (G)

Sounds like his Italian heritage coming through? (G) But I can understand
someone feeling strongly about some things though.  Ron will do the same
sometimes.  I tease him and tell him it's his Dutch hard-headness coming to the
front :)


>> > I try to stay in as much as I can when it's really hot/humid. Some
>> days

>> Same here, though the humidity hits my sinuses more than anything
>> else.

> I get slammed all over.  It's supposed to be hot again over the next few
> days but I've got to finish getting my groceries tomorrow.

That's a drag.. :(  When it gets that bad out, I send Ron alone to do the
shopping.  He's good at it when I need him to go out alone for me.

>  Then I'll
> stay in, make some pickled beets with the beets we got today at Whole
> Foods Market.  I'll pick up some tomatoes tomorrow at Lowe's and start
> cooking them down for salsa. I'm doing that differently this year--pre
> cooking some of the tomatoes, measuring and making up the differece with
> fresh.  Hopefully it'll help the salsa retain some chunkiness at the
> end.

I plunk the tomatoes in boiling water for about 2 minutes to get the skins off,
and then process the jars in either a hot water bath or pressure cooker
(preferred way for me is the pressure cooker).  Are you using regular tomatoes,
or Roma type tomatoes?  That can make a difference.  You probably already know
that the Roma tomatoes have less watery content and less seeds.  If you are
adding fresh tomatoes to the processed tomatoes, I think that would make it
more watery, but I guess time will tell.  It would though increase the
chunkiness since those fresh tomatoes wouldn't have been cooked for as long.  I
usually do that with Romas I still have unprocessed.

>> Bruster's > for some ice cream cones. (G)

>> Perfect weather for that treat :)

> Definately!  We enjoyed the cones.  The shop is on our route home from
> church.

That's great -  A nice stop on the way home :) Of course, now I want Ice Cream
:) Sometimes I think I should only read this echo after a meal.

>>> the roasting gives it.. it's a bit more flavorful to me.  When I'm in
>>> a rush, I've done it in the microwave for 25 minutes (old microwave

>> > To each her own choice of cooking pumpkin. (G)

>> Sure :)  Whatever works best for a person.  Do you have to peel it
>> when you cook it in the pressure cooker?

> I cut it up into big chunks, cook it and when it's done the peel just
> peels (G) away.  Easiest way to peel & cook a pumpkin that I know of.

Yes, same with baking it.. except I cut the pumpkin in half only.  The pumpkin
half on the baking sheet forms a seal so the pumpkin roasts.  Since I use Pie
Pumpkins, you can fit the two halves on one cookie sheet generally.   When it
comes out, you just lift the skin off in one piece.  Some of the roasted juices
are around the base of the pumpkin so you can scoop that up as well.  The _big_
difference I see though is outside of doing it in my microwave, the oven is a
heat source that one might not want in Summer.. though normally I don't notice
that since it's done in September/October when things have started cooling
down. I do use my pressure cooker to cook dry beans like garbanzo, canellini,
and such, and to can tomatoes, etc.

>> > I know; then the local Salvation Army or other thrift store benefits
>> > from your spending.

>> If I haven't worn them into the ground (g)

> That's the other possibility.  Some of the ones you get, you wonder how
> you ever lived for so long without them. (G)

Lol, that is so true :)  I recently read an interesting article about
dishwashers and what type of gadgets, etc. were safe to stick in a dishwasher
.. I'd stopped putting my 'vintage' Blue Willow coffee mugs in the dishwasher a
while ago, because it seemed like they were somehow getting less
microwave-save.. made no sense. I'd already pretty much stopped putting knives
in the dishwasher because I'd tired of having to sharpen them... The article I
read stated that dishwashers are particulary rough on knives, dulling them, and
even sometimes chipping them. I thought, boy no wonder those really old cups
(probably from the 40's and 50's) were seeming like they were taking a beating!
So now pretty much all I put in this dishwasher are plates and 'old' mugs (ones
that I've had since maybe the 90's).  I think my older dishwasher that is still
on the other end of the kitchen had a gentle cycle that might have worked
better than this newer dishwasher in the CenterIsland in that respect.

>> > Agreed--and usually something you had to buy & try. I'd like a pot
>> rack > but have no really good place to hang one in this kitchen.

>> They come in all sizes, etc., as you've probably seen.. maybe one of
>> the type that is a strip that sits off to the side?  Of course if the
>> ceilings are low, that won't be much help at all :(

> The ceiling is high enough but wall space is at a premium.  The kitchen
> is also our dining room, laundry area and has our chest freezer in it.

I think it sounds pretty well full up then :)

>> Probably not a national chain.. I forget the name of the one in
>> Lousiville.

> Too long ago probably.  Sometimes I'll remember something from a place
> where we lived longer ago than a more recent one.

hehehe same here :)

>> No, not so bad at all.  I hope mine ends up being in the same range.
>> well, we have to wait a bit anyway, but it's good to know how your's

> And is working well.  I made bread last week; Steve did pasta.  I'll
> have to make bread again next week, planning on using the mixer again.

Glad to hear it!  I look at the power these mixers have and it makes you ill to
think it could 'die' so easily.  I'm hoping that your mixer lasts as long at
least as my first one lasted me :)

>> > Won't know till you send it in--could be something relatively minor
>> and > inexpensive to repair.

>> Yep.. probably just tightening the clip on the body of the machine :)

> Let's hope it's that minor.

I still have the original box.. I wonder if that might cut down on the shipping
charges?  I'll have to ask them.

> BTW, Steve was ordering something from
> Amazon last night so I had him add the cheese making book (an updated
> edition) and the Giada DiLaurentis book for me.

Fantastic - I'll have to take a look at the updated version :)  That one I have
is the only one I'd ever seen at our bookstores.. I think I picked that one up
in Louisville, as a matter of fact.

Take care,
Janis

--- BBBS/LiI v4.01 Flag
 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)