Recent content by NoraC

Every year for Christmas dinner we do a different cuisine: Italy last year, Germany the year before, Spain before that and so forth. This year we are going for the ultimate Christmas of the American South, Virginia in focus. That is what I grew up with, but my experience of it is colored by my...

I grow all kinds of basil - usually 4-5 varieties a year. I try to get at least one large leaf variety of sweet or Italian for sandwiches and salads; one purple leaf variety for visual interest; a Thai type for that cuisine; etc. mainly though, I pinch off a bit of leaf before buying and taste...

Unfortunately in this recession/depression a lot of restaurants are going under. We picked up a Hobart at a great (we insisted on fair,which was more than was asked) price. Keep an eye out for those "closed" signs and you may get what you want and be able to put a little cash in a distressed...

Welcome! It is a great place to play with your food. One of my first inspirations to really pursue cooking was a World War One Army cook's manual left in a my grandmother's house by an uncle who had served. It really opened my eyes to the manageable but technical things that go into putting...

I favor unsliced loaves for French toast. I cut the bread a little less than twice as thick as a normal bread slice, then cut a slit pocket in it and stuff it with yummies before dipping it in the appropriately seasoned egg wash: cinnamon raisin bread stuffed with stewed dried apples; peanut...

I got notifications this afternoon for the first time in ages! I am not subscribed to that many threads, so I really didn't notice that they stopped, until they started again and I realized I hadn't checked in in ages.

Of course!

I usually buy the paste to make marzipan, because really smooth marzipan requires mortar and pestle work to make the paste. Start in the blender, then crush each crumbly part in the mortar. As for the egg white, it affects how the marzipan sets up as a candy. If you are making a filling or cake...

GG, the salts I use (as opposed to those I hoard) range from black to table and I select which to use with some thought. ...and soy sauce or fish sauce or bean sauce or Worcestershire sauce or some other flavoring may have far and away enough salt so that no crystallized product comes out...

Unsalted for baking/sweet stuff, because there is usually a tiny amount of salt needed for pastry etc. and salted butter is too much. Salted for savory cooking, because I leave the salt cellar in the cupboard and am not tempted to over-salt. Silly in it's own way, but it works: enough butter is...

GG, I use about a pound of salt a year for seasoning (there are salty condiments involved, LOL). I expect this little bit of security to still be safely stored away in its ceramic crocks when my grandchildren move into the family home place.

No; all cow's milk contains lactose. I would have to check to see if every mammal's milk does, though it seems likely. Lactose (like all -ose's) is a sugar, which is consumed by the bacteria and fungi that turn fluid milk into cheese. Some cheeses have some lactose left, some almost none...

I am a seasonal hoarder. In a bad winter, we can be snowed in for 3 or 4 days at a time, often back to back with limited stuff in the groceries, so I do load the house with stuff like extra milk in the freezer. I keep a basic supply of rice and beans in sufficient quantity to keep body and soul...

Welcome!. There are other cheeses you could use, but they are cheeses. I would go in a different direction altogether rather than using a fake ingredient; try an equal volume of quartered artichoke hearts. That said, the lactose in milk is consumed by the good bugs that make it cheese; you may...

One great gift you can give to someone who is mourning with you is to ask them to take a look at the oven and see if it can be fixed easily, and if not, to go and acquire (at your expense) a large toaster oven. Friends, neighbors, etc want to DO SOMETHING for you at this time. Let them. For that...