Any way to make stale rice krispies crispy again?

I live in a place where only generic puffed rice cereal is available, and it is often stale before you even open the package. Recently I acquired some marshmallows and am jonesing for some rice krispie treats. But I do not want to waste my precious marshmallows if the treats are just going to taste stale. Any ideas on how to re-crisp stale cereal?

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Give me your favorite cake recipes that call for oil only for the fat

I can only get vegetable oils like soybean or sunflower oil here. In olive oil cake recipes, can you use different oils and have acceptable results?

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Give me your favorite cake recipes that call for oil only for the fat

I live in a very remote part of the world where I cannot get butter, margarine, or shortening. Seems like almost every cake recipe in my cookbooks calls for ginormous amounts of butter. Does anyone have any tried and true recipes for cakes that use oil and not some kind of solid fat? I already have good recipes for a chocolate cake, an apple spice cake, carrot cupcakes, and a lemon yogurt cake, but would like to expand my repertoire. Thanks in advance!

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Sturdiest French Press Coffee Pot?

We have a Frieling stainless steel press also and we love it. Very sturdy and does the job.

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Nepalese cookbook?

Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak is a good one. I own it, but since I live in Nepal and other people can make Nepali food way better than I can, I haven't tried any of the recipes yet. But looking through the cookbook the recipes look authentic, and it was given to me by a foodie friend here.

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I am but one man with seven ears of corn.

I don't have any suggestions to add but wanted to say that your topic title cracked me up. Thank you! :)

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Needing recipes for cookies made with oil

I live in a place where I can't get butter, margarine, or shortening. I've tried a couple cookie recipes that call for oil only (chocolate crinkles, and chocolate chip cookies from the cookbook Levana's Table - crinkles were great, choc chip cookies were ok), but I'm looking for more ideas. My husband and I aren't huge biscotti fans, which when I've searched for ideas here is what most people suggest. Any good recipes out there?

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Need cookbook recommendations for simple, mostly vegetarian recipes

I live in a developing country and am moving to a very rural area. I have a limited variety of foodstuffs available to me there - things like flour, rice, sugar, lentils, eggs, and dried beans are available, but no Western ingredients, cheese, or butter. I think I will be able to get chicken occasionally, possibly fish too, but no pork, beef, or shellfish. Fruits and vegetables are available in season. I'll have internet and can look up recipes when I need to, but it would be nice to have a cookbook to get ideas from. I currently live in the capital city and here there are lots of Western ingredients available, and I'll be bringing some foodstuffs with me from here (fish sauce, oregano, balsamic vinegar, cocoa powder, etc, etc.).

I guess what I am looking for is a cookbook that focuses on recipes that use simple, basic ingredients, but are still delicious. I have the More with Less cookbook but find their recipes/flavors to be a little too plain. I have the Joy of Cooking (All New All Purpose edition, though I'd rather have the old version) and can find some recipes in there that are doable. Some of the cookbooks that I've looked into online just have ingredients that I cannot get here. Thanks in advance!

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What to do with lemon extract?

Thanks for all the ideas so far. Has anyone tried substituting extract for lemon zest or lemon juice? Does the flavor come out the same? If you have subbed, how much extract for how much zest/juice?

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What to do with lemon extract?

I have a bottle of lemon extract that I've had for a year but have yet to use. Does anyone have any favorite recipes that use lemon extract that I can try?

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Can I make cranberry sauce from dried cranberries?

That sounds really good - I'll try that! We can't get turkeys here so will likely have chicken or some other meats - what do you usually put this sauce on?

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Can I make cranberry sauce from dried cranberries?

I live overseas and we can't get fresh or canned cranberries here - but we can get Craisins. For Thanksgiving I thought maybe I could make a cranberry sauce out of them but I read somewhere that it won't work because of the lack of pectin in dried fruit to make the sauce gel. Has anyone made cranberry sauce out of Craisins before? Or have other ideas for Thanksgiving side dishes that I could make with Craisins?

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I want to make homemade bagels but my oven won't get hot enough.

I live in a developing country, and the hottest my oven will get is 375 F. I have made bagels in the past when I lived in the US, but the recipe I used calls for a 500 F oven. Does anyone know if my bagels would turn out okay if I use the same recipe but bake them longer at a lower temperature? Would the texture just not be the same, and if so, in what way? Thanks!

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Penzeys spices???

Can I ask - what is wrong with buying them in plastic bags? I am moving overseas in a month and wanted to buy some spices to take with me, and was going to go with plastic bags since they are lighter - should I not do that? Do the spices get stale quicker in the bags?

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Beet recipes for a hater?

We got a couple beets in our CSA basket this week. I have never cooked beets, and have maybe eaten them once. My husband has declared that he does not like beets. Can anyone recommend a good recipe for beets to prepare for someone who does not like them?

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what was the best dish you made/ate this summer?

I have two:

Phyllo-Wrapped Salmon with Leeks and Red Bell Pepper - this takes some prep, but it is wonderful and looks like it takes more work than it really does. Great company food. I have served it with wild rice or smashed potatoes.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/PHYLLO-WRAPPED-SALMON-WITH-LEEKS-AND-RED-BELL-PEPPER-4698

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day - I have made this several times this summer. I have tried to make homemade bread so many times but was never satisfied with the results. This recipe makes it so easy, and it's great bread!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/211brex.html?_r=3&ref=dining&oref=login&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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Vegetarian options for BBQ

I really like this quinoa salad for summer get togethers - it makes a great side, but can also be a meal on its own:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/QUINOA-AND-BLACK-BEAN-SALAD-12245

Even my meat-loving, new-food-fearing east Tennessee coworkers loved this when I brought it to a potluck.

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How to Make Frozen Malts?

I altered the recipe a little bit - I halved it for my ice cream maker, and my proportions were more like this:

2/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup water
2/3 cup malt powder
3 1/2 cups whole milk

I started out with the base recipe and then just added more stuff until I felt the liquid tasted close to what I was going for. I agree that the recipe as is makes it too dark - I added the extra 1/2 cup of milk to lighten it up a bit.

I thought the end result of this was good, but not an exact re-creation. I think a little more tweaking would get it pretty close though. This was a little more dark and chocolatey than the real thing - I would use 1/4 cup of cocoa next time. It was also too icy when it froze, so I would use 1/2 or 1 cup of heavy cream to replace some of the milk to make it more creamy (or take out the water and use warmed milk instead). If you do end up trying this (or making an old fashioned malt and freezing it like you mentioned) let me know how it turns out!

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Unfamiliar Veggies - need a reference!!

I use foodsubs.com to learn more about unfamiliar veggies, but you would have to know the names of them - if you at least know the general category of veggie, you could always look at the pictures and see if they match!

I think the easiest thing would be to make a local friend who speaks English and ask them to go shopping with you. That would be the most fun way!

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Olive Garden: Undeserved Reputation?

I find OG entrees to be way too salty most of the time. They do a better job with traditional Italian dishes like lasagna - entrees that I have tried that are more trendy or new have generally been disappointing.

As Italian chain restaurants go, I prefer Carrabba's hands down over Olive Garden.

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How to Make Frozen Malts?

I found another recipe to try - I think I am going to make this one and I will let you know if it tastes like the ballpark stuff. I am assuming that the ones at the Dodgers games are pretty similar to what they have at Wrigley Field.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=226789

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Great Basil, Great Tomatoes...

You're welcome! This dish is one of the reasons I look forward to summer. :)

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baking with zucchini--your favorite treat

I've made the Chocolate Zucchini cake off the Chocolate & Zucchini blog - delicious!

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2004/04/chocolate_zucchini_cake.php

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How to Make Frozen Malts?

Please report back after you make this! I have been wanting to find a recipe to try to recreate the frozen chocolate malt cups at Wrigley Field, but my attempt last year was disappointing (I tried this recipe - http://desertcandy.blogspot.com/2007/08/day-6-malted-milk-chocolate-ice-cream.html - and it wasn't anything like the Wrigley stuff). Let us know if the above recipe comes close to what you get at the ballpark.

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Great Basil, Great Tomatoes...

This is my favorite summer pasta dish - it is uncooked. A wonderful way to enjoy those fresh, local tomatoes - and it's very easy.

http://www.slashfood.com/2007/08/02/mellowed-fresh-tomatoes-from-the-weeknight-kitchen/

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Which fresh herbs do you freeze successfully?

Rinse the basil, pick the leaves off the stems, and lay them out to dry. Then take a long sheet of wax paper (at least several feet, depending on how much basil you have), and lay the leaves out on it in a single layer. Roll up the paper, stick the roll in a freezer bag, and throw it in your freezer. Whenever you want to use some basil, unroll the paper, take out what you need, and then just stick the roll back in the freezer. I've found this works great and doesn't take up much space in my small freezer!

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JULY-AUGUST Dessert COTM LEBOVITZ WEBSITE - All Other Desserts (Cakes, Pies, Cookies, etc.)

I've made the Matzoh Crunch, and thought it was good, but not great. If you have matzoh laying around and need to find a use for them, this is a good recipe for that. But I wouldn't go out and buy matzoh just to make this. I might have liked it better if I had sprinkled sea salt on them, like he suggests in one version of this.

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Moving overseas - help me learn how to make these things from scratch

There isn't fresh yogurt where we will be, but I'm sure they have it in Kathmandu. I will have to look into bringind the dehydrated yogurt - thanks!

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Moving overseas - help me learn how to make these things from scratch

I know the one expat family who lived in the town we'll be in made bread pretty regularly - either they were able to get yeast locally, or they would bring it back from Kathmandu every few months when they traveled to the city. I will have an oven.

I can bring equipment, but I am trying to decide what is really necessary to bring because it is all so heavy and we'll be paying for all that shipping. I already want to bring our stand mixer, handheld blender, and ice cream maker (ok, not "necessary", but I craved ice cream too when we were there!). I'll have to look into yogurt makers - is it a lot easier to use a yogurt maker or can I just find a warm place to let it sit?

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