Sorry, I left out an important word there - makes WINE! Toss them (minus pits) into a big bucket, add water and sugar (or not), some wine yeast and leave it for a few weeks. (Abbreviated version) I use the leftover "goo", the pulp, for the compost, it grows fabulous worms. The wine goes well with all sorts of deserts, and some main courses, like shrimp. One should never waste a good bushell of friut!

Congrats on the new Engagement!

I have been cooking for some years (centuries, perhaps) and have had nearly every gadget ever made. Now though, it has all come back to excellent knives, good pots and pans, cooking bowls (ceramic), gorgeous serving ware, and TECHNIQUE!

ok then -- I have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, which I love for bread dough and making sausages and pasta, and a Kitchen Aid food processor for chopping/mixing when we have parties, but I use my knives more often.

I LOVE my Convection oven/microwave combo -- (Sharp) cooks pies, cakes, breads, anything the ordinary oven can, and faster.

Pestle and Mortar -- a must have for fresh spices, and making pastes
Kettle -- for tea and hot water
Salt and Pepper grinder -- get several

But my fave is, *Food Saver* or other good quality vauum seal machine. You can prepare several meals ahead. Also, you can season chicken breasts or thighs, and then freeze; boil them in the bag for low fat foods, in the same pot as your veggies (for easy cleanup, few pots). I freeze soups in an open bag, then when they are frozen, vacuum and seal, same with pasta and sauces. It's not only a food saver, but a timesaver as well.

Good Luck!

I found an old copper bowl, pretty badly rusted and stained, that now looks almost as new as my new set of copper bottom pans. Try BKF -- available at your local Safeway store. (Bar Keeper's Friend -- powder like Comet) I only found it 6 weeks ago, and it's now my best kitchen friend. Follow directions and it should take only a few minutes. DON"T scour, rub gently with cloth or sponge. It reaaly works!

. . .and then, if you are really adventurous, you could ferment them! I just fermented 26 lbs of peaches about 5 weeks ago. The juice is fabulous! (Every cook should try it, even if it's only once) IMO anyway.

I think moderation is the key to most, if not all our problems. For example, one acre of ocean produces 1000 times mussel meat as one acre of pasture produces beef. While I love beef, I now eat more mussels than beef (I love mussels too!). It takes about 20 lbs of grain to produce one pound of beef -- I eat more grains and veg than meat.

We eat far too much "protein" I think -- we also waste a TREMENDOUS amount of food, of all types.

I love to indulge too -- but surely we can indulge with smaller portions, learn to cook/season/spice some of our more plentiful foods in new and exciting ways, and only eat our rarer foods more rarely!

And it would also help us become a less obese nation. And help reduce food wastage, and need less landfill space, and perhaps we would be able to provide more food for starving children, nations, etc.

There's a lot we can do, and still indulge our passions. . .

I'm new too. However, looks like Chow was formed by an American, so it stands to reason it would seem very American. There are International Boards here though.

I don't think it really needs international recognition - we all know the internet is international - don't we?

Why would the board police take it away?

my two cents -- the best place I ever went had the most wonderfull staff. Romy, our waiter, was never there until you needed him. I aske him one time about it, and he said that he was trained in France and good wait persons should be inconspicuous, never hover around the table (it's too much like eavesdropping) but be on a constant lookout to be available when a patron looked like they wanted the waiter. He really was fabulous.

Oh, and the food was exquisite too!

I see very little about homewinemaking here, and thus far, none about fruit or mead. It's sad because, making your own, is fun, and you can make it out of pretty much anything that has sugar/starch.
S/O and I make between 30-100 gallons per year. This year, we are building a small winery out back becasue the house is not big enough.
It's messy sometimes, but some of the stuff we've made is really good -- even have some blue ribbons and a best of show for a Nectarine wine. Hey, how many people can serve qail marinated in pineapple wine, and serve their own pineapple wine with it! Or pear and cranberry wine with turkey at Thanksgiving?
Right now, I've got 12 gallons of watermellon bubbling away, and it smells incredible.
Oh, yes, I do have an extensive collection of "Grape" wines too -- even made some pretty good Cab a few years back.
Guess I enjoy making a good homemade wine to go with a good homemade Beef Wellington, 'cept the wine takes longer!

Slanje eveyone! (Gaelic toast)

As a big fan of Julia Child, I am almost all the way through two books. . .

Julia's Casual Dinners and Julia's Breakfasts, Lunches and Suppers.

Not too large to be intimidating, and very approachable!

I have some of both. I use the Henckels slightly more, they seem to be better balanced for a left-hander, but both brands cut well, and that's really what matters, eh!

I think cultural variances also contribute. The French drink a lot more wine per capita (Hi cal) but eat smaller, more frequent meals - the Italians also drink more wine, eat pasta, yet both cultures tend to have lower body fat.
In Britain (my birth country) after WWII, there were so many food shortages, families (my Mom) had to learn creative ways to serve vegetables, rather than meat. So now we have the addition of "education" as well as cultural, and economics to add to our obesity problem.
We can't change our genes, but we can educate our young 'uns. On a recent visit to my daughter in the south east, I was absolutely flabergasted when my 20 month old grandson asked for a snack, and when Momma offered salad, he went into paroxysms of delight! His fave snacks are green beans, hard-boiled agg whites, salad, grapes etc. Not cookies, chips, chocolate.
And, they are cheaper than chocolate, or potato chips. (But take longer to prepare)
Perhaps we need some radical changes -- not food stamps, but food (healty) itself; education for our young; limit the availability of junk food in schools -- too many things to list.

Rice, grain, flour, sugar, pasta, beans etc., -- I keep all in large plastic containers. Not because of mice, but it stays fresher longer, and is easier to find in the pantry.

We only ever had one mouse, and used one of those electronic electrocution things -- worked great, caught the wretch in a day and none have come back. (Spouse is allergic to cats!)