misterbrucie's Profile
KitchenAid immersion blender - ??? about chopper attachment
Thanks, bakinggirl... I did read this 2 months ago BTW. Posted the question on a KitchenAid forum but no answers. I eventually decided not to bother for the time being.
Steaming Rice
Not as far as I can tell. My rice cooker (not a fancy one) does it perfectly every time.
KitchenAid immersion blender - ??? about chopper attachment
I have a KitchenAid immersion blender and would am thinking about getting the chopper attachment (http://kitchenaid.com/flash.cmd?/#/product/KHBCHOPOB/), but I have a question:
Is it safe for use with liquids? I ask because I previously had a Philips immersion blender that came with a chopper attachment. After using it happily for several months to mix up salad dressings & such, I found that the "head" part (the thing that attaches to the motor and contains all the gears) had filled with mold.
I've posted this question on the KA forums, but have not received an answer yet. Anybody know anything? Thanks.
cookbook purge: how do you choose?
If a cookbook has steered me wrong in the past (for example: Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" told me to make hummus with 2 cups of garbanzos and a TABLESPOON of ground cumin; also helped me make plenty of unsuccessful bread & desserts, which I'm normally pretty good at), then it's untrustworthy and should go. It takes up a lot of my limited shelf space, too.
A third milk thread: why in the world do people buy skim or low-fat milk?
I'm under doctor's orders to "avoid fat from 4-legged animals as much as possible" because of high cholesterol (and a family history of heart disease). My mom switched the whole family over to skim milk in the 80's when my dad had his first bypass. It's hard to argue when your dad is in the ICU, but I really had no problem with the taste or feel of skim milk, and now I prefer it.
Panini maker indecision
I have the cheapest Cuisinart Griddler (non-removable nonstick plates, no adjustable temperature -- the plug is the "on/off" switch). I love it. I have yet to make a less than fabulous panini in it. It's about $40/50 at Target. Very easy to clean, too. My brother has the fancy Griddler ($80/90 from Costco) and loves it too. I've used his and didn't think it made better sandwiches than mine, but the extra options might be nice.
(I also have a waffle iron, but sometimes just pour pancake batter into the panini press -- the resulting "panini cakes" look funny but taste great.)
As A Chowhound, What Did You Get For Christmas?
I love my panini press too... actually I use it not only for sandwiches, but also for big rectangular pancakes!
He tipped me $2.03.
This has actually been helpful to me for future reference. I once rather severely undertipped a perfectly competent, pleasant waitress just through having bad math skills, and didn't realize it until much later when I dug the credit card slip out of my wallet. (I think it was $10 less than it should have been, on a $75 total, which means I really screwed up.) It was a couple of days later and I didn't remember her name. I didn't know what to do, so I did nothing, but have regretted it ever since. I wish someone had pointed it out to me at the time. (Maybe I got pilloried on bitterwaitress.com -- certainly I deserved it...)
New Food Processor
Another vote for KitchenAid here. Mine is relatively new (since September) so I can't comment on longevity issues yet, but here's my $.02:
-the combination of a big work bowl & a smaller work bowl is terrific. If you just want to make 2-3 cups' worth of something, you don't have to use the big bowl and scrape the splatter off the sides. It doesn't look like Cuisinart provides this (I could be wrong?)
-very simple to use. It has just 3 buttons: On, Off and Pulse. My mom has a Cuisinart and finds all the safety catches to be kind of a PITA -- it won't turn on unless everything is just so. I haven't tried hers so I don't know if it's just her ;-)
-it's STRONG. Haven't used it for bread dough yet, but nothing so far has slowed it down, even momentarily. (I have the 12c/700w) It does take a little getting used to, i.e. you dump in tomatoes and they are pureed in 2 seconds. I think probably both Cuisinart and KA are pretty seriously overpowered. (KA could probably have a lawn mower attachment FCOL)
-easy to clean, although again I can't compare with Cuisinart. Whatever you get, the wide mouth feed tube is important so you can get in there to clean it out. Also, the touchpad means there are no "in-between" areas for crumbs or batter to get lodged in. Just wipe down the outside.
Deal on Le Creuset Oval French Oven
That's what I was going to say. These are good for oven use but not stovetop. And if you drop them, they will break (instead of putting a dent in your floor &/or breaking bones in your foot).
Questionable cookbook -
I checked on Amazon, and it's real! (used copies starting at $101 though)
Oreo cookie crumbs for cheesecake crust
OK, I feel a little silly asking about this... but I'm trying not to enslave myself to my cheesecake to the point where I will buy a box of Oreos, dismantle them one by one and scrape out the insides. Teddy Grahams or graham cracker crumbs plus cocoa powder are just not the same. I guess I could buy a ready-made oreo crust and crumble it into my own cheesecake pan, but those things are way expensive and it would be a big waste of packaging materials etc.
Does anybody know where or how I can get hold of Oreo Cookie Crumbs? I'm sure I remember seeing them sold in boxes like graham cracker crumbs, but now I can't find them anywhere. My friends are no help. I'm looking online, but haven't been able to find anything [yet] except food-service sites where you have to order a minimum of three 25-pound cases.
Thanks--
P.S. Just found an old thread http://www.chowhound.com/topics/343169 that says Nabisco has discontinued them. Say it ain't so, somebody!
New to board, Finally ready to enjoy food.
Not sure if this is what you need, but:
When I started to cook (i.e. when I moved into an apartment with a kitchen that was larger than my microwave), I had no idea how to cook beyond opening jars and heating the contents. This book, "Now You're Cooking" (http://www.amazon.ca/Now-Youre-Cooking-Everything-Beginner/dp/1883791006/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196019739&sr=1-6) taught me the very basic basics, like how to chop an onion.
Are we the only ones with his & hers butter?
I understand this isn't exactly the same thing, but we keep 2 kinds of peanut butter in circulation: unsalted creamy for me, salted crunchy for the DP. Except his lasts longer because he's always raiding mine.
What do you add to JIFFY Corn Bread mix? Creative uses? (rop)
Molasses. Not too much.
Is this cooking?
I agree with what everyone else has said so far.
It's fun, though, to take the taste of that recipe and try to recreate it using "real" ingredients.... I remember this super rich, super moist chocolate cake my mom used to bake, and did a pretty good job recreating it (using sour cream and melted dark chocolate chips in the batter). Mom tasted it and approved (well, she is my mom after all). When I told her how I'd done it, she said "Oh, I used to just dump in a box of instant pudding!"
Also - if it's from scratch, you can control the amount of salt, artificial ingredients, etc.
Broken Heart -- Suggestions Needed
I second Celeste's bread-baking suggestion. Or cookies. (with plenty of dark dark chocolate chips)
Homemade macaroni & cheese is good too.
Maybe there's something you like but he won't eat? Now's your chance!
Help--no water bath for my cheesecake
Perhaps if you have a big enough cookie sheet, you can make a very shallow water bath?
(I've made a lot of cheesecakes and never used a water bath, only pans of water on the lower shelf.)
Is it possible for nondrinkers to be foodies?
After many years of trying and failing to be a wine lover, I've finally had to admit that I am not. I'll drink a glass of it now & then, but have always found that, for me, wine spoils the taste of the food I'm having it with, and vice versa. (Apologies to the wine gods, and especially to my friend who uncorked some really nice, expensive wines in hopes of converting me.) ...And yet, like everyone else on here, I consider myself a foodie.
Beloved Food Jingles?
Seems like there aren't many new food jingles - or maybe I just don't watch enough TV... but the song that goes with the demo on the "pancakes in a can" website is pretty catchy.
http://www.batterblaster.com/index.php
Do you make your own birthday dinner?
If you like it, do it. If you think you MIGHT like it, try it -- you can always do it differently next year.
I just went to a birthday party for a friend where the birthday boy cooked for 50+ people. He appeared to be having the time of his life.
Leftover Almond Butter
I have mixed melted chocolate with almond butter to make an almond version of Nutella. It's good.
You can also use it in cookies. Add sugar and it's basically almond paste.
Is there anything you just can't make, no matter how hard you try? [Moved from General Topics board]
a hint that might help: when they're done on the edges but not in the middle, try turning off the oven and leave the brownies in there for another ~15 minutes. I do it with sour cream chocolate cake and it works.
Old school table manners... what were you taught?
Pretty much the same stuff that others have mentioned. Here's an interesting one: Always put knife and fork side by side in the middle of the plate between bites. Fork with tines up means you're not done yet; tines down means you're done. Never heard of this anywhere else (until smartie's post).
No stretching across the table. Very important. Once my sister reached for the salt right across in front of my face instead of asking for it, so I bit her on the arm. (I was 8, she was 6.) She yelled, of course, but Mom just said "What did I tell you about reaching across?" 35 years later I still feel rather victorious about that one.
What's More Important: Being Good or Being Authentic?
As long as they are not claiming authenticity when they clearly are not delivering it, it's hard to see where the problem with "good" is. Same for the various organic, ethical, global-warming, profiteering, etc. concerns out there. Some people can't "just enjoy the food" once they know about the suffering that other people / animals / the planet had to go through to produce it (& get it onto the supermarket shelf for $5.99 a pound).
On the other side of it though, people who are simply snobs miss out on a lot of great-tasting food because it doesn't have a pedigree that makes it worthy of being processed by their highly sophisticated intestines.
