Subj : Pick Your Own [1] To : Dave Drum From : Ruth Haffly Date : Wed Mar 01 2023 15:16:58 Hi Dave, DD> That's how things evolve. RH> Yes, and I've adapted enough recipies in my cooking lifetime, including RH> my MIL's all purpose spaghetti (and other pastas, pizza, etc) sauce. DD> I seldom (unless trying to duplicate a specific recipe) use a written DD> recipe for making pasta dishes. Nearly all are "head arrangements". I used the basic recipe my MIL gave me for years, took probably a month or so of making it once a week to get it memorised. Then one afternoon (I let it cook several hours) I tossed in some canned, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Now I usually don't make it the same way twice in a row, just using what's on hand. Basic sauce it a 6 ounce can of tomato paste, 3 cans of water, teaspoon each of oregano, parsley, basil, salt (I cut that to about 1/4 tsp early on), and garlic powder plus about half a teaspoon of black pepper. Mix, heat to boil, reduce to low and cook 2-3 hours, stirring occaisionally. I also make a fresh veggie sauce but that's for another discussion. DD> One time I had made some pestp using dandelion greens from the front DD> yard DD> and was having it with spaghetti noodles when a fried of Italian DD> descent dropped by. I fixed him a plate and he exclaimed "This is like DD> my old DD> grandmother used to make!" DD> Who knew ... I just made it up as I went along. And his grandmother had probably done the same. (G) RH> going strong. At our church's Super Bowl/chili cook off event I was RH> talking with a couple of younger women about various things, among them RH> cooking. Somehow sourdough was brought up; one woman said she'd never RH> been able to keep a starter going, the other woman was interested in RH> trying it. We trouble shot the first woman's problems and yesterday I RH> gave both of them a jar of starter from ours, with care & feeding RH> instructions. Got a text last night from one of them--she's planning to RH> use it today. DD> Never made sourdough anything. I have never seen anything so "special" DD> about it. Been served sourdough breads, biscuits, etc. in restaurant DD> settings .... and TBH, it's no big deal to me. We like it and it's fun to experiment with for baked goods. Steve made some biscuits with it this morning, fried up some country ham to go inside them, with a bit of Cabot's Seriously Sharp cheddar cheese. That, with a cup of strawberry yogurt and a cuppa tea made a nice breakfast for me. DD> Blanch peaches by dipping in boiling water for 30-60 DD> seconds. Use a large slotted spoon and do 5 peaches at a DD> time. Immediately remove peaches to a sink or bowl with DD> ice water to stop the cooking. RH> I usually put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them and let them RH> sit for a minute or so. Drain, peel and can or continue with recipe. I RH> do tomatoes the same way. DD> I have a big red graniteware pot with a mesh basket to fit it for DD> those purposes. I haven't a bowl big enough to use for more than one DD> or two pieces of fruit - with the pour over boiling water method. RH> I've got bowls ranging in size from 2 cups to 16 quarts in stainless RH> steel or aluminum. The 16 qt one we bought fairly early on in our RH> married life; it even travelled to Germany with us when we had to take RH> a basic kitchen. I generally use a 5 or 7 qt bowl to hold peaches or RH> tomatoes for skinning; they hold a good number of fruit. DD> Don't got any metal dinnerware. Except some souffle' boats I bought DD> off of eBay for use as chilli bowls. All my metal vessels are DD> cookware. I do have a 3 qt (ish) heavy serving dish I got as a DD> "premium" from Coca Cola rewards points. And a larger diameter, short DD> walled bowl of about the DD> same capacity - but that one would not allow for covering fruits with DD> boiling water. We used to have a mix of pyrex and metal bowls, decided to go all metal when one more of the pyrex ones broke. Down side is that I can't use the metal ones in the microwave. DD> Bring the water back to a boil. Process for 30 minutes. RH> Takes less time to pressure can so I usually do it that way. DD> I don't do canning and my Mom and her Mom used a "Mary Dunbar" rig DD> they got from the Jewel Tea route salesman. It looked very much like DD> the one here - https://www.simplycanning.com/water-bath-canning/ RH> I've got a boiling water bath canner also; I'll check yours out and see RH> how mine compares. Got ours some years ago after years of using just a RH> stock pot with improvised rack. DD> One of my stock pots came with a rack so that it could also be used as DD> a "steamer." So far I've never used it for that purpose. And my DD> rice/pasta steamer's heating element has burned out. So, I do rice in DD> the nuker now. Using that big bowl I mentioned above. I have both a rice cooker and a (not name brand) instant pot to do rice. --- Catch you later, Ruth rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net FIDO 1:396/45.28 .... My mind is like a steel, uh... thingy --- PPoint 3.01 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28) .