Kitchen

[Poodlepet2]

Denise, the coffee carafe is a great idea, but thinking along that line, does anybody know if Thermos products are still being made? When my DD was in elementary school, she loved soup and I looked everywhere for a thermos-the type we who are over the age of fifty remember! I remember a jar type that was made by Thermos: it was perfect for a single serving. You used to be able to find Thermos products everywhere....are they now only sold with camping gear? Are they being sold at all? I was thinking it might be easier to clean than a carafe... Poodlepet

[brewhaha]

Pizza Hut delivers.

[denisemb]

Poodlepet, you just got me into trouble. I was curious about Thermos as well, yes, they're still around, have a website and offer an insulated carafe for French Press Coffee (I don't drink it, but husband loves FP). So I was told to order it and now I have to order something for myself to get free shipping from Amazon.

Brewhaha - yes, but do you have Pizza Hut on speed dial like we used to? LOL

[chickenbutt]

Can't you just remove some of the water in the crock pot? Or am I missing something? I don't cook in crock pots so I'm not all that familiar but the one I had you could just take the top off and remove anything. What I'd do, as a rule of thumb, is to go with less liquid and then you can add if you need to.

As for Thanksgiving cooking - It's become pretty difficult to me in the past few years so what I did was make a three day schedule (it was first two days but had to expand it to three) and spread everything out.

On Tues I can make the pies because that's better anyway, so that they have plenty of setting time. Last year I moved the turkey to Wednesday and, boy, did that make Thursday easier! I also start my work for the dressing (I don't stuff) on Wednesday. I make croutons with sourdough bread and I can do those early and, after they cool, I can put them in a L&L bowl until the next day when I cook the wild rice and sausage, saute veg, etc, and assemble it, then just seal it up in my Corning Ware baker so I can bake it on Thursday. Oven is empty because the turkey is already done the day before. I carve it out on Wed, also, and put some of it in another Corning Ware dish. On thurs, add some stock and in the oven it goes for part of the time with the dressing.

[house_cat]

On 11/5/2014 Poodlepet said: On the subject of ginger, Christine Pirello (PBS Christina Cooks) maintains that you can keep fresh ginger indefinitely by sticking it in a jar of sand (which of course has been sterilized-I need to investigate that!) Poodlepet

I keep fresh ginger in the freezer. It lasts a very, very long time and still grates when I need to use some.

[house_cat]

On 11/5/2014 Poodlepet said: Denise, the coffee carafe is a great idea, but thinking along that line, does anybody know if Thermos products are still being made? When my DD was in elementary school, she loved soup and I looked everywhere for a thermos-the type we who are over the age of fifty remember! I remember a jar type that was made by Thermos: it was perfect for a single serving. You used to be able to find Thermos products everywhere....are they now only sold with camping gear? Are they being sold at all? I was thinking it might be easier to clean than a carafe... Poodlepet

Yes! I bought a 16 oz. wide mouth, screw-top Thermos from Amazon a couple of years ago. It's all metal, except for part of the lid. I put coffee in it every morning and drink it at work when my students leave - that's 9 hours later and it's still hot. The screw top never, ever leaks no matter what I do to it. I can put it in my bag with papers and not worry about it at all. I think it was $25, but totally worth it.

[TrishTX]

If you buy the frozen garlic bread slices that you heat in the oven try grilling the bread next time in a fry pan or griddle, as you would grilled cheese or French Toast. You don't have to add any oil or butter to the pan to heat it. I cook them until they have a little golden brown on the surface. ( this probably won't work with the ones with cheese)

It tastes so much better grilled. It doesn't ge dried out or too crunchy.

[Poodlepet2]

This is not a cooking tip per second, but certainly useful. I saw this on The Chew: they were lamenting the aggravation we all go through opening that darned clamshell packaging. One of the hosts had read that a safety can opener( the kind that rounds the edges of the can and lid so you can't cut yourself) could be used to open clamshell packaging. They did it and it works! I tried it and it works! Give it a try.... Poodlepet

[misspammie]

On 11/6/2014 house_cat said:

On 11/5/2014 Poodlepet said: On the subject of ginger, Christine Pirello (PBS Christina Cooks) maintains that you can keep fresh ginger indefinitely by sticking it in a jar of sand (which of course has been sterilized-I need to investigate that!) Poodlepet

I keep fresh ginger in the freezer. It lasts a very, very long time and still grates when I need to use some.

house-cat I also keep a hunk of ginger in the freezer in one of those (of long ago) green bags I got from the Q. It does keep forever.

[Eliana]

Keep a small bowl of vinegar on or nearby the stove to absorb cooking odors.