not OT, question for those who are multi-crafters

My mother has one of these little tables. IIRC, it used to be my grandmother's but she's had it for as long as I can remember. It is a cool little table!

Joan

Alison ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

I like steamed veggies but confess I don't care for sprouts steamed, think it's because they are dense and take too long to cook through. I suppose one could cut them in half, but I haven't.

"Lucille" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

Our markets are pretty good that way - I can even buy two eggs if the mood took me. I would think these pots of mashed spuds would be two serving, but the one I was at always boasts if you want smaller, they will accommodate you.

It used to be that the tiny corner shops would sell 2 ounces of cheese or one slice of ham, ideal for pensioners or anyone living alone. However, the new "super" markets cannot be bothered with anyone who buys such tiny amounts. Thank goodness the shops on Stronsay (both of them!) are, like the "old-fashioned" corner shops, still quite happy to sell small quantities of food.

Actually I am referring to a local stupidmarket, very large, but they do say people should not feel that the butcher/fishmonger or greengrocer cannot be asked to do smaller. Naturally there are certain obvious items that can never be divisible, but if they can, we only have to ask.

I've had a wonderful curried cabbage - it had caraway (I think it was caraway) seeds in it and currants. Lots of butter too, but oh was it good!

It must be lovely to have individual specialised shops. They are truly gone here. I can stop at a veggie stand, and ask for 2 tomatoes etc, and at Publix, our big grocery chain here in Florida, they will package anything in the Veggie, fish, deli or meat line that I want. However, generally groceries are all pre-packaged. Many times I have asked for a tiny bit of root ginger; 1/4lb shrimp for paella,; 3 rolls which are prepackaged in 8-packs, and they are most happy to oblige.. It doesn't hurt that the corporate HQ is right here in Lakeland, and it is NOT a publicly traded stock. I have told Jim he should work as a bagger for three months, just so we can buy their stock ( it is not publically traded, but employees have great opportunities, and the FAM

Gill Murray ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

I was talking about Sobeys which I expect you patronized at some point, they are a NS grown chain that are now in other parts of Canada too. They have aspects I don't care for but pretty much react to any criticisms etc.

I complained once about the florist department selling those glass boxes with tropical fish in them. Alright, not an endangered species, but living fish which could never be fed because the unit was sealed. What a miserable, cheap toy, to buy for a kid. Doomed fish. I emailed my complaint and almost instantly a woman called me and she said in conversation "They are just fish" and to my horror I found myself saying "Yes, but fish have feelings" ~ anyway - there were no more fish in sealed units for sale within the hour.

So they are a bit of a curates egg, but mostly reasonable I guess.

Jim - a bagger ??? What was his reaction? lolololol

If it tasted of a little heat, more likely it was mustard seeds with possibly some fennel seeds. For Indian cooking, you'd likely see that - not caraway. Though fennel seeds, and cumin look a lot like caraway seeds.

Just as a point of information - curry powder which is what I believe Cheryl is referring to is a blend of spices - basically what the English mixed up to emulate what is the basis of spice in an Indian "curry" . The powder usually has turmeric (the yellow color) and some chili powder, and a mix of coriandor and cumin powder in some proportions. Curry generally just refers to a dish cooked such that it has a sauce. Curry leaves are totally different - sometimes in Thai dishes they're visible. The curry leaves are like a small bay leaf - and not as easy to get here. But, the blend of spices in a curry is supposedly good for you. Historically, turmeric has some antiseptic properties - one of the reasons it was used so much in cooking - especially poultry, meat dishes. My first XDH is Indian, and his mum came to Pittsburgh for a few months prior to our marriage - so I got quite the serious cooking course. That, and the several somewhat lengthy trips to India. Plus, his best friend - who with his family lived in Pgh - was a really good cook - and they entertained a lot - so I learned quite a bit, and still do an enormous amount of Indian cooking. My then MIL had a curry tree (don't really remember the full name) - but a tree with the curry leaves growing in their yard.

ellice

I had wondered - my first thought was "rye bread" when I tried the dish. I tried the same dish elsewhere and thought "licorice", so I had wondered if some one had grabbed the wrong bottle. It was really good though - a happy accident that I have repeated since at home. The caraway seeds go well with the yellow curry.

I'll repeat a favorite dish - curried fruit rice. Couldn't be simpler, fry a white onion in butter, add dried fruit of choice and some stock. Add curry powder to taste. Stir into cooked white rice and serve. Also tasty cold.

I would have to say, as a long term lover of sprouts (known as "fart capsules" in our family!) that cutting a cross in the bottom is totally pointless - save yourself the bother!

Pat

My Mum said to do it, as did Granny............and do I want to be haunted forever for NOT doing it??

Gill

Well, my Mum and Granny both boiled cabbage to death then squeezed the excess water out of it by pushing a saucer down on it - and they haven`t haunted me for not doing that! They used to cut crosses in the bottom of sprouts, too, bless `em, but it TRULY is a waste of time. I always thought so and was very pleased to have it confirmed by a number of TV chefs!!! I like all my cabbage and sprouts etc. with plenty of crunch in them, thankyou. I`ve only recently managed to persuade DH that you DON`T need gallons of water to cook a cabbage! I have to ease him into these things slowly, since he does the cooking these days and tends to do it the same way as HIS mother did and gets offended if told it`s not right! LOLOL!

Pat

Same here - back in the 1940s and 1950s my gran used to put the cabbage for Sunday lunch on the stove before we went to chapel at 10:30 am; by the time we got back home just after noon the cabbage was considered almost ready to serve. She thought that she was the "cat's whiskers" because she used sophisticated products such as Gravy Browning and Camp Coffee, items that she was still using in the 1980s but complained that they were becoming difficult to obtain. Fortunately Maureen steams most vegetables so that they are nice & crisp and retain most of their "goodness"

This thread has given me a craving for cabbage and Brussels Sprouts!

I do that a lot - except the hard way - with original spices, and no butter. Just fry to soft the onion in a little oil. Add some cardamom pods, a little coriander powder, about 1/2 as much cumin powder, and some cinnamon, and if you have on hand a bit of garam masala (indian melange of ground spices), and a few whole cloves, maybe a bay leaf or two - stir and keep cooking about 2 min - til the spices don't smell acrid. Then throw in chopped dried fruit, and cook about 1 min, then add some cashews (optional)

- stir - about 30 secs. Then add basmati rice - stir til all is coated - about 1 min (med heat) then add the liquid - I use water because with the basmati rice and all the spices don't need the stock, plus - I keep this a veg dish). For the water - normally it's about 2 C water to 1 C rice - but in this case because the rice has been cooked for a bit in the 1-2 min of frying (don't let it burn at all) I reduce the water just slightly. The dried fruit will however absorb some of it. Bring to boil (hi) then clamp on lid an put on lowest simmer you have. 20 min. Delicious.

ellice

Hmmm - it won`t be advisable to be too close to you for a while, then!

Pat

I believe you - but next time I'll try without. I like them with still some almost crunch - and I think the cross helps. We had them last night - this thread must've gotten me going. And there was a nice bin of fresh ones at Wegmans so on our way home from the hockey game we stopped and DH helped choosed dinner. So, he picked some awesome red meat - I will say - the best steak we've had in months - and a t a decent price. And Puckster shared with me, and still has another bone to go. I knew I had some lovely mixed fingerling potatoes to roast at home (easy oven roast with lots of dried herbs and coarse salt, a little oil), and mushrooms. But as we walked past the sprouts I asked him - and first he said "too much trouble" but I said no problem, then he said "You know I LOVE sprouts" . Who'd have thought. So we had a big bunch of sprouts - simple with a tiny bit of butter, salt and nutmeg after the quick boil. They were yummy - and x-ed.

ellice

ellice ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with

snipped for brevity

roast with lots of dried

So to prove it is better, objectively cook some with Xs and some without. All those chefs can't be wrong, and as I said Julia and Jacques tested it out, I stopped doing it myself because having tried both, there was no difference, other than more work in preparation.