1790_house's Profile

Guittard. Hands down.

I make a 1/4 batch of egg-less cookie dough, roll it up in a thin cylinder of parchment, and freeze *specifically* for adding to ice cream! My kids have food allergies and I often can't buy safe ready-made. It is not for baking, only for dicing and mixing in. Soooo good.
Sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, flour, teensy bit of baking soda, and then chocolate chunks or bits. Good for midnight freezer munching, too.

Wow. I guess I need to list my Domino mags on ebay or something. I never knew there was this level of fandom---my Mom bought me a gift subscription so they just started showing up in the mailbox. I liked looking at them at the time but do not love love them. Didn't recycle them, just shelved them next to the Design New Englands......hmmm.
wonder what they're worth.....

Dust Mite Control! If your children (or you) are allergic to dust mites, you can place wrapped stuffed animals & pillows in the freezer for 24 hours if the items are not washable.
The deep freeze will kill them. It is not a substitute for washing; their waste still remains, which is the allergenic part. It is eerie seeing teddy in a freezer bag but it really helps in the mite fight.

We were in the same boat, needed one, hated the look of it. Bought it anyway.
I can not sing its praises enough! We eventually had 3 children. it went up when we needed it, went into storage between toddlers.
It has saved our Christmas tree from puppies, it has blocked off areas of our house during renovations, etc etc etc. I say go for it. Safe is not always attractive, but it does blend in after a while.

Guittard! Great selection of meltable discs and other chocolatey goodness. You can buy the chips at Whole Foods and the discs online.
Peanut and almond allergy friendly.

http://guittard-online.stores.yahoo.net/bakingproducts.html

Love this company, my family cannot do chocolate that has crossed paths with peanuts. They do process almonds but keep it separate enough that my kids can eat anything that is not labeled "may contain"

I do a whole turkey breast in my oval slow cooker, bone-in. It always comes out moist and tender! Usually I do a dry spice rub and add a little broth or water to the bottom. Sometimes I'll put a few veggies on the bottom too, carrots/celery/onions. Right before serving the breast goes under the broiler quickly for that nice crispy skin action if I feel like it.
Makes a great dinner plus lots of leftovers for sandwiches and salads for the week, the bones go in my freezer for stock day.

Figure out how much you are willing to budget for halloween items, then go to the bank for rolled coin. A big bowl of pennies with some nickels thrown in for extra bling is not a huge expense and kids will love you!

I made an amazing spur of the moment kale thingie recently after a farmer's market impulse buy of 2 bunches of beautiful curly kale, some local smoked bacon, and a bunch of red onion scallions:
Fry up a mess of diced bacon until almost too crispy (use a really big pan), add a big handful of thinly sliced oniony things, then add washed, dried, and finely sliced kale a bit at a time until it all fits and wilts down. Finish with a couple dashes of cider vinegar, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. I called it the garden of good and evil (apologies to the book of the same name...) oh, so good. And evil.

We make our own, severe peanut & tree-nut allergies prevent us from store-bought.
I'm getting really good at it! Tough to source many of the dried fruits---most have crossed paths with nuts along the way, allergy is so severe that invisible residue=life-threatening.
Saving for a dehydrator!
BTW, a wee bit of applesauce in the recipe will add a softer, chewier bite that is kid-friendly.