EmilyW's Profile

In fact, I just did this for dinner before I saw this post. I did two ears of corn at 4 minutes per ear, and it was plenty cooked. I might actually reduce the time a bit next time. (Granted, I have a rather large and powerful microwave.)

The tutorial I saw has you wait until after microwaving to cut the end off, then sort of grab the tasselly part at the top and shake out the corn. The corn didn't really shake out of the husk for me (although I let it cool for a couple of minutes before I tried it), but nonetheless, the husk peeled off really quickly and easily, with no silk left on the corn.

Just be careful, because they're so sharp, you'll give yourself a pretty deep cut before you even realize you've done it. Trust me, I've watched it happen.

Growing up, breakfast was always very informal and not necessarily together (my dad doesn't even eat breakfast), so no explicit rules about technology. Of course, this was before any of us had a laptop or a cellphone, so it wasn't as much of an issue.

Dinner, however, was a tech-free zone. No answering the phone, and certainly nothing computer-related. Now when I visit my parents, who are both fairly tech-savvy, it's the same rule, and I like it that way. I find it very rude when someone pulls out their phone at the table.

Sharpie Mean Streak marking sticks are pretty common in science labs because they're waterproof, but they come off in the dishwasher.

This might be a better solution, as your storage needs change.

I'd like to try this with Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat tea. I've found it to be a very effective remedy (although I can't discount the placebo effect in that.)

Traditional Medicinals makes a pastilles version of Throat Coat, but they're ridiculously expensive -- about $7 for 24, $0.30 each. (A 30-count bag of Walgreens cough drops is going for $0.50 on the website -- less than $0.02 each.)

The Throat Coat tea bags are $3.50 for 16, and this recipe appears to make about 34 cough drops out of 4 tea bags. That's $0.88 worth of tea bags, or about $0.03 a cough drop, plus the cost of the sugar. Still more expensive than the Walgreens, but also a lot more pleasant.

This sounds wonderful. I grew up loving the Little House books, and used to make maple syrup taffy in the backyard when I was about 6. (My dad would just send me out with a thermos of hot syrup, and I'd pour it directly on the ground. Relatively safe, since we lived in the country.)

My question about this is, can anyone tell me whether the book has a high proportion of meat-based recipes? I'm vegetarian, and would like to buy it, but it may not be worth it if it spends too much time on the freshly-butchered pigs I remember so vividly from the books.

This will round out my collection perfectly. Want to come down to my basement to see it?

In Austria, there are black ones all over all the plexi-glass sound walls along the train routes and highways.

They look a lot like these, which are €9,95 for 8, although this company only ships within Europe.

For the US, I found these, which are $9.99 for 5.

I've done this -- my parents bought me this penguin loofah scrubber for Christmas. Works great, and it's not bad for scrubbing the dirt off of veggies, either.

Food bits do tend to get stuck on the inside, but if you rinse it out really well, and as someone said above, zap it in the microwave periodically, I don't think it harbors more gunk or germs than your typical kitchen sponge. Not to mention all that dish soap.

I hope this is the right place to share this; I just finished off the leftovers from the batch of Hungarian Mushroom Soup I made last night, and I love it so much, I thought I should share it for soup month.

This is from a 1980s publication of the Moosewood Cookbook, with my own comments and recommendations included.

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

12-16 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced -- I like baby portobellos.
2 C onion, chopped
4 Tbsp. butter -- I use extra virgin olive oil instead.
3 Tbsp. flour
1 C milk
1-2 tsp. dill
1-2 Tbsp. paprika -- I use 2, since I like it spicier.
1 Tbsp. tamari (essentially soy sauce)
1 tsp. salt
2 C stock or water
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped -- I usually skip this.
1/2 C sour cream
black pepper

Saute the onions in 2 Tbsp. butter (or EVOO). Salt lightly. Add mushrooms, 1 tsp. dill, 1/2 C stock, tamari, and paprika. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in saucepan (or just add 2 Tbsp. EVOO), whisk in flour, then milk, simmer 10 minutes. Stir in mushroom mix and remaining stock.

Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, sour cream, and extra dill (which you can sprinkle on top once it's in the bowl, for extra pretties).

The resulting soup is creamy and spicy, with a gorgeous reddish color, and the mushrooms add a nice meaty, earthy texture.