On the plus side, I'm definitely waking up and interested in cooking again

[conuly]

On the down side, this is making me see the deficiencies in my spice cabinet, not to mention my beans-and-grains section of the pantry. (As I say this, my sister is rolling her eyes in disbelief, but I'm nearly out of pink peppercorns, folks, I have no asafetida, and I only have one type of lentils. The situation is dire.)


...also, I urgently need an ice cream maker.

Comments

[alatefeline]

Time for spice-shopping!

[conuly]

Going to Kalustyan's next week, don't wanna wait for the mail. I have to be very careful and write a list, though, or I'm going to come out with 20 pounds of stuff, not one of which is anything I intended to buy when I went in.

[acelightning]

Oh, I've been in Kalustyan's, and I know! (It happens to be sort of catty-corner to Jazz Standard/Blue Smoke; my husband's a jazz fan, and the 'cue at Blue Smoke is really good. One time we were early for a performance, and I went over to Kalustyan's. Oh my.)

Then there's always Penzeys Spices. There's no Penzey's store location anywhere closer than Philadelphia, but there used to be one in North Jersey, that I did get to a couple of times. If you know what you want, it's easy to order it online. My favorite is "Black and Red" - a blend of highly aromatic ground black pepper and ground cayenne. A little bit acts as a flavor enhancer on almost any savory food, and a little more gives things a nice spicy kick. I keep a small jar of it in my purse for when I have to eat "institutional" food, like when I was in the hospital :-)

[conuly]

I just don't know how they pack so much store into such a little space. I'd say it's a tardis, but I'm not sure that adequately explains it.

[acelightning]

It's a bit of Armenian alchemy - it's like the inside of a djinn's bottle, bigger than it looks on the outside.

[gatheringrivers]

I experimented with Asafoetida......once.

Unfortunately, as the dirty pan sat on the stove while I went out on a quick errand, the smell apparently mutated to something fishy, which sent my stomach on a roller-coaster when I got back. :(

I did stock up on split peas this morning, tho! As I used up pretty much what was left in my stockpile tub for today's batch of pea soup...

Have you tried cubeb peppers yet? :)

[conuly]

It's not an experiment - half the recipes in my cookbooks I want to make right now require the stuff!

Got cubeb in the mail last week!

[loligo]

I experimented with Asafoetida......once.

In our house, we call it Fetid Ass Powder -- but we do like the taste of it and cook with it frequently, despite the smell.

(And the one brand available here at the international grocery doesn't seal well once you open it, so it perfumes our entire spice cupboard...)

[conuly]

Well, don't you decant into a new mason jar?

[gatheringrivers]

Canning jar with a 2-piece lid should do it - I don't how well the one-piece lids work for this - you might still get a trace of smell, but it shouldn't be as large an impact.

[loligo]

Thank you both for a very sensible solution!

[conuly]

Everything in this house is neatly decanted into jars ASAP. (Sometimes it's shoved into the freezer first because pantry moths omg.)

[loligo]

pantry moths omg

OMG indeed. I don't know if this house came pre-infested (we've only lived here a couple years) or if it was that bad bag of basmati shortly after we moved in, but we've been battling pantry moths here ever since. We'll get them under control for a few months then suddenly we'll have a new explosion. But we only ever see the adult moths...so where are they hatching from??? My next project will be to empty the laundry room cupboards to see if maybe there's a bag of bird seed shoved back in there somewhere...

[conuly]

Their eggs are tiny. If you want to get rid of it, you're going to have to ditch or freeze everything in the pantry, and wash down all the shelves top and bottom. I'd suggest finishing up with a monthly spray of an IGR for a year.

[notasupervillain]

You need the Bulk Barn, IMMEDIATELY

[conuly]

Nah, going to Kalustyan's.

[notasupervillain]

A valid choice.

[redsixwing]

Dire indeed! Take two shopping trips and call me in the morning

[conuly]

Oh, I will.

[baronessekat]

Best and worst thing for my spice cabinet was getting a Penzy's in town.

[conuly]

LOL.

[acelightning]

See above :-)

[acelightning]

You can improvise an ice cream maker out of Tupperware/Rubbermaid containers, or even out of zippered storage bags. Mix up the ice cream base of your choice, and pour it into a small container or bag, and seal tightly. Place this in a larger container, and add a whole bunch of crushed ice and salt. Now roll, toss, play hot-potato-with, shake, and otherwise generally agitate the entire construction, with as many participants as you can get (promise them some ice cream). Check the texture of the base mixture once in a while to see whether it's frozen enough. Once it's done, pack the ice cream into another suitable-size container and store it in the freezer.

[conuly]

Ooooooor I can not do that, and just buy a machine that will do the rocking and rolling for me.

[acelightning]

I've only ever had the kind that you had to put ice and salt in a barrel and turn a crank, and the kind where you have to keep the freezing cylinder in your freezer until you want to use it (and it's turned by a motor). I wish I could afford the kind that have a refrigeration unit, like the one in a home freezer or air conditioner, built in into a tabletop appliance - some of them can make two different batches of ice cream at once. But they're way outside my budget.

[ayebydan]

I have no many herbs and spices and other such things that I have no more space and have to show my empty jars to mother before she will buy anything in the shop lol She is happy for me to be the family chef but she opens the cupboard sometimes and pulls out the trays of spices and her mind is boggled but she can see I use them all.

They are fun! And the more you have the easier it is to salvage a meal if something goes wrong so XD I feel yeah. I have more types of paprika and 3 variations of dried garlic which I insist all behave differently.

Re: Ice cream

[polydad.livejournal.com]

I use a big stainless-steel bowl, a big wooden spoon, and a Dewar flask of liquid nitrogen. Faster than water-ice and the fog it generates makes it more fun, too.

Re: Ice cream

[conuly]

Where do you get the nitrogen?

Re: Ice cream

[polydad.livejournal.com]

Local supplier is Airgas, which I'm pretty sure is national. But if you look up "industrial gases" in whatever you use for a business directory, I'm sure you'll find somebody. Airgas also rents the Dewar flasks, which is easier than buying one and then having it sit around the house when you're not making ice cream.

[amaebi]

Yay revival!