[Italiancook]

I made Asparagus Soup using The Neely's recipe from Food Network. It called for a small pinch of red pepper flakes. I did that, then decided it was too small a pinch. Now that I've tasted the soup, I regret that decision. The soup is lovely, but the burn on my tongue afterward is not. Next time, I'll stick with a small pinch so I can enjoy the asparagus flavor more.

[Italiancook]

I have a pot of Cauliflower & Pasta Soup bubbling away on the stove. The recipe is in "Italian Family Recipes from The Romagnolis Table." A quart of it is for a meal. The rest is for the freezer. Around 1 P.M., I'm going to start making chicken broth for the freezer.

For dinner, my husband will grill pork chops. I have some cauliflower leftover from the soup. I'm going to try to replicate a recipe I saw Lidia do on her cooking show. She braised it with a few sliced lemons and a little lemon juice. I also have sautéed mushrooms for dinner. Not sure how lemony cauliflower will go with sautéed mushrooms, but we'll find out.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for the experiment, Mike. I always enjoy seeing photos on this site.

[Italiancook]

I just checked Costco online, and didn't find King Arthur flour.

[Italiancook]

I don't seed bread. I can't stand the mess of cutting it and having seeds fly everywhere. I don't have any seeds now, but will try Cass's method sometime in the future. Thanks for sharing, BakerAunt and Cass.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I concur with BakerAunt and Rascals: Happy Birthday, Mike, and thanks for this site. Everyone is helpful and friendly. I wouldn't have a new marble pastry board if it wasn't for this site . . . and you. I hope you have great health and lots of cooking/baking projects in the coming year.

[Italiancook]

Drink some fresh-pressed cider for me. When I was a kid, our after-school chore in the fall was to pick up apples off the ground from under the trees. These apples were taken to the mill and sold for cider.

[Italiancook]

RiversideLen, thanks for the links. I checked out both of them. One may be a possibility if Mike's dishtowel idea doesn't work.

Mike, the six feet are about 1/4" high. Thanks for your ideas, too. I'm hoping the dishtowel will work, because it's free.

BakerAunt, I no longer have a typewriter pad. In fact, I no longer have a manual typewriter. I hadn't used it since 2001 and finally gave it away. I enjoyed the silpat story. It reminds me that when I was a newlywed, I wanted to make a recipe that called for a clove of garlic. I patiently cleaned and chopped an entire bulb of garlic, because I thought the bulb was one clove. Live and Learn.

[Italiancook]

https://www.orangepippin.com/orchards/united-states/indiana

BakerAunt, I found the above link by searching Indiana orchards. There's a tab with a map and another with a list of the orchards' names and locations. Hope this helps.

[Italiancook]

Mike, I hadn't thought of a marble board. I was thinking only granite. I appreciate you mentioning it and checking to see who might have one online. I found that one of the sites had one without any description. A different site's reviews were fraught with accounts of products arriving broken. The company graciously replaced the broken ones. I don't recall why I nixed the third site. You put me on the right track, so I checked Amazon.

I found one sold by Sur La Table. So I went to Sur's website, where they're offering free shipping for it (yesterday). I decided I preferred to buy it from the store. A call there said they had one. It's a long trek from my home, but hubby and I went there. I took him, because it was reviewed as having a shipping weight of 25 pounds.

Now, the marble slab sits atop my movable island waiting for its first project. The problem is that the legs it's on slide on the countertop. So I have to go to Walmart and buy a non-slip product to put under the legs for using it. From the reviews, I knew this was a problem before I bought it. Nevertheless, I'm pleased with it and planning its maiden voyage. Thanks, Mike!

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

I made cabbage soup from "Cook-Ahead Cookery." It's based on sweet/sour. I reduced the brown sugar to 1/4 cup. It calls for a chunked apple. I used 3/4 of an apple. It was still too sweet for me, although I froze the leftover & will eat it. Next time, I'm deleting the brown sugar and will use only 1/2 of an apple. I removed the apples before serving and freezing. I'm thinking this soup needs something besides vinegar and apple and tomato for flavoring. If you make cabbage soup, what do you put in for flavoring? I'm thinking maybe caraway seeds, but really have no clue.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Italiancook.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for clarifying your comment, BakerAunt. I know there used to be a working orchard in Indiana. I'm not so sure they'd have a website, so if you can't find one, you may want to start asking produce managers and the farmers at the market.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike! I'll check those websites today or tomorrow.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, Mike, for the suggestion. I hadn't thought of that. After Labor Day, I'll call a couple of independent countertop companies & see whom they suggest.

[Italiancook]

Welcome back to posting, Joan. I offer my condolences on the death of your cousin's husband.

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