[Mike Nolan]

Here's some information about bitter squash:

Bitter Squash and Toxic Squash Syndrome

[Mike Nolan]

Regarding your solid syrup, add a little hot water and let it sit for a few days. I do this with barley syrup and molasses when they get too thick to use.

I've got a refractometer (under $20 at Amazon) that I could probably use to measure the sugar content of a syrup as I reduce it, but I sometimes do it by weight.

I've never been very good at eyeballing how much something reduces.

I put a cork pad on the scale, weigh it and the empty pan, then weigh it again after adding the liquid to be reduced. I compute what I want it reduce to (including the weight of the pan), it only takes a couple of seconds to turn on the scale, move the pan over to weigh it, and then move it back to the burner.

I use the back page of one of my cooking notebooks to write down the empty (tare) weight of pans. The only problem is if you have more than one pan in the same size, there can still be a bit of difference in their weight. I have a few pans where I've written A or B on the sides with a permanent marker so I know which one I'm using.

[Mike Nolan]

I write notes on recipes all the time. I've taken to using post-it notes in cookbooks rather than writing in the book itself, the post-it notes also act as bookmarks.

They make some smaller post-it notes where instead of a small strip of adhesive the adhesive covers most of the back. These make pretty good freezer labels as long as you don't get them damp. (Tupperware has apparently discontinued making their labels, so I'm looking for alternatives.)

[Mike Nolan]

If you cook mushrooms the Julia Child way, they will soak up the oil/butter at first, but then release a lot of it back into the pan. The trick is not to crowd the mushrooms in the pan.

[Mike Nolan]

There shouldn't be enough of it for it to be an issue, but it doesn't really taste raw. Sometimes if I get too much on, I'll brush some off after the loaf cools, sometimes the excess just falls off as you're slicing it.

To be honest, I'd rather have a little loose flour on the loaf than a cornstarch slurry or Dutch crunch coat.

[Mike Nolan]

I made turkey tenders, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy today.

[Mike Nolan]

My wife make crustless pumpkin pie more often than she makes a pumpkin pie. Basically it's just pumpkin custard.

[Mike Nolan]

The apple pie was great, Jonagolds are good pie apples, as I've read.

[Mike Nolan]

Rottiedogs, is your sweet potato pie in the recipe collection here? I see two recipes for it, but neither have your name on it.

My wife is a big fan of baked sweet potatoes, but I don't think she's ever had sweet potato pie. I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie, so anything other than pumpkin pie is worth trying. (I'm not a big fan of baked sweet potatoes, either, though I do like sweet potato fries.)

[Mike Nolan]

I really hear you on the differences between cooking for a group and cooking for just two people.

I can think of a lot of things I'd love to make, but we'd be eating them for a month! Even a pot roast lasts us over a week.

And I think some recipes just work better in larger sizes. Cheesecake is definitely one of them. Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake will work in an 8x8 or 10x0 pan (half recipe), the last couple of times I've made it I've made one of each size and froze one. Even then eating the 10x10 one seems like too much cake, we sent half of the last one home with some friends who were visiting (outside).

About the only thing I've made in quantity lately are soups, where we can freeze it in meal-sized portions. Tupperware makes an 8 1/2 cup container that is just about perfect for that. They're usually only sold as part of sets, but I managed to find about a half dozen of them for sale online, so I've got plenty of them these days.

[Mike Nolan]

Cranberry sauce is terrible, dried cranberries aren't bad as a snack or in breads.

[Mike Nolan]

Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow will be ham with potatoes au gratin and apple pie. The ham has been marinating in pineapple juice since yesterday.

I'm going to make mashed potatoes and stuffing on Friday or Saturday, with a turkey tender just to have SOME turkey sandwiches. I was going to do a bone-in turkey breast but they seem to be sold out already. Guess a lot of people are planning smaller gatherings than normal, I'm seeing tons of whole turkeys in the freezer cases.

[Mike Nolan]

I got some pie dough out of the freezer yesterday, and got Jonagold apple pie filling out on Monday, as I'm planning to make an apple pie today for Thanksgiving dinner.

[Mike Nolan]

I made a batch of bagels today.

What shows are currently in production that actually feature cooking and baking these days? Not many of them on The Food Network, they're mostly staged competitions or travelogues. (I can't say I've ever learned ONE thing about cooking from Guy Fieri.)

[Mike Nolan]

I won't buy brined turkeys or breasts or ones injected with turkey stock. They taste too salty, and that probably means the sodium levels are off the scale. Plus, I don't feel like paying $1.49 or so a pound for salty water.

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