Odds and Sods Around Our House

Over at Larry Muffin Laurent wrote a bit, as he often does, about the cooking I’ve been doing over the past week or two. He mentioned that I watch Glen and Friends on YouTube and do try a good deal of his suggested recipes. Over the past few years I have made everything from his Brown Bread Whisky Ice Cream (incredible) to Mrs Beeton’s homemade tomato soup. That last one I made only this past week and it was so easy and good that I am making a batch and freezing it to have on hand for those cold stormy nights when comfort food is a must.

But as well as recipes Glen has a wealth of facts, history and anecdotes about food and its evolution. Did you know there is a difference between an American cup (240 ml) and a Canadian cup (250 ml) and that applies to teaspoons, tablespoons etc? Or what the temperature of a moderate or hot oven would be? I didn’t until Glen explained it. His Sunday morning “Old Cookbook” show is a must see at our house – even before the New York Times Spelling Bee is tackled! He also has an intriguing battery of kitchen equipment and gadgets including this handy little item that I decided to splurge on last week:

“So what the hell is it?” asks my faithful reader. It’s an adjustable measuring cup. “And you would need this, why?” comes the riposte*. Well I don’t know about you but, as an example, should I be making peanut butter cookies one of the big problems is getting the full measure of sticky peanut butter out of a standard measuring cup. And this little toy makes it easy for any “solid” ingredients to be measured and dispensed accurately. The plunger is set at the desired measurement up to 2 cups; the ingredient – crème fraîche, sour cream, molasses – is poured in; the plunger is twisted down: et voilà! There is very little wastage and it cleans easily. They do say it can go in the dishwasher but for something like that I prefer to (have Laurent) hand-wash it.

As with any new toy I’m eagerly awaiting the chance to play with it. So I’m thinking peanut butter cookies this weekend?

The word for January 14^th is:
Riposte /rəˈpōst/: [^1. noun ^2. verb]
^1.1 A quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism.
^1.2 A quick return thrust following a parry in fencing.
^2.1 To make a quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism.
^2.2 To make a quick return thrust in fencing.
Early 18th century: from French risposte (noun), risposter (verb), from Italian risposta ‘response’.
*Okay, I know the previous sentence wasn’t an insult or criticism but I think its a great word and it conveyed the idea of a quick judgmental response. Okay I’ve used it incorrectly – so sue me! Now how’s that for a riposte???