I think that's an accurate assessment. I have German and Japanese cameras and lenses. Both countries excel in their manufacture as they do their automobiles and other scientific products. These are not third world countries at all and their employees make a decent salary and have better benefits than we do, actually. I make no excuses for buying Italian pasta products, olive oils, Indian tea, Columbian coffee, or Mexican cocoas and vanillas. I get my stashes of curries from a British importer as well. I don't have a problem at all with imports from a society whose people expect to consume safe and quality products themselves. But Japanese cars and some German cars, one really couldn't call imports. They move their "export" operations to our country and employ our people and pay them a salary as good as, or usually better than they'd have with an American Company. A kink in our world trade at this point with China is that they do not allow "inspection" from outside purchasers. We are supposed to take their word for it that the products are what they are supposed to be and safe. The track records for safety are pretty evident as plastic has found its way into food supplies and lead into toys. There is also a pretty complicated (too long to go into explanations here) issue with currency rates between China and the rest of the world. IOW the playing fields are not level. You will also find that some of our natural resources are at risk now from policies of poor (or self, or no) inspection before crossing borders. One of the newer plagues arriving from Asia in their produced materials is the Emerald Ash borer. It very well may decimate our Eastern forests, affecting our timber and wood product industries to the tune of billions. There is a very large difference between trade isolationism and setting standards for equitable and safe trade. You can take it to the bank other countries have safeguards intact to protect their own working economies and farmers, but when we even think about doing it, the world calls a foul. I hope eventually this giant country evolves into the kind of trade partner who can benefit the world and its own people. But, I still think given it's social and political background of the last half century we should not expect an instant conversion to capitalism to be an overnight success, and let down our guards entirely. Didn't they execture one of their trade ministers for a putting their name in scandal not too long ago? Doesn't that bother anybody? The secrecy issue bothers me the most. As a business person, my files are an open book to many agencies and I am subject to inspections to insure to my government I operate in a safe manner and things are what I say they are. The kind of policies we have with this country puts them over every American producer who have to play by the rules. Expensive rules, btw.

Here are a few more recipes. The first one is definitely tried and true, not so sure about the others. Roast Chicken in a Clay Pot 1 chicken about 3 lbs. Marinade: 2 cloves garlic minced 1 cup orange juice 1 TB dried tarragon 1 TB olive oil 1/2 t. salt and fresh ground pepper put all the marinade ingredients in a large stainless bowl or a heavy zip bag; add the chicken, turn over in the marinade to coat all surfaces of the chicken. Chill 2 hours or overnight. Save marinade, then boil to baste chicken with the last few minutes of cooking. Soak clay pot 15 minutes in cold water in the sink. Put chicken in the clay pot along with oranges wedges 1 red onion cut in wedges Put lid on pot. Put in cold oven. Set oven temp to 450 F. Bake for one hour; remove lid, bake 10-15 minutes more basting with hot marinade that you have brought to a boil. Creamy Paprika Chicken 3-3 1/2 lbs. chicken pieces flour 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 t. Hungarian paprika 1 t. salt 1/8 t. white pepper 1/3 cup dry white wine 1 cup sour cream chopped parsley for a garnish Soak the clay pot for 15 minutes, drain. Coat chicken lightly with flour. Put onion and garlic in cooker; add chicken pieces and sprinkle with paprika, s&p. Pour in wine. Put cooker in a cold oven. Set temp at 450 F. Bake 1 1/4 hr. Stir in sour cream. Cover and cook 5-10 minutes more. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve with noodles. Daube of Beef serves 6-8 2 medium onions, sliced 4 carrots, sliced 1/4 lb. cured ham (a ham slice) or Canadian Bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces 3 lbs. lean stew beef, cut in 2" pieces 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 t. thyme 1 t. basil s&p 1 bay leaf 1 lb. can chopped/diced tomatoes 1/4 cup brandy 3 cups red wine Soak pot 15 minutes, drain. Put half of the beef cubes in the bottom of the pot; sprinkle with half the onions, carrots, ham, garlic, thyme, basil. Sprinkle with s&p and add the bay leaf. Add half the tomatoes. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients. Pour over the tomato juice from the can; pour in the brandy and the red wine - the liquid should cover 3/4 of the meat. Marinate for 2 hours. Soak the top of the cooker for 15 minutes. Put cover on, put in oven, set temp at 425 F and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Stir meat once or twice during cooking. Serve with boiled potatoes as the French do.

That sounds like the one I have been using for years. I remove all but a couple of layers of papery skin to keep the heads intact, cut about 1/2" off the top of the heads to expose some of the cloves, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. I bake them at about 375 degrees for about 40 minutes, until they are a golden color and soft to the touch. I usually bake them at the same time as something else to save energy so have baked them at 350 to 425 degrees for longer and shorter times and they've been fine. Once you see what the tops should look like at optimum roasting, you'll be able to judge the time better. Since I only use the baker for garlic, I just wipe it out with a paper towel until the next usage. I never soaked it first.

I've loved reading this thread - so many great things. I received a wonderful Masala Dabba from my son and DIL with a spoon for each cup and a large capacity. I'm so happy not to have to search for all the spices used together in Indian dishes. You would understand if you saw how my spices are crammed here and there. Oh to have a whole divided drawer like Cathy's. Max gave me the new Suvir Saran cookbook "American Masala". I've just begun to look at it and I'm looking forward to trying some new to me Indian dishes. From my DIL's parents a fun bag of gourmet food items, sun dried tomatoes, jasmine rice in an airtight glass jar, a box of Gnocchi and much more. And a gift that will go on giving - from my DIL"S brother, a bag of frozen homemade Gnocchi and a LESSON on how to make them. His Gnocchi are really wonderful, I'm so excited about learning to do it from him. He has a handmade board from his Grandfather - I hope that's not his secret to success because I can't get a board like that. I'll take my camera when I go to learn from him. Lee