Thanks for the lowdown. :) I knew, of course, the why's of it regarding the whole wheat. The three hour thing may be true scientifically, but I milled enough flour for the day (to soak for my bread, and to feed the starter a couple of times). My first encounter with rancid flour was four years ago, after my three month kitchen remodel ended up taking more like ten. My canisters are airtight, so when I opened them, I could clearly smell that my flours were rancid. Milling is fun enough to stick with. :) I got big bags of the wheat I liked for the Pizza. If those prove consistent, I'll get more of this crop. I could measure out kits, but it's really not that hard to do on the fly. I just measure the red and white wheatberries in the same bowl and mill them together. This time, I also milled a scoop of peas and added a little water. I previously tried soaking the wheat alone, but it didn't come out right. It's much better to mix up the whole recipe, inc. ascorbic acid, and let it do it's thing for at least a day in the fridge. The peazza isn't green enough (I have to try all white wheat), but it tastes great! I made my first home milled soft white wheat pastry the other day, for early peach pies. The butter crust with vinegar added was nice and flaky, though not the kind of long flakes that I'm assuming come from the bigger globule lard. Do you know anything about duck fat? I have some that needs using up and I thought I might try it in pastry. I get it about being able to plant the wheat. Opposite of when they ate their seed stores in the Little House books, because they ran out of food during the winter. :) It's just kind of remarkable that eggs and milk--the freshest things which are always kept cold--are so much more stable as powder than wheat. :) If I can find small quantities, I might try some other of your powders. As it is, I use It's Delish (a kosher brand--very pure and inexpensive) dehydrated onions and mixed veg in wet quickies like omelettes and meatballs. They absorb the juices and add flavor when one doesn't want to spend an extra twenty minutes chopping and sweating little chips of veg. So my honey has gone all crystalized. I zapped it enough to liquify enough for my bread, but it's mostly still a chunk. Is that something I can turn into a powder? Don't know that I would do it, but it would be interesting to know how.. For the mixes. ;)

Oops! I seem to have forgotten that I started this thread, but the responses have been very helpful. I think I will definitely to go El Camaguey and buy a tortilla press, although I don't think it has a stainless steel surface like Ann's, which would be nice. I do keep dry masa on hand, but I also keep fresh masa in the freezer - for making what I thought were empanadas, but which are probably quesadillas, at least as they are made in Mexico, and deep fried. As for flour tortillas, since I've found the whole grain tortillas in the market, I probably won't be making too many of those again, although I might want to experiment with some of the whole grain flours I have. I don't especially like tortillas made with all white flour, and corn tortillas are my favorite. When I first visited Vancouver for a long visit (1978 or so), I was shocked that I could not find fresh corn tortillas in the grocery stores (I did find frozen ones, but did not consider that acceptable). At that time, I practically lived on soft tacos (that I made myself, often with tofu), and so I had to make an adjustment. I think I bought some whole wheat crackers instead. I think I will try to find some Hispanic markets, although there aren't any in my immediate neighborhood. There are some in neighboring Mar Vista (where Scott lives), which is less than 2 miles from here. There are several places to buy fresh tamales, but they don't sell tortillas. Anyway, I think I will keep looking and also get the tortilla press. Lars

A little Bundt Pan history... The cast-iron kugelhupf pan is common in Europe and in 1950, a group of Minneapolis women asked Nordic Products owner H. David Dalquist to make an aluminum version of the pan. Ten years later, the new Good Housekeeping Cookbook showed a pound cake baked in one, and suddenly every woman wanted a Bundt Pan. The 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest was won with the "Tunnel of Fudge Cake". If you would like that recipe, I'll be happy to post it. In 1972 the grand prize winner in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest was a Bundt Streusel Spice Cake and 11 top winners also called for a bundt pan. I'll see if I have that booklet in my collection. So the Bundt cake pan is a newcomer in kitchens with more than forty million pans in existence in America. Generally, cakes that have too much sugar in them to have good structure are used in recipes using a tube or Bundt pan. Which is different from a standard cake. I located a few recipes at King Arthur (see link below). -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Bundt Cake Recipes - King Arthur Flour

I'm curious as to why you're adding sugar/corn syrup/molasses to what is essentially a home made suet cake regardless of what product you use to take the place of real beef suet. I would assume that the only natural "sweet" wild birds might encounter would probably be in fruits and/or berries of one kind or another... therefore the question. On the other hand, if you're using the sweeteners as "glue" to hold a seed ball together, it possibly makes more sense... As to the "glue" that holds commercially available seed blocks together, its typically gelatin (think of old time school glue with the rubber top that you'd bend over to dispense the glue) although I've always assumed that a flour or corn starch paste would also work if you could figure out the correct consistency and have some way to dry out the block. I started making my own suet cakes last year since our back yard birds won't touch the commercial types. Note that I only use it during cold weather (in addition to two seed type feeders) and the birds scarf it right down. Recipe is simple and absolute amounts of this or that might vary up or down depending on what I have on hand... *I ea. small block of lard (one lb. size). Bacon fat might work I in a pinch but would contain salt and chemical residues from the curing process. *1 ea. small jar of chunky peanut butter *Sizable portion of cornmeal (the more coarse the better) *Heaping handful or so of rolled oats (acts as a binder) although steel cut oats work almost as well *Big handful or more of raw peanuts whizzed through the food processor just enough to break into smaller bits. You can also do this by smacking the peanuts between a hard surface (the anvil) and the bottom of a heavy pan (the hammer) but it's a lot messier since the broken bits tend to scatter everywhere.. *Handful of black oil sunflower seeds *Handful of plain birdseed *About a half handful of raisins And some amount of shelled sunflower kernels (salt free), safflower kernels, or other natural bird goodies as you see fit and might have on hand. Melt all together over medium to low heat and add more oats as necessary to obtain the desired consistency. I use a metal cake pan to pour the goop into until nearly cool, cut into the size required, wrap in tinfoil or plastic wrap and then store in the frig until needed. Steve