Ok, ok..I am givning in! I am on the prowl for either those birds or a couple of green singing finches. Jojo, you just made me realize how much I miss hearing the singing of birds in my home.lol It made winetr go by so much better than the dead silience in my home. I think I know who named those birds..lol. Such cute names that only a kid or two can come up with. I would love for you to raise them along side of us, all the way to the brood, hatchlings, and babies. I would love that Jojo since I have a thing for birds. Just love them and you have yourself such a beauty of a pair! Hi Al, Jodi, Josh, Jodik, and Laura! I missed all while I was sick.;-) Laura. I have been sooooooo sick and now that I have got better nergy, it's time to catch up onmy e-mail. I am sorry about the delay bust just know that I appreciate you and the rest of the bunch here. I am SO BLESSED to have such great friends as you all. Love you all! Mom, says to send a group hug to you all! Mike

We were fortunate here. My grafted peach/plum/apriocot tree as several tiny peaches and apricots and my apples are at marble size right now. We did get a few cold nights, but none that were below 32 degrees. I probably could have planted the first of May, but always wait until now for planting and transplanting. Many years ago, when I was a kid, margerine was just introduced to the market. It had a white color and small blob of concentrated yellow color that you would mush into it to color it yellow. The Feds were unsure about margerine and the coloring process used way back, so it was packed seperate from the margerine. Even back then, it was probably safer to use butter, health wise. The Butter Buds (dried butter flavor) and the I Can't Believe Its Not Butter, are the closest you can get to butter taste. I use both in baked potatoes and corn on the cob. The Butter Buds thicken the melted margerine a little so its more like a sauce. Using gallon jars for pickles is fine, but tyhey cannot be BWB or PC in that size. Instead, a salt brine and fermented cuke would be a better choice. The jars need constant refrigeration though and will not be safe if left out beyond a month or so. I make half sours in 1/2 gallon Ball jars. They fit nicly in my fridge.

FOAS,I have pretty much stayed out of the sous vide discussions but I'll jump in this time. I tried half a dozen or so stove top sous vide experiments last winter and this spring with success in all but one attempt (although bemoaning having to listen for the alert beep of the probe thermometer when the temperature fluctuated). The one failure was with lamb shanks which came out tasting so gamey that they became dogfood. They were large shanks and maybe from an older animal. They were seasoned with a little salt, pepper, garlic and bits of preserved lemon and should have been great. I think the fault was with the meat and not the method. This spring Max got me a Sous Vide Magic temp. controller and a Fresh Meals Magic bubbler/heater that came with an 18 liter Cambro type vertical container and lid. I would say that on average I use the entire setup about once every ten days. I like that you can cook more than one kind of meat at time, as long as they cook at the same temperature and as long as you write down and set timers for the amount of time each meat requires. I use the heater with my ten cup (probably six quart water capacity) rice cooker for cooking smaller amounts of meat and bringing previously sous vide cooked and frozen meats up to a serving temp. I would say I use the rice cooker setup at least 5 times a month. I have a two and a half pound chuck roast reheating now, and what I have learned about chuck roast is that I should cut and seal it in smaller amounts, more like a pound, because while it reheats and sears beautifully ONCE, it is not so great if you have leftovers at that point. Although Oliver, the 76 pound poodle in the house, thinks they are wonderful so nothing is wasted. As with anything there is a learning curve and I have kept notes on what I've cooked, the time and temperature, and whether any adjustments needed to be made in the future. I'm not sure how or if altitude affects the whole process. I have Doug Baldwins book and since he is at the University of Colorado here in Boulder I can only assume that since his book does not address altitude there are no modifications needed. My questions, earlier this year, about seasoning cast iron pans were in order to have more successful post sous vide searing and I do now have a number of well seasoned pans that I'm happy with and use them and my cast iron grill pan to do most of the finishing. We are only a two person household and don't eat dinner at the same time every day (basically we eat late, and later) so it is a great convenience to just be able pull something out of the freezer and thaw and heat in 45 to 60 minutes. Of course there are many other ways of achieving a good and quick dinner and I use them too. The meats that I have cooked repeatedly and like are: eye of round, cooked to just below med rare with one dinner using the hot roast and the rest chilled, sliced thinly, frozen and used for sandwich meat (beefy red-pink all the way through and tender); pork loin done the same way as a roast and sandwich meat and also with one inch thick boneless slices to finish as pork chops (pork cooked to 138�), boneless, skinless chicken breasts to use in many ways, chicken hindquarters bone in skin on cooked in a confit style; short ribs; chuck roast, lamb shoulder chops (very successful unlike my one attempt with shanks), ribeye steaks and prime grade sirloin steak. Only once did I cook pork too long and noticed that it was harder to slice neatly and had a slightly softer texture than I would have liked. So I'm glad I have it, I wouldn't want it to be only cooking method for these meats but we have been pleased with the results. I haven't tried fish in it because fish is so quick to cook in other ways but I'm sure I'll get around to trying salmon since one of our favorite ways with that is low/slow roasted at 225�. I haven't tried eggs, or vegetables, but I am intrigued with using it for yogurt and dulce de leche. Lee P.S. You are probably right about the sub $100. version, but wait we'll send you two, on a late nite infomercial - someone is already marketing a modified deepfryer/sous vide unit.

Thanks for sharing the info. I was trying to search for Lars biscotti and never thought about using Google. Good tip :)