Anécdota curiosa de las tantas cuando Pequeños!

Estuve escribiendole a mi hermana Carmen de crianza en Santo Domingo y compartió este recuerdo de mi mama de crianza y quise comparirlo con ustedes porque este sera el principio de algo muy interesante que estaremos preparando para ustedes.
Carmen me dice:
“Te tengo una nécdota de las tantas, una vez llegamos del colegio, y mama nos tenia servida la comida; arroz, habichuelas, maduros, ensalada y un platon con una carne cortada en medallones que parecian ruedas de salchichas blancas alemanas, eso tenia un vinagreta por encima divina. Cuando le preguntamos que era eso, mama contesta “Coman y callen”. Nos lo jartamos todo, y al final sabes que era?… Granos de toro, y estaban riiiiiiiiiiiiiiicos!!!jajajajaja

Les cuento chicos que en mi casa se comian platillos que mi mama de crianza aprendió en Puerto Rico, ella ya sabia cocinar pero alli fue donde aprendio a hacer platillos no tipicos.
En las familias pobres, los hijos no teniamos opciones de que comer y se comia lo que se cocinaba, ahora es gracioso escribir sobre mi  niñez pero creanme que nosotros comiamos con los lagrimones, sin darnos cuenta de que eramos afortunados al comer platillos gourmet como lo es ahora el Grano de Toro lo cual cuesta mucho mas que otra carne … adivina porque hehehehe bueno eso sera otro dia 🙂

Mimi

Shelf for eggs outside the fridge!

An egg has millions of holes in its shell. It absorbs the odor and substance around itself very easily. This creates a bad taste if it’s kept in the fridge with other food ingredients. This shelf provides a place for eggs outside of the fridge. Also the freshness of eggs can be tested in the water. The fresher they are, the further they sink.

Everyone in North America stores their eggs in the fridge, but few people in Europe do, they can last for days on a shelf or in a pantry. In European supermarkets, the eggs are not refrigerated. Integrating the water into the egg storage shelf is really clever; according to about.com, if an egg:

Sinks to the bottom and stays there, it is about three to six days old.

Sinks, but floats at an angle, it’s more than a week old.

Sinks, but then stands on end, it’s about two weeks old.

Floats, it’s too old and should be discarded

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Spice container w/ Rice = Happy spices

Rice absorbs humidity easily. The spice container with rice inside helps spices stay dry without forming into lumps.

Other foods, like spices, garlic, onions and sweet potatoes, require low humidity but higher temperatures, which also makes them unstable for storage in a refrigerator. Because it absorbs moisture easily, rice can be of great help here. In the design above, the cork lid of each spice container contains a small space holding rice, which helps to keep the spices dry without forming into lumps.

Veggie Shelf outside the fridge

We tend to think zucchini, aubergine, cucumber, etc. as vegetables but they are biologically fruits.

This shelf gives them a space to be outside the fridge. Also through the ritual to water them everyday, they will stay fresh.

While many fruits and vegetables benefit from the low storage temperature in a refrigerator (around 40 degrees F or 4.5 degrees C), this is not true for all of them. So-called fruit vegetables such as peppers, courgettes, aubergines and tomatoes require higher temperatures and decay more rapidly in the refrigerator. They need high relative humidity, though. The shelf pictured above gives these vegetables a suitable space. Through the ritual of watering them everyday, they will stay fresh. The water not only raises humidity but also cools the produce, assuring a temperature that is higher than that in the refrigerator but lower than that in the room.

KettlePizza Turns Your Kettle Grill Into A Wood Fire Pizza Oven

The kettle grill has remained one of the most enduring grill designs since its inception back in 1951.  Which isn’t a surprise, considering how versatile they are.  With the KettlePizza, the humble kettle grill gains a new skill: cooking pizza like a proper oven.

Why not just use something like the BBQ Pizza Pan or cook the dough straight on the grate?  While you can hustle a pizza that way, in no way can it produce that classic wood fired pizza taste, which is exactly what this accessory gets you.

The KettlePizza is an insert that goes between the top and bottom part of a kettle grill.   Made from stainless steel, the fitting adds a thermometer (so you can constantly monitor temperature — important, so you don’t burn the dough) and a small front opening to the assembly (where you’ll put the pizza in).  The idea is that the heat starts in the rear of the grill bottom, flowing up the back and running over the pizza before exiting out front.  Provided you put the proper amount of fuel, heat should remain at a constant rate throughout the process, ensuring an evenly-cooked creation.

According to its creators, the chamber created by the accessory can maintain constant temperatures of 750 degrees Fahrenheit and more, which is ideal for proper wood fired pizza.  It can handle temperatures up to 950 degrees Fahrenheit.

Aprons, a thing of the past?

Yesterday I saw a picture of my aunt Mercedes in the Dominican Republic, automatically I remembered her  worn out apron. Since little we did not understand why tia will only use that old apron, it in fact it did not served  much or at least that was what we thought as kids.

The main function of the apron is to protect the dress or gown, it also serves as a handle to remove the pan from the heat. My tia or aunt loved to wipe off the tears of kids who got hurt or just needed some attention, including me.

And who does not remember when there were visitors, surprisingly aunt’s apron could quickly dust off the furniture or table.

It will take many years before someone invents an object that can replace that old apron which serves for many functions.