Sis Wields a Mean Knife - Making Horseradish 2007


Old Grey Enjoying Her New Toy - 2007

Word of the Day

Dallywaddle - To take an excessively long time, especially involving motion on foot; to dilly-dally in going somewhere; to drag one's feet.

15 Days and a Wake Up Before HTP and I Fly South for the Winter

It is so nice to cook when you have the proper equipment. When you don't? Well...the last time I made pesto, I was still cleaning up globs of green stuff and oil a week after I discovered that my blender just wasn't up to the task. After my sister described her problems when making pesto over the weekend (and she has a food processor...of sorts), I decided it was time to go out and get "the proper equipment". If had only been a pesto issue, I may have attempted using another piece of equipment that I got for Christmas last year. Only....Sis and I were planning on making horseradish. The thing is...I already own a really nice food processor that would have worked wonderfully for both of these projects. The only problem is that this wonderful food processor is 2000 miles from here. It's a wonderfully strong Cuisinart Food Processor that HTP bought for me a LONG TIME AGO. It still works wonderfully. I love it. I need it. I need it here. I need it there. Too bad you can't magically transport all these culinary making wonders from here to there and back again. Poof!? Oh well...Sis and I went out shopping yesterday and I bought a brand new Cuisinart food processor. It's wonderful! Wonderful!

After shopping for the things that Sis and I needed for our wine project, and finally tracking down a good food processor, Sis and I finally returned to her place to make our horseradish sauce. Powerful stuff. I think they should bottle the fumes from that stuff in a spray can for women to carry in their purses for protection purposes. Mace has nothing on this stuff. With windows open, the new food processor powered through the horseradish roots. We made two quarts of the stuff. Too bad it loses its potency so fast. Sis and I will have to see if there's some additive that we can find to add to our sauce so that the heat will remain longer. In the meantime, my horseradish sauce will last for about three months, albeit, by that time it will have lost most of its heat. I plan to give some to MC Daughter and #1 Son...and maybe DD Daughter. I have plenty. I also plan to bring a root back to Arizona with me. I can make fresh horseradish sauce...in a couple of months.

And then....I got back home, finished up the laundry, and used my new food processor to make four batches of pesto. What a difference the right equipment makes! No mess. No fuss. No globs of green all over the kitchen. I cleaned up the processor in the dishwasher and it's already stored in its box down in the basement. Done! I made two batches of wonderful pesto, using pine nuts. And two batches of wonderful pesto using walnuts. OH....and, I was able to use the same food processor to grate the cheeses that I needed for said pesto. Wonderful!

So...the plans for today?

Sis and I are bottling our wine. If my calculations are correct, we'll end up with over 84 bottles of wine. Of course, each of our bottles carries a mere 375 ml. but Sis and I decided that 375 ml. is plenty for at least two glasses of wine. Until we finish our project today, I won't be able to tell you if my calculations were correct or not. Stay tuned.

Murphyism of the Day

Fifth Law Applied to Prototyping and Production

A transistor protected by a fast-acting fuse will protect the fuse by blowing first.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Charm is the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

-- Henri-Frédéric Amiel