Place 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet or a wok over high heat. When the oil is glistening and a bead of water evaporates in under a second add the mushrooms and toss. Allow the mushrooms to cook for a few minutes until they start to squeak and give up their water (you’ll see their water in the pan). When they do add the glaze. Allow the glaze to boil off, stirring occasionally, about 5-6 minutes. When barely any more liquid remains take the mushrooms off the heat and set them aside in a bowl. There may be bits of sugar caramelized to the side of the pan, don’t fret about it.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, ginger, and chilies and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the snow peas and green onions and toss for about 30 more seconds.

Increase heat to high. Add the sauce and allow the mixture to come to a boil. The sauce will thicken considerably. Add the mushrooms back to the mixture and cook for about 20 more seconds. Take off the heat. Serve over rice and garnish with sesame seeds if using.

INGREDIENTS
Glaze
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if cooking gluten-free)

Stir-Fry
4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 tablespoon grated ginger
2-5 dried red chilies, roughly chopped OR 1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
3 tablespoons sesame, grapeseed, or other high smoke-point oil
2 lbs. of mixed mushrooms (oyster, crimini, button, shitake, enoki, whathaveyou…), roughly chopped or quartered (you want bite-sized pieces)
1 1/2 cups of snow peas, de-stringed
8 green onions, chopped
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Sauce
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock (use vegetable stock for vegetarian option)
3 tablespoons soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if cooking gluten-free)
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine or cooking sherry
1 tablespoon corn starch

Long simmering sauces achieve a rich, complex flavor.

Barely-cooked sauces have a lighter flavor more recognizable of fresh tomatoes, but a little bit of cooking softens the tomatoes and brings out their sweetness.

Uncooked sauces are bright and refreshing, and are best made with thoroughly ripe summer tomatoes.

Long and Luscious

Long-simmered tomato sauce is delicious any time of year. Extended cooking thickens the sauce as the water cooks off; and long simmering melds flavors together. Any other vegetables you add to the sauce will become richer and sweeter the longer they cook.

When fresh tomatoes are out of season, it’s perfectly fine to use canned tomatoes. During the summer, turn a bumper crop of ripe tomatoes into a long-simmered tomato sauce. Cooking time can range from two hours to all day, depending on how thick and caramelized you like your sauce. Make a big batch, eat some for dinner, and pour the rest into freezer-safe containers for the coming months. Then, simply thaw it as needed; you can add any fresh herbs, spices, veggies, or meats desired.

Short and Sweet

Barely-cooked tomato sauce is best when tomatoes are at their ripest. Briefly cooking the sauce helps retain the tomatoes’ fresh, tart-sweet taste, but also heats them long enough to add depth of flavor. Caramelize some onions, sauté garlic, and simmer herbs long enough to infuse the sauce with their flavors.

Raw and Refreshing

Raw tomato sauce makes for a wonderfully refreshing summertime meal. To make it, use fresh tomatoes at their peak of ripeness, when they are sweet and juicy and bursting with flavor. The process is easy:

Seed your tomatoes (peeling is optional, in this case) and chop them.
Alternately, you can cut the tomatoes into quarters, seed them, and then grate them with a cheese grater for a smoother, juicier sauce. Raw tomato sauce only needs to be seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, fresh herbs (basil or parsley are best), and some salt and pepper. Toasted pine nuts add texture and richness.

Raw sauce can be eaten right away–tossed with pasta, spooned over grilled meats and vegetables, mounded on lightly toasted or grilled bread, spread on pizza crust, or whatever else sounds good to you. And if you’ve got a little time, let your raw sauce sit for a few hours to give the flavors a chance to blend and deepen.

In a bowl, form a paste using the vegetable oil, mustard, caraway seeds, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub over the pork roast, and let sit about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Arrange the onions in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Pour in the beer. Place the roast, fat side down, on top of the onions. Cover the pan with foil.

Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven. Remove foil, turn roast, and score the fat. Continue roasting 2 1/2 hours, or to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove from heat, reserving pan juices, and let sit about 20 minutes before slicing thinly. In a saucepan, bring the reserved pan juices to a boil. Mix in the butter and cornstarch to thicken, reduce heat, and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with the sliced pork.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon salt
3 medium onions, chopped
1/2 cup beer
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
5 pounds pork shoulder blade roast
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cut the pork ribs into three bone pieces.

Brush the ribs with barbecue sauce and place them bone side down in shallow roaster. Add a little water just to cover the bottom of the roaster. Cover and roast for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Remove the cover and brush more sauce onto the top of the ribs. Cook for an additional 45 minutes or until the meat is fork tender. For the last 45 minutes, brush additional sauce on two or three more times. Leaving the cover off will allow the sauce to stick to the ribs.

Allow the barbecue pork ribs to rest for 5 to 10 minutes and serve. Bon appetit!

Move the water softener inlet handle to the “Bypass” position, or just turn off the main water supply. Rotate the softener main dial to the “Backwash” position.

Remove the screws holding the back cover to the softener control head. Remove the screw and washer from the eye of the main piston.

Locate the two large screws near the bottom edge of the control head, and remove them. If there is a very thin tube running from the control head, remove it from the valve body by pulling straight up.

The Fleck water softener control head can now be removed by tilting it slightly forward to clear the piston and retaining hook. Set it to the side.

Remove the softener’s piston by pulling up on it. This may take some force; use a screwdriver inserted through the eye to help grip it better. Twisting while pulling also helps.

From the water softener body, remove the spacers and seals. If they are stuck due to scale or deposits, use a wire hanger or similar tool to pull them out. Make sure to get them all, or the new ones won’t have room to fit.

Remove the brine valve by pulling up on it. This unit has an O-ring on it near the top. There is another O-ring that should stay in the softener body; make sure it stays seated in its groove. It’s not necessary to replace this, but if a new one came with your kit, go ahead and change it.

Install the new seals and spacers in the water softener. Start and finish with a seal, alternating spacers and seals to form a stack. After inserting each one into the valve body, run your finger around to push it down flat and even. After the last seal, insert the new piston and push it down firmly.

Install the new brine valve and re-install the plate, and start all three screws into the valve body. The plate should be sticking up slightly from the body of the water softener – this is normal. Tighten the screws a few turns at a time, to gradually draw the plate flat to the valve body. The seals will compress under screw pressure.

Re-mount the control head, and fasten it with the two screws. Install the new screw and washer into the center eye of the main piston.

Replace the back cover. Insert the small tube, if any back into the valve body. Turn on the water, or move the valve to the “Service” position. Check the time indicated on the front dial, and reset it if necessary.

Choose a filter system with chlorination and a mechanical filter if you have visible rust particles, or water with more than 10 ppm dissolved iron. These systems typically have a chlorination tank and a cartridge filter, a bag filter or a sand filter. Cartridge and bag filters need periodic replacement, while sand filters require backflushing.

Install a Kinetico water softener system if your water has a pH of 6.8 or less and 0.3 to 10 ppm dissolved iron and moderate to low dissolved oxygen. Water softeners remove calcium and manganese as well as iron, and increase sodium content by ion exchange. Most water softeners require periodic backflushing and replacement of salt which is used in regenerating the ion-exchange resin.

Choose an oxidizing filter if your tap water has a pH above 6.8 and 0.3 to 10 ppm dissolved iron. Oxidizing filters have a medium that oxidizes iron and adsorbs iron particles on the surface of the medium. Greensand filters remove iron, manganese and some hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg odor), and require backflushing and occasional regeneration. Pyrolite medium filters need only periodic backflushing. Happy cooking!

Calgon ball tablets are different from the other water softening tablets in the sense that they feature anti limescale actives in high concentration which take only a few seconds to dissolve in the water and provide a measured dose. Likewise, a single cap of Calgon gel is a fast dissolving liquid which not only effectively neutralizes the lime scale but also flushes it away during the wash cycle.

Due to its popularity as a fleck water softener, it has enjoyed being the center line of many commercials and a particularly memorable advertisement featuring the Calgon water softener which ran uninterrupted for many years featured a Caucasian woman and a Chinese gentleman. Similarly, the commercials of Calgon softener all over Europe have been translated into almost every regional European language and its mention in the famous soap operas further stresses its popularity.

Calgon water softener is an excellent water purifier and softener. You can buy them on the net through online stores.

You can make herb vinegars for salad dressings, marinades, or soups.

Fresh herbs as garnishes dress up any dish making it look truly spectacular. Lay individual sprigs of rosemary over broiled lamb chops. Chop fresh parsley and sprinkle it over the top of your potato salad. The combinations are endless and the outcome delicious.

Fresh herbs will keep in the refrigerator for several days but then you must freeze them. They can be frozen by laying them a paper towel and putting them in a plastic bag. Once they are frozen only use them in cooking not as garnishes. A friend of mine washes them, puts them an ice cube tray, covers them with water and then freezes them. When she needs them for soup, stews or sauces she just drops a cube in.

My favorite herbs to grow are basil, oregano, lemon balm, parsley and mint. Mint is great but be careful, mint can over run your garden. A tip here would be to bury an empty coffee can and plant the mint in it. The can prevents the mint from “creeping” all through your garden.

I love to make herb butters. Take a half of a cup of softened butter and mix in about 4 tablespoons of a fresh herb. Lay out a piece of saran wrap, place the butter in the middle roll the saran wrap up to form a “log” out of the butter. Put in the refrigerator and anytime you need a pat of butter just cut it off the “log”. (Hints for “log” butter: potatoes, bread, steaks, noodles or any kind of sauce).

A fresh herb in any salad dressing really makes it sparkle. You can use any herb or a combination, be creative.

New Potatoes – Freshly harvested and marketed during the late winter or early spring, new potatoes are tiny to small potatoes of any variety. Their skin is tender and they do not need to be peeled. When cooked, they have a firm, waxy texture. New potatoes are best when used soon after harvest and prepared by boiling, steaming or roasting.

Tips for Buying Potatoes

When buying potatoes, choose ones that are firm, have smooth skins and are without any sprouts or blemishes. Avoid potatoes with wrinkled skins, sprouted eyes, cut surfaces, soft or dark spots, decayed areas (usually at the ends), or sunken spots.

If possible, purchase potatoes that are fairly clean but unwashed. Potatoes that have been washed will spoil quicker.

Avoid purchasing potatoes with a greenish tint or cast. This indicates that the potatoes have been exposed to light during storage, which can produce a bitter taste and may be toxic to some people.

Choose potatoes that have a heavy feel and are uniform in size and shape. They will cook in about the same time and will be easier to peel.

How to Store Potatoes

Store potatoes in a well-ventilated cool, dry, dark area such as a cool closet or dry basement (never under the kitchen sink).

When stored between 45F to 50F (7C to 10C), potatoes will keep for several weeks. If stored at room temperature or in a warm place, potatoes will remain at top quality for only about 1 week.
Do not store potatoes in the refrigerator. The starch will begin to change to sugar and alter the taste; the potatoes will also turn dark after cooking.

It is best not to store potatoes near onions.

Tips for Preparing Potatoes

To clean potatoes, soak briefly in cool water to loosen the dirt and make scrubbing easier. Scrub gently under running water with a vegetable brush or sponge; trim away any eyes or blemishes.

Always be certain to remove any sprouts or eyes when peeling potatoes and if a potato appears green under the skin, peel it deeply to remove the green part…that green portion could possibly make you sick.

To prevent potatoes from turning dark, cook immediately after peeling or cover with water and add a small amount of salt, lemon juice or vinegar.

When preparing French fries, soak cut potatoes in lightly salted chilled water for approximately 1 hour to remove some of the starch and produce crisper fries.

Potatoes and dishes with potatoes do not freeze well due to their tendency to become mushy when thawed and reheated. Partially cooked French fries, mashed potato patties and baked stuffed potatoes may be frozen.

Potato Yields

Three medium potatoes equals approximately 1 pound, which will yield:

* 2 cups French fried potatoes

* 2 cups mashed potatoes

* 2-1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes

* 3 cups peeled and sliced potatoes

* 2 cups potato salad

* 2-1/2 cups shredded potatoes

Non-stick cookware is a blessing when cooking and reheating sticky kinds of food. This coated surface also means you will need less oil or fat while frying on it. But you have to be careful while using and washing non-stick cookware. Avoid scratches on the surface or it’ll lose its properties. Use only wooden, plastic, or coated utensils when cooking. Wash in hot soapy water but never in a dishwasher.

Cast iron is comparatively inexpensive, conducts heat evenly and once heated, keeps it for a long time. Such cookware is good for deep-frying and slow cooking. The main problem is that it rusts, stains and becomes pitted when exposed to air, moisture and certain foods. Do not wash cast-iron cookware in soapy water, instead try wiping clean with a paper towel. To prevent rusting, remove any excess moisture from the surface and coat with oil before storing.

Aluminum cookware is quite cheap compared to other materials. It’s very lightweight yet strong. It is a good conductor of heat and does not easily distort when exposed to high temperatures. The obvious drawback is its reaction to acidic and alkaline foods leading to corrosion and spoiling the taste of the food cooked. That’s why it is often coated with stainless steel or anodized coating to protect the food. It doesn’t require any special care, usual washing in a soapy water is enough. However, if the surface has anodized coating, you better avoid washing the cookware in a dishwasher and be careful not to scratch the finish.