MSGID: 1:396/45.28 98d57cd9
REPLY: 35381.fidonet_cooking@1:105/500 2dc5a0ac
Hi Ben,

RH> The last couple weeks of 2025 were pretty quiet too--is nobody posting or
RH> is there a hiccup in the system?

 BC> I suspect it was legitimately quiet, not a hiccup.

Hopefully we'll see more people in here this year. Did Sean ever find
out anything about Dave Drum?


RH> OTOH, I have 5 sewing machines, a serger and an embroidery machine (Steve
RH> runs that, back story to that.) but one machine and the serger get the
RH> most use. I've got enough projects to keep me going for years. (G)

 BC> Wow, you have even more sewing machines than my mother does.  She has
 BC> 4: her own, one inherited from her mother, another inherited from her
 BC> sister, and another spare that was a bargain from the thrift store.  I
 BC> believe my mother's is a Singer and my sister's is a Brother.  I am
 BC> not familiar with Serger sewing machines.  Oh, is that a type an not a
 BC> brand?

Sergers are an overlock machine--if you look at the seams on T shirts,
they're generally sewn with a serger. It sews the seams with an overlock
stitch, trimming it at the same time. It puts a better finish on the
seam than just leaving raw edges and is a lot faster than using pinking
shears to prevent ravelling. My serger is a Baby Lock (brand).

As for regular sewing machines, I had 6 but after Hurricane Helene hit
western NC, I sent my Janome machine out there, with a box of sewing
supplies. I currently own a Pfaff which is my main (work horse) machine,
a Brother (rides around in the camper and gets used when we're on the
road), a Juki semi industrial machine for the heavy duty projects, a
Bernina that I inherited from my aunt and a Singer Featherweight, one of
the original lightweight, portable machines. The Juki and Featherweight
do just a straight stitch but the Featherweight one is very fine, good
for quilting or if I have to work with some of the finer fabrics--hemmed
a 5 layer wedding gown some years ago using the serger on the under
layers and the Featherweight on the topmost layer. I'd love a treadle
machine but we've no room for it in this house.


 BC> I think it's cool that Brother makes both sewing machines and laser
 BC> printers.  There's cross-stitching between the computer market and the
 BC> textile market.  ;)

They also make free standing embroidery machines; we own one. About 10
years ago my Brother machine started giving me problems so I took it
into a Brother dealer down in Raleigh. It was an unrepairable problem so
I came home with a new one. The store was going out of business so
selling out their stock so a couple of days later, Steve and I went to
look at their embroidery machines. Didn't make a decision then but went
back a couple of days later to get (the only one left) of a machine.
While the sale was being rung up, the owner got a phone call---"Do you
have any model XXX machines left?". "We're ringing up the sale of the
last one now, sorry" was the reply. We've enjoyed it. (G)

RH> One of the first recipies I printed off shortly after I joined the
echo in RH> January, 1994 was posted by Michael Loo for Pseudo-Melinda's
Hot Sauce. RH> Steve still makes it, altho not as regularly as he used
to.

 BC> Cool!  I started making my own hot sauce after a friend served me some
 BC> of his home-made hot sauce.  It's cheap and easy.  Just need a
 BC> blender.  I like to save seeds from squash that i cook, and put them
 BC> into the
 BC> hot sauce mix.  I believe capsaicin is oil soluble and that the
 BC> saturated fats in the squash seeds helps make it hotter.

This one has carrots and lime juice, besides habenero peppers. We kept a
bottle in the church fridge when our small group was meeting regularly
after Sunday morning worship. We always had lunch so Steve brought in a
bottle of the sauce for heat lovers--I made him draw a skull &
crossbones on the label, besides written warnings. It was too hot for
me; I like a medium heat level. I've also made salsa, but not in the
last few years, using a recipe from our AZ pastor's wife.

RH> We've not tried the vegetable pancakes but do enjoy seafood pancakes
every RH> so often. Sometimes we'll order one, plus just one main dish
and take part RH> of the pancake home to enjoy another time. Sam's Club
had a bag of mixed RH> seafood in their freezer section a few years ago;
we bought one and had RH> enough seafood for about 5 pancakes. A bit
fiddly but they tasted good. RH> Guess I ought to see if they have it
again.

 BC> Interesting idea... it's using the pancake batter as a substrate
 BC> rather than a breading to fry seafood.  I can imagine pancakes with
 BC> those tiny shrimp they catch locally off the Oregon coast.  It could
 BC> be like a
 BC> seafood version of biscuits and gravy.

It's basically the same as the vegetable pancake but with seafood
instead of the vegetables except the green onions; they are part of it.
But yes, a shrimp gravy over biscuits does sound yummy, a varient on the
southern favorite, shrimp and grits.

 BC> Here is the only Melinda's copycat recipe that i am aware of having
 in BC> my database:


 BC>       Title: Melinda's Habanero Pepper Sauce
 BC>  Categories: Copycat, Sauces
 BC>       Yield: 1 Batch

 BC>     1/2 c  Onion; chopped
 BC>       2 cl Garlic; minced
 BC>       1 tb Olive oil
 BC>     1/2 c  Carrots; chopped
 BC>     1/8 c  Water
 BC>      12 ea Habaneros; stemmed, chopped
 BC>     1/2 c  White vinegar
 BC>     1/4 c  Lime juice


That's basically the same one we have, probably a minor tweak somewhere
in it so it can be called pseudo-Melinda's.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... I am NOT burned out - just singed a little!

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