-=> Dale Shipp wrote to Ruth Haffly <=-

 RH> For a time, seemed to have started in the 90s (IIRC, "Windows for
 RH> Dummies" was one of the first ones out) there were a number of books
 RH> on the market along the theme of "XYZ for Dummies". They covered quite
 RH> a range of topics.I never bought any because none of the subjects
 RH> covered were of interest to me but they did cover quite a wide spectrum
 RH> of topics. As I remember, most of them had a yellow cover meant to look
 RH> sort of like a legal pad.
 
The first was "DOS for Dummies" on November 1991. I bought a copy for 
the winter holiday gift exchange of my Amiga Users Group.

 DS> They do tend to be a certain style in appearance and in writing.  I
 DS> have bought more than one of them.  In fact, I can look at the book
 DS> case behind my monitor and see "Windows 7 for Dummies".  It came with a
 DS> searchable DVD, which is still shrink wrapped next to the book, neither
 DS> of which have been opened.  OTOH, I have several other Win7 books which
 DS> I did make good use of.  I can see a number of pages that have slips of
 DS> paper tagging some pages.

The only one of those I bought for myself was "Networking for Dummies"
which only further confused the issue(s) I was having. I finally solved
my networking problems by calling in an expert - my friend's junior high
school aged son - who fixed my problems, tickety-boo. And explained to
me, in a non-condescending manner, where I had gone off the rails.  Bv)=

 RH> I'd rather pit them, but, that's my choice.

 RH> I can tolerate a certain level of pain but I don't want to crunch down
 RH> on a cherry pit and break a tooth. Spending time at the dentist is not
 RH> one of my favorite things.

 DS> Gail will certainly agree with you there.  Over the years she has
 DS> broken several teeth.  It is uncertain whether it was because of
 DS> crunching on something unexpectingly hard (nut shell, peach pit hunk,
 DS> etc.) or just because a filling finally decided to crack.

Or a tooth that has been cracked for a bit decides to "let-go-hands" and
fall apart. I had a number of teeth do that to me - one causing me to
cancel a planned trip to an echo picnic .... and that one caused me to
suck it up and get them all pulled so I could get a set of George 
Washingtons.

 DS> This has a nice low carb count.  But I do wonder at why use ground beef
 DS> in a tofu recipe.  I tend to think of tofu as being an ingredient used
 DS> primarily in vegetarian recipes (but even the chicken broth negates
 DS> that thought).

 DS> Personally, I'd just go with an increased amount of ground beef.

Me too. Double the beef, ditch the bean curd. And sub beef broth for the
chooken broth. But, then the recipe title would no longer be valid or
descriptive. Just the dish would be much tastier.  Bv)=

 DS> MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

 DS>       Title: Szechuan Bean Curd(Tofu)
 DS>  Categories: Asian, China, Vegetable, Diabetic
 DS>       Yield: 4 Servings

 DS>       4 oz 85% lean ground beef

Double beef to 1/2 pound.
 
 DS>       1 c  Green onions  w/tops chopped
 DS>       1    Clove garlic minced
 DS>     3/4 c  Chicken broth
 DS>       2 tb Light soy sauce
 DS>       1 tb Chili sauce

I assume they mean a Chinese chile sauce not the sweet Heinz Chili sauce
found in the ketchup section of many stupormarkups.
 
 DS>       1 ts Sesame oil
 DS>     1/4 ts Hot oil*

Chile oil?

 DS>     1/4 ts Red pepper flakes

Or, use a half-teaspoon of either and lose the other.

 DS>       2 tb Corn starch
 DS>       2 tb Cold water
 DS>       1 c  Bean curd(tofu) 1/2" cubes

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Sichuan All Purpose Chile Garlic Sauce
 Categories: Chilies, Vegetables, Herbs
      Yield: 18 servings

     30 g  (1 c) whole dried chile peppers (*see footnote)
     15 g  (1 thumb) minced ginger
     60 g  (15 cloves) garlic; crushed
    1/2 c  Peanut or vegetable oil
      2 tb Sichuan peppercorn
      4 tb Spicy fermented bean paste
      1 tb Sugar

  TO COOK THE SAUCE: Use scissors to cut each chile pepper
  into 4 to 5 pieces. Prepare ginger and garlic.

  Add oil and peppercorn to a wok (or small skillet) and
  heat over medium heat. When the peppercorns start
  sizzling, continue cooking for about 2 minutes, until
  they turn dark brown and you can smell a pungent
  fragrance. If the oil starts to smoke, turn to lowest
  heat. Remove the peppercorns with a straining ladle or
  spatula and discard them.

  Add chile peppers and cook over low heat until the color
  darkens. This will happen very quickly, in less than 1
  minute, if youΓÇÖre using a gas stove.

  Add ginger and garlic and give it a quick stir. Add
  chile bean paste and sugar and continue to cook over low
  heat until everything is mixed well and you can smell a
  strong garlicky aroma, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and
  transfer everything to a large plate to cool off.

  When the sauce has cooled, transfer it to a clean jar.
  You can store the sauce at room temperature for a month
  or in the fridge for up to 3 months.

  NOTES: Depending on the type of chile youΓÇÖre using, the
  sauce will have varying levels of spiciness. I prefer
  to use a less spicy chile, so the sauce will be well
  balanced and not too spicy.

  If youΓÇÖre not sure about the spiciness of the pepper,
  smell them when you just open the package. If you can
  smell a strong and pungent aroma, that makes your nose
  itch, then you should be careful. You can discard the
  seeds after breaking the peppers. If you donΓÇÖt smell a
  very pungent aroma, you can use the whole chile pepper
  with seeds. - Maggie Loh

  Yield: 16 - 20 servings

  RECIPE FROM: https://omnivorescookbook.com

  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives

MMMMM


... Where is the Idiot's Guide to Books for Dummies?

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