For the past few thanksgivings, the Fall Classic (a delicious cocktail made with apple cider, bourbon, and thyme simple syrup-- you can find the recipe on SE) has been a menu staple. But this year I'm living in Scotland and having trouble finding (American-style) apple cider-- not the alcoholic stuff, which they have here in abundance, but traditional non-alcoholic cider. Any suggestions for where to find it or, failing that, what might make for an acceptable substitute? I really want to keep one of my favorite thanksgiving traditions intact! Thanks!

I love baking but sometimes I just don't have it in me to measure out all the dry ingredients. So I've been thinking about putting together some pre-bagged baking mixes and that way, when I want to make, e.g., biscuits (as I am likely to want to do as shortcake season approaches!) I can just pull out the mix and add in my wet ingredients. Has anyone else done this? How long can I expect the mixes to remain good for (i.e. will they go stale)? Can I double up the recipes and make several batches of mix at once, or is it best to mix the ingredients for one recipe (i.e. one batch of biscuits, or loaf of cornbread) at a time? Are some recipes more conducive to this than others? Recipe suggestions? Thanks guys!

I'm trying to track down a recipe for a dish I used to eat regularly like 18 years ago when I spent some time in India. I'm pretty sure it was Indian-Chinese style food. It was some kind of beef stir-fried with peppers, but the beef was very dry, almost stringy. There wasn't really a sauce-- the dish was very dry overall. Doesn't sound that tasty but as far as I can remember it was delicious. I'd love to make it again but all the recipes I come across seem to be for a much saucier dish-- more the consistency of curry. Which is not what I'm after at all. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Recipes or even techniques would be greatly appreciated...

Sriracha's been getting a lot of love lately, but I have to confess-- I think I like the flavor and heat of Sambal Oelek even better! (I'm currently eating dinner consisting of cucumbers drizzled with rice vinegar and S.O., and brown rice with a healthy dollop of same.)

Any other Sambal Oelek lovers out there? I'd be curious to hear how people use it, and whether they use it interchangeably with Sriracha or differently-- and if you treat them differently, why?

the title pretty much sums it up-- i'm throwing a last-minute bbq this weekend, and am looking for recommendations for cheap cuts of meat that i can grill over charcoal, and some sides (for drinks, i'll probably go cheap beer and/or sangria).

i know there was just a weekend round-up about cheap 'off-cuts' of meat, which got me thinking about tri-tip, but i'd like to go even cheaper if possible-- and the charcoal grilling part is non-negotiable-- this whole shindig is more or less an excuse to break out the weber!

i'm heading to nashville this weekend and wondering what/where i should be eating (or where i shouldn't be eating, for that matter). we'll be staying downtown around union station, so stuff within walking distance of there would be great. also we won't be getting in till about ten the first night, so if anyone could suggest places that serve food till late, that would be especially appreciated. recommendations for good drinking spots are also welcomed. finally, i'm a very poor grad student, so the cheaper the eats/drinks, the better. thanks!

I have a wonderful cast iron dutch oven that I got at a yard sale last year for $20. It was already seasoned when i got it, and I usually just wipe it out to clean it. But I've been lazy recently, and forgot to clean it. Now there's a fair bit of what I assume is rust-- it's definitely rust-colored build-up. Shame on me, I know-- I feel like I've let the pot down!

I've tried tackling it with steel wool and Brillo (assuming I'll have to re-season it afterwards) but it's not working very well, and it's slow going and I'm lazy! (I know, pathetic, right?)

So my question is, does anyone have any tips/shortcuts/advice on removing the build-up? Like I said, it's mostly on the inside of the lid (which has all these grooves etc, making the whole thing even more annoying).

I'm going to Chicago next weekend and crashing on a friend's couch. I'd like to bring some kind of hostess gift, but I'm dead broke (and my friend is most definitely not). He's really into cocktails, so I was thinking of doing some flavored simple syrups for mixing drinks and some salts or sugars for rimming cocktail glasses. (We're having a cocktail party while I'm there.) I loved the recent post on tangerine salt, and I like the idea of ginger syrup, but I'm looking for more ideas. Serious drinkers, what flavors of simple syrup would you like to play bartender with?

Also, what's your ideal water/sugar ratio for making simple syrup? I don't want it to be too sweet, so I'm thinking 1.5/1. What do you think?

I've been inspired by past threads on SE to start buying dried, rather than canned, beans. Most everyone says to soak them overnight. Last night I put a pot of dried chickpeas on the stove to soak; this morning I woke up, forgot all about them, and went to school. When I got home and looked in the pot, there was spotty white foam all over the top of the water (it looked a bit like mold, but hard to say). All told, they were probably soaking on my stovetop for about 18 hours. Is this bad? Should I have put them in the fridge? If I eat them will something horrible happen to me? I'm a (very poor) grad student, so I really hate to throw out food, and I want to understand what I did wrong. Help?!

This is my first post, and I hope it fits into the 'serious efforts' category. (If not, I apologize.) I recently came across a hot chocolate drink on a restaurant menu that was topped with Bailey's flavored marshmallows, and I really really want to make it at home. I'm familiar with the basic marshmallow recipe, and with variations that substitute an extract such as rum or peppermint for the vanilla, but I suspect I'll need more than a teaspoon of Bailey's to get the flavor to come through. My question is, can I substitute Bailey's for some of the water? If so, should I put it in the gelatin bloom or in the sugar syrup? Any suggestions would be most welcome!

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