A Samap Grain Mill isn't one I've had any experience with. Stones can glaze over and not operate properly if the grain is too damp, or the stones need replacing. Does it have a feed that can be adjusted? Something I read states the harder the grain, the slower it needs to feed into the mill. Good luck, I hope someone with personal experience with this mill can help you out. -Grainlady

dedtired- Thank you for your kind words, but no, there's no blog or web site. I just hang out here and a couple other message boards, and food science is a long-time study and hobby of mine that is necessary as a Foods Judge at County Fairs. I have to be able to tell people what went right, wrong, or how to improve their skills and their finished products. Gold Medal All-Purpose flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheat. Hard wheat provides enough protein to make a fairly good loaf of bread, and soft wheat so you can make a fairly good quick bread - but it's not the optimal choice for much of anything other than soft dinner rolls. There are better flour choices for yeast and naturally-leavened bread, pizza crust, bagels, hard rolls, etc., and better choices when you don't want a lot of gluten development - pastry, cookies, quick breads, cakes.... It wasn't until the advent of the bread machine in the 1980's that things like "high-gluten bread flour" and "vital wheat gluten" were even heard of for home use. All we had was all-purpose and an occasional find of whole wheat flour or rye flour (usually sold by hippies in a dark little whole foods or health food store - LOL). So we can thank that industry for giving us a broader choice of flour products. Today I work from a variety of over 30 different grains/seeds/beans for milling into flour and incorporating in our diet. bbstx- I grew up in the middle of wheat fields, so it's not surprising your dad knew what his wheat would be used for. Yes, soft red wheat is used in cake flour and also suited for cookies and some pastries, but it's a completely different variety of wheat from durum wheat. Most of the durum wheat produced in the United States is grown in North Dakota (76%), and some in Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota and it's primary use is in pasta/spaghetti/macaroni but it's also used to make puffed breakfast cereals and wheat germ. The bran and germ are removed and the endosperm is coarsely milled into semolina flour, which we use most often for making pasta, although I have a few favorite recipes where I add it to yeast breads, but I mill my own using whole grain durum. When you mill your own flour and you forget which variety of wheat (hard or soft) you milled, all you have to do is rub it between your fingers. Hard wheat flour is fairly gritty while soft wheat feels more like talcum powder. -Grainlady

FOAS: I didn't know all this. Remember the old Saying , " You have more problems than Dick Tracy " ??? Throw out the flour and the Cedar Chest . LOL Maureen: Christine: I've heard " Schifuso " ( spelling ) as far as I know it means someone disgusting , like me. They also called me " Capodoste " guess that's why I'm still on the CF. I've taken a beating. I have a few words to call you in Italian, slang. You pick them, from this article. I'll start with Bella !!! - - - - - - - Want to translate something? I searched for several Italian-English dictionaries and translation sites. I found some that weren't worth a grain of salt. The ones I included are pretty good. Italian is a phonetic language. The words sound just like they are spelled. About.com has two guides for pronouncing Italian letters: http://italian.about.com/cs/pronunciation/index.htm WordReference.com: http://www.wordreference.com/ This site. Freetranslation, will translate large pieces of text for you: http://www.freetranslation.com/ Some Common Words and Sayings Mangia!: Eat! Bella: beautiful Ciao!: hello or good bye Buona notte: goodnight Buona sera: good evening Grazie: thank you Per favore: please Parla l'inglese: speak English Paesano: friend in the neighborhood (actually means villager) *some think this is derogatory Goombah: "a combination of a good old boy, good family guy that just enjoys life and not a gangster" as defined by Soprano's Steve Schirripa:http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/988601.asp?0sl=-13 Mama Mia!: Mother of mine! Fascination with Italian Insults and Curses In many films and shows about Italians, the Mafia and organized crime, foul language abounds. There is a growing fascination with Italian insults and curses amongst non-Italians due to the popularity of "The Sopranos." Yes, some Italian-Americans really do swear like this in real life. I'm providing some examples, but use them at your own risk, especially if you are talking to an Italian or about an Italian. Many of these are considered offensive and if used in the wrong situation.... In Italian, the worst swear words are not those that are vulgar in the English language (such as the f*** word) but those that have to do with God and religion, and those that imply you are a fool because your wife is cheating on you. I'll leave out the more vulgar ones, but provide you with links to sites with access if you wish to explore a bit more. Some examples of common exclamations,curses and insults: allocco: a jerk boccalone: a big mouth cafone: slob, low class person capodoste: hardhead cazzata: a worthless thing Come si chiamo: actually means what's his/her name- used in a derogatory manner to mean "What's her name" as in "He's with his come si chiam." fa Napoli: get the hell out of here (literally means go to Naples) faccia brutta: ugly face faccia di culo: but ugly person faccia di merda: sh**head fannullone: a good for nothing person fessacchione: really big idiot leccapiedi: a brownnoser, a feet-licker (literally) mannaggia!: damn! merda: sh** occiataccia: a dirty look puttana: whore saccente: a know it all scassacazzo: pain in the ass stunare: out of tune, idiot (this one's pronounced stoonod) volente o nolente: like it or not Here is a link to an interesting story about an American who learned to swear in Italian when she moved there: http://www.slowtrav.com/rebecca/090403.htm Here is a link to "The Alternative Italian Dictionary" if you want more vulgar stuff: http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/ht/Italian.html and About.com's Italian Slang Dictionary: http://italian.about.com/library/slang/blslangdictionaryindex.htm Go to this site to hear "Hooked on Paesanics." It's on the left hand side at the bottom. Very funny. http://themezz.com/cgi-local/utica/webbbs_config.pl

Even Martha Stewart doesn't sift anymore. She just whisks. Here is my recipe for Spritz: Sprita Cookies 3 sticks soft butter 1 C sugar 1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk 1/4 tsp. salt 1 T. vanilla 3 3/4 C sifted All purpose flour Sift flour and salt together (I just whisk) and set aside. Cream butter and sugar Add egg plus egg yolk, vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Put in cookie press and press cookie on to cookie sheet. Bake 35 8 - 10 minutes. Do not use parchment paper with spritz cookies press directly onto sheet.