I'll pass on urban sewer rats

a soak in several changes of milk might redeem even those

I didn't know that milk could prevent The Plague. [g]

No, but cooking will.

I was told (but cannot verify) that soaking beans with salt
will make them harder and harder to cook.

I've heard that often but it simply isn't true. I've tested that
hypothesis long ago and it's definitely false.
https://tinyurl.com/saltbeans

Poop. Urban legends before the Internet! Like Balti cooking.

What does make dried beans hard to cook is acidity such as adding
tomato products before the legumes are fully cooked. As a matter of
fact adding alkali such as baking soda will hasten their softening
and cooking (at the expense of destroying some of the water solubale
vitamins leaching out of the pulses.)

If you rely on beans and corn to get vitamins, you're either
very poor or doing something wrong with your diet.

Title: Cherry Pit Syrup Recipe
Please note that this recipe is made from whole cherry pits, not the
inner kernels obtained after cracking them open.

I'd maintain that the syrup would be better by a factor of many if
the pits were cracked first. Of course, people would then fear
cyanide poisoning, but they'd be wrong.

Sugar is hygroscopic, allowing it to draw moisture and flavor from
the fruit left clinging to the cherry pits. In time, the residual
moisture surrounding the pits will be enough to dissolve the sugar
entirely, without the need for any added liquid.

What I do with the pits is worry them naked as soon as I've
pitted them, so this wouldn't happen at all. It would be
possible to make something interesting by rinsing my used
pits, drying them in the oven a bit, cracking them, and
packing in white sugar. I'd guess the result would be sort
of like almond sugar.

When used with great moderation, almond extract and rose water can
improve the flavor and aroma of cherries without contributing a
distinctive flavor of their own.
From: Serious Eats

Not so! either of these will contribute its respective
flavor discernible to anyone with taste buds and smellers.

... Corn syrup: the most useless form of calories ever created.

There are many candidates for that title.

And consider the pecan pie. Though the recipe I use
calls for the more splurgy maple, corn syrup is the
pewter standard.

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

Title: Looho Pecan Pie
Categories: Desserts, Pies, Nuts, American
Yield: 8 Servings

MMMMM-----------------------EUROPEAN UNITS----------------------------
250 g Flour
1/2 ts Salt
100 g Butter
60 g Shortening
1 Egg yolk
1 ts Sugar
Ice water; as needed

MMMMM-----------------------PECAN FILLING----------------------------
3 Eggs; beaten
1 pn Salt
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
120 g Light brown Sugar
180 g Pecans
300 g Maple Syrup Canada #1 Light
50 g Butter; or more

MMMMM-----------------------AMERICAN UNITS----------------------------
1 3/4 c Flour
1/2 ts Salt
1 Stick butter
4 tb Shortening
1 Egg yolk
1 ts Sugar
Ice water; as needed

MMMMM----------------PECAN FILLING (US MEASURES)---------------------
3 Eggs; beaten
1 pn Salt
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
2/3 c Light brown sugar
1 c Maple syrup Grade A lt Amber
1 1/2 c Pecans
3 tb Butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Processor method
Put flour, salt, sugar and cold fats in the bowl of the processor.
Process until reduced to fine breadcrumb consistency. Add egg yolk
and ice water, stop processing as soon as the pastry form a ball.

Manual method.
In a bowl, using a pastry blender, combine the flour, sugar, salt,
butter and vegetable shortening until crumbly. Add egg and cold
water and mix to form a ball.

Roll out and place into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim off excess.
Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the beaten eggs, salt, vanilla extract, brown
sugar, pecans, syrup, and melted butter. Pour into unbaked pie
crust.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool and
refrigerate.

Recipe M Loo & I Hoare 3 January 96 Forges France

MMMMM
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