Small Talk: Don't Tell Jeffrey!

[LazyToaster]

We do the packets and usually include mushrooms. 

 

Homemade strawberry jam - sounds wonderful - haven't had that in years!  Takes me back - I used to help my mother-in-law pick strawberries and make jam - only about 40 years ago - nice memories.  

[larapu2000]

Yeah, it's the little things like homemade jam and frozen vegetables from the garden that can turn someone into a massive food snob.  I still won't eat canned corn, and will only eat frozen if I've done it myself.  I wish I had a bigger freezer, I would make a lot more jam!  I like regular homemade jam okay, but the freezer stuff is just so completely on another level.

[Lura]

Larapu, I've never made freezer jam, partly because I never had a freezer until I got one last year.  I've always made "regular" jam (for lack of a better word) in sealed jars.  I love to play around with the jam when I'm cooking it.  I had trouble getting my pear butter to thicken, so I added the juice of a fresh orange and a little bit of fresh lemon juice.  It not only thickened beautifully, but the little note of citrus added a wonderful flavor and a bright note to the pear taste.  I've done the same with strawberry jam.  Often, you can't taste the orange unless you know that it's in there, depending on how much you add.  For me, canning jams and jellies is one of my favorite summer "fun times."  Good luck with yours.  I'm sure that it will be delicious!

[larapu2000]

That's a great idea!  We did some playing around last summer with herbs, and they turned out amazing.  We did a Blackberry Mint, Strawberry Basil, and the best one-Blueberry Ginger.  The ginger makes it taste SO incredibly fresh!  The strawberry basil was good, but not amazing.  

 

Lura, have you ever made pepper jelly?  If you have, do you have any recommended recipes?  It's funny about canning, most of the time you wouldn't look at a manufacturer's recipes, but I literally use the Sure-Jell recipe straight up, and Ball has a great preservation book with some amazing recipes.  Do you pickle?  Here's a tip I wish I knew last summer:  Purple string beans lose all color and look like overcooked green beans when you pickle them!  We are lazy picklers, too.  We pack the jars and then pour the hot brine over the jar, put the lids and rings on, and then turn upside down to seal.  We like to avoid the canner.  LOL

[Daisychain]

All these jams sound delightful.  I was curious what people are planning to make for their 4th of July picnics/bashes/barbecues.

[larapu2000]

We are grilling some skirt steak, asparagus, and maple sugar peaches, with some corn salad and probably a pea salad if I can find fresh ones at the farmers market!  The peaches will be served shortcake style with ice cream.  Of course.

 

What are you having?

[annzeepark914]

Wow--grilling peaches for peach shortcake; I love that!  Won't be doing much since Mr. P914 is away this week so I'll enjoy reading about everyone's 4th of July food adventures.  I did make those grilled foil pack veggies tonight and they were delicious.

[Daisychain]

I haven't really done any planning yet - the one thing I'll probably do since I have some squash and peppers is a veggie kabob I got, I'm sorry to say, from Guy's show.  The marinade is cumin, smoked paprika, lemon juice and agave and it's simple and tasty.  Now I need to work on everything else!  

[Lura]

Larapu, those jams with herbs sound out of this world!  You are the clever one!  I've still never tried herbs in my desserts, let alone in jams.

 

The only things I've canned are jams and jellies, so you could run circles around me.  Oh, I take it back.  I always can my mother's recipe for chili sauce every summer.  My mother's meatloaf recipe wouldn't taste the same without her chili sauce in it.  One year, I ran out of my own and had to buy a jar in the store.  For some reason, I bought Heinz, and I was blown away when I tasted it.  It's almost identical in taste to my mother's.  Maybe they lifted it from her, and I'm worth millions!!!

 

No, I've never made pepper jelly.  I wonder whether Southern Living has a good recipe for it in their recipe section.  It doesn't honestly appeal to me because we never ate peppers when I was growing up.

 

My mother-in-law challenged me to make apple jelly (What a mess it makes!), so I did.  When I took her a jar the next time we visited, she seriously accused me of not using her recipe, but I had.  Her apple jelly was always a sick yellow color, and mine was a beautiful shade of pink.  She grilled me over and over about why it was pink, and I didn't know.  Then she accused me of using cinnamon candy or food coloring in it, and I hadn't.  By then, she was seriously angry.  All of a sudden it hit me!  I had cooked the apples with the red skins on.  The recipe didn't say whether to peel the apples or not, so I didn't. 

 

Keep us posted on your canning, Larapu.  I love reading about it.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Lura

[larapu2000]

That apple jelly sounds awesome!  So, you cook the apples and then strain the juice?  Do you put them through a tomato squisher?  That's what my family calls the pulper, LOL.

 

That's a good idea about Southern Living.  I just wanted a few small jars of pepper jelly, I think it's fantastic with soft cheeses, and it probably makes some great dips.  I'm also considering doing a few small jars of fig preserves, since that's my favorite to serve with brie.  

 

Have you ever canned lemon curd?  There is a company called Rare Bird Preserves out of Chicago that makes an ungodly insanely horrifyingly delicious passionfruit curd, and since I know it won't freeze, I'll need to bust out the canner to try to make some at home (At $9 a half pint, it's a salty pleasure for me to buy it).

[annzeepark914]

I never had pepper jelly until I lived in NC and it was one of the appetizers at a potluck supper.  You spread cream cheese on a cracker, then top it with a bit of pepper jelly (I think it was green...could've been red...whichever it was--it was delicious!)

[3pwood]

A popular appetizer at Christmas potlucks used to be 2 bricks of cream cheese, 1 with red jalapeno pepper jelly poured over it & the other with green jalapeno pepper jelly poured over it, served with Waverly Wafers or Club Crackers -- simple, tasty, economical, & beautiful seasonal colors.  The pepper jelly was store-bought & not too spicy -- homemade could be as hot as the cook liked it.  Wish I were brave enough to can, peppers are so easy to grow & I've always liked that jelly.

[orchidgal]

I am loving reading about the home canning here.  I regularly can my super-secret BBQ sauce, as well as my apple butter.  Everyone loves those recipes, and I am hoping to one day sell the BBQ sauce recipes (there are three versions).  The apple butter recipe is super simple and I gladly share that with anyone.  I am surprised by how many people who have never had apple butter before.  But then, my great-grandmother was Amish, so I grew up with such foods.

[larapu2000]

Ooh, apple butter is divine!  It is definitely something you only see in places with regional Amish populations!  Same thing with pickled eggs, which is one of the greatest culinary gifts in history.  

 

I'm also going to try making my own prepared horseradish after seeing Amy Thielen make it on Heartland Table.  It looked so easy!  And I'll bet it tastes so much better than the store ones.   

 

I really do wish Ina did some food preservation recipes.  I'd bet they'd be faaaaabulous!

[Bastet]

I'm also going to try making my own prepared horseradish after seeing Amy Thielen make it on Heartland Table.  It looked so easy!  And I'll bet it tastes so much better than the store ones.

 

Those jars of horseradish are so disappointing!  I've always just grated fresh horseradish root, but one time I was making something at a friend's house and she handed me a store-bought jar ... blech.  So weak.  As soon as I got home, I made up a jar of the real thing and sent it to her -- she said it was a revelation, having only ever eaten the stuff from the store.

[3pwood]

orchidgal, I'd love to see your apple butter recipe.  A former in-law used to make a wonderful one that was so superior to what's available in stores, so I know it can be done.

[annzeepark914]

To everyone who's in the path (or nearby) of Arthur, take care!

 

I've never tried apple butter nor pickled eggs (I've seen those eggs in big jars, though, sitting on counters in delis and general stores).  Would those two foods be considered "real American" (i.e., not transported from the Old Country)?

[Daisychain]

I was at the farmer's market yesterday and, inspired by this thread, looked for herby jams.  No one had an herbed jam, but I did get peach clove jam.  I didn't think it could possibly work, but it was lovely.  First you tasted the cloves and then the peaches. 

[chessiegal]

My family is from central PA. My grandmother, mom, and aunt all made apple butter and pickled eggs, not the eggs in a clear vinegar liquid, but eggs added to pickled beets, so they came out pink. I loved both of them.

[vera charles]

 

I did make those grilled foil pack veggies tonight and they were delicious.

I'm so glad they worked out, @annzeepark914. My favorite part of these boards has always been the sharing of recipes and ideas.

 

I grew up in western Maryland and my parents are both from West Virginia. My mom always made those pickled eggs that are almost florescent pink. I don't eat them but they certainly are unique to look at. My mom grew up on a farm without electricity or running water. Her grandfather ground horseradish to sell and all of the kids had to take turns running a hand cranked grinder to process it.

 

As for apple butter, my first guidance counselor job, many moons ago, was in rural West Virginia. In the fall, farmers from around the area would bring truckloads of apples to a park next to the school, where they would be cooked in huge metal pots over open flames. Everybody who brought apples got some apple butter back, then there was an apple butter festival and the rest was sold as a fundraiser for the town. The smell of those apples being cooked was so amazing, we were practically hanging out the windows of the school to get a whiff.

[annzeepark914]

In case folks missed this a few weeks ago, here's the link.  Now that I've done the grill- in-foil prep and it turned out very well, I'm going to try some of these recipes:

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/50-things-to-grill-in-foil/things-to-grill-in-foil.html

 

Happy 4th of July!

[Lura]

When I was a little thing, my parents took me to visit my aunt and uncle who lived near Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.   My aunt served crab (naturally), which I'd never eaten.  As we were passing food around the table, the adults were talking about cocktail sauce and how good it was.  Someone beside me handed me a dish of something dark, and I covered my crab with it.  My aunt gasped.  I looked at her and said, "It's OK.  It's just cocktail sauce."  She shook her head no, and said, "Anne, honey, that's apple butter!"  I still think of that day and how embarrassed I was every time someone mentions crab.

[annzeepark914]

@Lura: I sure hope you scraped it off and ate the crab anyway :>)  I looked up apple butter the other day and noted that it's nothing like butter.  How did it get named apple butter?  Based on the ingredients, it's closer to apple sauce.

[chessiegal]

According to Wikipedia, apple butter is considered to be highly concentrated apple sauce, developed during the Middle Ages (who knew?) as a way to preserve apple sauce. The butter part comes from its soft, butter like consistency. One of its origins is in Germany, which explains its appearance in my family's cuisine.

[Lura]

Hey, Chessiegal, that's good, interesting information!  We're all going to be so smart, thanks to you, that nobody will be able to stand us!  Seriously, I've wondered before where the word "butter" came from for apple, pear, pumpkin and the other butters, but I never bothered to look it up.

 

I have another one for you.  Where did the term "put up" come from, in relation to canning?  I hear older people say it.  "I put up 12 quarts of green beans this afternoon."  I always think of a woman putting them up on a shelf, but there must be a better explanation than that.  Anyone know?

[vera charles]

This conversation about preserved foods has gotten so interesting! Sauerkraut, apple butter, horseradish, canned beans and tomatoes, jellies, cured hams - all were means of storing foods for the cold, hard winter. In a rural area, if you didn't have food stored away - or "put up" - you and your family didn't eat until spring.

 

My ancestry, like pretty much everybody else in Appalachia, is German (way back, early 1700's) and Scots-Irish (from around 1800). At some point, everybody moved to town, but they still had the mindset of farmers. I remember when I was a kid, all my older relatives did a lot of canning and preserving. Any child who happened to be around was recruited to string beans or peel apples or help chop cabbage or whatever needed to be done. Ah, the memories!

[orchidgal]

My grandmother used to make apple butter in the fall in a huge kettle over a fire years ago on their farm.  My mother, who was a city girl from Chicago, talked about how much work it was to peel the apples, and then to stand there all day and stir the apples so they didn't burn as they cooked.

 

My recipe for apple butter is much easier, as it cooks in a slow cooker, so I can just leave it alone all day while it does its thing.  Then I can the apple butter so that we can enjoy it all season long.  By the way, apple butter is simply apple sauce that continues to cook and darken and concentrate in flavor.  I also have an apple peeler/corer/slicer that makes short work of prepping the apples.

 

My best guess for why canning is called putting up, is that once you have canned your food, you put the canned goods up on the shelves in your pantry.

 

For those who asked for my recipe, here it is:

 

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

4 pounds cooking apples, peeled and sliced (I like to use Honeycrisp apples)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Place sliced apple and vinegar in a 4-quart slow cooker.
Cook, covered, at HIGH 6 hours. Stir in sugars and nutmeg. Reduce setting to LOW; cook, covered, 4 hours. Cool. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

Yield:  6 cups

 

 

[Lura]

My experience includes the canning of a non-edible item.  My grandmother and grandfather set a day aside every year to make her incredible salve, or ointment.  Grandma would collect baby food jars all year (which was easy because she had 12 grandchildren of baby food age).  The salve was a recipe of all sorts of roots and other ingredients that I'd never heard of.  They cooked it all day, and then the pretty, greasy, yellow-colored salve was put into the jars.  She gave a jar to each family of her children.  This salve was far better than any salve you could buy.  For instance, if you had an embedded splinter, you could rub a little salve over the spot, cover with a Band Aid, and by the next morning, the splinter had risen up above the skin, and you could just pick it out.  Miraculous!  Grandma, who was very poor, could have made a lot of money by selling the recipe to a pharmaceutical company, but it was a family secret, and that's how it remained.  When she died, she passed the recipe on to her eldest daughter, my aunt. 

 

My aunt, however, did nothing with it, and so none of us had our salve anymore.  Before my aunt died, I asked her for the recipe, and she didn't know what had become of it, and she could only remember a couple of wild herbs that were in it.  I had wanted to continue the tradition and send a jar of salve once a year to each of my cousins. Deep in my heart I felt disappointment and almost rage that anyone could ignore such a marvelous concoction that did so much good, but there was nothing I could do about it.

 

There are recipes online for American Indian salves, and I've thought of trying to make one of those,  The problem is that so many of the ingredients aren't being sold anymore, and where would I find them?  Anyway, it's a fond memory of how hard my grandparents worked to keep their children healthy and well.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Lura

[NausetGirl]

That's a great idea!  We did some playing around last summer with herbs, and they turned out amazing.  We did a Blackberry Mint, Strawberry Basil, and the best one-Blueberry Ginger.  The ginger makes it taste SO incredibly fresh!  The strawberry basil was good, but not amazing.  

 

Lura, have you ever made pepper jelly?  If you have, do you have any recommended recipes?  It's funny about canning, most of the time you wouldn't look at a manufacturer's recipes, but I literally use the Sure-Jell recipe straight up, and Ball has a great preservation book with some amazing recipes.  Do you pickle?  Here's a tip I wish I knew last summer:  Purple string beans lose all color and look like overcooked green beans when you pickle them!  We are lazy picklers, too.  We pack the jars and then pour the hot brine over the jar, put the lids and rings on, and then turn upside down to seal.  We like to avoid the canner.  LOL

 

Would love for someone to post a really good recipe for Pepper Jelly.  My old supervisor used to make the very best.  A little older than my father [who was born in 1930] this woman had 10 kids and earned a masters degree in computer science when there weren't even many MEN earning them.  She golfed, snow-skiied, did all kinds of things with tons of grandchildren etc - she was the Energizer Bunny.  I really loved her Pepper Jelly because it didn't taste sweet.  I'm sure it had sugar in it but whatever other wonders were in it masked that sicky sweet taste you so often find in jams and marmalades.  She always brought it to work with cream cheese and crackers and boy, did it hit the spot!  If anyone has a great recipe for Pepper Jelly that is light on the sugar, please post it and thanks. 

I love that Ina and her guests are always laughing heartily about absolutely nothing.  She answers the door and says "hello" and everybody shrieks with laughter.  "Who wants cornbread?" is enough to start them giggling.  Mr Washables has been known to scold our guests for not laughing enough: he has ordered guests at times to guffaw.  He has also demanded more chuckling.  He claims that the only difference between our dinner parties and Ina's is that our guests don't know enough to laugh nonstop.

 

They all laugh uproariously because the scenario they're in is always staged - and none of them can act their way out of a paper bag.

[larapu2000]

Any child who happened to be around was recruited to string beans or peel apples or help chop cabbage or whatever needed to be done. Ah, the memories!

 

I think sometimes my fingers ache with the ghost of memories of shelling beans and peas!  Last summer, I lived with my mom and dad while I was moving out of Chicago and back to Indiana, and my mom had planted her normal rows of green beans (which, for her and my dad, was still waaaaaay too many beans), but for some reason, they just went BANANAS last year.  My sister was also living with my parents while awaiting her UK visa, and because she wasn't working, she volunteered to pick the beans.  After 2 weeks of almost daily bean picking, prepping, and freezing, she broke down in tears that there was no way she could possibly deal with any more beans.  Mom and I took over after that.  =)

 

I found what I think looks like a good recipe in a Taste of Home Canning book I picked up at the grocery store.  I'm going to make a small batch and report back here if the results are good!  I also saw in that book a recipe for Apricot Habanero jelly, but I'm going to make it with jalapeno or serrano instead of habanero.  I like it hot, but not THAT hot.

[Lura]

Orchidgal, somehow I skipped right past your post the last time I was here, so I'm making up for it now.  THANK YOU for the story about your grandma making apple butter in a big kettle, and especially thank you for your Slow Cooker Apple Butter recipe!  I will use it for sure this summer.  I have a 12-quart slow cooker that's really too big for the two of us, but it will be perfect for a double batch of your apple butter.  I've made apple butter for years, but always in the long, tedious way.  It never occurred to me that I could make it a shorter way!  See how important you are on this board?  :)  Would you tell me what kind of apples you use?  I've used a combo of Granny Smith and Gala in the past, but they may not be the most flavorful.  Thanks!

[orchidgal]

Lura, you are welcome for the recipe.  I use Honeycrisp apples, but they can be difficult to find except in the fall.  They are a great apple for eating raw, and they also hold up well for cooking.  An added bonus is that they store really well, so they keep for months.

[larapu2000]

Tonight, I made this AMAZING summer fruit tort from the Tartine cookbook!  Seriously delicious, because it's not overly sweet, and takes advantage of summer produce!  I used my homemade strawberry jam blended with some fresh blueberries to make the fruit puree that you spread on the sponge cake.  The sponge cake is an awesome recipe, btw!

 

http://manggy.blogspot.com/2009/06/summer-fruit-bavarian.html

[annzeepark914]

That looks gorgeous, larapu2000.  Absolutely gorgeous!  I always hesitate to make things like this because of the filling...for some reason those fillings intimidate me.

 

Tonight for an easy supper, I'm going to make a recipe out of the Mediterranean Diet Cookbook (Idiot's Guide series): Potatoes and Eggs Omelet.  I had to make a 7 Spice Mix as it calls for a little of that.  Am really getting into trying recipes that have piled up over the years (my motto: either try 'em or toss 'em).  Last week I found a winner in Dan Dan Mien from Jaden Hair's Steamy Kitchen's Healthy Asian Favorites cookbook. I ground the chicken breasts myself in my food processor (love doing that...makes me feel chef-y).  Mr. P914 is leery of tonight's experiment so he plans to eat up leftover Chinese delivery ;>)

[Lura]

Beautiful torte, Larapu! What a lovely dessert to make when you have guests!

 

Annzeepark914, I think your DH is so lucky to have a wife who loves trying new recipes.  I'm not that adventurous as often as you are,  It sounds like your DH is happiest with foods he's had before and knows he likes.  But good for you that you continue experimenting and enjoying new dishes yourself!  You must be quite a cook!

 

Edited July 13, 2014 by Lura

[annzeepark914]

He's been pretty good over the years trying my experiments (new recipes) so I let him get away w/ it this time. Unfortunately, his prediction (after looking over the ingredients required) was correct--it turned out to be quite "meh" even tho' I was tossing in all kinds of seasonings.  It was edible but forgettable.  Next recipe to try: Sweet & Sour Pork (by Jaden Hair whose other recipe was quite good so I have high hopes).

Edited July 13, 2014 by annzeepark914

[Lura]

I have never made pepper jelly.  No offense to the pepper jelly fans, but I'm not much of a fan of peppers.  The only exception is bell peppers, which I love.  My DH can't stand bell peppers, so I know he wouldn't care for the jelly.

 

I have a feeling there's a good recipe on Google from some pepper festival.  Those homemade jams and jellies at those festivals can be wonderful.  If I find anything that sounds good, I'll post it.

 

[larapu2000]

I just got a big bag of sweet corn fresh from the garden from my aunt yesterday, so I had corn on the cob last night and made creamed corn tonight.  Is there anything better than sweet corn in the summer?  It's the most wonderful time of the year!  When I was a kid, my mom would put on a huge pot of sweet corn, and when it was done, call us to dinner and put another huge pot on to cook while we ate the first wave of corn.  That was an entire meal some nights!  I used to eat 4-5 ears when I was a teenager with a ridiculous metabolism.

 

Is anyone else anal about the way one eats corn?  We are typewriter eaters.  I don't understand the people that just randomly gnaw at their corn.  LOL

[LazyToaster]

And... If you can eat fresh sweet corn without making at least a bit of a mess - well, you might need a little more butter!

[annzeepark914]

We are typewriter eaters.

 

That is so funny!  Remember Tom Hanks, in Big, picking up the the tiny cocktail "corncob" and eating it like a regular ear of corn?  I remember falling out of my seat at the movies because I laughed so hard (never did that before or since ;>).

[Lura]

We're typewriter eaters, too.  The only  problem with that is that once in a while you get a cob in a strange size.  The kernels don't exactly fit your mouth.  You don't know whether to be civilized and eat only two rows at a time, which looks like you're nibbling like a rabbit, or whether to eat three rows at once and look like a glutton.

 

All of this corn talk makes me wonder:  Is there anyone stupid enough to enter a corn on the cob-eating contest with Giada.  I have a funny feeling that she'd leave everyone else in the dust.

[annzeepark914]

Giada would eat only one row of kernels because, as she says, she eats everything but not a lot of everything (or something stupid like that). Ohh...grrr...I mustn't get started on that gal ;)  

 

I tried to watch Nigella yesterday but the camera kept bouncing here, there and everywhere.  How can people watch her show?  It was making me woozy. What is the purpose of the bouncy camera?  Is it supposed to look as though one of her family members is taping her show?  I'm trying to find a new cooking show to love (since BC is mostly re-runs, which I like, but I want some new ideas) and having a tough time of it considering what FN is offering.  And considering what they force those participants in the NFNS to do in order to win a show, I'm not encouraged for the future!

[Evanscody]

I'm lost. I thought this was the Barefoot thread. Oh dear.

[LuckyBitch]

I'm lost. I thought this was the Barefoot thread. Oh dear.

 

@Evanscody, no need for the confusion. Yes, this is the Barefoot Contessa forum, but this particular thread is the "Small Talk" thread, or for off topic conversation. That's why we sometimes discuss other recipes or shows, or do some other chatting.

 

See the mod post at the top of every page in this thread:

The Small Talk topic is for:

 

• Introductions
• Off-topic chatter
• Having virtual tea with forum buddies

[Evanscody]

Got it ...Ty!

[3pwood]

My favorite way to eat corn on the cob is to steam the shucked ears for 4 minutes, then cut the kernels off (per Joey Altman's method) & put them in a bowl with butter, salt, pepper, & lime juice.  Divine, & I don't have to bathe afterward.  Yellow corn is best because it tastes like corn, instead of just being sweet the way white corn is. 

[LazyToaster]

3pwood, you took me back many years in memory when I was a young woman helping my MIL with corn. I just could not get the hang of cutting the corn off the cob and yet she made it look so easy. We had some good times in the kitchen. :o)

[larapu2000]

3pwood, I don't want to be rude, but....you CRAZY.  You don't like the white corn?  And you want to wash the sweet corn off your body?

 

I actually saw an episode with Martha Stewart Cooking School where she featured corn this weekend, and she said that your preference for colors comes from where you grew up or live.  The east coast prefers yellow or bi-color, and the west coast prefers white.  I found that interesting.  Personally, for me, it doesn't get better than the bi-color corn, because I think it's more tender than the yellow, but not as sweet as the white only.  

 

Although, I can't lie.  I'll eat sweet corn any way you give it to me.  But not out of a can.  Or out of a commercially frozen bag.  I've got to have it fresh, or it has to be frozen by me or someone I know.  

[chessiegal]

I love Maryland sweet corn. It's at its peak this time of year. We have a farm stand less than a mile from our house that gets fresh produce every day. I got some tomatoes and corn there last week, and someone commented how fresh it was - the owner said it had been delivered that morning.

[Lisin]

Mmmmm. Maryland sweet corn with old bay on it. There's nothing better in the summer. Guess I know what I'm doing for dinner tonight! Thanks @chessiegal :).