Parsley is a good match for baked ham. Try flavoring aspic or a light jellied stock with parsley and white wine, then pour into a terrine which you have filled with rugged pieces of baked ham. Leave to set in the refrigerator for a few hours, turn out, then slice and serve cold with a green salad. You could also stir some pieces of leftover ham into a German-style casserole of sausage, beans, cabbage and onion for a hearty winter lunch or dinner.

** Food and Culture **

Seedless grapes are wonderful for eating but are not always what you need for cooking. Some recipes require a sharper tasting grape to counterbalance a rich sauce. You can remove the seeds by cutting the grapes in half, lengthways, and removing with a small sharp knife. To remove grape skins, prick each end, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for 45 seconds. Plunge the grapes into cold water to cool, then peel and cut in half.

** Asian Recipes **

The two glasses should part if you contract the inner glass and expand the outer glass by subjecting them to cold and hot temperatures, respectively. Pour cold water into the inner glass, or use ice. Immediately immerse the outside glass in hot, but not boiling, water and carefully pull the two apart.

** Asian Recipes **

The soak-in-water method doesn't work well on most modern label glues. Solution: Glue-removing products are formulated to loosen chemically the bonds between the glue and the metal pot. You have another option if the label is on the outside of the pot - use heat. Fill the pot with boiling water and let it stand. In most cases, the heat will loosen the glue's hold on the metal. Be patient. Don't try to peel a label off the pot prematurely lest hard-to-remove remnants of the glue remain bonded to the metal instead of the label.

** Asian Recipes **

Not only does hot water make oil and other food substances more fluid and therefore easier to dislodge, but it also has a lower surface tension than cold water. The hot water therefore better penetrates the food, and just as important, the soap or detergent can more readily form an oil-and-water emulsion. When cleaning a dish smeared with a raw or cooked flour paste, however, do not make the water too hot, lest the flour become instant glue.

** Asian Recipes **