Gifted Gourmet

See? She will have an answer for all of us .. how to make a puff pastry Passover tarte is something I have long dreamed about ... perhaps the butter, water, cake meal, and then do the thing with the four eggs added one at a time? recipe I might just try this tomorrow as a quick experiment ...

Passover "alternatives" for crusts which will not give you what a flour pate brisee will but are acceptable for this holiday ... I have used the matzo meal crust and the nut, and crushed cookie crust but it will not be what you are used to using ... it is, after all, only an eight day holiday ... aha! Pam will have a more interesting answer with her background in baking ...

Wendy, this is something fantastic to remember and share, as you have done here! Beautiful food displays all of which I am now dying to taste! Your guests must have been in awe of your abilities, both of you ... sincere appreciation for your sharing this with us ...

Critique of Pure Riesling ....Wine snobbery in an age of globalization: Reason Magazine

ah yes, cornish pasties ... and then some ... more wedding details, click here ... Your own Mr. Porky looks divine, Portia!

I have an only schild and I catered to her food whims until she went away to college ... now she has become a vegetarian who finds most of my cooking simply making do with dead animals ... but we did manage to survive ... and I'd do the same thing again ... My favorite line on this subject comes from the late Buddy Hackett who said "As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." Some wisdom occurs in jest but has the ring of truth to it ...

You might want to check these out then ... the $ indicates the price range: Bonefish Grill ($$$) City Grill ($$$) The Classic ($$$) Dawson's At Rose Hill ($$) Eastside Grille ($$) Jimmy's Uptown Grille ($$$) La Jolla Restaurant ($$$) The Olive Room ($$$) Serrano ($$$) Vintage Year ($$$) Not a KFC nor an IHOP among them ...

dining options for Montgomery, Alabama

Found this thread from last fall on the flooding of many Asheville restaurants and wanted to update some of the comments on Rezaz. I was there for dinner in mid-February and found the place very chic and modern and there was no sign of any flooding ... I spoke to the owner after dinner and he told me the story. He did have insurance and it helped him to reopen bigger and better than before. The place was packed and my dinner was sublime! The website: Rezaz Should you ever find yourself visiting Asheville, NC, do make it a point to stop here for a meal. You'll never regret it!

There are a number of informative threads on Charleston: this is one such thread yet another thread and one on the Peninsula Grill

Because there are so many meals that week, and since we don't eat out at all on this holiday, I often feel as if I were attached to some unseen "umbilical cord" which is just long enough to allow me to serve meals in the dining room and scurry back to the kitchen sink ... quite a visual ... and don't forget the multiple vacuumings to pick up the flying matzo crumbs scattered all over ...

Characteristically both helpful as well as well conceived! Beautiful and a model of how one ought to plan a seder (or two).. should we follow the timeline and just rinse and repeat for the Second Seder? Yasher koach (may your strength increase) to you for the entire holiday, JFL!

put on your gas mask and read this eG discussion on this veg ...

From the Christian Science Monitor, a lovely article on a place mentioned up this thread ... the article ... I wonder that there are so few of these lunchtime options here in the States ... or am I in error about that?

While I am unsure about the ratings here in Georgia, I believe that the ratings are not so much about upper-end or lower-end as cleanliness and effort on behalf of the management. Dives can, on occasion, surprise most of us. And, apparently, so can the expensive, glitzy places.

How about TIVOing it and watching when you have some time .. seems incredibly worthwhile ...

No, actually, that was precisely what I was looking for! Something so incredibly fine that it brings tears to one's eyes! Perfect!! Bill, I have to say, having had the same appetizer, you got that one just right!

Because we are all spread out in the enormous area known as the Southeastern United States, and because we all have tried a sizeable number of diverse meals in the places we have eaten, I ask the following question of you: Pick one dish served in a restaurant in the SE which you truly loved, where you ate the dish, and tell us why you chose it. That's it ... no extended discourse ... just "the best" of the SE dishes. Waiting with baited breath for your answers! Think any of the responses might happen to overlap?

article here Do you read those of your state? When I checked the link to see the ratings, I got this message: The system is currently experiencing a high volume of demand. so I guess it is a success!

You definitely would like to read the analysis of some of our members in a verrrrry long and detailed thread on women chefs... or, maybe more properly, why so few of them.... Of special interest is Daniel Rogov's reply which appeared in Ha'aretz where he is a food critic

This week shines the light upon grits and catfish and all manner of southern food, as well as many other items of significant interest: whole grains, foodblogging, a few restaurant reviews ... Here you will find the collection of digests for a number of media which are located in the Southeastern states. (Some do require a free registration to access articles) This week's Southeast Forum Digest includes, in alphabetical order, by city . . . In this week's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the excellent lead article involves grains in our meal planning, to wit: Recipes offered this week include: Macaroni and Cheese Wheat Berry Waldorf Salad Whole-wheat Pasta Salad Greek Quinoa Salad Barley and Wild Rice Pilaf With Sautéed Mushrooms Whole-wheat Couscous With Lemon Dressing, Roasted Chicken, Mint and Dill The truth is uncorked: Wine collection (deliciously) overstayed its welcome by the former food critic of the AJC ... highly readable and classic Kessler ... access atlanta this week review of Oceanaire .. this one is particularly dear to my heart because I ate there a few weeks ago ... I have to agree with much of this review .. the decor is perfect for an oceanliner and elegant, the raw oysters were breathtaking, the crabcakes were precisely as described, the service is impeccable, and I enjoyed my friend's cioppino with (far too much)glee!The Charleston Post & Courier has a lead article by Teresa Taylor, on grits, that old southern favorite: and, should you be moved to try them out, there are two recipes included here for Creamy Stone-Ground Grits With Virginia Ham and Red-Eye Gravy Pan-Fried Stone-Ground Grit Cake With Sauteed Shrimp and Tomato Gravy The Charlotte Observer has an article on foodblogging, one on Vouvray, and a Kathleen Purvis article about milk: Got milk? Not if it's 8-oz. skim Memphis Commercial Appeal has this: Dressing up catfish Put some pizzazz into preparing the homely, whiskered Southern delicacy By Leslie Kelly Other articles this week include: * 'Everyday Italian' host has acting genes It's always a little daunting to meet someone like Giada De Laurentiis. * Enjoy your rhubarb, while you can, if you can * Lactose-free milk should be all right for recipes * Coconut cream pie? We can dream * April 06, 2005 Memphis Brooks Museum of Art's "Art of Good Taste" series continues Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner at the Madison Hotel. * Roasted pig, salsa verde provide taste of Italy * Wings earn grateful praise The Nashville Tennessean also offers readers some new and compelling reading on a number of food related items of interest: A journey through Brazil Nashville's Portugese authority explores South American melting pot in new cookbook • In sync with the sun • World on a (microwave) platter • Play dough • A journey through Brazil • Napa Valley brings its taste to Nashville * Short, sun-drenched season benefits Washington chardonnays * Blended reds from Washington are good to go * Try dry Rieslings from Alsace region In The Orlando Sentinel, Heather McPherson has an article which I found amusing: Chore to adore is doing dishes at home show Among the items she discusses that are brand new are: * Good Cook's 4-in-1 Opener * Sarut Group's Nemo Whisk * Orka's silicone cookie sheet The St. Petersburg Times own Janet Keeler has a hilarious article on Burger King's new Enormous Omelet Sandwich ... and she, if you will forgive me, minces no words ... Health food? most pleasurable reading, as usual, by the one and only Janet Keeler! Other articles this week include: Elsewhere in today's Taste * Start your engine * The raw and the hooked * Food file * From his restaurant to your house * Cork & Bottle Uncorked: Smooth and Sicilian * On the Cheese Board * Tasting notes Wine of the week * Quick cooking * For full flavor, braise salmon * Taster's choice * A sandwich to savor in the summertime * To market Rising price of gas puts squeeze on food prices The Raleigh News & Observer has tons of cool reading for us this week: * Italian, family-style, ready to twirl * TV host lives it up Food Network host Paula Deen shares more special occasions (and the menus for them) with her fans in her new cookbook. She will visit the Triangle this month to promote the book. * Supper at 'Aunt Mag's' If juicy watermelon pickles, pimento cheese and the best deviled eggs in town appeal to you, then don't miss the charming little spiral-bound book, "Aunt Mag's Recipe Book." * Crab Cakes from Angus Barn The Angus Barn is my husband's favorite restaurant. I like the steaks, too, but I really love the Crab Cakes. * A fool in the name of food When we think of the late Julia Child, we think of recipes that are complicated and time-consuming. But at the latest Symposium for Professional Food Writers at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia, I discovered something about Julia ... * Look at what is added to your food Nearly all processed foods that we buy contain one or more additives. * Shiitake farming like rolling off a log Thus endeth the SE Forum Digest for the week. Spring is in the air with all of the marvelous new and enticing seasonal foods ... see you next week with more articles from the media of the Southeastern United States! Eat well and, if you take any of these articles to heart, make something with whole grains, slow cook those grits, and avoid that Omelet Sandwich like the plague!

article from the NY Post I actually did find this article extremely interesting but also learned a few new things which will most definitely make my freezer a much more valuable asset ... and you??

I believe it is available to people with AOL and/or membership in Cooking Light ... If it is the same as the Matzo Buttercrunch we all know and love, it wasn't cooking too light at all ... the original is here

eGullet thread on funerals and food ... an even longer thread on funeral foods

Bet that you'll find something here which will fill the bill ... poor choice of words ... maybe beak? the late Frank Perdue would be proud of these... all 476 of them!