Gifted Gourmet

Try Harry's in Alpharetta ... they dry age their beef and will cut to order.... nice selection offered ...other options? Findley's Meats Oakgrove Market and there is always the Dekalb Farmers Market ...

Just thinking aloud here ... is a pousse cafe a liquid, alcoholic version of a verrine? Drinkstreet

Is this presentation all for show? Is it possibly for substance? When I read this article, it made me stop to consider what elements make it so "trendy" and why now? LA Times Which, if any, verrine have you tasted recently? What was it about that particular verrine that made it most appealing to you?

While I have not tried the McDonald's Angus Burger, I have had the Angus one at Burger King .. big and very meaty but the barbecue sauce slathered over it killed any possible taste of the meat .. that, and all the other stuff they put on a burger ... I am, for what it's worth, a burger purist who enjoys my hamburgers thick and rare with few embellishments ...

Yesterday was my initial foray into this year's asparagus now, as Dave the Cook notes quite correctly, and I roasted the batch with glee, olive oil, and Fleur de Sel .. they were glorious!

Hold the Horseradish! from the Wall Street Journal .. link works for 7 days to nonsubscribers ...

I understand that cereal is comfort food ... a nostalgic reminder of Saturday mornings watching cartoons on TV... long before text messaging, poor spellers could blame it on the cereal boxes read while eating breakfast ... words like "Trix," "Froot" and "Krispies" ... but perhaps people long for a bit of a carb boost before facing their dreams ...

A seasonally interesting article ...hamentashen in the Forward much more ...

Speaking of fillings for hamantashen, my friend Rachel Rappaport has a wonderful article on NPR today that is both informative and engaging: Purim: Carnivals, Cookies and Candy She also has a recipe she makes for Fig and Ginger Hamantaschen using a cream cheese dough ...

Hoping that this link is still functional ... NYT diners' blog article: Thieves Like Us By Frank Bruni and there is considerably more input from NYT readers on this topic .. some hilarious .. some not ... but all worth reading!

perhaps a bit more light on what restauranteurs face ... and then there is the rest of the story ...

My old favorites are always pleasing to my family and friends ... a Passover apple crisp 12-egg sponge cake served with fresh strawberries Passover brownies Grandmother Ida's "faux oatmeal" cookies: my recipe in RecipeGullet

Babel: Chicken Tagine on couscous The Departed: Boston Baked beans Letters from Iwo Jima: MREs & sushi The Queen: Baked beans on toast Little Miss Sunshine: Grilled cheese sandwiches

Grapefruit Upside-Down Cake from Martha Stewart looks delectable!

Candied citus peels perhaps?.. discussion here

I just read this article which gives a much clearer picture of what is happening with the peanut butter and salmonella: article from Slate online

I wound up sauteeing perch in butter with the potlatch seasoning ... excellent and nicely spicy!

oh then let the search continue ...

My friend, who honeymooned there, simply raved about the food .. not about her new groom, mind you, but the Inn at Blackberry Farms ..

Bingo! Slam dunk as well! My friend, Greg Wilson did a fantastic job on his visit to The Inn at Blackberry Farm in this thread Pictures and text ...

I just got a canister of potlatch seasoning, which was a spice rub named after the ceremonial feast of the Indians of the Northwest coast. .. My husband found it at W-S and I am trying to decide how best to use it .. some say that it is best for plank cooking of salmon, some say it is nice to make a compound butter to spread on cooking salmon. How else might it be used properly? Perhaps chicken? It contains: salt, ground cumin, dried oregano, crushed, garlic powder; chili powder, and white pepper. Ideas? Have you ever bought this or made your own?

You might wish to take a look at this one .. simply change the fruits as you wish .. I imagine that the topping in a cobbler is the "killer" ... and there is this recipe as well ...

the initial TJ's anguished whine ... redux ... and the moans of pleasure when Trader Joe's finally arrived: the thread of sighs of relief (don't miss the photo I anxiously snapped here) ...

a fairly comprehensive look at sugar types/uses .. scroll down the page ... to What are the differences between the many types of sugars? chart ..

Thanks for this, Pam, and you are very nice! I honestly think that chocolate hamentashen sound marvelous but that the hysteria of not finding their old "tried and true" again (year after year..)would send my family into a PPP: "Premature Purim Panic" ...