mukki

I have little tomatoes forming on the red currant bushes. Some fuzzy peaches slightly smaller than golf balls. Boysenberry vines are flowering. A few teeny oranges have formed and the lime is in full bloom. Corn is 2 inches high. Blueberries are just beginning to ripen. Mulberries have formed, but are still small and green -- I had no idea that Persian mulberries don't flower; the mulberries just appear along with the new leaves in the springtime.

In my opinion, the traditional, American-style frosting would be a basic confectioners sugar, butter and milk concoction, like this. You'll probably get a different answer depending on who you talk to, though, and in what context.

How cool about the tarts! I'd love to have frozen all-butter puff pastry readily available to me. Well, I seasoned with a thin film of oil, but it clearly didn't do the job. I'll retry with the molds filled with oil; thanks for the tip.

Whoops... I guess I read your post wrong. I suppose 3 would be possible then. If you map out your itinerary on the Michelin website, it'll give you a sense of driving times.

The Velvet Turtle! I grew up in Fullerton and remember being dressed up (which seemed so strange in the middle of the day) and taken there when my grandparents were in town.

Thanks so much for the cannele production pics. I had my first cannele at Bay Bread (along with tarte tatin -- yum) and it remains one of my favorites. I recently tried out my new copper cannele molds, but didn't add enough butter/wax and ended up scratching off some of the tin lining trying to pry out the pastries.

We saw the cave paintings at Font de Gaume in 2005. You know you need reservations, right? Plus, you have to show up early, wait in the gift shop, walk up the hill, wait outside the cave, then go through the tour which is approx an hour. I think 3 different venues in one morning would be nearly impossible. At any rate, we enjoyed Font de Gaume -- I liked the fact that they were the real deal and the paintings were quite impressive, many using the contours of the cave to give depth and form to the animals.

I bought some Giant Pocky (looks like this) at Mitsuwa yesterday. Individually-wrapped giant sticks of pocky. The box was so large that I was slightly self-conscious in the checkout line. Anyway, I've always thought pocky just ok, but this stuff is much more to my liking...really good actually. It's like a large, slightly sweet bread stick dipped in chocolate. Tastes less of the chocolate compared to the regular-sized pocky. About $10 at Mitsuwa.

I don't think ludja has started a 2007 cookbook thread yet (see here for 2006 and here for 2005) so I'm going to beat her to it by starting one here. Any books you're looking forward to in 2007? Here are a few of mine: Fuschia Dunlop's Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province. From the book description: The Glory of Southern Cooking by James Villas. An article in Saveur noted that the cold-oven pound cake recipe is particularly good; I still haven't found a recipe that matches my mom's, so I'll be trying this one. From Publisher's Weekly: Nancy Silverton's A Twist of the Wrist: Quick Flavorful Meals with Ingredients from Jars, Cans, Bags and Boxes. Note that this isn't your run-of-the-mill quick-fix cookbook. From Publisher's Weekly:

I wouldn't worry about scratches on polished granite. We've had ours for over 6 years and it looks as new as it did when we put it in. The only thing I've had leave a mark is a puddle of oil. It will eventually sink into the granite and leave a dark blot, but you can get it out with a poultice.

We have a GE Monogram, too, and it's worked well for the last 5 years. Like others have said, there's never enough room. Our model's shelves aren't able to be pulled out, which I don't like, but I think we're able to get more bottles in this way.

Looking forward to the pictures! I think you've inspired me to change out my Badger for a new Evolution Insinkerator.

Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures is a favorite.

This is a great trip report. You're lucky that you can put so much food away; I just got back from Paris & London in February, and at one big meal a day + bakery goods, I was never hungry, always full. I think the time I had lunch at Pierre Gagnaire was one of the most stuffed moments I've ever experienced. So much so that I felt slightly panicked -- I had to get out of there and start walking it off! (The other "most stuffed" time would have to be post-spotted dick pudding at St. John's -- that stuff is lethal. It has an amazing ability to keep expanding in your stomach. Tasty, though.)

I made Rhubarb Cream Delight yesterday, which 2 of us polished off in one day. It has a buttery shortbread base, tangy rhubarb cream filling and meringue top, which comes together to create something quite delicious. Recipe can be found here.

I've been trying to order a Sumeet Multi-Grind since Feb. 06. Unfortunately, I think they've been out of stock (after the product briefly showed up in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue) since then. Of course, I can't know for sure since they won't return any of my emails/calls!

I bought one of these and used it once. It's a real pain to get the nuts through, particularly since the unit is very small and hard to hold in place. Created a lot of non-uniform pieces, as well as "dust". Seems like there must be good ones available from Austria or Germany or a place where they use ground nuts often, but I haven't looked into it. Perhaps Zyliss? They make table-mounted nut graters/choppers.

Saveur's Dec. 06 issue had an interesting blurb on black cake. I was surprised to see that the piece pictured looked almost like a flourless chocolate cake or wet fudge, not at all like fruitcake. Sounds like you want to make the browning yourself, but the article mentioned that Kalustyan's in NYC carries both burnt sugar syrup (which sounds the same as browning) and "mixed essence".

I haven't tried the pate de fruit, but I've heard good things about Boule's version.

I've always liked El Gallo Giro, particularly the carnitas, but I've noted that the tastiness factor depends on the pieces of meat you get. Sometimes, one taco will be amazing and the next will just be ok. I don't like the tortas and I definitely don't like the tamales. Agua frescas are great... platano, horchata, sandia, tamarindo, mango... Freshly-made tortillas have a nice, sweet corn flavor. I can eat a whole bag over the course of a few days, heated up in the microwave one-by-one in a damp paper towel and slathered with butter. I've never had a problem being understood, but I used to get stressed out about the number calling (in Spanish), though I could usually tell it was mine if no one stepped up and claimed it. I took some Pimsleur lessons in anticipation of a trip to Spain, though, so I don't have as many issues anymore.

I thought mine was ok, but I mostly tasted the chicken chorizo. I could see how other versions might be flavorless. Definitely wasn't soggy or greasy, though. I'd eat it again if it was served to me, but I wouldn't necessarily buy one again.

Funny, I was just nattering this morning about how much I like my EH pans. I have a few baking dishes and pie plates. They're beautiful and they clean up very well. They can go in the freezer, dishwasher, microwave. They're great.

A few places I always go when I'm in NY: Kee's Chocolates (favorites are her yuzu, key lime and turtles), City Bakery (try the pretzel croissant) and Bouchon Bakery (love the TKOs or "oreos"). I've only been to Patisserie Claude for the croissants once, but I'll definitely be going back. Not the most elegant croissant, but it's one of the tastiest (if not the -- need to confirm this, though) I've had.

Yeah, I think some of the toppings are the same or similar (Mozza had lardo for a while), but the crusts in particular were developed separately by the respective chefs (Silverton and Batali).

We have been delighted with both of these books. I will give a special shout-out for Cradle of Flavor. Mr. Oseland tells the story behind each recipe, and lists suggested accompaniments for each dish. The recipes are very detailed and each step is clearly spelled out. This creates a certain amount of repetition, but avoids the need to flip to multiple sections of the book while cooking. Each step is numbered, so once you have toasted shrimp paste a few times it is easy to skip to step #2. ← Have you liked the results of the recipes you've tried? I've heard good things about the book in general, but nothing specific about the actual recipes.