mpav

I love carbs, love to bake and cook them, love to eat them, love even more that by limiting carbs I lost 15 painlessly since October. That's actually 3 lbs more than I wanted to lose, so I guess I can indulge for a bit. I wouldn't do the burger without the bun at a fast food place, but a lean burger on a bed of greens is a great choice for me. I also wouldn't do the no-roll Philly cheesesteak they sell at the local Carl's. If I'm going for all that fat I'll say what the heck and include the roll. Of course on South Beach the fat is also a discouraged food. If people want the burger w/o the roll, let them enjoy. To each his peach.

Let's not forget Eating Raoul

I get good results from a basic recipe from the Dpubleday Cookbook, circa 1970s. Nothing special in the recipe, but light, good tasting pancakes.

All carbs: White chocolate cheesecake. I don't like cheesecake, but this seems to wow them wherever I serve it. Adapted from a Bon Apetit recipe a few years back. Second a chocolate almond torte which I found in a Nestle recipe pamphlet a few years ago. I overheard some French guests guessing which fine chocolate I had used. I hated to tell them it was Nestles semi-sweet morsels. Last but not least a simple sweet yeast bread nut roll fashioned after the nut rolls my Russian Baba made when I was young. The whole family lusts after these on the holidays, and the taste has spread outside the family circle, to people I see maybe twice a year but want this holiday bread. These dishes are usually what people ask me for.

Oops, forgot Paula Wolfert's Mediterranean.

I have a couple of standbys which answer many of my needs. One is the Doubleday Cookbook, a huge anthology I won as a prize in a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream recipe contest about 30 years ago when I was a kid. It helped me learn to cook, and I still use it as a reference for cooking times, temps and basics. A new favorite is Christopher Kimball's Dessert Bible. Nika Hazelton is pulled off the shelf frequently, Regional Italian and American Home Cooking. The Spice Cookbook is another oldie but goodie and my more recent favorites are Greens and Fields of greens.

Thanks all, I'm anxious to get started, and your replies are helpful, especially concerning the Kitchen Aid attachments. Think I'll go place my order.

Hi, I'm considering making room in my tiny place for a pasta maker. The three piece attachment for the Kitchenadi stand mixer seems like an interesting choice. I read two opinions on epinions however, one of which was great, the other maintained that it will not stand up to a stif dough. Anyone have experience with the product to help me decide? Any other options I should consider instead? Space is a consideration, as is cost. How often will a dough be stiff enough to create a probelm? I haven't made pasta more than a few times and can't recall pasta being very stiff. Thanks for any info.

I bought the G5, the G2 and a little parer (GSF 15?) I use the parer all the time, the G5 quite a bit, and the G2 not so much. I'm still partial to a Sabatier I've had since high school. I just had to have a knife like Julia's. The Global's I bought on Ebay, at a substantial saving, even with shipping, over prices in Manhattan. At least prices I found.

I don't know of any place to buy a good pecan pie in NYC. For that matter, I can't think of any place to buy a good pie here, period. Pecan pies are among the easiest pies to make, so why buy? As for cream puffs, I prefer French to Italian pastries, but Veneiros have good Italian pastries, puffs, etc.

Many I've never used, except to read. Some I've used a lot: a NY Times CB I've had for maybe 35 years has gotten a lot of use, as has something called the Spice Cookbook I've had almost as long, and a Doubleday cookbook, huge, complete a-z recipes I won when I was very young in a Baskin-Robbins recipe contest. that's great for basic, and I used it many times as I learned to cook over the years. I refer pretty frequently to the Greens and the Fields of Greens books, but usually find myself improvising as I go. The others give me inspiration and I go from there, except for baked goods where I still need proportions to be right. I think recipes I really use I get from magazines more and more frequently.

I love desserts, but find I only eat them when I have time to make them, when they are usually WTC (worth the calories). Otherwise, I often find them dissappointing, i.e. NWTC (not worth the calories).

Julia has to be number one for me because I was so young when she was first on TV. She was an early inspiration. I recall fondly an episode where she discussed the pros and cons of various types of rolling pins, and made a sudden realiztion of how much she really disliked one of the pins, and promptly chucked it off set. I like Sara Moulton because she is nice, not gimmicky and I like her food. The Two Fat Ladies cooked awful food from what I could see and imagine, but I enjoyed watching them gad about. I miss them. Jamie Oliver cooks with energy and humor; nothing great, but I like him. Alton Brown reminds me of why I became interested in baking: I wanted to know why the same basic ingredients could produce such a variety of baked goods based on one or two key ingredient variations. He explains those things. Okay, he's a few decades late, but I always imagine someone is watching who has the same questions I wanted answered as a kid. Someone mentioned Elizabeth David and I will second that. Mario Battali is informative and I like his style I do not like Emeril, or Martha or Rachel Ray or the Southern lady (Dean).

I have about eighty. I can't get an accurate count because some are in storage until I have more room to keep them with me. I don't cook from most of them, but can't bear to part with them. I have stopped buying until I have more room, or at least cooked from more of them than I have. I remember the first cookbooks I ever bought, special from the Book-of-the-month club. I think they were a dollar each: Mastering the Art of french Cooking, Larousse, Spice Cookbook (I've used that one quite a bit) and The New York Times Cookbook (this also got a lot of use, for a long time). A whole separate issue is what to do with Gourmet going back to the 60s.

A few years back Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for "Bakery Style Sticky Buns." Easy. fluffy, minimum knead buns. Very good. I sometimes vary them with just cinnamon and icing.

I sometimes people like cake mix best because they may have eaten more cakes of that type over the course of their lifetimes. I have two recipes I like: this one is sort of a sponge cake. This is the base for a sheet cake version of Tasteycake Tandy Cakes, and appeared in Gourmet about 6 years ago. It's not good for all purposes, but I like it for some things. It makes a good base for a Boston Cream Pie. http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?...tandy+cake+moss The other one I like is here: http://cake.allrecipes.com/az/WhiteCakeLem...emonFilling.asp Just the layers. I usually frost with butter cream.

Uh, have you been to the Astor Place/St. Marks Place Starbucks? They (along with the nearby Barnes and Nobles) bathrooms are disgusting! Worse than the bathrooms in shady Chinatown greasy wall places. EJ, You took the words out of my mouth about the toilets at the Astor Place Starbucks. The rest of the shop is none too clean, either.

I agree that the Bagelwich products (Verona) are good. I also like the bagels in the shop on Watchung Plaza in Upper Montclair. Can't recall the name of the shop.

Mine is 10 ft by 5 ft. hgere in Manhattan. Every time I have moved in my life the kitchen has gotten smaller. I feel now as if I could cook in a very small galley on a ship. Some times I pretend I'm doing just that.

Hi, I don't know what a garoupa is, but these sites may be helpful. http://www.caterplanasia.com/caterplan3/re...s/r0000095.html http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/food/co...on/sfgaroup.htm

This is not a wildly original idea, and it's sort of hit or miss, but sometimes for menu ideas I check out menupages.com. Menu items are sometimes vaguely described, but I get ideas that are helpful. I think there are some NY Argentinean restauarnts listed by category.

I never tried Zabar for cookware; I will. Broadway Panhandler is pricey, I think, but I love to go there even if I'm not buying. They have a tent sale once a year (I think it's once, late spring) which is worth a visit.

Fifi I have the thermometer, just never used it for the oil, believing that when it's brown outside it should be done inside. I'll check out the thread, and thanks.

Kpurvis, did you say "The first 20-30 minutes"? I think I'm frying way too hot, beacsue I'm very dark in 15 minutes. I seriously have to monitor the temp.