eatmorepesto

I loved some of the suggestions, especially the tumblers. I saw the Riedel single malt glasses but didn't like them very much. Also the Riedel O glasses were too delicate. I thought the glasses needed to be heavy and manly. I bought some Crate and Barrel single malt glasses and another set of Italian crystal tumblers from Marshall's which said to rinse in vinegar before using which I wondered about until I read in this thread Storing Spirits in Lead Crystal, What are the Dangers?. I also bought some Calvin Klein glasses from Macy's but returned them after I realized they were just too big to get a good grip. I haven't given him any of the glasses yet. He had too many other gifts, so this weekend I'm going to let him choose which ones he likes better, for New Year's. I really liked the idea of the magazine subscription, but I didn't get around to it.

We are having a party and one of our guests has Type 1 diabetes. I want to make a dessert that she can have. I thought I'd get two kinds of sorbet - one sugarless, if possible, but then I wanted to have a little cookie with it. Do you have any suggestions? I wanted to make mexican wedding cookies, but was unsure of how to substitute for powdered sugar. Any ideas would be appreciated.

My husband enjoys scotch. We don't have any nice glasses for him to use. I want to get him some for Christmas. What does a traditional scotch glass look like?

I had the same experience with the Hungarian Shortbread recipe....it was one of the few recipes in that book that gave me less-than-favorable results. Whew! I thought it was just me! Does rhubarb jam have a high water content? Just wondering 'cause I have used that recipe a few christmases now as par t of my selection but since rhubarb is not availabe to me at that time of year, I have used blackcurrant jam with beautiful results. That must be the problem. Normally, when I stew rhubarb I don't add any water. The recipe called for 1/2 c water, I think. I'm glad to know that you like the recipe when you use regular jam. I'll give it another try, but make thr rhubarb jam without water, and let it cook down more, so it has a thicker consistency.

I needed to take a dessert to a get together this weekend, so I made the Hungarian Shortbread from Baking with Julia. It has a layer of rhubarb jam between two layers of shortbread dough that have been grated into the pan. It was easy, but I was a little disappointed. The flavor was good, but the consistency wasn't good. It was gooey, and I expected it to be more firm. I baked it at least 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for, and it was nicely browned, but I think the problem was the recipe for the rhubarb jam called for water. I think it was too wet. If I were to make this again, I would make the rhubarb jam firmer. Today, a day and a half later, the leftovers were better than they were yesterday. The recipe called for a pound of butter, I hate to think of how many calories I've consumed. I took pictures, but ImageGullet won't let me post.

I didn't make the apple tart. I didn't feel good last week. I read we had an outbreak of norovirus. I'll try the tart this weekend (for Valentine's Day), and play catch up with the focaccia.

The girls were dressed in jeans so dry cleaning wasn't a factor. I wouldn't have liked to be so wet because it was cold yesterday. I was surprised the waitress didn't say anything. It was impossible not to notice - water and ice cubes everywhere, the wet girls. The girls started to help clean up. I wouldn't have done that. I would have moved to another table. I don't think they said anything to the waitress.

Today I ate at a small non chain restaurant. It's the kind of place women go to for a nice casual lunch. Two girls, about 20 years old were sitting at the next table. The waitress had taken their order, then the bus person brought their drinks which included a smoothie. Something happened and the entire tray of drinks went flying in the air towards me. I didn't get wet, but one of the girls was drenched. The bus person apologized, but when the waitress came by later she didn't say anything. In this instance I thought the girls should have been offered a complimentary lunch. The cost would have been minimal ($20) but the goodwill would have been tremendous.

I, too, have a National no frills model, about 20 years old. I bought it in Chinatown in SF. The thing to remember is the proportion of water to rice. When I cook a cup of white rice I use about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of water. If I use brown rice I use more water. When all the water is used up, the cooker turns off. That's all there is to it. I wouldn't have minded if it were nonstick, but it isn't.

I made the twice baked brioche this weekend, starting the dough on Friday, baking on Saturday afternoon, and baking again Sunday morning. I used my mixer to mix the dough and it did struggle. I like the idea of the rubber mat underneath. The mixer tended to walk around the counter. I didn't have any small loaf pans, so I made rolls. Half of the rolls I put an egg wash on, and we ate them with dinner Saturday night, and the others I continued with the almond cream and sliced almonds. They were delicious. If I made them again, however I would make them flatter. I probably will make them again. What's the next project?

Thanks! I went to Trader Joes and found cherries and vanilla beans (3.69 for 2). As for the cherries, should I use dried bing cherries without added sugar or dried tart montmorency cherries with added sugar? Those were the only choices. I thought the montmorency cherries would be better. I returned the $17 vanilla beans. My dough is now in the fridge for its second rise.

I just bought my supplies for the twice baked brioche. I couldn't find dried sour cherries, though. I bought dried sweetened cherries. I've never bought vanilla beans before - $17 for a bottle with 2. Is that normal?

I made challah again. This time it didn't take as long and it rose higher. I think the yeast I used the first time was marginal. Also I used 3 large eggs and 1 extra large instead of 4 extra large, and a mix of skim milk and half and half instead of whole milk. The first rise only took 1 1/2 hours instead of 4. It was delicious, and looked great. I paid more attention to the braiding. I froze the second loaf for later this week. What's the next project?

It was delicious. The first rise took 4 hours instead of 1 1/2. The kitchen was about 70 degrees. I think the liquids were a little cool. I did heat up the milk and butter, but the eggs were straight out of the fridge. I think next time I would let them sit at room temperature for awhile before using. I used extra large eggs instead of large, so I had to add more flour. Other than that, I followed the recipe faithfully. Aesthetically, one loaf was beautiful and the other wasn't because I braided it wrong. I took pictures, but can't upload. Last night we ate some of the second loaf. It wasn't as good as the first night. Next time I would freeze the loaf and bake it later as JFLinLA suggests.

Oops. I made it today. It went well, except that the first rise took 4 hours instead of the 1 to 1 1/2 in the recipe. I don't know why. It was delicious. We already ate one of the loaves and will probably eat the other one tomorrow. I look forward to the next project.

Which ones would you recommend?

I would like to make a steamed pudding for Christmas. Is there anything special I should know? The carrot pudding sounds good, but I don't want to use suet. Could I subsitute butter, or should I use a different recipe? I have an old pudding steamer which has a lid and prongs to hold it on and wonder if I need to line it or just grease it? I saw a recipe that called for steaming the pudding for 6 hours, and then refrigerating it, and then to heat it up before serving, steaming it for another 2 hours. Is this necessary? If it is, I may be forced to make something else.

We ate lunch at 360 last week. I thought the food was good, and the service was good too. We enjoyed it so much that we planned to go back later in the week with some friends who were also from out of town, but cancelled because the weather was bad.

How exactly do you do this? What ratio of beans to alcohol do you recommend? Do you crush the beans or use them whole? Do you use already scraped beans? Do you remove the beans after a few weeks, or leave them in?

Have you done a side-by-side comparison? If so, what food or foods did you use as a test case? No, I haven't done a special test. But at work when they'd have a birthday cake from Costco or Safeway, they always had an off taste or an aftertaste. I'd look at the label and it would say artifical vanilla. When I would make a cake with real vanilla or buy one from a quality bakery, it never had that fakey nasty taste. Also packaged cookies often have that nasty taste. I always assumed it was the artificial vanilla. Isn't it obvious to people?

I think fake vanilla is very nasty. I think if you're going to use it, you might as well just buy your cakes or what have you from the grocery store and save yourself the trouble of baking. The primary reason I like to cook is so that I can use quality products and have delicious food.

Ripe apricots, fresh mint and ice in a blender. This is VERY refreshing on a hot day. Our mother made these when we were kids, before we'd heard of "smoothies".

We ate at Delancey Street not too long ago, and if I hadn't known, I wouldn't have known. The food was good, and the service was very attentive.