bakerkel

Hi DD - I finished the 10 week program a few months ago and it was incredible. I guarantee you'll get much more out of the experience than the regular schools. PM me if you would like more details.

Braeburns all the way!

I made this sometime last year, I recall it was popular (as most chocolate cakes are) at a gathering, I thought the cake itself wasn't anything special, just a regular devil's food type, but it was easy to plate up to the masses and the goo was good. I'd make a recipe and a half of the goo so you can top generously and not worry about running out. You just have to keep it warm or it'll harden up. Should be perfect for your party. K

I have not tried it, but there's a pineapple upside down cake in the current issue of Cooks Illustrated as well. It calls for fresh pineapple.

I haven't tried it myself, but I have a co-worker who was very excited about a tiramisu he'd had at I Cugini recently - 1501 Ocean Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90401 310.451.4595

Thanks for the tip Foodzealot, can't wait to check it out! Is it brand new? I've never seen/heard of it before now.

Pamela, we should meet up in Vegas (I'm going to WPF too) and try to find a good pizza joint! Maybe New York-New York will have something

if anyone has a favorite of all time place in LA, I'd love to hear it!

EFNY is hands down the best NY style pizza, ANYWHERE. I've scoured NY three times in search of something to top it to no avail. I dream of this pizza because I can only get it a few times a year when I visit. The most perfect meal used to be getting a slice, then walking to Coffee People for an apple pie cookie (discontinued). Pure heaven. I don't like the 2 SF locations as much, they have more frilly toppings and the sauce is different. I believe his brother runs them. K

but of course!!

Sorry winesonoma -- didn't mean to diss your town, it was beautiful! I was taking a course at the CIA, plus I'm more familiar with Napa Valley so I spend most of the time going to my favorite places.

I was just there earlier this month (Napa and Sonoma), had lunch at the General's Daughter and stopped in next door to see Ramekins and the bed & breakfast. The rates might be slightly over your price range, but the rooms were cozy and beautiful. Personally, I'd rather be closer to Napa if you want to be in the heart of it all. I stayed in Sonoma (with family) and it was a 45 min. drive everyday to St. Helena. There are lots of places to stay in Napa, or you can go the spa thing further north in Calistoga. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I love it up there! K

They say not to do it, but I've cut my Silpats in half and have had no problems. No shards of fiberglass have gotten into my food (at least that I've noticed...) and I learned the technique from the CIA. I wouldn't cut unnecessarily though, like to fit a certain pan, just to cut a full sheet size down to half for economy's sake -- probably a moot point now that the prices have fallen. K

I just got this in the mail today. The price was painful, but I went for it, along with Robert Oppeneder's Dessert Art book. I was hoping the technology section would be more than 5 pages, but at first glance everything looks very detailed. You get the whole book in French, then a soft-bound 140 paged book in English and black and white pictures. The Dessert Art book is even more gorgeous, with English translation immediately following German instructions. So far I am happy with my purchases. P.S. Ted - there are 7 savory recipes in the ice cream book, can't say I'll make them (crayfish ice cream), but interesting to read! K

In case anyone re-visits this post, I wanted to give my 2 cents on Silpat vs. parchment. I've been using Silpats for years now on all my cookies, thinking they were yielding the most perfect results. Well, last weekend I baked off 6 different batches of chocolate chip cookie doughs (including Elizabeth's, thanks!) and did 1 sheet of Silpat and 1 sheet of parchment of each dough. To my surprise, they came out VERY differently, with parchment looking better/smoother/rounder almost every time. The Silpats had darker, "messy" edges, and all were darker on the underside. However, a few recipes spread a little more on parchment. Also, the outsides came out crispier than Silpat, which was nice because they were still soft and chewy inside. All in all the differences were striking, and I'll be converting to parchment for most of my cookies from now on. Kelly