natasha1270

I bought 2 Swiss Diamond frypans from cutlery.com a while back and I love them. Light in weight and light enough in color I can judge browning very easily. They clean like a breeze. When I first got them, they were a bit too slippery but that seems to worked its way out (either it was me or the pan, I'm not sure). The pans I have were advertised as 10mm but now the website is carrying a slightly different style at 8mm. I am not a particularly heavy user but I imagine these pans will hold up much longer than any other non-stick I have had...If their literature is correct, I will probably never need a new one. enjoy! N.

My first contribution to Dinner! Butternut Risotto with Bacon and Sage: N.

A very tasty pasta recipe we eat quite frequently that is very simple: Nigella's Lemon Linguine Linguine, egg yolks, heavy cream, parmesan, lemon juice & zest, butter, s & p. flat leaf parsley. N.

Some very handy "treats" to have in the freezer: Boston Chowda's New England Clam Chowda Marie Callenders Frozen Pies (Pot Pies & Fruit Pies) Boston Market Macaroni & Cheese (for the boy) Boston Market Spiced Apples (Wonderful with Vanilla Ice Cream) CPK Pizzas (5 Cheese for the boy & Thai Chicken for momma)... Ore Ida Crispy Crowns (I think of this more as a freezer pantry item, though) I know some of these have kinda been dissed here but hey, we like'em and I think everyone needs to have a little "Go to Hell" night once in a while! To avoid having to rely on these too much I will sometimes try to make a little extra of whatever I am cooking to add to my "freezer pantry". N. edit: for pizza clarity

The Magi-Whisk is very handy and sells at most places for under $5. I keep one in a cup with my measuring spoons and thermometer out on the counter. It is great for sauces and lightly beating eggs. http://fantes.com/whisks.htm look for the Small Bent Pan Whisk (aka Magi-Whisk). enjoy! N.

I am the keeper of what little silver is in our family...for some reason it is mainly spoons. I love just to take it out and polish it from time to time and think about the family members I have never met that passed them on. So I think it is a great gift to pass on through the generations. I have looked from time to time for silver of my own but the money is spent on other things for the time being. One maker that is fairly well respected and collected is Georg Jensen. They have a smalle but nice variety of patterns in Silver and some very nice Stainless, as well. N.

Hmmn. I'm not familiar with sweetened condensed on toast but it sounds great! It reminds me of another favorite from Stuckeys: coconut toast spread? Do they still sell this? Aside from pecan logs, that toast spread was always one of the greatest things about a (childhood) roadtrip... N.

Umm, fried Bologna! I was just reminiscing with a friend about fried bologna the other day. I used to love how it puffed up in the middle and the flat part got browned bits...of course, I'm talking oscar mayer here. And taking that little red ring of plastic off was like a treat. Open-faced oven-grilled cheese with kraft singles that also puffed up and browned: crisp plastic cheese on the outside and melted on the inside. 2 other childhood faves: white bread, mayo & charles chips sandwiches and a McD hamburger that I would open up and stack a layer of french fries on and eat. N.

I make this: Nigella Lawson's Thai Yellow Pumpkin and Seafood Curry a lot. In fact, I love it all year round and will sub butternut (add at very end) if pumpkin is not available. I really like it best with pumpkin and I am planning to freeze some this fall but am not sure how well it will store. N.

Big Red chewing gum. Everyone reached for the Big Red at the end of the night... N.

Its not the candy corn I’m after…it’s the ones shaped like pumpkins!! This year I will probably give out the old standards: almond joy, kit kats, double bubble and pixie stix. As a kid, I used to hate getting those caramels, bit-0-honey & maryjanes but now I love’em. The past few years I have usually found some stuff like mini-mad libs or pencils and erasers for the older kids that invariably come around – even though I really think they are too old. Also, in my building there are sometimes kids that come around with no costumes! I write this off as a cultural thing – is this common for others? How do you all handle the older kids & non-costumed trick or treaters? N.

We serve the traditional thanksgiving with a twist. We have turkey but it usually has a soy/orange/honey/ginger glaze. Add a few filipino accompaniments: maybe lumpia or pancit and always rice. But we like stuffing with chestnuts, too so we add that to our table. Maybe some corn. Some variety of mashed potato and sweet potato (last year we has some with a maple syrup/vanilla glaze – yum!). Rolls. Cranberry sauce with mandarins and walnuts. My son has to have some of the soggy institutional canned green beans. Pecan pie. Pumkin pie. Leche Flan. Lately, we have been celebrating thanksgiving with my sisters family-in-laws and they have some vegetarians and they will usually bring something for themselves. Always, we have a big pot of mulled apple cider which is wonderful on a crisp autumn day. N.

Well, many, many years ago I had some co-workers that would go to the all-you-can-eat pizza for lunch and the method they would swear by for maximizing food ingestion is to not drink anything at all. I went once to witness (and partially experience) the gluttony and it was not pretty. Depending on how stuffed you have become - you absolutely cannot drink anything because if you do the food/bread will swell up and you will feel most uncomfortable...this may even be a health risk for all I know. In line with GG's remarks - we also used to go to a mongolian barbeque place (not all you can eat) where you fill the bowl with your selections and then they cook it for you. My friends showed that you can double the height of the bowl by layering the sides with veggies - kind of how those steam inserts unfold and then filling it. N.

Halo-Halo. Shaved ice, red mung beans, coconut gel, macapuno, jackfruit, ube ice cream, leche flan, whatever else you happen to like, topped with a bit of evaporated milk. Sweet tooth? You bet! Also, we make hawaiian ice and use all sorts of different flavored syrups - bought and homemade. I keep a few blocks of ice in a ziploc in the freezer to have on hand. N.

Well, for green...I don't know. I was thinking of red and cocoa - like in red velvet cake. For frosting, I've heard you can add some black? to deepen your colors maybe it would work here. N.

Just a guess but if your recipe can tolerate it, you might try adding a bit of cocoa powder to get the color right. N.

I like the blackberry, too. This soda has just the right amount of sweetness for me. There is another brand of soda in stores called Grown-Up Soda (GUS) that is less sweet. I tried the Valencia Orange and it tasted of fizzy watered down orange juice to me. I'm not sure if it was sweetness missing to boost the flavor or what but it was definitely missing something. I liked the concept but not the execution. N.

Have any of you tried the Café des Artistes at the Corcoran? Café des Artistes @ Corcoran I love their galleries but have never tried the cafe. btw, I loved that Ice Cream Parlor on the rare occasion we were able to eat there when I was a little girl. The Waterfall still intrigues/soothes (the peoplemover was mindblowing...a flat escalator?!) and I never got to try the Freeze-Dried Ice Cream. N.

Frankly, Mr Shankly my 80's were filled with much too much Coors Light aka The Silver Bullet. I believe Sam Adams was huge too. N. Edit to add: TCBY Frozen Yogurt, too!

I just saw there is an ice cream attachment available for KitchenAid Stand Mixers. from the recent Chef's Catalog: Does anyone have this yet? I would love to retire my Krups… N.

Funny, I just made some last week and I have not had them in many, many years. In addition to the corned beef, potatoes and onion, I add garlic and diced tomatoes. Serve with rice. Eggs? On the side would do. N.

Monica, My nephew loves Nemo, too. But I can't recall what kind of cake we had at his birthday though. I know you are looking to purchase one (fwiw, some giants have pretty decent bakeries) but if you want to make one, you may find this link helpful: http://www.cakeworkscentral.com/scrapbook/clownfish.htm I did a brief search and found a link with some Nemo party (kid) food ideas: http://www.kid-party-ideas.com/finding-nemo-party-theme.html Good luck & happy birthday, N.

plain. muenster, jalapeno & onion (any). one question: are turkey burgers sacrilege? N.

Some people like to spend the bucks on appliances, but I rent therefore I must settle for small electrics. Yes, I have the Dualit 4-slice model and love it. I even sprung for 2 sandwich cages. The price is outrageous but the style factor is tops and it is one solid machine! One thing I have not seen mentioned in this thread is the clean factor. I do not know if this is particular to the Dualit or whether I just had bad luck or practiced poor maintenance with my past toasters (Kitchen Aid & Krups), but this is the only toaster I have been able to keep free of those annoying baked-on browned crumbs. I am really happy with it. It completes my trifecta of kitchen small electrics I cannot do without: Porsche Kettle, Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer & Dualit Toaster. Also, I have noticed people are either toaster people or toaster-oven people, I am solidly in the former. Toaster ovens seem so contemporary and I’m a kinda retro girl! My sister and her husband are split and have both. Does anyone know when they first started making their way into our homes? My family didn’t get one until the late 80’s. N.

Wendy, Dessert is my specialty. Or should I say dessert-picking-from-menus-for-my-consumption is my specialty? And the dessert description can play a large part of this. “Wendy’s assorted cookies of the day” has a very rote feeling to it. If I am a looking at a menu of your offerings and this is listed, sorry but I am not going to pick this one. In my opinion, it shows a lack of excitement about the dessert at the venue. As a customer, I have no idea who writes these things up but I find them, generally, to be a good indicator of how well-liked a particular dessert item is by the staff. If you can’t find some way to describe a dessert that makes me want to have it, it doesn’t matter how good the item really is, I’ll probably never order it and find out. I shouldn’t say never because there are exceptions to every rule and if the cookies were on a buffet and I didn’t want to commit to particular dessert, I might try one. A good description should involve more than just a mere recitation of the ingredients list. While I’m not suggesting you write a paragraph describing each dessert, you should keep in mind there is a certain element of seduction going on in dessert selection that I don’t think happens so much when a person is ordering their entrée. Most people are there for the entrée but not everyone has dessert. At a minimum, you might look at each composition and think about how you would describe it visually and then add a few taste clues. FWIW, I have no background in restaurants but I’ve taken the liberty of reworking some of your items in a way that would interest me: Cookie Basket Wendy’s assorted home-made cookies of the day. Frozen Vanilla Bean Soufflé A light frozen parfait of vanilla-infused cream served on a swirl of caramel and chocolate sauces. The soufflé is topped with a sprinkling of fresh-roasted salted pecans and accompanied by a wafer-thin almond tuile. Chocolate and Vanilla Torte A flourless chocolate cake topped with a layer of rich vanilla cheesecake and sandwiched between a pair of double chocolate cookies. Whipped cream and a light dusting of Oreo cookies provides a finishing touch. Seasonal Fruit Tart An arrangement of seasonal fruits individually served in a sweet cookie crust with a layer of almond cream. “They don't know the difference between a almond daqiouse, an almond pound cake or an almond sponge cake so I can't give them specific names to distingush differences. Maybe I should though...........? Maybe I should be working on this now to have a more educated client?” The best way to do this by using a sort of code in your descriptions. For instance, Daquoise = Crunchy but Light, Sponge = Light, Pound = Rich, etc. All the best, N.