Abra

Ah, now that Albert Uster stuff is more like it! I'm not sure that I'd use enough to make your nice offer worthwhile, Anne, but we should chat. And yeah, I'll get a new thread going.

Thanks for the feedback, bakerkel. More goo does sound like what to do. And I confess, I often do make things for the first time for clients, even for big parties. Buit that habit doesn't translate well to baking, and thanks for the wrist-slap, chefpeon. The only think holding me back is not knowing what to do with the trial balloon except to eat it, which I really, really don't want to do.

I did look at the photos, but sometimes things look different on-screen than in real life. Or wait, is THIS real life? I guess I've mainly seen those little carrots on carrot cake, and thought they were an ok level of cuteness, not quite approaching Hello Kitty deadly-cute status. So, just for perspective, now I see that a real PC wouldn't use them, just as I would never use a mix in my personal cheffing life. Or my real life. But as a non-PC, I'm always wishing my desserts would be more beautiful, and look more professional. Right now I use a lot of edible flowers, because it's hard to screw them up and I have a nice source. I was just wondering if any of those little sugar dealies might actually enhance my desserts - the last thing I want is to make my baking look commercially produced! People put up with a certain rusticity in my desserts just because they're homemade from scratch, which has a surprising value of its own. I hope bringing the level of discussion down to what a non-PC can do to improve her work is appropriate here, if not, mea culpa.

Following Wendy's link to Pfeil and Holing led me to their edible deco section, which utterly fascinated me. So that's where those things come from! Will somebody help me out here - I assume that they're flat on one side and meant to lie down on a dessert, as opposed to being really 3-D and standing up? Do they look nice, in real life, or are the colors really artificial-looking? And finally, do people actually eat them?

Annie - thanks for the converter link, and bkeith, I'd love to have your formulas. I'm always fiddling with pan sizes and never feel very secure about the process (which usually involves having my husband do the math, math-impaired person that I am).

Oh dear, I'm starting to worry. Does everyone else think this recipe is a dud? It looks so yummy in the picture, but if nobody's tried it....

Another fan of Lion and Globe here. It really tastes like peanuts.

I need a dessert for a 40th birthday party for 40-50 people, something easy to plate, doesn't require a walk-in, and seems special and delicious. I'm looking at the recipe in Butter Sugar Flour Eggs for German Chocolate Cake with Toasted Almond Coconut Goo. It looks not too hard to pull off, as a non-pastry chef, and as if two people in the kitchen could plate it up with one person to ferry it to the buffet table. Any experience with this recipe, or other suggestions, will be much appreciated.

I made a wonderful core dinner last night that was even delicious for breakfast. I did some very coarse polenta in chicken broth with some smoked chili powder and a splash of evaporated skim milk at the end to smooth it out a little. Oh, and I cut the kernels off an ear of corn and tossed them in to barely cook at the last minute in the hot polenta. Over that I served a stew I'd made in the pressure cooker - sauteed onions and skinned, bone-in chicken thighs, deglazed the pan with a good splash of red vermouth, added some yellow squash, a head of broccoli, and a can of tomato sauce. Cooked at high pressure for 15 minutes, the veggies melted into a yummy sauce and the chicken was tender and flavorful. I didn't have any mushrooms, but they would have been really good in there too. All-core, and very nice. And while I struggle with the political issue, I find that Curves is a great help in maintaining regular exercise.

Maybe I should follow your examples and keep it in the freezer. It's more tempting than brownies, to me.

For truly non-artisanal, wonderful whole grain sandwiches I'd go for Orowheat's Winter Wheat every time. I love the stuff - can't have it in the house, actually, or I'll just eat it all up.

A salad with arugula, radicchio, candied walnuts, and tart green apples, a soup of pureed sauteed apples and caramelized onions with Calvados and sage, the non-pork part of Himmel und Erde - a mash of equal parts of potatoes and green apples that's surprisingly delicious, apple-stuffed sweet potatoes, roast chicken with a dried apple, rice, and wild rice stuffing, and a gingerbread-apple upside-down cake with a reduced cider and Calvados sauce?

Yep, phaelon, if you'd come over I could have given you some vinegar mother to take home. Well, there's bound to be a next time.

Yes, the meat will just crisp up and get filtered out, not to worry about it. And you can freeze the fat with no problems. It seems to be that it's kind of not worth doing unless I have at least 3 lbs of fat, preferably more. It takes a long time to make, and I like to have more to show for it when I'm done.

I did a whole wheat couscous salad last night too, with a good olive oil, sherry vinegar, lemon, diced tomatoes, and lots of chopped fresh basil. First time on core that I've really overeaten too - I'm not sure that couscous will be able to stay on my core list. I also had a whole salmon to grill last night, so lunch today was cold salmon crumbled into a pile of tiny blanched green beans, grape tomatoes, piquillo pepper strips, and dressed with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. That corn salad sounds yum. Isn't it a luxury to be able to eat corn freely again?

I do it often, and recently described how I do it in my eGullet Food Blog Abra's Food Blog

The new generation of slow cookers have supposedly solved the temperature safety zone issue by cooking quite a bit hotter than the earlier versions. And, indeed, older recipes don't work well in the new cookers, since you end up cooking the life out of everything if you follow their cooking time guidelines. That said, I usually start the cooker on high until it comes to a boil, then either turn it to low if I have hours to spare, or just leave it on high for the whole cooking period. There's a lot of evaporation with the new cookers, so you know they're hot. They also shut themselves off when the time runs out and have a "keep warm" temp that is also supposed to be above the danger zone.

Like JudyG, I use both, and I use them differently, although the results they achieve can be much the same with certain foods. I tend to use the slow cooker nostalgically, when I want the house to smell of cooking all day, as well as when I want to be out for 4-5 hours and have dinner underway. The pressure cooker is a marvelous tool, and I'd never be without it. I have an 8 qt. Magefesa, and also use Lorna Sass as the know-all source. I'm a personal chef, and with the pressure cooker I can turn out three dishes in the time one would take me if cooked conventionally. They also make great stocks, extracting an amazing amount of flavor from the bones.

Congratulations, Jensen! That looks delicious, Cusina. I'm liking this thread a lot too. Yesterday, my fourth core day, was different because I ended up eating two meals out. At lunch I was able to find a vegan vegetable sandwich and only eat one slice of the bread, but I still gave myself 5 points for the bread and the spread that was on that one slice. At dinner I had ceviche and pinto beans - all core except for a point's-worth of queso fresco sprinkled on top. Interestingly enough, while I racked up 6 non-core points (being very conservative, as it may really have been only 4-5), I came in under points for the day, going by my Flex allowance. I think that was mostly because I wasn't home much at all, otherwise I would have filled in with some extra protein. But I felt ok, and managed to eat out without a big excursion into my points allowance, so I feel quite good about that. Those beans were so good. I think I'm going to go stick some in the crock pot and by dinner they should be ready. And I have some pork tenderloin, and lots of fresh corn, and tomatoes - I sense a core chili coming on. Cooking with wine is one thing I've never really resolved for myself. I often deglaze a pan with wine and don't count it at all, because it's a small amount, and it's pretty much sizzled into oblivion before it goes in my mouth. But something like a meat braised in cups of wine, I don't know. I guess I tend to give myself half of the "raw" points for the wine I use. WW says to count it all, but what do they know? Soba is core, but you can only eat it once a day.

I used to eat a lot of Wasa too, but no, it's not core. My understanding is that 1 is free, just like 1/2 cup of Fiber 1 is free, but they're not Core, so after that little freebie you do have to count the points. All foods are pointed the same on Core as on Flex, so just use the same number you always did. I have read on the boards that APs are to be used the same day, but on the Core Points Pad when you add APs it just throws them into the pot with your 35 flex points, so in practice you can use them anytime.

That is fantastically helpful, Wendy, and when I make it I'll follow your instructions to the letter. All those freezing steps wouldn't have occurred to me, but now I see how helpful they would be, not only as far as timing, but to getting a clean-finished product. The chocolate spraying does daunt me, although it made a gorgeous cake when FWED did it. What's fellutine?

Cusina - try some evaporated skim milk on your oatmeal with blueberries. The milk is sweet by nature, and I was able to enjoy the oatmeal with no other sweetener than berries and milk, which was very surprising to me. Half a cup, which is actually quite a lot, has as much calcium as a cup of skim milk, and counts as a dairy. The unthinkable happened this morning - I didn't finish my breakfast! It was about a 7 point bowl of leftover congee (the last, finally!) with tofu, plus some leftover veggies from last night. Ok, I know, but I like to eat dinner food for breakfast, especially with some sort of hot sauce. It just gets me in gear. When I looked at the bowl I thought "too much", but then, I always eat 6 points for breakfast, and often 7, so I thought I'd end up eating it all. I was actually full after about 5-6 points' worth. A miracle has occurred. It will be a challenge today to go out to lunch. The place I'm going is supposed to have several vegetarian options, so that'll possibly include some all-core foods. It occurs to me that any vegan dish is all-core, which gives me a sort of handle for restaurant-going.

Thanks for a really fun blog, Laksa and Ms. Congee. Next time I go over to our Asian supermarket I'll look for some of the products you pictured. I don't think we have a lot of Malaysian stuff here, but we do have the very popular Malay Satay Hut, so there's gotta be some.

I'm still trying to figure out when I'll have a whole day to try that recipe, and who I can invite over to help eat it all up. It was way too good to have around the house.

Sorry, nanuq, I misread a comma into your post between fruit and yogurt - mea culpa! This is my third core day, and I'm liking it very much. I find it easier to do than flex, I feel more full although I'm eating about the same number of points (but about the equivalent of eating all my flex points each day), and it feels more "correct" to me. Now to see whether I'll lose this week or not. Initially I had the portion size anxiety thing too, but let's take last night as an example. I put a chicken leg (drumstick and thigh, no skin), a roasted sweet potato, and some cauliflower puree on my plate. I ate it all up, but didn't go and have more chicken, even though I was certainly "allowed" to. I think that as long as you use your head and give yourself a balanced plateful of food, overeating by much is very unlikely. Of course, had I just sat down with the chicken, I would have eaten much more of it. And the restriction on number of times per day for cereal and pasta or rice really is meaningful to me. Yesterday I had leftover congee for breakfast, but there was more than I wanted in the morning in the bowl. I left it, and though "I'll eat that later for a snack." But no, it's only once a day, so that was that. And because I'd had that instead of cereal for breakfast, that meant no cereal all day. It's very interesting to see how it works in practice. I am slowly aware of a feeling growing that perhaps I can actually trust myself to do it right, which is very cool if it's true.