Abra

I too use Thai sweet chili sauce with many things - one of the best is in a peanut butter sandwich instead of jam. Morningstar Farms Breakfast Patties with sweet stuff - like orange marmalade, maple syrup, or Thai sweet chili sauce, on toast. Watermelon and feta - equal proportions, as a fantastically refreshing salad. Grapes and a gutsy bleu cheese like Cabrales. Raisins and amontillado. I used to think I ate weird stuff, but really, cornflakes and Zinfandel???? That totally takes the cake, in my book.

I just did a lavender-blueberry jam - now there's a heavenly flavor combination!

Wowsers, that Berry Dinner sounds fabulous. I did get the announcement, but I was feeling berried-out at the time. Now I'm doubly so - today I made lavender-blueberry jam (really a wonderful combo, blueberries and lavender), blueberry liqueur, and a lavender-blueberry crumb cake for a friend's party. I still have LOTS more berries, but I fear that I'm running out of steam. And there are some yummy salal berries in my yard as well, that I wish I would do something with.

Actually, my son had a pretty good rejoinder: "But what about the stupid who are also hungry?" Blueberries have taken over my life. We picked 25 lbs last weekend - I made pancakes, muffins, syrup, and blueberry herb vinegar, froze a ton, and still have about 10 lbs left to deal with today. and then the bushes probably have that much again for me to address next week. I'm with all those who live on fruit at this time of year, and also with those who don't like beries with chocolate. Now that I think of it, that probably makes me a crow - that's who's really after the berries right now.

I make lavender ice cream, using the infusion method. Make a basic French Vanilla recipe, and set 3-4 sprigs of lavender into the hot base, then chill overnight. You can put some chopped flowers into the ice cream as it freezes, but I don't like the texture myselkf, and prefer to go with just the infused flavor.

Would you post your mail order source for green walnuts? I've been wanting to make vin de noix, but don't know where to get the walnuts.

My octopus always comes out tender, and I never use a cork. I think corking probably falls into the "first, do no harm" category. And yes, octopus does exude an amazing amount of liquid, so the no water thing sounds interesting and likely to work. I'll have to give that one a try.

I have to confess to being stunned. Thanks to the reader counter, I can see that over 80 people have perused this topic, but only the two of you have replied. I just assumed that everyone was in the same mode as I am - saving up the summer. But it's always good to have one's illusions shattered - builds character! Gorgeous blackberries, Susan.

That Indian dinner looks delicious! And I love the Domaine de Fontsainte - that was my house rose last summer, although I haven't yet seen the new release here.

Flossie, would you post the Delia recipe? I've never imagined "cheesy" fudge.

I posted this in the Cooking Forum, and nobody replied. Is Pastry the only place to talk about fruit? We've had the most perfect, most delicious, most plentiful, and cheapest raspberries grown here on the island this year. I've never been in such Raspberry Nirvana before. Today I got 6 half-flats and made: raspberry champagne vinegar, red wine-raspberry aperitif, raspberry liqueur, and raspberry rose jam. Then, just for fun, I also made some little jars of nasturtium, lavender, and burnet vinegars. Some I'll use for client gifts, and some for friend gifts, and of course I'll keep some for myself. While I was beavering away in the kitchen we had the most torrential downpour, with thunder and lightning, so that means it's the end of the raspberries for this year. Any that made it through the rain with be squishy and tend to mold. It's a good thing my blueberry bushes are almost ready for picking. I'm hoping to be up to my elbows in blueberries on Monday. What are you all doing with summer's bounty?

Coffee, by a mile! Someone decided to: pick the berries, let 'em rot in the sun, wash off the rotted goo, remove and dry the remaining seed, roast that seed, grind it, pour boiling water over it, and drink the resulting brown liquid. Boggles the mind every time.

Blackberry cinnamon rolls, and blackberry fudge??? Now I've discovered two more recipes I can't live without!

Wow, a guy who ranges from Lucky Charms to Mourvedre - only on eGullet! Fascinating. Sashimi, would you post the recipe for your Rainier cherry and champagne sorbet? We have the best cherries right now, but the apricots aren't quite there yet.

The current issue of Fine Cooking (which for some bizarre reason is the September issue) has a beautiful-looking raspberry/blackberry mousse that I'm dying to make. Not that I've done any of these, but I think I'd also pair a blackberry sauce with blueberry/creme de cassis ice cream, or layered in a parfait with a key-lime-type custard, or with crepes filled with something creamy, or a vanilla panna cotta in a pool of blackberry sauce. Blackberries are delicious with sage, so if you want to go a bit further afield, maybe a brown sugar and sage pound cake with blackberry sauce. As always, my Not a Pastry Chef disclaimer applies here.

Me too I'll take sockeye any day over the alternatives, and at this time of year I want it every day! I got diverted by raspberries last week, but now salmon is again swimming to the forefront of my food mind.

Well, I'm neither a perfectionist nor a once-over-lightly. I would like to know how to do it well, since I like my food to look professional, but I don't need to do it with a pastry chef's level of excellence. I've never worked with couverture, but I think they sell it through King Arthur. I've never seen it in the grocery store. And I've also never tempered chocolate, so I think reading all those posts will be a big help to me. Actually, I live not too far from chefpeon and I'm hoping to do a little stage with her and improve my skills. I did think about the gloved hand-dipping method, but wasn't clear about how to get the cookie to dry without fingerprints. Stuff like this gives me new respect for commercial products - like M&Ms. How the heck do they have such a perfect surface when you know they had to dry somewhere, somehow?

Wowsers, this is a litle harder than I'd imagined. Ok, so no ganache - got that. The texture of the alfajore cookie is essentially shortbread, not too fragile, but the dulce de leche filling is a soft, spreadable caramel, so I don't think a fork could be stuck into it successfully. I've never seen a dipping fork, but now, of courser, I'm dying to get one and try them again, using all of your tricks. First I have to recover from the last 10,000 caolries of alfajores, and then I'll give it another go. Or maybe I'll practice on some sort of store-bought cookie, just to dip and toss, so I don't feel compelled to eat them and can make as many as I need to in order to get the technique down. Thanks, all!

I made alfajores a couple of days ago - an almond-based dough, with dulce de leche sandwiched betwen two cookies. Then my Argentine guest informed me that they were supposed to be dipped in chocolate, something I had no clear idea how to do. I ended up making a ganache, setting the sandwiches on a rack with a silpat underneath, and pouring the ganache over the cookies. Ok, now one side looked perfect, but how to get the bottom glazed too? I stuck them inthe fridge until the ganache set up, flipped them over onto parchment, and repeated the process. Then they were covered in chocolate, but it definitely wasn't a smooth coating all over, and they looked sub-artisanal, to say the least. What's the trick for doing this so the cookies look seamlessly dipped?

And besides using the correct rice, and seasoning it, be sure your sudare (the rolling mat) is wet/damp before you lay the nori on it. Press as you roll, and let the roll sit for a few minutes before slicing it.

I'll be in Portland at the end of the summer for a personal chefs' convention, and just based on Chase's stellar recommendation, I want to take a group there. It sounds fabulous!

There was a CaterArts truck out front, so I'm guessing that's the place. It's a gorgeous space.

Ok, Nancy Leson and I are in total agreement. The food is very good, the service is unbelievably terrible. After waiting 2 HOURS I went to find our food. A guy was standing there with it on a tray, not sure what table it was for. One couple near us left because their appetizers took so long to arrive that they didn't have time for dinner. Another couple went up to the bar to get their own drinks, because no one ever came to serve them. The tropical drinks are excellent, but at $8 a pop they should be. They charged for each soft drink refill ($2 a glass) and they don't tell you about the charge when they ask if you want a refill. The deck is gorgeous - a fantastic place to bring out of town guests, which is what we were doing there. Just don't go unless you have all the time in the world - you'll need it. Bottom line -at $135 for a super-slow but yummy casual dinner for 4, we're not likely to frequent the place.

There was a nice review in the Times the other day of this new place. The food sounded very interesting - has anyone tried it yet?

I can't wait - this sounds so fun! And how about John Ash? His food is wonderful.