Abra

Eden, what's the theory behind not combining fats with carbs? Normally you hear that you ought to do just that, to slow the absorption of the carbs.

Marlene, please don't leave us in suspense....what the heck is a peanut butter burger???

That recipe looks nice, FoodMan. The vin de noix I had in Provence definitely had the leaves in it, so I think of that as a necessity.

Bleudauvergne is making it this year too, and I'm hoping to get whatever recipe she uses, since it's bound to be authentic. I'll PM her and ask her to join us here.

Beautiful, Marlene, and brave! What a lovely result. YOu are so right to be proud of yourself. Textbook perfect Sam, except, did I get this right? You made Kathleen eat it REHEATED? You didn't wait for her? If my husband ever made a meal like that (and he won't) and then went ahead and ate without me, I'd put him on bread and water, I swear.

It's a truly heroic effort you all are making here. With each new installment I find myself thinking "what, they have to eat again???" Which is not to say that I wouldn't be happy to drop over and help with the leftovers, just that you might be in danger of Food Overload in a day or so. Which is why I vote for vegetarian, with no restrictions on what can be made. I can see that it'll be a real challenge for you both, and it'll be fun to watch you cope. And it'll be good for you - little bitta fiber, few more vitamins, to balance out the week. Hey, if Genny marries Bergerka, can I marry Sam? I'd even wash dishes happily (please don't mention that to my husband, who I have convinced to do all the dishes at our house) to eat Sam's cooking every night.

Yummy! Can I eat dinner at Sam's and dessert at Marlene's?

Fascinating, but hey! How about commis?

Here's one that's food-related, albeit not food per se. If someone says "I'll ask the commis to do it", is it pronounced in French (com-mee) or like commiss? And as a note on Americanization, I was at a very nice restaurant in Seattle recently where the server presented me with a bleu de Gex, except that he pronounced the g like the g in gecko. I quietly said Zhex to him, and he corrected me. I said the equivalent of "dude, I've been to Gex, and that's how they say it", but he assured me that he'd been instructed to say it with the glottal g, whatever you call that g.

This blog seems off to one of the best starts ever, and no one has actually cooked or eaten a thing, which bodes very well. I'm gonna be an iconoclast and root for Sam, cuz I'm a wanna-be opera singer and my cat would so enjoy eating all of his ferrets for breakfast. Wait, that might not give the right impression. Cuz he likes furry things even if they smell funny, and made a killer Thanksgiving dinner, in a tenor-ish extravagant pardon me while I hold this extremely high note until the audience turns blue in the face sort of way. Go, Sam!

It sounds lovely. There was also a nice review of Crush in the paper today, so I'm wavering between the two.

I just ask the local butcher to save me pork fat until he has 5 lbs. It's free, and it makes fine lard. The other fats may be even better, but this is easy to get and the results are delicious.

This sounds geat. I'm looking for a place for our anniversary dinner next month. How's the sound level in there? And what's the price range?

Would someone be so kind as to post the FL cornet recipe? I'm getting ready to pop for my first CR of the season, and that sounds like a perfect dish for it.

Well, mole isn't supposed to be hot, or even very warm. I think optimally it just lightly glows in your mouth. Bitterness is usually the result of the chiles having been scorched in the toasting process. It's very easy to do, since they're so delicate. Lots of moles are made without tomatillo, so I wouldn't let that be a deal-breaker. I happen to really like what they do to the sauce, but you can make a great mole without them. And you're right, kangarool, adding extra tomatoes wouldn't do the same thing at all.

Kanljung, is it just a lighting trick in the photo, or were you using fresh chiles? They look so green in your pictures. Normally mole is made with all dried chiles.

I agree with TongoRad - cheese enchiladas are a great use for mole. We also love it with pulled pork, as well as the more traditional turkey or chicken. Mole sems to go beautifully with foods that are somewhat fatty and/or unctuous, but it's also delicious just as a dip for tortillas, or on rice. Or gently scramble some eggs to put on your rice and then top it all with mole. I can't wait to try legourmet's idea of mixing it with creme fraiche as a dip - that's one use I've never imagined.

Dulce de leche whipped with mascarpone makes a delicious cake filling, but I think you'd lose the fleur de sel that way. Does it have a distinctly salt flavor as it is?

Susan asked for a repeat of the link to the awesome mole recipe that I use, so here it is. I make the mole exactly as written, skipping all the parts about the turkey, except that I use the food processor instead of the blender, and the food mill if I think it needs smoothing. It's way too much volume and fiber for my blender.

What a yummy blog this promises to be! Did the leaves impart a lot of flavor in the baking? Do you eat the leaves themselves, or are they just a fragrant wrapper?

That brisket makes me feel like a raging carnivore. I need that recipe! Pretty please? Thanks so much for documenting your huge and heroic effort.

I'm probably the one who said to make a ton and freeze it, cuz that's what I always do. I really encourage you to try the recipe I linked to. I've made maybe 5-6 different moles over the years, including the Kennedy recipe, and I think this is the absolutely best one ever. I took some of mylast batch to the owner of our good local Mexican restaurant and he asked me to make a few quarts for him to serve in the restaurant for Christmas. "Sure" I replied "but I'll have to charge you $150 a quart to make up for the time I spend on it." It's worth the effort, trust me on this.

I already knew you were the Queen of Cake, but please allow me to confer upon you the honorary degree of Masters (er, make that Mistress) of Cake Engineering Science and Arts. You're totally it. Fantastic photo essay, makes it perfectly clear that if you're a) a genius, and b) have an incredibly steady hand, and c) have all the right tools, you too can sculpt cake. Uh, I hate to admit it, but I'd imagined that the straws would stick up a bit into the bottom of the top cake, so the visual really helped me. And it reinforced the First Mantra of Cake that you taught me: Buttercream is All.

The Edgewater is very nice too, if you have another dinner to account for.

I had a very interesting experience over the weekend, when I had a celebratory meal with a group of Tongans (I'll be posting about it in a few days). The food was all traditional Tongan, and since it's also traditional to eat with one's fingers, I did. Later I heard that a couple of people had commented that I was the only palangi (ferenghi, haole, or white person from somewhere else) that the speaker had ever liked, or felt comfortable with, and all because I ate with my hands. It happens that I love to eat with my fingers, but I never imagined that it would make me popular!