Lindacakes

I did a daring thing this year -- I didn't make the cut-outs my family expects. I just didn't feel like it. I made the shortbread from Rose Levy Berenbaum's Christmas Cookies and gave them some nice dark chocolate stripes. I made gingerbread tiles from Tartine, something I really love. Cut them into plain little squares. Then I made a black walnut bar cookie, sort of like pecan pie bars with black walnut. I rejoiced in the simplicity.

Perhaps you bag people would be interested in Reusable Bags I love the Acme.

Am I the only person who would LOVE to have a marshmallow gun?

Hang out in the farmer's market and you will find out -- if you need a virtual farmer's market, listen to KCRW's Good Food. Every program begins with a visit to the farmer's market to see what's in season. Mind you, it's California, but it helps.

Use them for hardware, nails, etc. Peachy nails are nice.

I think of Costco as a place for staples -- paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, softener, dish soap, Windex, Brita filters, foil and baggies. I'm sort of grossed out by the fish and meat section, I guess I'll have to try again. It smells old back there. Some foods I really love: Ling Ling Potstickers (but then I read the ingredient list and I don't buy them anymore) Hannah Hummus jars of peaches organic chicken broth the Phillips crab in a can avocado mash, which I freeze, beautifully convenient bread, especially their garlic bread with hummus, over and over big stack o' soft pitas with hummus, over and over sharp cheddar brick the size of a brick pallets of goya beans (sue me, I also eat Rancho Gordo) Item purchased strictly for its beauty -- enormous plastic barrel of cheese balls. Whoa.

??? It says they have them for KA 6 quart lift. Looks promising. There was a thread a while back on the KA site about a five quart bowl for the 6 quart mixer, supposed to alleviate some of the problems with the side scraping.

Well, I thought there was a whole week between now and Christmas that ain't. I'm going to try to not go to work on Friday and bake a couple of things that go into the oven in a unit -- shortbread, gingerbread -- instead of cut-outs. My parents love for me to bring cut-outs home to them. Which involves a load of work I'm uninterested in. I'm in such a devilish mood that I'm actually sort of looking forward, in an interested way, to the reaction when I say I didn't have the energy to do it. I'm okay with all this, but on the other hand, I do believe it is the continued demands that the corporations most of us work for that has drained us of energy and it's costing us the joy of our lives. But that's another story.

I find the Terra chips a little . . . horsey, so they need some perking up. Beet chips with a gorgeous carrot dip, or something green . . .

I was going to mention the dessert pocket -- I was thinking apples and cinnamon.

I'm with the "it's natural" vibe. I've been very sick in Mexico, from eating fish in a local restaurant. The result was an event I'll never forget and would certainly like to. When travelling in 3rd world countries where water supplies may be contaminated with sewage, it's a good idea to eat consciously. I was conscious when I ate the grasshoppers in Mexico . . . Regarding bacteria and antibacteria: (I work in a field that involves microbiology) Bacteria are an actual threat, particularly to wounded veterans returning from Iraq. Long story. But the short story is, bacteria quickly resist antibacterial agents and become super strains of bacteria. This is an actual threat to public health, and I've met microbiologists who feel this is what is going to do us in. Perhaps you've heard of bacteriaphages? They're now sprayed on hot dogs and cut fruit. They're very good. People freak out when they see the labeling. A bacteriaphage is a virus that consumes bacteria naturally, in a manner that does not result in stronger strains of bacteria, which is what happens when you use antibacterial soap. Antibacterial soap actually assists in the formation of super strains of bacteria -- one of your major threats when you enter a hospital. Which is to say, the issue isn't simple. A bit of animal parts in food is okay, probably unavoidable. But bacteria itself is not a good thing.

Oh, and as for outing the 911 lady, yes, baking911 rocks. An absolute classique. A go to source. Thank you for it.

Well, someone finally said key lime pie, that was one of my ideas. I don't think anyone has said pound cake yet. If you're into mediaevel arts, you can make paint. I'm also thinking that lying down in the bathtub and rolling them over your body would be fun.

Welcome, Margo. Wanna talk about those lemon balls?

Pax, definitely go for the pasta rollers. This is one of the reasons why I bought a Kitchen Aid in the first place. I've read extensively in the pasta threads about pasta machines. It is easier to use a pasta machine with a motor. Hand cranking gets in the way of being able to control the passage of dough through the machine, not to mention catching luxuriant yards of pasta on the other side. The motor on a KitchenAid is strong and smooth and better than the motors on pasta makers. The height of a KitchenAid is perfect for catching the pasta, in my opinion. The roller has settings so that you gradually roll the pasta thinner and thinner. You can stop anywhere in between, so you can control how thick the pasta is. I have the linguini/spaghetti cutters and I love them. I have read that folks are not so happy with the extruders, but someone above here does like them. If you only get the roller and the long noodle cutters you can make lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, fettucine, tagliatelle, not to mention all the hand cut types you can end up with, also. The juicer doesn't sound so great, I suppose I'll just keep my grandma's Fire King juicer. I don't have the ice cream bowl, I would if I didn't already have a Krups. If you are toying with the idea of making your own ice cream, stop it. Just run out and get just about any ice cream maker for fifty bucks and David Lebovitz's book (there's a whole thread for it). You'll be making divine ice cream and never, ever go back to the store bought version. You won't be able to eat the store bought version.

Fig swirls? I love figs. Would you be willing to share that recipe?

Did you use any dips? I like the Terra chips with hummus, and I also like that white bean dip from Trader Joe's. That is a gorgeous pile of chips. Congratulations.

I've searched for this topic, and I see lots of topics on Which Stand Mixer Should I Buy? and individual threads where attachments would be recommended, such as pasta making. But I'd like to know from the panoply of available KitchenAid attachments, which ones are fabulous and which ones are crap? It's that time of year when KitchenAid has a sale on attachments, and I'm thinking of buying the juicer. Is it good? Does it truly do key limes up to grapefruit efficiently? Does it really strain the juice? Do blops of pulp fall off that shelf thingy into your juice receptacle? Does the plastique hold up? Most importantly, do the physics of that thing work? Why doesn't juice fly onto the Venetian blinds, or does it? I have the pasta rollers and cutters for linquine, spaghetti, etc. and I love them. I first used them to make cannoli. I have read that the extruders are not good. I am aware that many people love their meat grinders. Help me spend my money!

It would be nice if the whole family thing came together somehow and formed a personage by the name of Pearl Pink.

Oh my, I missed my cue up above -- if you need last minute candied cherries, you can get a recipe from David Lebovitz's web site -- Candied Cherries I spent two weeks candying my cherries. Each morning I drained the cherries, made a denser simple syrup with the juice and poured it back over the cherries. It takes about 20 minutes each morning, but the results are superior to the recipe above. I like your impromptu venture into the world of fruitcake, Anna. That one looks really good. I think the fruit mix is very individual -- many folks loath citron but I think it has a taste you can't get anywhere else and love it in certain cakes. Try aging it some and see if that improves the flavor -- it should.

I see the recipe in the link -- thanks! Very interesting story about the fruitcake on the train.

David, Is that a green cherry or green pineapple I think I see poking out the side? What sorts of fruit/nuts are you using? If you don't mind my asking, what is the ethnic background of your ancestral fruitcake bakers? My grandmother was Scotch. Linda

I love brussel sprouts, one of my favorite vegetables. Butter is a key ingredient. I like to separate the leaves, and saute in butter with roasted walnut pieces. Tasty.

Thanks for the confimation on the fruit cake cookies -- I nabbed them off the Web. I'll try them.

I'd be very interested to know if you like Ina Garten's fruitcake cookies. I have two recipes for fruitcake cookies I quite like -- one is Maida Heatter's California Fruit and Nut Bars (apricot, date and fig, I believe) and the other involves slivered almonds and three fruits (can't remember which, but it's a fabulous combo). Both really excellent. I made the Cranberry Coconut chews touted upthread -- and I like them very much. Buttery, and tangy from the cranberry. The coconut is subtle, more a texture than a flavor. I made Jayme's maple pecan popcorn, which I think is in Recipe Gullet. THAT was superb. I salted the pecans and I don't think I cooked by syrup long enough, it was a bit more chewy than crunchy. But WOW, was that good. I also made Dolores Casella's Date Nut bread. I used some spectacular dates I'd gotten my hands on, and pecans. Although the bread was very good and I certainly don't have any trouble inhaling it, it wasn't quite what I wanted. I plan on baking a lot of gingerbread for gifts this year and I'm in search of excellent gingerbread recipes. I like Tartine's Gingerbread Tiles a great deal -- there's another cookie thread in which someone has posted photos of her tiles done with a springerle pin. I did that last year and liked it a lot, but I want to use springerle molds for the same thing this year -- an old fashioned Santa I'd bought for spekulaas and just didn't like the spekulaas recipe. The color of the dough was like . . . ginger spice dough that had just received a terrible shock. It was a weird gray. Anyway, I thought if I spent the winter seeking the perfect gingerbread recipes (both cake and cookies), then it will have been a winter well spent.