Lindacakes

Help . . . on the BBC Web site, I do not see the particular parsnip soup mentioned. I do like the potato, carrot and parsnip soup on epicurious. Also just tried the minestrone, which is delicious and uses a great amount of very healthy vegetables.

Exquisite presentation.

Beautiful cake, beautifully displayed!

Cherry marshmallows with a dark chocolate coating . . .

EXQUISITE.

Robert, this was not a good baking year for me. A more evil and yet more fun topic would be, what horrible thing did you have to eat in a social situation? Really bad sugar cookie cutouts would rate high for me, but tough fudge is a close second. This might be better, even, however, than the plates of cookies that remained uncovered, unoffered, from my sister-in-law's table. Except that I've tasted the contents before, and covered is a good place for them.

What a stunning display. I am an eternal fan of Maida Heatter's Sour Cream Pecan Dreams. The best cookie in the world. I had a dry baking year, not much enthusiasm or time. My best success was finding a recipe (from epicurious) for my partner's mother, who wanted to make gingerbread. She enjoyed it, and the results were extremely tasty. Recipe is called Gingerbread Snowflakes, of all things. Triple the spices and cut the cooking time. She cut these out as santa-with-pack, and frosted them, and I couldn't stop eating them.

I cannot speak for that particular recipe, but I would advise against it. Pecan pies are moody. I laughed at my mother-in-law for serving one spooned over ice cream (it was liquid) until it happened to me, this past Thanksgiving. Meaning that you could easily overbake a pecan pie. They appear to be baked when they are not.

Tejon, Would you care to share the crystallized ginger butter cookie recipe? Those look splendid. You could get me to eat my shoe if you sprinkled crystalized ginger on it. L.

I think people associate corn syrup with high fructose corn syrup. I don't like corn syrup pecan pie. I would recommend looking for recipes for chess pie, which is the same thing only better. I have an excellent recipe (not at my fingertips, I'm at work) which is, I believe, all about butter and brown sugar. Take a look at the Thomas Jefferson pie in Joy of Cooking. I made one once, it's unusual and delicious, I offer this up only as a sticky pie ingredient concept meme.

Mmmmmm . . . I would order this, I love all things root beer and root beer floats. However, personally, the cake is a downer. What I like about root beer is the soft creaminess, best accented by vanilla ice cream. So I would prefer a root beer creme brulee, a root beer pudding, a root beer ice cream (there's a twist), a root beer cheesecake, etc. When I think of root beer, I think of the thick glass mugs that A&W serves it in. Accentuation of the general thickness of the beverage . . . A cake version of this might be more like a brownie . . .

Oh, it was nothing too special -- just some cut dried fruit and nuts placed around the top just before baking. I hadn't done this before, but I was in Sicily in the spring and fell in love with cassata and got very interested in the decorating style. So, when faced with my own fruitcakes this year (just these), I put some cut fruit and nut designs on the top. They don't get covered with cake, they don't burn, they get sort of shiny from the heat. You can work to your heart's content, move the stuff around. Doesnt' affect the cake at all. If you can get citron in large pieces (halves or whole) and you want to work with it, it makes a really beautiful addition. Nice color (light lime green) and nice long strips to play with.

Sent to a relative in West Virginia, who opened the package and sent the two cakes to two different addresses now that the aunts have parted after Thanksgiving. Don't know what happened, but I've found the mail to be really slow this holiday. Thanks for caring! It was heartbreaking after all that work and pride, and I decorated the tops so cunningly! We'll see how they hold up to ageing. I'm thinking a nice hot chocolate sauce will moisten them up well if necessary . . .

Here it is, toots -- looks like they've started packaging them in smaller quantities. http://www.dakinfarm.com/xq/aspx/paging.ye.../qx/Product.htm

I'm sorry, I don't know -- I picked it up off the King Arthur threads. I've gleaned that it's important to do your own calibration. Any customer service rep that would do that is an ass.

I was so far ahead -- I had 10 fruitcakes baked and wrapped and resting in the closet before Thanksgiving. I made red velvet cupcakes for a potluck at work. I'm having a small get-together on Saturday night and I need an idea -- I'm thinking chocolate ginger cookies. There will be cheese and nuts and lamb sausage and sopressata and olives and an apricot paste cake thingy, crackers, little smoked salmon sandwiches, that kind of thing. I'm thinking of doing gingerbread in a Santa spekulaas mold I have. Any ideas? Butter? Heh. I've been buying high fat organic butter which is running me ten bucks and pound and using it at a rate that is scaring me.

Fruitcake high: I found my fruitcakes!

Public service announcement -- apparently KA has been, for some time, developing a smaller bowl that will fit on the 6quart machine. Supposed to be out by April.

Kelly, I have a source for absolutely fabulous oyster crackers. How much time do you have? You have to place a rather large order, but it's worth it.

Public service announcement: picked up from another thread that El Rey has the best white chocolate.

I'm all for the banning of trans fats. I'm hoping it will put Magnolia Bakery out of business. See post above regarding "sweetened Crisco". And while they're at it, I want that nasty white bread stuff from the grocery store banned, too. And all Campbell's "soups". What about bad donuts? Dunkin' Donuts should go down. McDonald's. The entire concept. Should be banned. What passes for an animal cracker these days. Blech. Commercial candy bars. Anything with high fructose corn syrup in it. Nasty foods. Banned.

Congratulations on your 29 years, K8! If you think you are not going to make it, go away for the weekend or something. Well, my eyes are spinning from reading Christmas purchase threads: Bamix, KA Food Processor and KA Stand Mixer! I'm about to small appliance puke. I did learn this interesting tidbit that may help you, Sunny. Put a dime on the bottom of your mixer. Using very small increments, work your screw on the height adjustment (I don't know anything about this, I never had a stand mixer before). The whisk should move the dime around a quarter, a half turn, but not move it in a full circle. If this is accomplished, then this is the right height. If a mixer can't whip a stick of butter all by itself, then it's not worthy. 99 out of every hundred baking recipes start with that . . .

I know there are many other threads about this, but if those of you who have the Kitchen Aid Pro 600 could answer a question for me -- I'm getting one for Christmas -- and I'm worried that it might be the wrong mixer for me. I don't do large batches of bread dough. I want a good mixer that will last forever, but I don't want it if it isn't appropriate for normal household use -- like making a batch of cookies or a cake . . . The heaviest I get is the five fruitcake batter annually . . .

I came to this thread quite late, so forgive me if this has been discussed, but does anyone (Anna M) have a recipe for wontons? Everyone here is talking about tossing in wontons like they grow on the wonton tree . . . if only . . . My household has become soup obsessed . . . cooking on the weekends, freezing for the week. I got my parter James Peterson's Splendid Soups and a Bamix immersion blender for Christmas. We just finished the last of the turkey soup, which to me is about as good as it gets. I've got a pumpkin sitting around wanting to be something . . . I'm thinking pumpkin and green bean, kind of a riff on the gypsy soup recipe from the Moosewod, an exceedingly good recipe . . .

Fruitcake high: last night after I finished trimming the tree, I cut open my black cake and served it with whipped cream lightly sweetened with confectioner's sugar. Fruitcake low: two gorgeous chocolate alchohol cakes I'd make for aunts and mailed never acheived their destinations.