ElfWorks

hathor: i think the alan bates fig scene is in women in love, but i could be wrong..... and my all time fave food/sex scene is the feasting and cavorting (i use that word all the time, gifted) in tom jones. did anyone say 91/2 weeks? thats pretty damned steamy too!!!! xo

tracy, thanks for the info. as a native texan, THAT would have never occurred to me!!!! ROFLMPO! xo

do you consider the two words interchangeable or does one mean something different? this q was posed on another bb i hang out at, and now its driving me crazy. in my head, frosting is thicker and fluffier than icing. opinions or hard facts are both welcome! xo

i did mention to you that i would be happy to send you my snail mail address, didnt i? xo

trillium (i keep wanting to call you calvin) , ms ferber sounds a smidge advanced for me. i need the basics! lisa

well, i wasnt actually thinking lavender with the apricots. i was just throwing it out there..... i have a friend who does lemons and lavender. unbelievably good! sort of a lemon marmalade. lisa

redfox... i keep thinking i am going to write that cute tyler florence and ask him to food 911 me and making preserves! (but id like to have a beautiful kitchen for him and his crew!) ;) can anyone suggest some must-reads for learning how-to? lisa

thanks gg!! those sound like something moi would love!!! im gonna have to do some serious checking into these!! lisa

you should do all the cherries you can. GREAT GIFT FOR XMAS!! i am not an apricot fan, but the thyme sounds like a good combo! and i love peach and pepper so the apricot and chili would work. any lavender available? lots of yummy things to do there! and again... any extra cherries you may have...... (typed as i sit here eating some just purchased at wfm after having read this thread! got all cherry-jones-y) lisa

scapes? lisa

man o man, trillium, can i send you my snail addy for a jar of those brandied cherries?????? unfortunately, how to do the jams and jellies thing is the one thing my granny failed to school me in. :( i have to learn how to do this (but i am going to wait til i have a bigger kitchen!) i love fig and orange preserves. do yall have fig trees up there in pnw? a friend used to do a strawberry and hatch chili jam that was out of this wortld. and seriously, if you end up with too many jars....... lisa

well, when yall find the perfect lc pizza crust, do let me know! for now, i am more than content with my pizza-in-a-cup! lisa

i just saw a thing, yesterday, on pbs about sandwiches and this place was featured. i thought the idea was wonderful and i went to their site to see if the pb is available here. it is and i am going to go get some this week. lisa

fun fun fun!!!!!! xo

wow. anyone who would want mr gorey for dinner is aok in my book!!!! (i am a gorey fanatic) have you been to the gorey house? lisa

need anyone to ride shotgun? lisa

oh and p.s. the santa fe chamber of commerce has the coolest travel brochure. just call em up and they will put it in the mail to you immediately. lisa

lala, ludja took the words right out of my fingers! i would like to wholeheartedly rec santa fe. gorgeous. tons of stuff to do. (and i do mean tons) and really some of the yummiest food ever! if you pick santa fe, please let me know and i will hook you up with my fave places (including the groovies b & b. if i could afford it, i would move there tomorrow. well, actually i would move to red river, but there really arent that many food options in red river, so i wont rec it as a destination, but it would make an excellent day trip! lisa

SCENE: Godiva kiosk in the mall TIME: Last November just after Hallowe'en (woman stands at counter pining through the glass while pimple-faced teen-ager tends another customer) clerk: can i help you maam? me: (yes, please dont call me maam!!!) no thank you. i am just doing a little pre-shopping. having a really big holiday party and i was thinking i might get some of your chocolate rather than make my truffles.... just adding up the costs in my head..... clerk: well let me know if i can help me: i will. man, have you had those pumpkin truffles? they look amazing! clerk: i have and they are good. me: wish i could afford to have those at my party clerk: they are definiely worth the price! me: i am sure they are, but i think my husband (i am sooooo not married) would kill me if i spent that kind of money on truffles for 100 people.... clerk: well, maam, maybe if he tasted one, he would be more inclined.... me: he isnt at the mall with me today clerk: well, dont tell anyone i did this, but here... take these two so you can both sample them. and my name is XXXXX and we do work on commission me: well thank you so much XXXXX, i will be sure to ask for you if we decide to go this route. woman leaves kiosk and eats both pumpkin truffles! (which would have cost her $5 if she'd been paying) lisa

ladybug, never had any of those problems with the hersheys cake... hmmmm. oh well, sinclair, thanks for the welcome and the offer of your notes. i am good to go, tho. i do have a q, however, when the chocolate cake round is over, you ARE going to post not only the winner, but any tweaking that was done, right? and personally, i would love to see one of the future bake-offs being a search for the quintessential lemon layer cake! i am the owner of about 25 different recipes, and am still looking...... lisa

my fave blue is montagnolo. mmmmmmm. lisa edited to correct a hideous typo!

i smoke garlic whenever i have the smoker going. i do garlic shish-ka-bob. i de-paper em, peel em then thread a skewer with them. i always do a couple of heads thinking i can use em for a week or so. i never have had any beyond breakfast the next morning!!!!! lisa

k. then i wont tell any of my horror stories! lisa

and btw and fyi, at whole foods (and most other customer friendly stores) you can just about test taste anything in the store, so if youve been interested in some new fruit hybrid or cheese or whatever, ask for a taste. youll be surprised at how many times you will get to taste it! lisa

ok. i am coming late to this thread. i have baked almost every chocolate cake recipe i have come across, and i would love to participate in your project. unfortunately, money and diet present huge obstacles! however, i would like to submit the following for your consideration: for a good old fashioned chocolate cake, IMO, the one on the tin of hersheys cocoa just cant be beat! (i realize that many of you will consider this heresy ) it is never-fail, always perfect and chocolate-y, and people always rave about it and are stunned when i tell them it is off that tin. so check it out if you like and i will be watching for the next great cake baking experiment! lisa