finnfann

Update -- tried again and now get through to the answering machine! Sorry to alarm anyone. For what it's worth, I tried about 6 times earlier, over the course of a couple of hours.

Trying to call for a reseravation at OX and the phone number on the website is out of service. Can anyone confirm -- is it still open? Different phone number? Thanks!

LOL! I had the same experience this spring! I think I'll sign up to contribute my milk to this. I'm weaning my son right now. For the past many months, I've been living without dairy, because he's lactose intolerant, chocolate, because he's, well, clearly he's not really my son if he can't tolerate chocolate and sparkling beverages which upset his tummy too. I've also had to limit my caffeine intake. I can't stand the fact that once I can finally start enjoying these things again, I have to start watching what I'm eating because I'm no longer eating for two. Maybe this is the answer I've been looking for.

I can't believe that no one has said anything about Blais's faux pas during the quick fire. Didn't anyone notice that he double dipped in the avacado salsa or whatever it was. He tasted the dish and stuck the spoon right back in to stir it some more. As soon as Blais did that, my husband said something about how there would be pages of posts about it. Oh well, I guess he was wrong. I was amused how the losing team actually thought that they should cook for the masses and not for the judges. It was ok that the corndogs were soggy because what does middle America care?

He's right that that's a particular peeve of mine, and fails to mention the other peeve -- that the not-quite-hot-enough water is served in the same carafe or mug that was just used for someone's coffee -- although I suppose that's off topic. Plattetude's mother has taken to bringing her own teabags to restaurants after one too many experiences where the place has a lovely basket of herbal "tea" bags and all she wants is a cuppa plain black tea. On one occasion, the server remarked of her teabag (was it twinnings darjeeling or plain old Lipton, I'm not sure) "oh, you like cheap tea." To which, I believe, she responded "I like TEA." Neither she nor I would have an issue paying the standard tea service price for the chance to use our own tea, but given my analness, I've just given up on having tea out, with limited exceptions. -Plattetude's wife

I got silicone cupcake/muffin cups and Dorie Greenspan's Baking book, both for Christmas. I have made her chocolate cupcakes in them a few times, and have not had a problem. I did not spray them with Pam. l will post back as I try them for other things.

About twelve years ago, my husband made macaroni and cheese on Superbowl Sunday and it has become our tradition to do so. Every year it's a little different mix of cheeses, but almost always with a little blue for some zing. Over the years, we have come to turn it into a little party, with 6 or 8 friends joining us, which is great, except that it cuts into my leftovers. We try to balance the mac & cheese with some somewhat healthy appetizers, but there has to be guacamole. A couple of years ago, I guess with the addition of the wild card games, the Superbowl got pushed a week or so later, so that it falls in the first week of February. This suits me just fine as it now lands on or near my birthday. My present to myself every year is making my own cake -- I love to bake and don't have much opportunity to make cakes. This year I'm planning to do Dorie Greenspan's Devil's Food White Out Cake.

Hmmm. I was getting ready to post that I love, love, love my Braun, and I attempted to google it to include a link and it seems that they now only make it in plastic. The one I have is like this, but stainless: http://braun.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/15...er-Kettles.html In fact, on the home page for the store, it's shown in stainless. Who knows, maybe you can find it somewhere on the internet in stainless.

I'm also a fan of OXO, except for this measuring cup! I agree re: it's harder to clean because of the crease and because it's plastic. My other issue with it has always been that often when I measure things in it (like the buttermilk for my beloved pancake recipe), the next recipe step is to whisk the wet ingredients, which is impossible to do well because of the crease. edited to fix the quote

Agreed, one of the top places in town. I love the blue cheese empanadas and can practically taste them in my mind as I type. We had a bit of fun last fall by ordering the roast suckling pig when going with a bunch of friends. Frankly, while it was a neat experience and quite festive, I enjoyed the regular entrees we had enjoyed at our prior visit more. Enjoy!

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the Sil-Pin, silicone coated rolling pins. Is there any merit to the non-stick claims? They have a variety of styles, including the "baker's" version without handles. The one pictured here: http://www.sil-pin.co.uk/default.asp does not appear to be tapered but I thought I saw tapered ones at the store.

I've been meaning to post for a while that I have ordered from SpecialTeas several times: http://www.specialteas.com/ They have a very big selection and everything I have ordered has arrived in great shape. Shipping is super fast. I ordered 3 or 4 different teas one day last week and they arrived the next day.

Just found this thread as I was thinking about my baking this past weekend. I have made the Cook's Illustrated Crumb Cake probably half a dozen times since the issue arrived at home 2 1/2 months ago. I picked up some Ceylon Cinnamon at a spice shop near my office and tried using that in it. Here's the thing. I didn't like it as much. I felt that the flavor of the supermarket cinnamon was a lot bolder, but not too bold. It contrasted with the sweetness of the crumb better. Has anyone else done any experimenting? Do you prefer one over the other in certain applications? Incidentally, the CI crumb cake recipe is really good.

I whole heartedly agree with the restaurants recommendations made by others here. I just wanted to add that while Elysian is close to the 14th Street Ferry, that ferry has fairly minimal service off rush hour. We had my son's Baptism party at Gaslight and were very pleased with it. How about the uptown Charritos? The downtown one would probably be too small, but the uptown one has the same issues regarding distance from the PATH. You could also suggest that the guests take the bus, which will give you more flexibility.

Agreed -- this is a great addition to Hoboken. I stopped in yesterday and was amazed by the produce, fish and cheese selections. One caution -- watch your cashier when the produce goes by. I don't think they are trying to pull fast ones, they are just clueless. My regular green squash rang up at $8.99 a pound, not the $1.99 it was supposed to be. My husband had a similar experience with his tomato ringing up as a $9.99/lb heirloom. Hopefully they cashiers will soon learn their produce codes. I am really happy to have a good fish counter back in town!

I totally agree with this. It seemed unreasonable to have the judges eat in the height of service at the diner, and then stroll into the Italian restaurant after everyone else had been served. I would have been really annoyed if they axed Cliff based on his FOH shortfalls without giving consideration to their own timing.

Thanks so much for the link to the blog! It's very informative!

I'm so glad I found this topic. I had this experience with a can of Eagle sweetened condensed milk last night. I called my source for all baking related answers (mom) and she said she's had this too, used the can anyway and we've all lived to tell. But then she asked me a question. Is there any difference between the Eagle Sweetened condensed milk and the Magnolia? Magnolia is usually cheaper. Is Eagle better? So, now I'm coming to my other source for all baking related answers. Tell me -- what have your experiences been with the two? Do you have a preference?

Okay, this is really making me cranky. The Copperhead sounds amazing, and like it would be right up my street. I stopped into Pegu last night to treat myself to a drink after some Christmas shopping in SoHo. I could not believe how crowded it was at 8:45 on a Tuesday night. I told the host I would try to get a seat at the bar, and she suggested that if I couldn't, she would get me a table. The bar was packed, and the only empty bar stool appeared to belong to a woman who had stood up to suck face with her date. I returned to the front in hopes of getting that promised table, but the host was gone. I cased the place for a few more minutes, hoping that maybe that couple had decided to get a room, but alas. Back up to the front I went, but the host still had not returned (not that there were many tables available either). I walked out with my thirst unquenched. Please someone share those proportions so I can make my husband make me a Copperhead.

Thanks for the feedback. We wound up ordering from Precious and a place called Asia, selected because the menu was so similar to Front Page's menu the my husband was convinced it was the same owner (he was wrong). We ordered a few basics from each place so we could compare. While Precious was way better than Asia, it was not as good as Front Page (sigh). The chicken & broccoli wasn't bad, but the pork dumplings left quite a bit to be desired. It took longer to arrive than Front Page would have and longer than Asia did, and the portions were not as big. The c&b from Asia was pretty awful, and the dumplings, well, why bother? And to answer the question as to why I wouldn't just go to Chinatown, Chinese is a convenience food for this busy family, one that is fresh, cheap and involves multiple food groups (note, I did not say "healthy"). We know that if we don't have the time or energy to cook, it will be on the table in 20 minutes (okay, 40 in the case of Precious). I'm sure we'll try Precious again, and maybe keep looking around.

Ever since Front Page in Hoboken closed last month (for renovations, to reopen as a sushi-only spot, because we need more of them), I can't bring myself to order Chinese food. We've been order FP since they opened 14 or so years ago. I tried searching the NJ forum for any thoughts on Hoboken Chinese food and the only thing I came up with in the past 18 months was my husband's recommendation of Front Page and Markk's comment that the Chinese food in town is all too sweet. Does anyone have any suggestions for other places to try? A poll on a Hoboken based website had Precious and Hoboken Cottage as the top vote getters, but the voters are not necessarily eGers, so I thought I'd ask you. Thanks.

I too was very excited to see an article about tea on the front page of the food section of the Times. I'm curious about the new fangled teabags, although I don't remotely have a problem with the 4 minutes it takes my precious Ceylon Pettiagala to steep to my liking each morning (conveniently, my husband likes his french press coffee steeped for the same 4 minutes). Nor do I have a problem cleaning up soggy tea leaves (those coffee grinds are another story). Nevertheless, I was intrigued enough about the new Lipton offerings to check out their website. As the Times article indicates, 5 of the 6 new products are "flavored" teas, just one is a pure black tea. Okay, I like a little hint of vanilla in my tea from time to time, so I thought I would delve a little deeper. Alas, the vanilla tea is "Vanilla caramel truffle" and lists among its ingredients cornstarch, but no vanilla, although I suppose the vanilla may be part of the "natural flavorings." I'll stick to my Ceylon.

Is Venue gone? I just called for a reservation for this Saturday (called because they are no longer listed on Open Table) and the number is no longer in service. Bummer.

I agree completely about this episode being a waste of time. I also have to say that while I can't stand Stephen, my opinion of him changed when I read in Lee Anne's blog that she thought he was a "stand-up guy" or something like that. It made me think that he was playing a role and the editors were having a field day with him.

I tried out the Williams Sonoma press this weekend, and it's pretty good. It seems to work better with some shapes than others (or maybe it's just me). The trees are beautiful, as are the candy canes. The angels/butterflies (hard to tell which they are) dropped a bit less consistently, as did the snowmen. I may try to do another batch so I can try some more shapes. Also, my mother gave me an extra camel disk from one of her Mirro sets, and it's the same size as the ones for my new press, so I would like to see if that works. I'll keep you posted!