Carrot Top

Is that a song title? Sounds great.

It sounds like a nusstorte simply topped with the toppings you descibe, probably a regional specialty. There are recipes for nusstortes (made without flour or with very minimal amounts) in Viennese cookbooks...they are made with ground walnuts, almonds, or more rarely, hazelnuts. The cake itself is so delicious that you don't want a dense buttercream. Sometimes these are filled with cherry or raspberry preserves and covered with a vanilla flavored whipped cream. Great cake, a classic.

This reminds me of a story told in another thread where the discussion was about the (sorry, guys, gotta use that word) castration of young male lambs. The method I had been instructed to use, when thinking of raising a flock, by the ag coop guy, was to tie a certain part up tight with a rubber band. This method was topped by a guy who was raised on a lamb farm...he said the farmhands used to do the job by a different method...cut open and suck out. I didn't dare ask if they swallowed them.... Isn't this a lovely thread?

Once worked on a project for a new 'cafe' with an inexperienced owner. She was designing the FOH 'look' herself and had decided that the bathrooms needed a poetic touch. She chose the lines of inspirational verse that seemed right (I can not remember what they were now, but do remember that if I was trying to read them while in the bathroom it would either make me laugh or cry...) then directed the painter to artistically scribe them on the walls. Instead of writing the words in a usual sort of pattern in one simple space on the wall, the painter chose to demonstrate artistic merit by painting the words in huge letters, all around the room in a circle. I thought this would be particularly dangerous in the mens room after a glass of wine or two...was imagining the fascination with which the guys would follow the wonderful words round the walls, following each word along with a stream of pee... Ah, well. It was, painted over, the lot of it, before opening.

Thanks for providing the idea for tonight's entertainment, Fifi. Just picked up some chicken feet (all of a sudden they seem to be selling them everywhere, though I haven't seen them in years...maybe the local organic free-range chicken guy has thought to do this?) for stock... My kids will love this 'creative toy idea'. So will the cats, I am sure!

If it's not, it should be. Looks kinda like one besides sounding like one. Wonder what its 'powers' would be. Maybe enticing humans or other pokemon into thinking it was delicious then snapping them shut in its huge shell....

I'm curious...a bit of time has passed, and I wonder if you got an answer from the client as to what her idea of 'hip/urban' vs. 'suburban' food really was...? Also curious as to how you are shaping the menu to meet those expectations, if you've gotten that far yet. It sounds like a fun though possibly frustrating project!

Nice touch, Lucy. I do that too. It allows for an anticipation of hospitality, which is such a vital part of a wonderful meal's experience, even in the everyday way of things. To me, if you ignore or abhor leftovers, you are setting about trying to re-create the wheel each day. Life itself is a continuum of follow-ups from one day to the next...we cannot just throw away yesterday (hah! even though sometimes we may want to! ), so why do it with the food we eat? Leftovers are to the cook what a previously created paint-color is to the artist...interesting, already custom-prepared to taste, and quick to hand. What can't you make with them? Salads of meat and vegetables; crepes filled with chicken, seafood, sauces, topped with grated cheeses; hearty or gentle soups from bones, meat, herbs; baked pasta dishes; eggs of any sort baked or poached and topped...as I go on here it really makes me wonder how one ever manages to find time to start cooking from scratch!

Great answers to this question. All these books have big personalities, don't they....! Here is my list (shortened a bit so as not to rant on...) -'Larousse Gastronomique 1971 edition' (have never seen a better edition so far in mild perusals of newer ones). This was my first real serious cooking tome, and I actually read it from A to Z. Yes, a love affair with an encyclopedia. Takes all kinds, huh?! -MFK Fisher 'The Art of Eating'. What can compare? I've read this book many times over the years, in different locales. My favorite reading of it was in a small chilly apartment in the 9th arrondissement of Paris where I moved with my small dog and no particular intention except to ruin my bank account, one April years ago.... Last year I read 'A Life in Letters', the autobiography of MFK...and although I still love her writings, I wish I had 'kept them straight up' and had not read the underneath of her real life...it sort of sullied the experience somehow (that sounds pretensious but is not meant to be!). -'Food' By Waverly Root. What a mix of history, reality, and knowledge put together with beautiful drawings! -'Auberge of the Flowering Hearth' by Roy Andries de Goot. Great story.... -'Better than Store Bought' by Witty/Colchie. Simple recipes on how to make many things from scratch including cured meats and fresh cheeses. -Evan Jones 'American Food', a fascinating book on the history of American food with some mesmerizingly wonderful recipes such as 'Fried Chicken with Waffles, Ham, and Maple-Cream Sauce' mmmmmmm. -'The Golden Lemon' by Tobias/Morris. Cookbook with a steady stream of great recipes that all include lemon as an ingredient. Can't wait to hunt up some of your listed favorites to take a taste!

My family happens to be two children who seem to require feeding on a two hour schedule yet who do not become overweight so I can not use any excuse not to keep feeding them. It can be sort of wearing, sometimes, though certainly a pleasure I would not give up for anything! So when they are away...for the most part, aside from some excursions into cooking things only I like to eat which end up being enough for twenty people somehow and then have to be eaten endlessly into the future...I'm with bloviatrix...eat out! It's a good opportunity to sit in a restaurant and not worry whether they have anything the kids will like or whether the drink will be spilled...and a chance to actually eat quietly without the constant required spouting of Mom-stuff such as 'your elbow is in the sauce'; 'barbecue sauce does not belong in your hair'; 'I don't care who started kicking who first both of you stop it or you'll both be in for a bigger kick from me'....you know, the general relaxation of a family meal....

It is true that the Brits have a way with a turn of the phrase that is fascinating to Americans...and also true that they have one of the most wide-spread great, lighthearted, odd, senses of humor of any nationality in general that I've ever met! I once came across a list of 'The Best Languages to Insult In' and remember among the top winner was Arabic. You can say some vile things in that language that we don't even have concepts for! I vaguely remember some Balkan languages coming in near the top, too... One wonders if the intensity of insult available in the native tongue is in any way related to the quality of the food available to the natives...

It would be my guess that they stay slim in Paris because they love to talk, to argue, to 'discute'. Do that with enough vigor and the calories just run away...

'Artisan Baking' by Maggie Gletzer is a beautiful volume filled with an interesting variety and assortment of loaves, some of which you will not easily find elsewhere. It also has ratings for the recipes from 'easy' to difficult'. Great book!

← You've got to be spitting mad to write a line like that. Fantastic imagery!

Sorry, but I can not resist answering this one. Will try to keep 'food' in the subject line. Pigs usually end up eating sh**! beans, be grateful you didn't marry him! For every cloud there is a silver lining...

Do you have (food-related) books that you've become so enamoured of that they have held your interest and remained on your shelves for twenty or more years? Divulge their titles, do, so we all can know....

Never heard of a single really good server that liked this idea. Generally they will leave the place for greener pastures where they can operate on the concept of working for a 'bonus' based upon their performance...which is what a traditional 'tip' is. This tip pooling system allows restaurant owners the ability to give lower salaries to many of their workers...based on the idea that 'you will get more from the tip pool...if we all do well operationally...we will all do well financially'. It is assumptive that teamwork is in place, cross-training is in place, and everyone helps everyone else. Hah. It is true that some smaller (usually family owned) restaurants could not make ends meet if they had to account for higher salaries rather than rely on this system. It is also true that unless you know who is controlling and distributing the tip pool and that the information is posted daily as to who is receiving what...you might be surprised to find that even the owners make themselves part of the distribution.

Everyone in this world certainly deserves the chance to become succesful, through whatever means they can beg borrow (no I won't say steal for that is wrong, really) or create. But in the 'becoming successful' at supposedly being a chef through television performance rather than the unfortunate slaving that is a part of any real excellence at anything...can't say I think it possible. A chef must know his/her kitchen, foods, staff, purveyors, on and on endlessly. One of the reasons it is likely that someone like Emeril has done better with the performance of his restaurants is that he did put the time and effort into learning every little tid-bit of information he could about every detail. This takes time. If you get a chance to watch the documentaries of how Emeril puts together a new restaurant project and how Jamie did, you will see a difference. Was this difference made manifest or created by the producers of the shows? I don't know, even that is possible, I imagine. 'Slaving' if it is smart slaving, has its very real benefits. Could be that the 'jump' for Jamie Oliver was so fast that he didn't have the time to be solid on some facts of the full-course meal of operating a restaurant, and entrusted many of the details to people who did not perform well, based on what we are hearing. Yeah, his face and personality got him noticed in the first place...and certainly I would be unhappy too if I paid a pretty penny for the sort of dining experience related. Time will tell if he is a quick enough learner to make the next basket....

It is not a good thing to read of desserts at breakfast time for then you want to EAT THEM

I can't speak for how Jamie Oliver is as a chef for honestly (yes, marlena, this might surprise you) that 'cute' appeal never appealed to me at all and I could never tolerate sitting through an entire half hour of it on TV. Same thing with the books. I don't buy a cookbook because of the face on the cover. But he has done well for himself, so nevertheless I say kudos to him. We all have to use 'what we've got' to make it in this world... The restaurant, though it has his name on it, should not be 'blamed' on him though. He is a chef, not a manager, not a businessperson. Sounds like he needs better partners and better support systems. I feel badly when I read these reports, for this business is magnificently difficult, both professionally and personally.

Poor 'ole West Virginia. I do feel the need to defend it... Not a native, but lived there for four years. It is like a beautiful woman who wears a long loose dress of an unappealing style. And to top it off, she is not rich nor usually terribly well educated. But the charms are there...they are secret and they are not shown easily to 'outsiders'. West Virginia has some of the most gorgeous countryside in the entire world, and you can find decent places and even excellent places to dine. But they are never easily accessible nor even well-touted to the casual traveller... It is a place that is not terribly interested in PR or in visitors! As a state, that may not make them look too great to outsiders, but in a rather old-fashioned way...they only want to answer to themselves.

Personally I adore fennel in any of the varieties of boulliabaisse-like soups or stews. It adds a rich unctousness, a lightly sweet perfume that makes you want to keep on eating and eating... Ha, ha! I actually just started salivating when I wrote that! Saffron...for me is a 'take it or leave it' sort of thing. The expense is bothersome and often I've found it stale at the time of purhcase...

For you non-believers, this can be true. I never drove a car till I was 30 years old, 'cause God knows they can be a time and money consuming liability in Manhattan! Upon learning, I still neglected to learn (till later) how to drive standard transmission and ended up taking a road trip, uh huh, through East Germany and its environs in 1989 with a fellow that did have that skill. A person is REALLY dependent when they can not drive a car. Be nice, Daniel. And remember that ladies need to use the restrooms more often... Edited because I missed the LAST PAGE of posts. Duh. Well...hope it went well!

Make that ten fig newtons, please. I really thought that was going to be the name of this thread..."Do you only eat just one?" No, no, no...!

You might get some additional responses if you de-lurk over in the Europe forum under 'France'... What great fun you will have, with either choice. Enjoy!