kitwilliams

Which brings me back to my pet peeve: 1) why don't all American cookbook authors get on the metric (may as well go metric as it is even more accurate than ounces/pounds) bandwagon; and 2) why don't the rest of us get with it, buy scales, weigh our ingredients and this problem will just go away! Sorry gang. It makes me insane!

Well! You've all been extremely helpful, not to mention the fact that you've saved me $500! I'm glad to know that my sturdy, old models of KAs are still the best. You've made me very happy! Thanks.

I love my KitchenAids (yes, plural: two 5-qts. and one 12-qt. Hobart). Granted, there are things I'd love to change, but when I am working with my KitchenAid, we are as one. However, the 7-qt. Viking is so beautiful. Just wondering if anyone here is using it and, if so, what you think of it so far. Thanks.

Get yourself a copy of Michel Roux's book, simply titled, "Eggs". I have a copy on the way and it looks to be one of the best single-subject cookbooks I've ever seen. edited to ask if anyone has the book and, if so, what do you think of it?

Thanks for the empathy, Dorie, and the insights into this dilemma from both you and Dan. And if anyone out there in egulletland is writing a baking book in the future, I am now available for hire in order to test and convert your recipes!

I can tell we think alike, sanrensho. This is my pet peeve: baking and pastry books (cookery books as well) with measurements by volume alone. And, correct me if I'm wrong, it seems to only be relevant in US published cookbooks. The dumbing down of Americans. When will we ever get on the metric bandwagon? I have a question: when American cookbooks are published in other countries, do they convert from volume to weight and add metric equivalents? ← Check out Chocolate and Zucchini -- today's entry addresses this very issue and offers an invaluable chart of conversions. ← Thanks for posting this, bushey (although the link didn't work for me but choc and zucchini is easy to find). A very informative post by Clotilde and I hope it helps a lot of Americans. But what I truly hope is that everyone over here will get on the weight measurement bandwagon, be it metric or the good old avoirdupois system (ounces and pounds), particularly in baking where accuracy can make a huge difference. A note on Clotilde's measurements. Flour. AP flour measurements differ according to recipe instructions: sifted? lightly spooned? dip-and-sweep? All require different weights. Cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour...all different weights (as everyone here most likely knows). I simply want to promote accuracy in baking and get more folks to buy themselves a scale, making their baking attempts so much more likely to work out well so that home baking becomes easier and not so difficult for so many. And hey! Scales promote the use of fewer bowls and utensils and so not as many dishes to wash!

Spray ring. Or brush with melted butter. Freeze it. Spray or butter again. Works like magic. Best of all for popping madeleines out of their pans.

I can tell we think alike, sanrensho. This is my pet peeve: baking and pastry books (cookery books as well) with measurements by volume alone. And, correct me if I'm wrong, it seems to only be relevant in US published cookbooks. The dumbing down of Americans. When will we ever get on the metric bandwagon? I have a question: when American cookbooks are published in other countries, do they convert from volume to weight and add metric equivalents?

I agree that Surfas is fun but I also concur with dfunghi and Carolyn about the cons of Surfas. Service can be non-existent or downright rude. Personally, I don't like the new store layout. They seem have sacrificed some of their inventory in favor of their appearance. Disappointing. I do, of course, feel badly for their troubles... I've ordered a few items from Bridge Kitchenware and had them shipped to California and the price was still better than Surfas. Bridge also carries items that Surfas does not (note: they do not carry food products).

I WANT MEASUREMENTS BY WEIGHT!!!! (or include all options: pounds, metric and volume). (This remark is pointed at US authors/publishers.) Sorry for the shouting...it's my pet peeve! I want explanations. When a recipe tells you to do something a certain way, I want to know why -- and what will happen if I do it a more common way? If a cookbook author wants my trust, they need to let me know that THEY know why they are doing something that certain way, not just because another chef/instructor told them to do it that way with no explanation as well. Pictures are lovely but I don't need them. I want good recipes, not a picture-perfect coffeetable book. I love a little bit of history preceding the recipe...how they developed the recipe, where they were when they first experienced the dish, and what makes it so good that they wanted to includ it in their book.

forgive me if someone else within the last ten pages posted this link, but, as is the case with weebl and bob, Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Pie! Pie pie pie pie pie pie pie.

Yes, aren't they gorgeous? I look forward to hearing if you find anything in your book, alanamoana. Thanks.

Nothing but good thoughts for you, Anne. And thanks for starting this thread...though not going through the same situation as you, this info is very timely for me...thanks to all of you who added your experiences and opinions.

Thanks for your helpful insight, alamoana and chefpeon. Will pass it along and see if I can get hold of the picture to post. I think this is a photo:

I got the following message from a friend. Can anyone help out here with a recipe for luobo? "hey there........could you do me a favor? when you are on egullet, could you possibly ask for a recipe for Luobo......it is a chinese daikon pastry........they serve it in dum sum restaurants.........my friend was in chegdu and had it......she sent me a picture and it looks very interesting." Any information/recipes greatly appreciated! Thanks.

My favorite sweet, the Dacquoise, Gives the epicure reason for puoise*. Be it lemon or coffee, Sides coated with toffee, It leaves connoisseurs ooh-ing their uoise*. (* yeah, it's a stretch, unless you have Buoiston accent!)

Just add lemon curd to your favorite French buttercream recipe. To a recipe including 24 ounces of butter, I think I add about a cup of lemon curd. Start testing it after a half cup or so, keeping in mind that it will be a much milder flavor than the curd itself, and don't go too far and add too much or it'll curdle on you. Make lots of curd or just make lots of lemon buttercream -- they both freeze well -- as you'll be wanting to make another one soon!

Lemon dacquoise is fabulous this time of year. It kind of fakes you out as the lemon flavor makes you feel as if you're not TRULY eating all that buttercream! Depending on what I have, I use either hazelnut or almond (or sometimes a mixture of the two) dacquoise. Lemon buttercream between and on top and a layer of straight lemon curd on top of the top layer of buttercream. Press sliced and toasted almonds or chopped toasted hazelnuts all 'round.

Yup -- no starch in custard. There is a classic custard recipe in The Joy of Cooking (I think it is simply called "cup custard" in the book) which my mother would always quadruple by using a half gallon of milk which would give us enough for dessert for our family of seven -- with enough left for my dad for his breakfast the next morning. She baked it in one large, deep Corningware casserole dish. So good warm, but oh, once it was icy cold it was so deliciously soothing. Here is that same recipe which I found online.

Perhaps a coffeecake or scones or, depending on skill level, brioche which they could bake off and have for their breakfast the morning of their sleepover... a big tray of thin brownies which you could sandwich together with your homemade ice cream... it's summer...fruit pie? mmmmmmmmmmmmm. pie.

One of the best iced coffees i've ever had is also one of the easiest...if you have access to the secret ingredient: Trablit. A French coffee extract/reduction whateveryouwanttocallit. Tall glass. Ice. Milk (whole milk only for me). Enough Trablit to color or taste, whichever is more important to you (color is very important in iced coffee, particularly when served in a glass!). Trablit has a bit of sugar in it but I've found that friends who don't sugar their coffee love this and don't mention that it tastes too sweet for them. If you can find Trablit, try it. I think I'll try it in a milkshake today.

Beautiful! We made something very similar in pastry class a few years ago, although our cake base was a very thin layered white chocolate/almond cake which made a nice contrast to the creamy mousse. And yes, people love the wow factor! I once made this cake for a small wedding party (8 of us) who went to a restaurant in Santa Barbara after the wedding. I'd taken the cake to the restaraunt ahead of time, the box taped open so as not to smash the white chocolate curls. Someone at the restaurant decided to close the box completely so all the curls were smashed to smithereens.

Nancy Silverton's Bouchon (they are called "Crotin de Chocolate" in her pastry book although the recipe was published in the LA Times and called "Bouchon"), are hands-down much better than Keller's. Don't be put off by the fact that they are leavened with yeast: they're really quite simple to make and are so dense and amazingly chocolatey and not too sweet. I've been making these for years but felt compelled to try the Bouchon Bouchon which I found weak in comparison to Silverton's. I'd be curious to hear your comparison of the two versions!

Perhaps it is touristy, but if you find yourself in Grasmere, follow your nose to the Grasmere Gingerbread shop. More a cookie/biscuit than a cake-type gingerbread, the smell is amazing and there is not much better on a chilly afternoon with a good cup of tea. My favorite lake in the lake district is Buttermere. Good story about the Maid of Buttermere...Maid of Buttermere and The Fish Hotel

I think this was discussed in the previous thread -- that the pink boxes are more standard here in California than in the rest of the country -- but as a general rule, the pink boxes are flimsier and LESS expensive, the white much more substantial, so I always used to purchase the heavier white boxes, until Restaurant Depot quit carrying them! Personally, I think that pink is just gawd-awful! And I think a little originality in packaging is needed. Baker & Spice in London have fabulous new packaging in a gorgeous, rich orange with black. http://bakerandspice.jhadmin.net/default.asp?section=160 How about a buttery-yellow box with chocolate brown ribbon/string? Coffee-colored box? Something a little more appetizing than that horrid pink!!