Elizabeth Clauser

Does anyone know what the difference is between Pomeroy mustard and, say Dijon or yellow? Is it called something else on the shelf and easy to find? If not, does anyone know where to find it? Help!

I have to throw my hat in that Baking Illustrated is great. I also really like The Secrets of Baking by Sherry Yard and I still have a soft spot for my Fannie Farmer - it's the first baking book I ever bought.

Also, Centre Street Cafe - great brunch; Brendan Behan pub; and Arbor, which is very good, seasonal American although a bit pricey. There is also a brand new place I've been dying to try that's a traditional Salvadoran pupseria, but I forget the name.

"Tell me what I am missing (especially on the cheaper side of things)? Paradiso (still looking for great pizza) In addition to pizza, I still need help finding good bagels/bialys & chinese food." I know more about the Amherst area than NoHo, but my husband grew up in the area and liked Paradiso. However, until they opened one in Providence, my husband insisted on regular trips to Antonio's. It really is the best - and they do a huge by the slice business, so you can try a bunch of different kinds before committing to whole pies. As for Chinese food, Panda East in Amherst is pretty good - they actually do decent sushi as well. I forget the name, but the Chinese place on Main Street by the Black Sheep is pretty good as well. Avoid the place on Route 9 near NoHo with ice cream place in back and Hunan Garden in Amherst at all costs.

I'm making an unexpected trip to Philadelphia this weekend and will be going out to dinner with the in-laws. They are vegetarian, while we are not. We've been to White Dog with them, but would like to try somewhere different. I was looking at Farmicia - anyone have any opinions on this or suggestions for other restaurants? While I love the BYOB concept and would not rule it out, it isn't my preference for this outing. Thanks in advance for any help!

It's not fancy, jacket and tie, kind of place. I'd say jeans are okay, but casual slacks, even like Dockers or something, would probably make you feel more comfortable in your surroundings. If you do wear jeans, balance it with a button up shirt. Troquet is nice, my old boss was from Paris and it was his favorite non-$$$ place to go.

I've been to Meritage twice and the first time (about 1 year ago) I really loved it. We went back last month for my birthday and it was a totally different experience. The wine was good, but the food was moderate. We each did three small plates with matching wines and we each only really enjoyed one of the dishes. The others tasted like, well, hotel food - kind of dry, kind of boring. On top of that, we were charged an extra $120 for a bottle of wine we didn't have. We didn't notice at first (I know that sounds absurd, but it is very expensive there to begin with, and we just thought we were over-exuberant). I called to have it removed and it took over a week for the situation to be resolved. For that kind of money, better food and service are had elsewhere.

There was a diet book out last year that made a little bit of a splash, including an author-appearance on Good Morning America, it was called something like 'The Maker's Diet'. It was basically a diet where people were supposed to eat like they did in Biblical times - live like Jesus to lose weight! kind of thing. Only problem with it (well, not the only problem) is that people who lived 2000 years ago didn't sit on the couch watching FTV. They walked everywhere and did back-breaking physical labor everyday. If I had to walk three miles round trip to wash my clothes or get water or whatever everyday, on top of farming, lugging firewood, and who knows what else, I'm pretty sure I could give my gym membership. Somehow how I doubt getting more manna into my diet is going to help keep me from going to the next size on the clothes rack.

That sounds fantastic! I'm definitely going to give that a go when I start to be overwhelmed by my garden's cherry tomato production this year!

Thanks so much for pointing the way to this! As a fairly new member, I'm still digging around in the archives. It's such a treasure trove of information!

We're a big fan of risottos in my house. The most common one I do is a mushroom one, with a touch of lemon. After that, pea and prosciutto, followed by crab and lemon. I recently began trying variations of butternut squash risotto (I think I'll be doing a version with the squash, bacon, and blue cheese this week to help chase away the cold weather blues). The only thing is, I never feel like my risottos, which taste very good, are quite creamy enough. I don't know if I'm not adding enough liquid or if I've cooked it too fast - it's really very close to what I'd get in a restaurant, but one little thing seems to be slightly off. Anybody else have/had that problem and hopefully have some pointers?

Uggh. I wish I had read that before last night. I made lasagna and unfortunately, had to go with Ronzoni. I always use De Cecco for lasagna, but my store was out and all the other available brands were no-boil. Hence, my only choice was Ronzoni. I even briefly considered just making my own, but having never used fresh for lasagna (and feeling just a little bit lazy), I sucked it up and bought Ronzoni. I didn't find any bugs in the box, but next time I'll make do a penne pasta bake before I buy Ronzoni

I own all three of the ones you are considering, and agree that the Peterson is essential. Between the other two, it's hard to choose, but I think the best way to go is to begin by evaluating what would be most useful to you. The CIA book was one of the first cookbooks I ever bought. It helped me a lot with basic techniques and other pieces of information. It's a very good overview of cooking. I( don't really love the recipes in it anymore because they are very basic and require me to do too much math to break them down for less than 10 people - I'm not a big fan of math ). I didn't come around to the Julia book until a couple of years ago. It also is a very good for building technique, although by definition it is French technique. Overall, I actually find the Julia book to have had more impact on my skill level. I think it's more friendly to the home cook in that it doesn't assume you have the most advanced equipment or that you need to be able to pound a given recipe for two dozen people. I also find the recipes to be more enticing. The down-side is that even though it helps you to build on techniques in a logical way, it does assume at least some knowledge - that and there's a lot of butter, and cream, and did I mention butter? IMHO, I think you should eventually have both. If I had to pick one for somebody, I would pick Julia because I think it's more fun on a day-to-day basis. That said, the CIA is such a valuable resource. I don't envy you the choice, but Good Luck and Bon Appetit!

I'd be curious to know a couple of things from Bobby: Considering that he has some new restaurants opening and more than one show going on, how does he find time to do ICA? How much of his time does it take up? Does he worry that he could be taking on too much to the detriment of the food? (I know my opinion on what the answer is, but I'd be interested in his). Also, concerning ICA, is there a chef he's dying to challenge? Even if you aren't interested in using my questions, I'm delighted that you're doing this. I can't wait to read it! Edited to account for my own grammatical stupidity.

I watch ICA for entertainment, and in that regard it delivered. While the original IC was also a lot of fun, I've been anticipating this version because 1.) being able to understand everything that is going on without having to rely on translators adds to the enjoyment, or at least my enjoyment; 2.) while seeing what each new battle over sea urchin or shark fin might yield in the original, I have to admit that I'm a little bit more excited to see what chefs will do with ingredients that I have more than a passing familiarity with or interest in eating. I do have to disagree with the notion that it would be good to spend more time looking at the challenger's bio/career. It was something I always sort of fumed about in the original; all I could think was, "C'mon and cook already!" I am willing to admit, though, that that could change if there are challengers I am unfamiliar with. Rick Bayless has been a favorite of mine for years and, considering that I live in Boston, Ming Tsai is more than a known quantity - his restaurant is a regular in my rotation (if he doesn't win, I'll start to believe in the rigging theory - he kicks butt!).

Ming Tsai has a couple of "Master Recipes" that make delicious use of kaffir lime leaves, including a Tomato-Kaffir Lime Salsa (very good on salmon burgers) and a Soy-Kaffir Lime Syrup in Simply Ming. I believe that the recipes and suggestions for their use are available at simplyming.com. And, if you can't decide amongst all the fabulous choices people have given you, they do freeze beautifully.

Definitely face-to-face. I agree with the study; when my husband I go out just the two of us, I definitely find it more romantic to be able to make eye contact, hold hands across the table. Seated next to each other, I feel like it's too easy to ignore the other, to feel like we are at a diner or something. Too be honest, I've always found the side-by-side thing a little creepy.

Is Paitti the Italian place on the corner basically across from The Girl & the Fig? ← That's the one. It was part of a chain and I hear 4-5 of them are closing. ← I have to admit that I had one of the worst service experiences of my life when we ate there last spring. Hope you guys get something worthy in its place.

Is Paitti the Italian place on the corner basically across from The Girl & the Fig?

I went to both Napa and Sonoma for the first time last April and I would not feel over-shadowed if I were a Sonoma resident. I had a much more pleasurable time in the Sonoma area. I admit that I didn't get to go TFL (they were closed for renos while Keller concentrated on opening up Per Se), but I actually thought the food was better in Sonoma. The town is more pictaresque and the pace is more relaxed. Also, everything in the Napa valley seems to be on the same god-awful street full of limos and stretch-Hummers ferrying people around. Don't get me wrong, I loved Napa, but in my opinion, Sonoma is a little slice of heaven.

Sadly, I do not know the answer to your question, but will be very interested to hear what it is. I am a fairly confident cook and baker, but one of things not currently in my repertoire is an actual souffle - which I was hoping to make tonight. Unfortunately for me, my local cook's store had a 4 cup and an 8 cup souffle, but the recipe calls for 6 cup (and it's Julia, so I want to use her classic recipe). I'm going to try and hunt down the appropriate size, but I'm worried I won't be able to make my souffle. I have a sneaking suspicion that souffles don't work well outside of the appropriate dish and I hate tinkering with measurements until I've made something at least once (especially not when the original recipe is from a reliable source). As for tart pans, go with the removable bottoms - you will be happier for it.

I have 73, but only because my husband has a conniption when I buy more (I should add that the poor man is drowning in a sea of cooking magazines and printed recipes, as well. Not to mention my fetish for fiction and non-fiction unrelated to cooking). I have started sneaking cookbooks into my house when he isn't looking

I think that most disturbing show on FTV at this point has to be Semi-HomeCooking. This show encourages people to think that using pre-packaged foods and adding a couple of frills somehow qualifies as cooking. It reminds me of all the recipes you see out the 1950s, not to mention my mom's cooking - she is a firm believer that the best food you can have starts with a can of condensed mushroom soup