winetlv

A friend of mine brought an appetizer once that made us cringe when we heard the ingredients, but weep with pleasure once we tried it. She took a wheel of Brie (which I don't care for), cut it into sections and put slices of Granny Smith apple in between. Then she covers this combo with brown sugar and walnuts, and bakes until it becomes a soft gooey mass and the sugar melts. Served with more raw apple slices and crackers, it's delicious! Tina

Oh, I have two, is that cheating? Too bad. The first was my very first attempt at carpaccio of beef. With tips from a foodwino list friend, I salt-seared a lovely cube of beef, then froze it for a 1/2 hour before guests came. Served it sliced paper-thin with baguette, capers, wedges of lemon, and a thin light mustard sauce. It was absolutely heavenly! The second was a batch of the richest, most sublime cookies made by a friend of mine. Dark chocolate cookies with a hint of espresso in them, bitter chocolate chunks embedded, and cherries that had been soaked in cherry liqeuer. Decadent! tlv