Pat W

Yes, please!!! pat w.

I'm gazing at these with tears of longing. They look & sound incredible. pat w.

I still read this forum but haven't had much time to bake or post lately. I just had to add my name to the chorus. This book is indeed destined to become a classic. (And has there ever been a nicer author?) I have other baking books but this one has become my friend. By the way, I gave our daughter, who is our family's master baker, a copy & she too, is smitten. (A happy thing for us, since she shares!) pat w

You had leftover roasted cauliflower???? I am in awe of your self control. OK, that looks scrumptious. I suspect I'll be roasting cauliflower just to give this a try. I have to say that combining roasted cauliflower with risotto was truly an inspired act. Thank you for sharing this. pat w.

Abra, That is a spectacularly intimidating bunch of cookies. They are beautiful! What does one have to do to get on your gift list? Did you use Chufi's recipe on the Dutch cooking thread for the Speculaas? I am in awe of you. pat w.

First of all, thank you Michael M. for the recipes. It's going to be fun to try the Cuccidati. I have one question about the filling. When you say "homogeneous", do you mean evenly ground together, or ground until something closer to a puré? About the Kourambiedes (aka Greek Butter Cookies), they are a lot like Mexican Wedding Cakes, but without the nuts. There undoubtedly hundreds of versions, here is the one we make. Kourambiedes 2 Cups sweet butter. at room temperature. 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted. 1 egg yolk 1 1/2 Tablespoons cognac or brandy. 4 1/2 Cups cake flour, sifted twice. Confectioner's sugar for rolling. Preheat oven to 350. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until thick & lemon lemon colored. Add confectioner's sugar gradually, then egg yolk, then brandy. By hand, gradually work in enough flour to make a soft dough that will roll easily in the palm of the hand without sticking. If a little sticky, chill for an hour or so. Gently pat & shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet & bake about 15 minutes or until sandy colored (not browned). Cool on racks. When still warm, but not hot, roll in confectioners sugar. When completely cool, sift a little more over the top. If mixed gently, they turn out very melt-in-your-mouthy & with a lovely, delicate, not too sweet flavor. pat w. *By the way,This recipe originally came from the 1961 New York Times Cook Book. I have changed the wording & format a little. Also the original recipe gives the option of studding each cookie with a whole clove before baking.

61 degrees here yesterday & 12 degrees this morning. Time to turn on the oven. I hadn't heard of Cuccidati before, but they sound right up our alley. It would be great to see the recipe. The things we traditionally make are; Chinese Almond cookies, Brown Sugar Shortbread Stars, Candied Orange Peel, Moravian Spice Cookies, Kourambiedes, Chocolate Peanut Clusters & of course, the decorated-cut into shapes-frosted-vanillaly cookie (being insufficiently caffeinated at the moment, the name escapes me). I used to make Pfefferneuse every year, but somehow lost my favorite recipe & haven't found one quite like it. Happily my daughter & daughter-in-law now help with the baking. We all usually try to make one or two new things every year. Last year I tried the Coconut Cranberry Chews & they were a big hit. I'll be making them again this year. I'm pretty sure the recipe came from this thread, but I'm having trouble finding it. I think Michael M's Cuccidati might be my first choice for "new cookie" this year. pat w.

Hello Chufi & greetings from Nebraska. I found this thread late in the game. (You can imagine how long it took me to read through it from the beginning) It's a wonderful thread! I knew very little about Dutch cooking and I see that I was much the poorer for it. Apronstrings, your gorgeous picture has me dreaming about the gevulde koeke. Could you tell me what kind of sugar you used? The "soft sugar" still has me confused. pat w.

You are sooo not alone on the intervention thing. That's one good looking cookie! pat w.

I am very fond of both the "Chimayo" & "Dixon medium hot" chile powders. While I haven't found a mail order source for the Chimayo, I get my Dixon chile from thechileshop.com (http://www.thechileshop.com/) I've had nothing but positive experiences with them. (And the Dixon med hot chile is really excellent.) pat w.

I had planned on making the coconut tea cake last night, but didn't have enough eggs. (Between butter & eggs, are we all keeping the dairy industry afloat, or what!) I did have the ingredients for the Swedish visiting cake, so I gave that a try & it was an excellent choice. Once again, easy & a lot of fun to make. It has a different, but quite lovely texture & the bit of crunch at the edges makes it a little slice of heaven. It is pretty rich, so instead of devouring multiple giant pieces, we've been limiting ourselves to multiple medium pieces. (The second picture was taken last night, sadly there is now but a fraction of the cake remaining.) pat w.

I'm happy to hear a second opinion on these muffins. They look wonderful! pat w.

That was a very persuasive argument. It looks like I'll be looking into digital scales. pat w.

I debated about the same thing when I made this a couple of days ago. I settled on the measuring cups I use for dry ingredients & the cake was perfect. pat w.

I made the Holiday Bundt Cake last night & it's another winner! Putting it together took a little longer than I had expected & by the time it was done, the clock was striking midnight. When it first came out of the pan it looked like it was on the verge of falling apart. After it cooled, I added the maple glaze & chopped pecans, covered it with foil, went to bed & hoped for the best. The cake elves must have come during the night, because when I uncovered it this morning it had firmed up nicely. As usual, Dorie hit upon the perfect mix of flavors. The only problem with this cake is that it's a little too tasty. Everyone who has tried it ends up sneaking back into the kitchen to filch another piece. By tomorrow morning I fear there will be nothing left but crumbs & happy memories. pat w.

I am distracted by the photo of the blueberry pie every time I see it. (Which is frequently, since it's also on the spine.) Can it be made with frozen blueberries, or would the quality of the pie be significantly degraded? Break my heart, if you must. pat w.

The Blueberry Crumb Cake turned out to be one of those foolproof recipes that woefully underestimates the fool. Every last one of my blueberries sunk to the bottom. It may have been because I was betrayed by my oven. I usually monitor the temperature with an oven thermometer & adjust accordingly, but last night I got distracted. When the timer went off, the temp had dropped to 320 & the cake needed another 6 or 7 minutes. I was depressed about this until we tried a piece. It may not have been photogenic, but it certainly was tasty. The fine tuning of flavoring in Dorie's recipes continues to amaze me. 1/4 tsp of this & 1/8 tsp of that doesn't sound like it will do much, but the end result is lovely. I'm so glad I behaved & didn't gleefully toss in a little extra as I am wont to do. I want Dorrie to know how much I appreciate her sharing such wonderful recipes, so esthetically pleasing to make. Except at Christmas, I'd gotten away from baking. We are often so beat when we get home, that dinner has been about all that I could manage (or so I thought). Thanks to this enthusiastic thread, I bought the cookbook and thanks to Dorrie, I've rediscovered how much pleasure I get out of baking. Now about those shrinking jeans..... pat w.

Boy, does your photo make me wish I were one of your co-workers! The Lemon Poppy Seed muffins are on my rapidly growing "must do" list. Have you nibbled at the edge of one yet? Do they taste as good as they look? I couldn't agree more with your "This whole thing is becoming quite addictive" observation. pat w.

I guess this would go under the "you can teach an old dog new tricks...sort of.." heading. After having successfully used the same buttermilk biscuit recipe for more than 30 years, I thought I would try one from this book. As luck would have it, we were out of buttermilk, so I went with the Basic Biscuits. I did the "working the butter in with your fingers" thing, which in theory sounded like a satisfying way to mix. In practice I found myself rinsing off gunky fingers and reaching for my trusty old pastry blender. (It was the first time I've attempted the finger thing, will try it again next time.) The dough needed at least a quarter of cup or so more milk (using U.S. flour) than the recipe called for to come together. It kneaded beautifully, but after being patted out to 1/2 inch yielded only 7 1/2 biscuits. This confused me. The new, extra sharp biscuit cutter I used was about 2 3/4 inch as opposed to my regular 2 1/2 inch, but it doesn't seem that like that should have caused such a dramatic difference in yield. An old friend of ours, who has an uncanny ability to show up at our doorstep whenever I have biscuits in the oven, knocked on the door just as the timer went off. (I haven't a clue how he does this, but it's been going on for more than twenty-five years.) He was, to say the least, smitten with the biscuits. Kept bubbling on about the lovely crisp outsides and the fluffy, flaky insides. I have to admit, the texture was perfect, exactly as he described. They were very good, but I think I will like the buttermilk version even better. Having said that, what could possibly be more deliciously decadent than the sour cream pecan version? Will almost certainly try them next. The photo doesn't do the buttered one justice. Bad angle & I'm not all that great with a flash. pat w.

OK, that was the one thing that confused me in the recipe. It said to place the 9X13 pan on a baking sheet. Does this make the pan heat more evenly? I still can't quite grasp why on a baking sheet is better than the pan in the oven by itself. This is a really wonderful cookbook. I'm so happy I was seduced in to buying it by this thread. Thank you for making it so beautiful and accessible. pat w.

I made the Applesauce Spice Bars last night. What a success! They are definitely a 10 on the yummy scale. Perfectly spiced & the apples, pecans & raisins give them a wonderful texture. They were also fun to make. I just ate another one to make sure I wasn't exaggerating. I hope you appreciate the lengths to which I will go to insure accuracy. pat w.

We just got home, completely beat, & there on the front porch was my package from Amazon. (I actually opened the box before I poured a nightcap.) The book is beautiful! To anyone still teetering on the brink, all I can say is: "Jump, Jump!". When we finally got home, after working so painfully late, all I cared about was falling into bed. Well, it's forty minutes later, I am still not ready to put this book down. I am inspired. How tragic that I won't be able to try out anything until Sunday. Must reluctantly go to bed now. pat. w

I'm with you on that one. I thought I'd wait till it hit Costco in Canada but it's getting very hard to be patient. ← Yes, this would have been a great Christmas idea & I tried my best to hold out for it. But after wavering for at least a week, I broke down & placed the order. I couldn't help myself. I think it was the biscuits that finally did me in. pat w.

Oh dear, I find myself seduced once again by an eGullet thread. I just placed my order on Amazon. Those biscuits may not be as high as you had hoped, but between your photos and your description, there is no doubt that I'll be dreaming about them tonight... along with the world Peace cookies and anything Patrick has ever photographed. I can't wait to jump in. pat w.

Thank you. I apologize for this being off topic, but when I read the posting entry in the help files I couldn't find anything about adding links or photos. I have a sinking feeling that I'm missing something that is in plain sight. Is there somewhere else I should be looking? pat w.