juliachildish

I, too, am in the Northeast U.S. and very tempted to make a pumpkin pie with actual pumpkins...did you only need one for that pie? About how many pounds was it? I'm curious as to what size/how many I'd need to come up with 2 cups of puree...

Well, I'm a little late with this, but...so I held a brunch party a couple weekends ago. I served omelettes, buttermilk waffles, and (from Dorie's book), lemon cream, raspberry coulis, choco-banana bread, buttermilk biscuits, rugelach, the blueberry crumb cake, and the cran-apple crisps. Unfortunately, I was too involved in the cooking to get pictures, so I delegated the camera to one of the guests, who utterly failed. So I only have a couple, which don't show much. This shows the remnants of a fruit plate, plus two of the cran-apple crisps (which I made both in the mini individual serving sizes and in a cake pan), and the lemon cream and raspberry coulis. Oh, and in the back you can kind of see the blueberry crumb cake. And this one shows the choco-banana bread, with rugelach kind of in the background. Sooo the verdicts: the buttermilk biscuits (not pictured) were fabulous. Both ridiculously easy (and fast) and really delicious-they were too quickly devoured for a picture. The blueberry crumb cake was very good, although I think my oven has issues, because the middle sunk a little and the edges were dry. The cran-apple crisps were extremely delicious-the coconut and ginger in the topping are a touch you don't often see in crisp toppings, but I think they really added a lot. The lemon cream is the recipe I was already using before I got this book (found it on egullet!) and it was ridiculously delicious as always. I had some difficulty rolling up the rugelach-I think either I rolled it too thin or had too much topping, or some combination of the two. I've never been particularly good at that kind of thing. But they were presentable enough, and addictively delicious. I kind of modified the filling and used dried cranberries, walnuts, and chocolate, which I think worked very well-the flavors melded so nicely that people couldn't figure out what was in them. But we ran out of these the fastest. The cocoa-banana bread was probably my least favorite-not that it wasn't good, and my guests still raved over it. But I modified my favorite banana bread recipe a long time ago to be chocolately, and I think I like my version better-it's moister and more banana-y. I think the buttermilk flavor was a little too prominent for me, even though I normally love buttermilk things. Oh, and I also made the applesauce spice bars, and the tarte tatin. The tarte tatin turned out delicious and was too quickly devoured for a picture-however, I had some issues unmolding it. But that was really my fault, because I'm working in a dorm kitchen and didn't have a serving platter to unmold it on, so I had to use a plate which was about the same size as the skillet and I spilled a fair amount of the caramel juices-alas! The applesauce spice bars were incredible. I, like others, would not have tried these had I not read everyone's rave reviews. The entire sheet was devoured in under an hour by four people-that's how good these were. I think I cooked the glaze too long, though, even though I followed the directions. But I realized after looking at it that it kind of resembled the soft ball stage of caramel almost, and thus didn't spread very well. But it was delicious nonetheless. I'm hoping to make the Russian Grandmother's apple cake soon, because my boyfriend's mother left him with 20+ apples for no apparent reason. They're "macoun" apples-anyone know if those are good to cook with?

I can't remember if those are the right measurements, but whatever it said in the book was what I used and didn't have a problem. It's a very thin coating, to be sure-just enough to candy them, not enough to make them into a caramel-type topping. What do you mean when you say they were 1/3 coated? I just stirred them around in the sugar water and then cooked them down until the sugar turned white and then back to caramel, and the peanuts emerged with a thin sugary caramel coating. And even if they're not coated when you first cook them in, once you stir them around while the sugar is cooking, I think that should achieve a fairly even coating. Does that help at all? If not, Dorie can probably give a better answer than me.

I got the book last Wednesday and couldn't stop reading through it! I've already made several things, and would have made more if my boyfriend hadn't forcibly restrained me. Here are the Snickery Squares. They're delicious, though very rich. I had a little (or a lot) of trouble cutting them, as you can see...I think I should have put foil in the pan, because even though the shortbread didn't stick, it was just hard to pry them out, especially once the chocolate on top had hardened. My boyfriend loves these, and he usually hates nuts, so that's a definite endorsement. I also made the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, the name of which I don't actually have in front of me...these were addictively good. These were actually even better the next day-I think the flavors melded together more, and they were soooo good. The peanut butter was just barely distinguishable, but it and the oatmeal kept them from being as sweet as regular chocolate chip cookies are. I seriously could not stop eating these. Tonight I'm making the Tarte Tatin-the recipe seems so easy, but I've actually never made one before, and Dorie's recipe seems like a perfect place to start...and then this weekend I'm hosting a brunch party, and at it I plan to serve, among other things, the buttermilk biscuits, the coco nana bread, the blueberry crumb cake, the cran-apple crisps, and the rugelach. I figured it was a good way to try out lots of recipes at once! I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite baking books. Thanks so much Dorie!

Actually no, I didn't really have a problem getting it out of the pans. I'm assuming it looks like that because of the darker areas on parts of the cake? Those are from ground walnuts that were spread in the pans-I did have a problem getting the walnuts to go up on the sides of the pan, which is why the darker areas are uneven and don't cover the sides. So I did have problems! They just didn't include getting it out of the pan...And the crumbs and cracks are just because I decided to move the whole cake to another plate to serve it, and it collapsed a little on the way.

Two cakes I made, and have been snacking on since: One, for a friend who doesn't like cake and doesn't like buttercream, was two layers of Alice Medrich's cocoa brownies with peanut butter frosting in the middle and American powdered sugar frosting on the outside. (I got to take home some of the leftovers, but they've been too mangled to be picture worthy) Then the same cake that Megan made a while back, the brown sugar orange blackberry cake from Gourmet. However, I couldn't find any blackberries and raspberries were cheap, so I made it with those instead. I feel like the raspberries were maybe a little too tart to quite compliment the cake, and also that raspberries go better with lemon than with orange, but it was still quite tasty. I especially liked the crunchy coating on the cake layers from the ground walnuts.

Okay, you all have convinced me. I mean, Baking With Julia and Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme are two of my most favorite cookbooks, so I guess it wasn't that hard of a decision...but I just ordered it off Amazon, and now can't wait for it to arrive!

I second the suggestion for pie crust. Pie crust in particular is one of those things everyone seems to be really impressed with when it's good, and it's one of those recipes that really can't be exact. To get a truly good pie crust, you have to know what the crust is supposed to look and feel like, and it will teach you that not all recipes can or should be perfectly precise. You should make that along with basic cakes and pastry cream and other things that DO need to be precise, so you learn both aspects of pastry.

I'd just like to add a few more to Molto E's list (oh, and I second everything he and fliplap said)... La Grande Orange Pizzeria (right next to Arlecchino Gelateria) is also great pizza if you can't be bothered to wait at Pizzeria Bianco-Pizzeria Bianco is fabulous, but it's definitely a commitment. And LGO gives you a feel for the hip Paradise Valley crowd, which may or may not be a good thing. Quiessence, at the Farm at South Mountain, is a lovely charming little restaurant with a seasonal, constantly changing menu that uses lots of fresh and local produce/meat, some of which is actually from the farm. The Roaring Fork is another great place to try-the chef won a James Beard award, I believe...it's kind of gourmet cowboy food-try the green chile macaroni and cheese, it's fabulous! Cowboy Ciao is another Phoenix (well, Scottsdale) standby-kind of eclectic food and lots of fun, though I think sometimes the chef overreaches. And finally, Rancho Pinot, at Scottsdale and Lincoln, is another sort of American/Southwest restaurant with a seasonal menu, lots of great wine, and an emphasis on fresh produce. (If you need further information about any of these restaurants, you should check out http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/. It's the website for the Arizona Republic, our local newspaper, and I generally trust the food critic, Howard Seftel.)

I really like the add-in cookies idea...you might have both a basic chocolate and basic shortbread or sugar cookie dough, and lots of different add-ins...also, I think decorating cookie cakes is lots of fun, so you could have them bake the doughs into big flat rounds or in jelly-roll pans and then pipe some fun frosting on. And yeah, chocolate-dipping is a great idea-you don't even have to limit it to bananas. Or you could even do some really basic truffles or other chocolates-they can make a flavored ganache or gianduja or something similar (both of which are actually quite easy, I think) and then you can make sure the chocolate's tempered right and they can do the dipping-I bet that would be really impressive. I think you might be surprised at the skill level, actually, or at least their ability to follow instructions. This generation watches the Food Network, has celeb chefs, etc., and even if they don't actually cook they've often heard the terminology and will be enthusiastic about it. I do recommend things that are short on the measuring out and baking time and long on the decorating, rolling, dipping, churning, etc. time, because that's the fun interactive stuff.

For just cakes, I'd recommend Rose Levy Berenbaum's The Cake Bible. Pretty exhaustive as far as cakes go...and her Pie and Pastry Bible isn't bad, just not quite as good as the cake one. It's hard to find one book that does it all, and does it exhaustively, and does it well. But like people said, do some searches and you'll find stuff. For a book that's not exhaustive by any means, but is a lot of fun, I'd recommend Baking With Julia by Julia Child & Dorie Greenspan. It doesn't cover everything by any means at all, but it does have many knockout recipes, and it's gotten extensive use by me...

Ruby Beet Cafe (I believe that's the name), which is right across from Pizzeria Bianco in Heritage Square, is pretty good, though a little pricey, and perhaps not as casual and fast as you're looking for. I'd agree with steering clear of Pizzeria Bianco itself-it doesn't just have huge crowds on game days, it has huge crowds all days, and while it's delicious, I don't recommend it if you're in a hurry for anything at all, since it could easily take a couple hours to get in. I know you said you're not willing to park more than once, but I do have a few other suggestions that are good and not very far from downtown, so it wouldn't be that much of a hassle to drive farther. I highly recommend Barrio Cafe, which isn't quite downtown, but isn't very far from it-at 16th St. and Thomas. It might be a bit of a push to get done in time for the game, though. You might also consider Cheuvront's, on Central a bit south of McDowell-they have a fun cheese menu, good wine, and good soups, though I don't know what the dinner fare is like-I've only been there for lunch-I'm guessing the dinner fare is still sandwiches and salads mostly, and pretty casual. If you're okay with sandwiches (very good ones), you should check out My Florist, at 7th Ave. and McDowell-right next to a bread bakery, and they have good desserts. I've heard that Camus (it's in a downtown hotel that I can't remember the name of right now) is good, but not actually been there-my parents have, and they said the other diners were an interesting crowd, and the food was very good though sometimes hit-and-miss. I hope this helps a little. I tend to spend more time a bit north of downtown, so that's what I'm more familiar with-I know less about the restaurants in downtown itself.

Here are some pictures from a dessert party I did (a few months ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting...). The idea was to do a multi-course meal, but in dessert form. Nothing that fancy, but it was delicious and my guests enjoyed it, though some were barely able to handle that much sweet food all at once. I'm sorry the pictures are so terrible! I was too busy cooking to take many pictures... Soup: Chilled Strawberry Soup with Mint Cream and Vanilla Phyllo Crisps. Salad: Mango and Melon Salad with Toasted Coconut, Spicy Sauce, and Pistachios Hot Appetizer: Raspberry and dark chocolate filled wontons with ginger caramel dipping sauce. Cold(ish) Appetizer: Peach-rhubarb tart with peach-raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream (homemade) Entree: A version of Pierre Herme's Plaisir Sucre, obviously very modified. Finish: Homemade white chocolate custard and cocoa nib ice creams with walnut pralines, blackberry coulis, and raspberries. Party favors: Lemon-chocolate caramels (not pictured because they were ugly), lemon tartlets with blueberries, and Tres Hermanos truffles (filled with almond gianduja and three caramelized hazelnuts, hence the name, dipped in Valrhona Manjari, topped with Fleur de Sel, then dipped again and sprinkled with the silver powder stuff), in little Chinese takeout boxes. I apologize again for the quality of the pictures...And for the dishes-we just didn't have enough plates to feed twenty people, so it was all plasticware except for the entree.

I saw this thread and I couldn't help posting a warning: do NOT try to make the wedding cake! I attempted it for a high school project some years ago and it was a complete disaster! I was already very interested in cooking by then, and was far from a novice baker, so I can only attribute it to the absurd recipe. I mean, 17 eggs? Come on. The other recipes in the book may work, but this turned out hardly edible-just one big eggy mass, and I can only believe that it was just another element of magic realism. If anyone attempts it and succeeds, I'll be very humbled, but I just don't see how it can be done without severe modifications to the recipe.

I have to agree with most of what's been said-I'm a current student in the area. Green St. Cafe is quite delicious-I remember having a salad with homegrown organic peaches there once that was fabulous. However, two of the four times I've been there, they sat us in the back room, all alone, with no music piped in, which was a little lonely-the second time that happened we asked to be moved to the front room, and had a much better experience. I'm going to try Del Raye next week, so I'll be back to report on that... Circa was also quite pleasant-just one room and very intimate, but the food was almost on par with Green St., and the wines I've had there have been better than the ones at Green St.-but neither time I was the one doing the ordering, so that may simply have been chance. Herrell's has really great ice cream, far better than Bart's in my mind-and we still have Bart's in Amherst, so I've tried both. They have a huge selection of flavors that are rotated daily, so it's always fun to stop in and see what they have-things like rosewater- and lavender-flavored ice cream, twinkie ice cream, burnt sugar and butter... Another cute restaurant in Northhampton to try is the Moroccan one...Amanouz Cafe or something like that. For the prices, it's quite good, though not at all a sit-down place. They have some good breakfasts too. Further down Rte. 9 is a cute little hole-in-the-wall called Mi Tierra. Coming from the Southwest, it's hard to get good Mexican/Central American food up here, and Mi Tierra isn't bad-and you can't beat the prices. The fried plantains are pretty fabulous, with a really good crema sort of dipping sauce. In Amherst itself, I have to second what everyone else has said about the Black Sheep-quite good croissants, delicious sandwich bread loaves and sandwiches, and some quite good, though unoriginal, desserts. There's an intriguing restaurant in Amherst that I have also yet to try-Baku's African Restaurant. I'll report back when I finally get around to going there.