emmalish

That's good to hear. I bought the full set of Cuisinart a couple years ago and I love everything about them. They're a good weight, the handles are a comfortable shape, the lids are glass so I can see what's happening inside, and they're oven-safe. They heat up quickly and evenly. And obviously I love the easy clean up, both inside and out.

Chocolate chip banana loaf from Capers (Whole Foods). Normally I'd make my own, but I (klutz) slipped on some ice a few weeks ago and not only broke my arm, but also sprained my knee. So I'm using my only good hand to crutch. No free hands for carrying around ingredients.

Yes, and Yes! Do I feel serious pangs of envy, you lucky baker, you? YES! pat w. ← Ditto. Congratulations iii_bake! And thank you Dorie, for being so wonderful!

I made the black and white banana loaf and took it to a friend's place earlier this week. I didn't find out until afterwards, but she only tried it to be polite, because she generally doesn't like baking that has alcohol in it (odd, because she loves to drink alcohol) and she isn't crazy about banana bread to begin with. But she loved it so much she's offering to pay me to bake more for her!

A Double Apple Bundt Cake is cooling on a rack in my kitchen right now. First time trying this recipe, but it came together very easily and I didn't have any problems with unmolding it as some people had upthread. I made it with store-bought apple butter (plain), pecans and craisins – I'm not fond of raisins, and cranberries and apples are one of my favourite combinations. I'll be taking this to work tomorrow, so I'll post reviews later... okay, it's later, and of course my coworkers LOVED this cake. It's so apple-y and deliciously spicy. And so moist! Another winner. forever_young_ca, sorry but I haven't tried either of those recipes yet. Hopefully someone else will be able to give you a recommendation.

I've just been using Dorie Greenspan's recipe from Baking From My Home to Yours. I find they stay pretty moist and cakey, and yet when they're fresh from the oven, they have a nice crunch to the bottom. I've only tried the traditional madeleines with lemon zest so far. I just bought Pierre Hermé's Chocolate Desserts today and I think the chocolate madeleines will be the first thing I try.

fooey, what exactly is it that you don't like about pastry bags? Personally, I've stopped buying proper bags and now just use whatever ziploc or sandwich bags I have on-hand. I just snip one corner off to accommodate the couplers. I find they're more flexible than pastry bags so I have better control with them. YMMV of course.

Yowza!

Beautiful, cakewalk! I have some madeleine batter in the fridge right now! I also made the mocha swirl bundt cake last night. It's the 2nd or 3rd time I've made it, and I don't know why but I never get that beautiful leaf pattern – I just get a layer of chocolate cake and a layer of white cake. Sigh. Next time I'll remember to just marble it.

I made the pumpkin muffins yesterday. I've made them before and love them as-is. This time I experimented a bit and added craisins and chocolate chips rather than the raisins and nuts. And I topped them with both sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Delicious! I'm embarrassed to say they're almost all gone (I live alone!). I'll be making another batch tomorrow for sure.

I'll do that too. As for slicing, I'll usually cut diagonally, or even slightly diagonally, just because I find the points are easier to start eating at, if that makes any sense. But if someone else is cutting? I don't care enough to specify. I definitely prefer eating a sandwich that's been halved than one that's whole. I'll even cut my burgers in half!

So true! I hate to see summer go, but this weekend was chilly and rainy, and yesterday was a perfect day for baking. So I made the black & white banana loaf (again! – this has quickly become one of my go-to recipes). I've started keeping bananas in the freezer to make breakfast smoothies with, so now I always have them on-hand when I get a craving for a banana loaf. No more waiting for ripe bananas. I still have to try the world peace cookies. I have a looooong list of recipes I want to try yet.

We got a flat of blueberries at the office a couple weeks ago, enough for a pint for each of us and a couple left over. I got an extra pint with the agreement that I'd be baking something with it. So I made the blueberry crumb cake. Once again, a huge success, with several requests for the recipe. I snuck a tiny piece and loved it so much I decided to make it again this weekend (although with frozen blueberries this time). Not too sweet, nice & blueberry-ey. And the crumb topping gives it a nice bit of crunch.

Once again I found myself with some ripe bananas begging to be baked up into something, so I decided to try the banana bundt cake after hearing such rave reviews in this thread. It just came out of the oven, and so far I've just tried a little piece, but it's delicious! I can't wait to have some for breakfast tomorrow. Now the embarrassing part – the recipe is for a 12 cup bundt and my pan is only 10. I didn't think I'd filled it too full, but as it baked it rose up and started to drip over the edge... and right onto the element. Yup, smoke pouring out all over, actual flames at one point. Sigh. It was my first ever oven fire. (hangs head in shame)

When I was a kid, my mom would always leave food out – and she still does – a pot of stew sitting on the stovetop all day, or the Christmas turkey sitting out until we'd finished picking at it the next day. I never thought anything about it growing up. But I grew up, moved out, and learned about proper food handling. Eventually, I looked back and remembered that I used to get "the flu" a lot as a child. Now I'm pretty anal about putting things in the fridge right away, and not using dairy products past the best before date (I know, it's just a guide, but – paranoid). As an adult, I've only had food poisoning a couple of times, and they were both doozies. One time I ended up passed out in the bathroom between the toilet and the tub. The other time, it developed into a secondary infection and I almost ended up in the hospital. For a little over a month, I was on a diet of plain white rice and red-skinned apples. That was pretty much all I could keep in my stomach. Everything else passed right through within 15 minutes (still recognizable - ewwww).

I have several of these books, and a pile of the Donna Hay magazines too. I've never actually tried one of the recipes, but I love to curl up and flip through, looking at all the pretty pictures.

I was reminded of this thread today. One of my coworkers (a dear friend), who's a great cook but always says she hates baking and is horrible at it because "it's too hard", decided to make some madeleines yesterday and brought them in to work to share. I tried one of the chocolate ones, and while it tasted good, it was kind've an odd chocolate flavour. I was wondering what was in the recipe, so were chatting about baking madeleines and comparing recipes, and she confessed that she didn't have cocoa powder, so she used powdered hot chocolate mix (what, that's cocoa, right?). And then she couldn't understand why they didn't rise properly. ::sigh::

I made the Caramel Crunch Bars today. So simple and so delicious. Only the knowledge that there's an entire cup of butter in the recipe is stopping me from eating any more tonight (I've already had four pieces – eep!).

Mmm, those look great. I almost made those on the weekend too. Maybe this coming weekend.

I baked some cookies last night – can't remember the name, but they're the chocolate oatmeal cookies. I've only had one so far, but I have a baggie with me for snacks later. I found they baked a lot quicker than the 12 minutes in the recipe, so my first batch is a little darker on the bottom than it should be. I waffled between doing this recipe, and the one on the opposite page (Midnight Crackles?), and when I started baking, I did a total Rachel Green (taking some elements from one recipe, and then shifting over to the other at some point). Thank god I noticed before it was too late!

Clever! I'm dying to try a new recipe, but I've still got three containers in the freezer. There IS a limit to how much ice cream a single woman needs in her freezer at any given time. This brings up something I've been wondering about anyway – how long do homemade ice creams keep fresh?

I made the espresso cheesecake brownies again this weekend and brought them to work today. I've had several requests for the recipe, so I'd say it's a success. I'm very popular today. I also made the mocha walnut bundt cake – but that one I've kept for myself. My gingko pattern didn't come through as pretty as the picture in the book – it was really hot this weekend and my "room temperature" butter was a lot softer than it probably should have been. I'll blame that. The chocolate batter bakes up incredibly dense and chocolatey, while the rest of the cake is lighter and moist. And once again, while it was good right out of the oven, I find the overall flavour much more intense the 2nd day.

I like this suggestion. There's a bakery near me that has a similar sign. I always thought it was very clearly and sensibly worded. No one should be offended, and as sugarseattle says, it emphasizes the positives.

Chufi, that cheesecake looks amazing! I made the espresso cheesecake brownies this weekend (not the correct name, just working from memory here). They're amazing. I had a little trouble with the swirl because the two batters were completely different thicknesses, but it baked up beautifully. I think next time I might just put all the brownie batter in the base and forget about trying to do the swirl.

I make them with cranberries too. I love the combination of orange and cranberry. I've also started to substitute 1/2c of flour for 1/2c of rolled oats (soaked in the milk). They still have a wonderful flavour and texture, but they're just a bit healthier for breakfast.