Jean Blanchard

After viewing Patrick's picture of the rum soaked vanilla cake, I HAD to make it. It was the best and easiest to make cake of its type I've ever made. I soaked one in rum (no little guys around our house, Patrick) and left the other plain and stashed in the freezer. The rum soak puts it over the top! I was thinking of making a lemon curd for the other one but since there is rum in the batter, (but I haven't tasted the cake minus the soak) I'm wondering if that combination won't be good. Dorie or Patrick, what do you think?

Just made the carrot muffins and sampled for breakfast. Carrot cake is my husbands favorite dessert so I thought this would be a great morning treat. And guess what.....they were! Just as Dorie says, they're not too sweet but have all of the components of a carrot cake. The rest go in the freezer so that I can move on to another muffin and have a nice assortment for brunch with guests. Well, maybe I'll save two for tomorrow.

Patrick, I can't tell you how excited I get every time I see that you've posted again! Your pictures make me drool. Why didn't you do the rum soak? Jean

I have several scone recipes that I freeze before baking and they all work equally well so I'd say, pick your favorite recipe and give it a try! Jean

For what it's worth, I just made the brown sugar ice cream for the roulade and it's REALLY good. Jean

Made the World Peace cookies over the weekend. Really chocolately but I guess everybody knows that already. One of the things I love about this cookbook is all of the "fooling around" tips. It has helped me give thought to "fooling around" with some of my old tried and true recipes too.

I made the coconut tea cake last night (sorry, no pictures yet). Very simple to put together. Moist, very coconutty, sort of like a coconut pound cake. Drizzled with a little chocolate sauce, it's even better. Another winner!

Yeah, I'm not so happy about that generalization. By the way, sometimes it IS so dark that I need a flashlight but so does my "young" daughter so I don't feel so bad. Also, although I've dined at many fine restaurants where salt is not needed, not every chef is as good as he thinks he is and a little salt would help his creations. I don't like some wait staff treating me like an ingrate because I asked for salt. Jean

Today is my birthday. So last night, I deided to make myself a birthday cake and I also decided to have a piece, one day early. I made the cake on the cover of the cookbook. Wow! It was very chocolatey but not too much. The frosting was light and just the right combination with the chocolate. Instructions were perfect and it's such a pretty little cake. I've GOT to learn how to post pictures!

Thank you! I made both the vanilla and chocolate version and I did notice that the chocolate version was slightly thicker. I think I'll take your advice and add a little less milk.

Maybe I'm supposed to wait until November to ask questions about a specific recipes but...if it's okay, I have a question about the arborio rice pudding. I made that recipe and it was wonderful tasting but it never firmed up in the frig. I cooked it a little longer than the 30 min. recommended because it still looked really runny. Should I have just kept going? I bake a lot but this was my first attempt at rice pudding so I'm no expert. Anyway, I love your books and I'm looking forward to baking the winter away!

I forgot to give you the address..... 2445 N. Harlem Chicago, IL 60707 773 637 3772

Okay, this isn't an Italian deli but I had to share a find with all of you. Since I couldn't meet my daughter in Cincinnati after all, I wound up doing one of my "food" days. Pasta Fresh, Riviera, Reagan's just to name a few. One of my stops was at a store that sells really beautiful tablecloths so I HAD to buy another. Across the street was a new shop. Kolatek's Bakery & Deli. It's a beautiful Polish deli, bakery, grocery shop. I even spotted a lovely ice cream freezer. Homemade soups and many things Polish to take home that I have no way of describing since I'm not an expert on that kind of food. Everything, however, looked wonderful and I will definitely be back. Too many people in line and my cooler was starting to get full. Ended with dinner at Jacky's Bistro in Evanston. Fabulous! Thanks again, Ronnie! P.S. I forgot. Picked up some croissants and frozen fennel, raisin bread at Bennison's ( Evanston) also. The bread is unbelievably good with cheese. Off to the treadmill!!

I've been going to Riviera for sausage, cheese and everything else Italian for years. Cosa Nostra bakery used to be right around the corner but it is now closed. Their bread was phenomenal! Does anyone know if they are completely out of business or just relocated? Jean

On Ronnie's recommendation, my husband and I dined at Vie last Saturday night. We had the beet salad, gnocchi, hangar steak and the sturgeon. Everything was perfect! Wait staff could not have been more friendly and accommodating. We'll definitely be back. Jean

I had a sub zero for almost 15 years that I had no problems with until the final six months when I needed repair and probably should have just replaced it. I bought a Kitchenaid, side by side. My subzero was freezer on the bottom. Whatever you do, don't buy a side by side. It's useless!! If I didn't have a refrigerator and freezer in my basement, I wouldn't have any place to put cookie sheets, turkeys, even frozen pizza. Also, my cheese/meat drawer is useless since even on its lowest setting, it freezes everthing (it's been adjusted twice to no avail). I will be replacing it with a Subzero.

Perfect!

Recently, I was dining at a very upscale French restaurant with a friend. The restaurant was not busy (it was 5:00 PM, after work on a Wednesday) and we had a very friendly waiter. A VERY friendly waiter. He was obviously bored and told us every detail of his boring life. I hate to be rude and so I subtlely tried ignoring him, giving him quick, short answers and looking back to my food to let him know that I really didn't want to talk about his wife and baby. I wanted to visit with my friend and enjoy my meal. I was afraid to even ask him any questions about the food because that would just start him up talking again! Any idea as to how I could have handled this better without being downright rude? Jean Blanchard

iii_bake, That's amazing! Thanks so much for posting that. I'm trying to eat more pomegranate and I've been struggling with how to cut it. Can't wait to try this.

Just had to add that your pictures are fabulous. You have a real talent for taking just the right angles, lighting, etc. Your cooking abilities are not bad either! Wish I had time to get back to making bread and bagels like I used to when I was a stay at home mom. Something to look forward to when I retire!

Thanks so much for posting this. About 4 years ago, I went to their farmers market and was really impressed. Here in Naperville, we have a nice farmers market but nothing compared to Madison. You've inspired me to go back. Many years ago, I read about L'Etoile and I'd really like to experience their food. I guess I'll have to plan a weekend in August while the fruits and vegetables are still plentiful. Did you stay in one of the B and B's or is there a hotel that is convenient?

You've gotten great advice so far so I won't add to that except to tell you that I also live in Naperville and you can get really good fish at the fish market on Washington and Gartner. Also, if you go to the farmers market on Saturday morning, there's a guy there that sells great salmon. The only way you're going to like fish is to get the best quality you can afford.

Can you tell me more abou the dry-aging process? Did you start with a prime cut? Did you change the towel?

I tried to get into Sola Saturday night but I waited a little too long to attempt a reservation so we'll try it another time. We were at Deleece about 2 months ago and even though we usually are very happy with our meals, some of our dinners were not the same quality as in the past. Glad to read your review of Sola is favorable. We ended up at Think Cafe and as always, food was great.

While eating a cupcake we made together this week, my 8 year old granddaughter said, "You know grandma, you should open a restaurant." That was followed by 30 minutes of her grand ideas for how I could accomplish this with her help. It was wonderful to know that she was getting it. That's what I leave. Chufi, love the thing about your funeral. I've told my husband the same thing.