Genny

Is the foam from the risotto? How do you get it soft and bubbly? I have a CO2 cartridge foamer that I use for whipped cream mostly but it seems like foaming a small amount of something for presentation is an awful waste of a CO2 cartridge since once you open the canister the compression is lost.

So where do you buy your spices? Online, bulk natural foods? Are they labelled? (I'd use my handy P-Touch labeller!) I love the idea of the magnetic spice rack but would be afraid of the lid coming off and having spice all over my floor. How secure are the lids? Twist on or snap on? My guess is that your fridge is pretty close to your stove? I'd have to walk 10 steps to my fridge to get to the spices, which are currently in the drawer on the stove island to my right. It's a messy drawer though and I am constantly seeking A Better Way. Maybe these little jars would be better in the drawer than the jars on their sides. Do you and lambfries work together outside of "TFT" business as well?

Great topic! I'll admit we usually go for the brands we know and buy them. Pasta is one I'll buy the "cheaper" but it is usually comparing Barilla on sale versus another brand name. I tend to shy away from the 'generic' simply because I've had such bad experiences with it. Orange juice fits into this category also: I only buy "Not From Concentrate" OJ but really don't care which one I get. If it's on sale and the expiration date is reasonable (not 2 days out!!!) I'll buy it. The same is true of pre-shredded cheeses (yup, I go for the convenience!). Can't skimp on milk, bread, coffee, eggs, nibbling cheese, deli meats. My real 'savings' is Trader Joes. I'll buy there brand any day of the week, it is always reliable and at such a good price.

There is some information about TheFoodTutor's teaching business here: clicky!.

This looks like it will be an amazing blog. Thanks in advance for sharing a slice of your life with us! It sounds like you work FOH, at least in one of your jobs. Is that correct? What positions do you hold in your restaurant jobs? Also looks like you have considerable cooking ablility, are you self taught or formally trained? How did the Food Tutor gig start? I'm really looking forward to learning about how you do this one, the preparation and execution of a particualar job.

Although Katie wears her toughness on her sleeve, I think she is likely a cream puff on the inside. Not a bad thing but I think that although Sarah is quietly competent, she seems to have a spine of steele. I think I want her to win.

I certainly do agree that Katie was gruff last week, and as a woman, I do find that sometimes women can be overly agressive in leadership roles. OTOH, this is in a kitchen and although I don't work in one, everything I read on these boards and have seen in the 'reality' programs ("move your ass!" Gordy R.) her behavior wasn't uncalled for. JP really was not putting out good product, even with her direction. I think he was 86'd because he was the weakest link. Now for last night's program. I was not surprised that John (?) was 86'd. He was a mess in the leadership challenge and although he had some good ideas, he wasn't able to logically present them and was again somewhat of a mess. I was surprised Katie only delivered 2 dishes. That really was something I thought could get her booted. Having said that, I think if she came out and just said that she didn't do a 3rd dish, poor planning, etc. then she would be gone. Instead, she explained her reasoning that the judges have said to NEVER deliver inedible product so she didn't. Smart thinking really. Although I was surprised at the repetition of ceviche, she could have maybe rinsed off that piece or gotten some of her scrap and made a carpaccio. Really this game is a 'long haul' prospect and it appears they are looking at the person in total with what they know about them so far. One mistake for someone so strong as Katie shouldn't be grounds for expulsion. I imagine English has the 1.1 vote anyway since it is his restaurant that the person will be working in. To be perfectly honest, I am surprised but think that the 3 female contestants are all very strong. The one with the hair coverings, Autumn (?) is the weakest one left, she has flown under the radar in some cases but when the spotlight has been on she has done well and others have done worse. Any predictions who will win now that there is the Final Four?

Caesar Salad that was dressed 5 hours ago...and there are NO anchovies. OK so some people are afraid of flavor and don't want achovies. Why does that mean I get a drippy, soggy, limp-ass salad with no flavor??? Fried Calamari. I love this stuff, when done right. Unfortunately it usually tastes like it has a double dip to make it like a KFC extra crunchy recipe leg! I want my tender, just a little crisp sweet calamari people! Rings, strips, tentacles: I don't really care. Just don't over cook the damn things! Dishes: Huge. The reason why they give you huge portions is that they are mediocre and they want you to notice the quantity- NOT the quality. I avoid places with huge dishes and huge portions like the Claim Jumper.

I made a cake from Death by Chocolate that was covered in chocolate ganach and had 2 kinds of buttercream. I think it had a mocha element to it. Wow was it good! I made it for my Dad, a self professed chocoholic. It took 2 days to make it but it was worth the effort! (This was before I cooked much so the recipe can't be terribly difficult!)

Desertm- Welcome and thanks so much for sharing this lovely piece! How inspiring that you are self taught. I love the two-tone colors on this. Did you make this for a cake top or other application or just for practice and creative outlet? How long have you been playing with Pastillage?

Flaxseed/wheat protein roll... I'm guessing thats because you're a HEALTH NUT??? Sounds funny with the bacon/mayo/extra rare burger I guilded the lilly on my most recent burger (hmmm, the burger wins over meatloaf in our house). Ground turkey with various mexican-type spices cumin/red pepper/onion/garlic/s&p plus some grated parmesan cheese. Fried in vegetable oil & butter, topped with a slice of sharp cheddar & topped with a fried egg (butter) & topped with salsa & avocado... Ate it too fast to get a photo!

Well Varmint, I can only add to everyone elses praises here! That pix of the drawer... a man after my own heart! Very nice meez! And the chicken and biscuits are just makin me miss my mama and grandma! I haven't had home fried chicken in years (kleenex anyone?) I guess I'll have to go get myself a chicken and do it myself.

I am completely inspired! I'm off to order molds, colors, chocolate...the works! This looks like so much fun and I'll have holiday gifts for friends and family! Truffle Guy, have you decided if you are going to switch careers or just use your passion as a side job yet? I'm super interested to learn of your progess and ideas. Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread, it has been most enlightening!

This is the first I've seen the information, does that tell you anything? (My regular news is sourced online Google/MSNBC) But, like Daniel, I'm not particularly worried. I don't eat at places like McDonalds/ BK, etc. in part because it tastes awful, but also because I know they don't get all their meat from the US (you really don't want to know!). I agree, we need to stay vigilant and keep our meat supplies clean but I'll lose my sleep over other worries such as, "Will my husband make it safe on his hour long commute today?"

You did yourself and your daughter proud! I bet people were asking for your caterer, right? I too am interested in what was most popular/least popular. Did you donate the leftovers to the school/church?

Hiya congi, welcome to eG! I grew up in San Jose! I moved away in 1997 but do get back about once a year to visit family. I do go to Ranch 99 every couple months. I usually go on the weekend and it is so crowded! But I absolutley love the purple basil, bok choy, baby bok choy....there is very good produce there for my asian cooking for sure. I agree that griping about the lack of produce in the desert is a little funny. I'm just so spoiled by the Farmers Markets in CA that it seems so strange to me they do not appear here. I know people grow produce for sale. I see citrus trees everywhere and there are a number of farms around, just not a great Farmer's Market with the local produce and I'll admit, I love the other "assundries" that I usually find like honey, cheeses, jewelry, spices.... the list goes on. I will (I promise!) haul my cookies over to the dirt patch one of these mornings. I hope you enjoy eG and ask away on the boards, especially the Southwest board for your local needs!

JF, I just did a trip report and put some pix on. It wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. I ended up writing my report in Word and had my EG photo album open and copied the links right into my Word document. Then I copied and pasted my Word document into my post and went back for every photo I highlighted the image link and clicked the IMG button. It worked out pretty well that way and I was also able to spell check my document in Word before posting. You'll see my first posthas a ton of spelling errors. That was before I figured out the Word document way.

robert- FWIW, I'm on the NNOUT band wagon as well. The big deal? All fresh, all beef, all real. Not F** soy fillers and not McD's mystery meat either. Fries: always dry in my estimation: overcooked? you can order them "light fry" and they will only fry once and not dry them out. Limp, yes, but they have flavor. Shakes: thick, creamy, real milk and ice cream Burgers: Repeat after me: Double Double Animal/Protien Style. Translation: Double burger, double cheese, with fried onions and no bun- it comes wrapped in lettuce. Oh, and burgers/fries/shakes are all they do. No chicken, no salads, no soups, no tacos. Focus on one thing and do it right. They do get some guff though: right wing christian ownership. They've been smacked for discriminatory hiring practices. Look at the bottom of your NNOUT cup: Johns #:#? don't remember the verse cited.

Hi Brad, I don't have a TON of experience with BYO here except that if I want to bring my own, I call the restaurant and ask about their corking fee. Some allow it, some do not. There is one place I go to regularly in Chandler, Cyclo (vietnamese). Since they don't have a liquor license, they allow customers to bring their own.

I'm no expert, I buy the Bacardi Vanilla but I don't see why not. It would probably be even better! I'd split the pod and toss it into a bottle of good quality white rum and then keep topping that bottle off with more rum as you go so the vanilla bean isn't wasted on only one bottle. The pod and caviar would surely last through a few gallons I would think. And it is quite good and very pretty. The girls like it! Does anyone know, does this have a "proper" bar name or did I really invent something new here?

Bravo Mel. A beautiful production with heart, grit, finesse and sass. I laughed with you, I cried for you. I'm proud of your accomplishment and I feel I have had a chance to get to know you. My heartfelt appreciation for the blood, sweat and tears you have allowed us to view. Bravissimo! See you around on the boards! Genny

Michael did say the show would get better and I think it has. I'm glad to have stuck with it. I think the half hour format is too ambitious when you have 12 people to cover but with the remaining 6 I was satisfied with the amount of cooking and team interaction challenge that was shown. I don't really have a favorite but I think Katsuji is coming off as very underhanded (as he has the entire competition) and I can't really trust that he is as good as he thinks he is if he feels he needs to undermine others to succeed. IMHO.

I thought I was the only one that poached the licorice ones. Actually, I'm the only who will eat them... mine all mine! I like the Jelly Belly popcorn flavor a lot, I know most people don't care for that one. Pear is nice and juicy. Watermelon!

Well, looking through my prior post, you’d never believe I won spelling bees as a child! I guess that is what fatigue will do to a girl! Continuing on… Friday was spent day tripping to some of the culinary delights the Rogue Valley has to offer. Our first stop was the Butte Creek Mill. This is working water mill that was built in 1872. This is where we got the scone mix that was so lovely on Thursday morning (it was my breakfast on Friday too!). http://www.buttecreekmill.com/ They have a great website were you can take a look at their products. They don’t use preservatives so many of their flours and milled products are in a refrigerator case. The Tourist: Next we stopped at the Roxy Ann Winery. We were planning to go to wineries on Sunday but since we were driving right by it, we had to stop! They offered a free tasting of their Pinot Gris. It had a nice mouth feel, bold crisp pear flavors but the taste after the swallow stuck onto the sides of my tongue with an acidic bite. Not what I want in a wine. The gal pouring the wine (steward? stewardess??) brought out some cheese to try with the wine. The cheese was from the local favorite Rogue Creamery, Lemon Artichoke Cheddar. I took a bite of cheese and followed with the wine…amazingly it cleaned up after itself completely when paired with the cheese. We decided to bring the boys back on Sunday when we were doing our wine tasting. As a side note, we discussed this Pinot Gris compared with the one at Paschal Winery (another local) and decided the Paschal was still better. It cleans up after itself with no accompaniment. This is my current favorite wine to cool of on the hot summer day, very crisp and refreshing. Here is the link for them: Paschal Winery Harry & David is a catalogue company featuring fresh fruits and vegetable as well as baked goods, jams and other culinary treats. It is well known through most of the country, but mostly back east. They are headquartered in Medford Oregon. They make a fantastic Moose Munch which is popcorn drizzled with goodies like chocolate, caramel, tossed with nuts. Delish! We took a tour of their facilities and got some interesting information and free samples. Its all about the samples babe! They are most famous for their pears. The tour drove by one of their groves, it was interesting to learn that they grow their famous pears on small trees about 10’ in size and they “double plant” them. The trees are planted side by side along the row (in pairs!!!) and the root systems actually combine and help sustain each other. I won’t bore you with all the photos, but here are a few: 50 lb blocks of BUTTUH! tiny button cookies (sorry blurry!) red & green cherries for fruitcake: they are just starting to make them for the holidays and they make a few different varieties. We stopped popped into a little deli that was next to the Harry & David grocery store and shared a yummy turkey avocado melt sandwich for lunch. Our day was winding down so our last stop was the Rogue Creamery. This is literally blocks off of Jackie’s normal trip route and she had never been so it was a nice find for her as well. Unfortunately I was tired out by now and didn’t take any photos. There wasn’t a whole lot to see really anyway. The small white stucco building is nestled on a “busy” thoroughfare and you have to keep your eyes peeled to find it! I had contacted them prior to my visit to try to get a tour but they said they are not set up for tours and were unable to accommodate my request. Oh well! The sales shop was 2 rooms. The main room on the left had a couple refrigerators with the cheeses for purchase on the right hand wall and some tables on the back and left walls containing various cheeses to taste, cheese gadgetry and other locally made food stuffs. We tried a chocolate marbled cheddar (eh), a pesto cheddar (good) a pepper marbled cheddar (eh) the lemon artichoke cheddar (yummy), a smoked blue (too smoky for us), their Crater Lake Blue (very good), Oregonzola Blue (good), Oregon Blue Vein (outstanding!), chipotle cheddar (good). In the room to your right was another cheese case, a closet of wines. The cheeses in the cheese case were Italian and French imports. One of the neat things about the local merchants is that they cross-sell each other’s products. One of the places I had wanted to visit was Gary West Smoked Meats. The Harry & David tour took quite some time from our day though so we were going to miss this one. Luckily the Rogue Creamery also had meats from Gary West to try. I purchased a package of Elk Jerky for us to try. There was also Beef and Buffalo jerky. Also at the creamery were some fantastically beautiful breads made by Applegate Artisan Bakery. We ended up getting some of the Blue Vein, Lemon Artichoke Cheddar, an Italian cheese that was like a mild Parmesan (sorry folks, I didn’t write the name down!) and 2 loaves of bread, Country French Boule and a whole grain boule with sunflower seeds on top. Dinner was at the Jacksonville Inn. This is one of the places I will explore more the next trip out. It is a cute old west town with lots of charm. We sat at the very table President Bush had when he dined at the Jacksonville Inn, next to the wine cellar, Dad with his back to the brick wall. Our party also included my SIL, her SO and his son. This was a really fun night, the company was fantastic and that is a great enhancement to any fine meal. No photos of the food here, there was just too much going on. We started out with a bottle of Moet Chandon. The menu here is extensive. There are 3 pages of salads, appetizers, fish and seafood, carnivorous options plus a page of specials. It takes a while to get through the voluminous offerings. And the selection is both modern and classic. To give you an idea: I started with an Ahi Carpaccio with crispy cold papaya salad and lumpia chips. The ahi was fresh and clean and incredibly tender, it just melted in my mouth. The papaya salad also had sprouts that popped in my mouth, this was very good. Next was the Escargot with Garlic and Butter. Can I tell you how much I love escargot? I get it about once every 5 years and it is such an occasion to find it on a classic menu. My SIL also ordered this. It came in the classic porcelain dish with the little cups for each individual tender morsel of meat, each filled to the brim with buttuh. They were cooked absolutely perfect! Tender, not chewy at all. Although it may be nitpicky, they were completely unsalted and the garlic could only be found in a few of the cups. I’ve never prepared this but I would assume the assembly would be to scoop a little of the garlic into each of the cups, top it with a snail and fill all the cups with the remaining butter…and the butter should be salted at some point in time…am I wrong here? Well, this definitely brought to mind the discussion on the boards about bringing your own salt. I don’t and didn’t so I was shaking the salt shaker like it was a maraca! Then my SIL did the same :grin: She said she experience the lack of salt on her previous visit as well. My main course was Wild Pacific Salmon topped with Dungeness crab with Brie and béarnaise sauce. Talk about gilding the lily! This was served with a garlic mash and plump asparagus. The crab was decadent, naturally. I got to the salmon though and it was so overcooked it was inedible. It literally stuck in my throat! I was sitting next to Dad and he tasted it, called the server over and sent it back. My next piece was RAW in the middle. I know, I know, I had just had the RAW ahi, and I like raw salmon too, but not when it is supposed to be cooked! My bad “mojo” again. I ate up this crab too, and the asparagus so that was fine. I felt bad for the kitchen, I figured for a top place like this to screw up twice on the same plate, they must be in the weeds. I just left it alone. Oh, wine with dinner was Groth 1998, Napa Valley Merlot. Dessert (can you believe it???) I was stuffed for sure. But I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas, it ain’t pretty. Its rare that I turn sweets down. I had a pretty Tiramisu that was built in a martini glass. It was fine, but nothing memorable. Dad had the chocolate mouse cake and it was luscious, I’d definitely recommend it! My very happy SIL with her beau: Breakfast the next morning was some of the French boule toasted and served with butter, my homemade rhubarb and cherry jam that I brought up for Dad & Jackie and also sliced tomatoes. I think we had this with the fresh squeezed OJ made into screw drivers. Lance and I put dinner together for us this evening. Lance grills a mean Cornish Game Hen and I put together buttermilk mashed potatoes and salads. For dessert I made Pavlova with fresh whipped cream and local strawberries macerated in Contreau. MMMMM. This was a big airy dessert that looks bigger than it feels in the tummy. I used the recipe from The Silver Palette cookbook, the Pavlova itself was a wee bit too sweet (for me that is saying something!) but it was good and was all gobbled up- no problem! Sunday was wine tasting. The Rogue Valley is pretty big so we decided to start out over in Ashland. Ashland is an incredibly cute community, quaint down town that reminds me of Los Gatos, CA. I will definitely want to spend some more time there on my next visit. Our first stop was at Weisinger's winery. This was an absolutely beautiful winery overlooking rolling hills. They have a nice wood deck and on Sundays there is Jazz on the deck. When we were there a gal was playing a synthesizer at one end. The wines we tasted were all very strong in tannins. They weren’t entirely unpleasant, but too much for our palates. Our next winery was Ashland Winery. There was road construction and a detour to get to it. Once we found it we weren’t sure we really wanted to go in. There were berry thickets about 14 feet high, the road was dirt and unkempt, awfully bumpy. The vineyard itself appeared to be overrun with weeds and the “house” that had a sign that read “Wine Tasting Room” looked like it had seen better days. We timidly entered and it wasn’t much better indoors. There were signs boasting of awards as recent as 1999. I was skeptical to say the least! We bellied up to the bar and were engaged by Phil Kodak, one of the owners. This turned out to be a fun hour spent well. The winery is 100% organic, vegan even according to Phil. He explained about his varietals and we sipped and chatted away. The ones we purchased were the 1998 Henry VIII Cabernet Sauvignon and the white varietal mix Shakespear’s Love 2001. A very happy find indeed! An item of note, we have opened a bottle of each since returning home, the Shakespear’s Love is still great but the bottle of Cab never really opened up, we are wondering if there could be bottling inconsistencies due to the organic nature of the wines. Unfortunately the labels are super cheesy. I think they need some marketing help! Dinner this night was nosh on the cheeses purchased from the Rogue Creamery, the rest of the lovely bread we bought there too, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, peas and Jackie’s homemade double chocolate chocolate chip cookies, a recipe from Cook’s Country magazine. This went perfect with a couple games of Hand and Foot! Monday was our last day there and jut a day to hang out until we flew out. Nothing special really. Lunch at the airport diner, the burger was pretty OK. Surprising since it was serving a captive audience! Oh, I almost forgot! Here is a picture of me learning how to interact with my equine siblings. This is Torrie, she is a sweet 3 year old and I am scratching her just right, thus the stupid look of ecstasy on her face. The little one behind me is 6 week old Prince, he became my little buddy. Perhaps Jackie will actually get me on a horse in 5 years or so! That she got me this far is an accomplishment. A view of the rolling hills through a horses ears. (Not me taking this one!) If you love horses, Mystic is a working ranch and they teach natural horsemanship. PM me if you want contact information. And although not a great photo, here is sweet Milo kitty. Such a lover! I sincerely hope you have enjoyed my trip report. I don’t get out much so this was a real treat for me and my hubby. Let me know if you have any questions about my trip!

OK, now that I have the photo thing going... Dad and Jackie have a gorgeous 8 acre horse ranch in White City, about 30 minutes outside of Medford. They raise pasofino horses (I have about 8 equine siblings), have a garden (more on that later), 5 chickens and 2 kitties: one indoor only (Milo), one outdoor only. I woke up to fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh baked steel cut oat scones with dried blueberries and cherries. And Peet's coffee (look familiar?): After breakfast Jackie and I went out and picked some radishes, strawberries and sweet peas. (Sorry, I seem to have lost those pix!) She has 5 raised garden beds, each with an assortment of herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables. It is still very early in the season for them and she is a beginning gardner- this is only her second year. Other plantings she has are tomatoes, asparagus, zuccini, melons, thyme, lavendar, rosemary, roses, apple and pear trees. It was so satisfying going out each morning and picking the peas and radishes and strawberries, even if there weren't many to pick! We also went and collected the eggs from the chicken coop. I was somewhat afraid of the chickens having suffered a horrible chicken attack when I was quite small. I stood back some and let Jackie do the collecting. Here is Patches: And here are the eggs we collected! This is a couple days worth. So with a bunch of fresh eggs and peas, I whipped up some egg salad sandwiches with blanched fresh sweet peas. I thought I was in heaven. The peas popped in your mouth like sweet caviar. We enjoyed these with a 1995 Cabernet Savingion from the California Santa Barbary Valley. This is living right! These were the freshest eggs I had ever had. Now I'm going to try to find some locally! The only problem was that the eggs did not peel easily. Jackie said this was because the freshness, the older the egg, the more air gets between the membrane and the shell, thus easier to peel. Can anyone confirm this? I ended up cutting the egg shells in half and scooping out the egg. Dinner was at Sammy's Cowboy Bistro. I made the reservations about 3 weeks in advance. I am sure glad I saw a picture of the restaurant before going, we found it with no problem! There was only 1 light left blinkin on the arrow pointing to the front door: The 4 of us were seated just inside the front door. This place is SMALL. It is a tiny "house" that has maybe a dozen tables, it is dark, with low ceilings, built in book cases, cow print wall paper and borders, floral curtains circa Little House on the Prairie. So not what you would think. Actually the front door leads to an ante-room about the size of a closet. In the picture you can see there are windows. In the windows are dead plants. They must really not want to encourage any drop-ins of any kind! They couldn't handle them anyway and here is why: When we were seated we were served a chilled sorrel soup with creme fraich, wasabi and flying fish roe. This was served in an egg cup with a tiny spoon. It was ultra light and refreshing. The soup was a light grean with a swirl of creme fraich and dotted with the roe. This was a hit with the whole table. An olive bread and olive oil was presented before the appetizers. It was good but nothing to write about really. For our first course we had: Garlic custard with a warm stew of onion, fava beans and morel mushrooms. Wow was this good! Unfortunately I didn't order this. I didn't have the best order "mojo" this night. I thought about ordering one after I tasted this though. It was definitely the best first course on the table. Jackie and Lance had the Greens with Sour Cherry Rogue Blue Cheese, walnuts and walnut vinagrette. I had a salad with scallops, bitter orange, avocado. It was quite good. The scallops were seared perfectly and the succulent orange and ultra creamy avocado matched very well with the salad. For dinner Jackie and I each had the Lamb Osso Bucco with shiitaki mushroom reduction sauce and snow peas, green pea and mint ravioli. The lamb was still on the bone but tender and juicy and cooked exactly perfectly. I'd only had veal osso bucco previously so this was a treat. The shiitaki reduction was sublime, it's richness matched and complimented the richness of the lamb. The mint and pea ravioli were a splash of brightness for the palate so the rest of the dish was never too heavy. Dad had Paella. This was also very good. It had a very spicey sausage made in-house, rabbit, muscles and clams. Sprinkled on top are lovely peppery flower buds. It was very beautiful! It had smoked paprika and saffron, the rice so flavorful! I was full and still picking at the rice! Lance was the big winner with the main course though, and with all that was said and shown above, you can image it could only be by a slim margine. He had Duck Breast with pumpkin sage ravioli and brocoli rabe cooked with orange. I don't remember the sauce, it may have been a port cherry something. Wow, this was incredible. The duck just melted in your mouth, I've never had such tender duck. Not too fatty either. One word: Wow. Unfortunately I have no photos of the desserts. My ordering mojo completely failed me here. I had the cheese plate with gorgonzola, dried fruits poached in port with honey and lemon thyme. The cheese just didn't stand up to the fruits. It was a sorry sad slice of weak gorgonzola that just thoroughly got run over by the full-on sweet figs and cherries. Oh well, since everyone shared, I got to have some of the other yummies: Bittersweet chocolate cake with cherry chocolate mouse and kirsch ice-cream. This was just decadent. The cake was moist and had a nice crumb and the cherries were very pronounced in the mouse. Buckwheat crepe with bittersweet orange marmalade ice cream and a rhubarb sauce. This worked very well. Upside down coffee ice cream cone with bittersweet chocolate sauce, toasted hazelnuts and white chocolate sauce. The ice cream had a very strong flavor, more like espresso. This was also fantastic! As an "after" a small plate of hand made treats was put on the table. There was a cow shaped ultra thin, crisp and buttery cookie, and a few small 1/2 square chocolate treats: candied ginger enrobed in bittersweet chocolate. Now that was GOOD! OK, it's late here. I'm off to take care of my sick hubby, I'll continue this tomorrow. I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has about my trip and the photos I've posted so far!