Badiane

Sounds like you suffer from the same disease I do...my husband calls it overstufferhea. For instance, I did a tea party for my parents anniversary - I was preparing for 80 people. 120 people showed up and I still had leftovers. Overstufferhea indeed. For potatoes, one per person, one for the pot for mashers. Medium sized red ones, one and a half per person. For small new ones, six each. Trust me, it's enough.

Approach a culinary arts school and offer it as a class project - they will probably do it for the cost of the food. We did that several times when I was in cooking school. It's a lot of fun.

Gosh, it never would have even occured to me to look for such a thing. I make limoncello every year with regular lemons from the grocery store, which I rinse in very hot water and then just go ahead and use. Do you think it would make an appreciable difference? I might have to start hunting.

It's a preserver...keeps the bread from going moldy so fast. At least that's what my mom says, and she's generally right about most things. But don't tell her I said that.

The Mennonite culture has Roll Kucken - dough rolled thin, cut in strips and deep fried and sprinkled with sugar. Most common during the summer at Sunday School picnics and the like because the traditional accompaniment is watermelon.

I use my blender, so if you have one, try that. I don't think that a hand mixer would work very well, but give it a try - if it splits, just throw it in the fridge, let the butter firm up and then whip it again and use it on biscuits or pound ake Sound like a winner either way.

So when you go to a restaurant and the owner asks for your opinion on the food/service, how much feedback is too much feedback? I went to a brand new restaurant on the second day of operation. Food and service were excellent, good portion size and quality but the plates were cold and the food could have been hotter. When the owner came to the table and specifically asked, I told her that and she seemed to appreciate the feedback and immediately offered to have the food redone, which I declined because it was hot enough to eat. I refrained from mentioning things like the desserts on the menu were not exactly in tune with the theme and the lack of a bar menu or wine list because hey, it's day two and they have to have a chance to get going. Went back for lunch two days later. Disaster. Bartender dude came to the table and was clearly annoyed when we didn't order liquor. I ordered a Shrimp Po' Boy. Po' indeed. 4 inch baguette with a skiff of tartar sauce, a few shreds of slightly brown iceberg and some red onion that had been sliced up a few days before. And the shrimp. Perfect. Fresh, beautifully breaded and freshly fried. All four of them. Four. 26/30 count. Four. On a Po' Boy. Sides were a tablespoon of slaw made with Savoy, which in and of itself isn't bad, but the dressing was so vinegary that the cabbage was wilty. There was also about a 1/2 cup of yesterday's roasted potatoes, cut up, crisped in the oven, left to sit and reheated in a dry sautee pan. Might have been okay if they weren't so dried out and cold. Because the plate was ice freaking cold. Again this delightful woman came to the table and asked my opinion. Oy. My first instinct was to give her a laundry list of offenses...but I didn't. I just said the plate was cold and so were the potatoes. She insisted on bringing me more gack worthy potatoes. So should I have told her that I thought 4 shrimp was not a Po' Boy...that the slaw was wilty and the potatoes were not good? At what point are you being constructive and at what point it it just rude or just my opinion and not really helpful? Just curious as to what others do in this situation.

Well, not to be all bloodthirsty or anything but according to 'the Hoya', Georgetown U's newspaper, it came about in the following way... "...the creation of pink lemonade took place in a local Alexandria ice house used as a morgue, where lemonade — a very valuable drink at the time — was poured onto the congealed dead bodies to give them their final respect. After the blood from the bodies would fuse with the lemony libation, a bubblegum pink shade would result, and pink lemonade was born."

I got it too...first time they've ever sent me one. Finally, I get to express my loathing of Bob Blumer. Not that they will pay attention. I was disappointed that there was no comments section so I could ask why they keep airing the same crap over and over and over again. Third retread of Jamie's School Dinners is NOT making me watch Food Network. Fourth round of Hell's Kitchen...and so on...Food Network is really sucking.

The Safeway in Gibsons has a Pizza Hut...that what the best thing we found to eat there.

Does rice pop beyond puffing up a little? Like popcorn? Does anyone have a picture of that? I 'pop' rice in a dry frying pan at high heat...it kind of puffs and doubles in size but it doesn't get really huge or explode like popcorn or anything. They have a rice gun at a nearby asian market...shoots out plate sized puffed rice cakes. I don't think you could do that at home thought. At least not without the gun

Hey... Company party this coming weekend. We are doing pulled pork and brisket. I am looking for a good basic tomato based bbq sauce recipe (sorry, all you vinegar based sauce people, but my co-workers just wouldn't 'get' that as barbecue sauce) I am looking for the kind where I can make a base sauce and then add in things for a variation, like stir in some mango chutney and spices for indian flavor, or add ginger and soy etc for an asian flavor. I have to meet the following restrictions. There can be no barley, malt or hops - so no beer, worcestershire or malt vinegar. And no nuts whatsoever. So can anyone help me? I would love a base and some basic variations. I'm serving about 25 people and would like to have the sauces in bowls so people can help themselves. Thanks for your help.

How about some rice krispie fingers with chocolate sauce and white chocolate chunks? Or, in a totally different direction....form rice krispie treat balls and impale them on sticks - like a candy apple. Dip the bottom half in chocolate or caramel, then in the treat of choice - cookie chunks, gummy bears, smarties or whatever. Easy, make ahead, no brainer.

It's fine...go ahead and eat it. Boiling sugar syrup added to the egg whites will render it stable and the rest is fine. I have never fridged a pie in my life and we aren't dead, never even been sick. Go ahead and eat it. Trust me. I'm an eGullet member.

Well, you can't make syrup with Splenda, which you already know, I'm sure. You might thicken it with arrowroot or something and get some consistency that way. How about a good quality sugar free syrup instead? ED Smith makes a good one. Or perhaps one of those coffee flavouring syrups in a sugar free flavour? You could sub Splenda for the granulated sugar in the recipe...you probably do that a lot so might not notice it as much as someone who never does. Personally, as a diabetic, I would prefer a small portion of the real thing to a large portion of the fake, but I am like your husband and would have to be watched

Well, I'm certainly not the person to be asking, because last I heard (I fell out of the loop some time ago), YOU were at the Wick yourself...clearly that is not the case or presumably you would simply walk to the kitchen and ask him yourself. So where did YOU end up??

Oh my goodness...I am so surprised that no one has yet bought you a copy of her book! It's called "Laughing with my mouth full". and just for you, Memo, here is an exerpt from an interview she did with January magazine in November of 2005. I think you will enjoy it January Magazine: The author whose name comes to mind when I read your work is that of [late American writer] M.F.K. Fisher. Pam Freir: That's a huge compliment. JM:She's wonderful. PF:She's the best as far as I'm concerned. JM:And yet your work is similar, in a way. I mean, her work is sadder, I think. Yours is happier. PF:It is happier, but she's very reflective, yet she has a gentle way with humor. She's not working at it at all. She's amused by things. I just think she's a beautiful writer. A fabulous writer. She's my hero, so thank you for that comparison. JM:Do people say that? Do you hear it a lot? PF:Some people have. JM:People who have read her. PF:Yeah and you know, it's surprising, but a lot people have never heard of her. JM:It is surprising, because I think she almost defined this sub-genre -- if that's what it is -- of food writing as not just filling your larder, but of filling your soul, in a way. Does that make sense? PF:It does. You're saying it's almost philosophical. Food as experience.

There is something wonderful in that sentence. Lucky to be passing by your gate, those hungry strangers. Very lucky indeed.

Mine does that to...in fact, every kind of banana think I make does that, cake, muffins, bread etc. My theory is this...bananas turn brown, right? So the puree must settle more at the bottom and oxidize somewhat because it cooks at a different rate than the top, giving it a darker appearence than the top, where there is slightly less puree and it cooks faster therefore not having as much time to oxidize. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it

There is a T&T market near Guilford...and they have a pretty decent food fair with bbq duck and pork and dim sum and other treats. I have a lead on a greek market as well...will keep you posted.

This is Canada, eh...I don't think we don't watch basketball here Besides, Curling and Figures Skating are on Sunday morning. But you could try AZURE LOUNGE & GRILL IN THE PLAZA OF NATIONS 770 PACIFIC BLVD VANCOUVER B.C. V6B 5E7 604-633-1611 www.azuregrill.com I have never been there, but they do have a big TV and one of the guys I work with says it's good. Of course he eats corned beef out of a tin for lunch every day, so what does he know.

Depending on why and how much you need to add, you can purchase gelatin as a nutritional supplement...at health food stores and those places that sell body building supplements. Is that something that might work better for you rather than trying to add a bunch of food that you may not want to add? Be that as it may, there are a lot of recipes here for gelatin based dishes, even a pizza crust with gelatin in it and some raspberry brownies! Gelatin Recipes You can also just dissolve gelatin in juice or water - you just have to drink it before it sets. edited for spelling

I can recommend the Christine Ferber book 'Mes Confitures'. I use her method to make my jam and it's easy to preserve the whole fruit, especially with the strawberry. Essentially what you do is mix the fruit and sugar and bring it just barely to the boil, then let it stand overnight, then cook it to the desired consistency the next day. It's a great method and I have turned out some thinks that have shocked me they are so good looking - and good tasting, of course

I also find that the items I have made are very sweet...and am playing around with using less sugar. My plan is to reduce the sugar in 1/4 cup increments until I find the perfect point that doesn't cause too much loss of volume, texture and flavour...which means that we have a lot of baking to share with our co-workers and neighbours. It's a sacrifice I am willing to make. I made the Swedish Visiting Cake last night...dead easy. I didn't reduce the sugar as it's the first time I have made it. Next time, probably tonight, I will cut it by 1/4 cup and see what happens. It's delicious but sweet for me.

I don't have that particular Robuchon cookbook, but I do have another one done with Patricia Wells. Only cookbook I own that has a glamour shot of a beautifully plated pineapple dessert with a giant hair on the side. And it's not a printing glitch, it's a real honest to gosh long black hair. Skeevy. Kind of ruined Robuchon for me But sure made culinary school seem a lot less scary. If a Robuchon cookbook can go to print with a hair on the plate, well, no mistake I make cooking will ever be insurmountable.