Debbie S

Don and Becca: Thanks for tips on the golden syrup. It's a good excuse to go to Central Market. I love that place. Debbie

Hello. I made the pain de mie today with the recipe above and it came out great. I did make two modifications. I decreased the yeast to 2 teaspoons and I added an additional 1/2 cup of AP flour. Don, your recipe sounds great but do you know what would be a Texas equivalent for the golden syrup? Thanks. Debbie

Hello. I just purchased a large pain de mie pan (16x4x4 according to the catalog)and I have only used it once. I was going to try using it again today with this recipe: 8 oz water 3 Tbl honey 4 tsp yeast 12 oz bread flour 12 oz AP flour 1/2 oz salt 1 1/2 oz butter, softened 8 oz milk I got this recipe at a breadmaking class I took at the Culinary School of the Rockies. I tried this a few days ago but I went out shopping during the second rise and when I got back the dough had oozed out of the pan and down the counter. I put the escaped dough in another pan to bake but then the pain de mie had a ragged top and didn't look very good (it did taste good). So I'm going to try it again today with less yeast and keep a close eye on it while rising. So sorry I'm not offering a tested formula but I will let you know how it comes out today. Debbie S.

I wanted to add that I took a Bread Techniques 5-day "vacation class" at the Culinary School of the Rockies a few years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and learned so much. My instructor was Elizabeth Perreault who had worked as a pastry chef in a variety of restaurants in Boulder. We had about six students in the class. Other students had come from Michigan, Oklahoma and New Mexico and most had taken more than one class at the school. The people working at the school did seem very friendly. I am wondering if you could go over and talk to the teachers about your experience and plans for the future. They have a variety of different classes and programs and could recommend the right one for you. Another possibility is that in our breadmaking class we had a teacher assistant who took the class for free in exchange for helping the teacher find things and clean up. Maybe you could see if they still have this assistant program. I hope it works out well for you. --Debbie S.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'll check out the links. I'm excited about the Ethiopian food as we don't have anything like that down here. I'll let you know how it all goes. Debbie S.

Thanks so much for the quick replies. Sounds like Capitol Grille is our best bet. We got the certificate from Charles Schwab so i'm not sure what the marketing strategy is. We live in San Antonio so you are right that we have a Morton's here and also Ruth Chris. $250 is more money than we would usually spend at a restaurant so we are excited about our big night out in D.C. I was planning to sneak out to an Ethiopian restaurant at some point with the kids. Is the Red Sea still there? I was going to check the other messages for some suggestions on D.C. restaurants in general. I am also hoping for warm weather as we don't have much in the way of winter clothing. Thanks. Debbie

We are visiting D.C. for Spring Break mid-March and we would like to use a $250 restaurant gift certificate that we received from our investment advisor. However, we can only use the certificate at one of the following restaurants: 701 Penn, Capitol Grille, Georgia Brown, Morton’s Steakhouse, and Ruth's Chris Steak House. Which of these restaurants would you recomend? I'll be traveling with my husband, two kids (12 & 14 yrs old) and my mother-in-law. The kids and I are adventurous eaters but my husband and MIL are of the meat and potatoes for every meal ilk. Thanks for your help. Debbie S.