Lapin d'Argent

Wow -- really impressive, everyone! I'm just blown away! Truly inspiring.

We are going to visit friends who teach at SUNY, New Paltz, and have been asked to bring desserts. I'm not much of a baker, but fortunately I remembered that I have a copy of Dorie Greenspan's wonderful From My Home to Yours (or whatever it's proper title is). So today I whipped up a batch of the Cinnamon Squares, which will be frosted tomorrow morning, and the Lemon Cream, with the tart crust waiting patiently in the freezer to be baked, also tomorrow morning. I'll post the rest of the menu when I find out what it is. (Was!)

Darn...I wished I'd planned far enough in advance to make Gravlax for New Year's...next year! [i have to figure out how make eGullet threads appear as a link on the proper date on my calendar, so that next year I really do plan ahead.]

Jeff, how timely!! Now you can get those fancy gingerbread pans! Thanks to this thread, I've added Asian Dumplings to my Amazon wishlist (thanks for the reminder). Next time I have some cash, I also plan to get me one of them infrared thermometers -- although it's more likely destined for my metalworking studio, not the kitchen. What's the highest temperature that they can register?

Ditto, ditto, ditto, DITTO!!! Completely, absolutely, breathtakingly, stunning. Nakji, if you had any idea how many ingredients my late granfather included in his "secret" tourtier recipe, which he spent much of the 20th century developing, you would feel perfectly free to improvise to your heart's content. I swear there's an entire spice cupboard in there...and you're talking a family of Maurices, Ste Maries, Le Moines, Letourneaus, etc. Personally, I was never much of a fan, but it went down a treat with all the male members of the family. - L.

Yummy! [Where IS that drool icon...] Now you have an excuse to hint to various friends and relations about getting you some of those lovely pans in exchange for more gingerbread!

Here's a post on DrinkBoston that you might also find helpful.

Well, we tried a batch, and found it...thin. Maybe our expectations were off, or the Madeira I got wasn't very good (didn't have much time for shopping around), but it just didn't seem very exciting. Thanks for the link to the Madeira article. I'll have to keep a look out for some better brands, which I know I've seen somewhere.

Just received the first two issues for Christmas, since I dropped DH a not-so-subtle hint thanks to this post. Love them! Beautiful recipes, lovely writing, captivating photos. Will post here as soon as I get to try some of the recipes.

For next time, remember you can always make gingerbread in any fancy bundt-cake type pans you happen to have. If you're like me, you probably have a whole cupboard full of assorted fancy cake pans, originally from Williams-Sonoma, that were just too cute to resist at the time, and that you never remember to use when the time comes...

Ain't it great? I LOVE mine, which was a post Christmas gift to myself last year, since DS didn't take the hint. D'Oh! Forgot to gift myself that one, although I did get myself the lovely garlic press that everyone here has been raving about. I was ordering hubby's present at the time (non-food-related), so I figured what the heck. Love it! And last night, I was delighted to unwrap the two issues of Canal House Cooking, which I originally read about here. They are lovely books, and I highly recommend them...can't wait to try out some of the recipes!

DeliciouslyLekker, I second the idea of gougeres, or even simpler, frico. Lovely with Prosecco! Or were you thinking of something more elaborate, perhaps one of those special spoonfuls of something exotic? Like Chris, I'm interested to hear about the Prosecco cocktail; we'll be drinking our Prosecco straight. Chris -- thanks for the pistachio perspective reorientation...just what was needed!

Well, I had just put the pate de campagne in the oven: ...and had finished washing all the dishes and was about to clean the counter, when I suddenly spotted this: The chopped pistachios were, of course, supposed to be mixed in to the pate before it went into the pan. However, I guess they'll now get toasted and sprinkled on the exterior, and no one will be the wiser. (Except all of you.) Anyone else started cooking? - L. [Edited to actually finish what I was writing; a little trigger-happy on the Post button. Hmm...this could be a theme developing...]

What indeed? Sounds like heaven! After 20 years of faithful traipsing between his family and mine, last year my husband and I inaugurated the first year of "Christmas In Our Own Home." Anyone is welcome to join us, but since they can't be bothered to get in a car and drive to us for a change, we have a peaceful, quiet holiday on our own. We also like to have our main meal on Christmas Eve, and this year it will be a rib roast from Niman Ranch (ordered through a local market), served with Cabernet jus, and pan-roasted potatoes and carrots, and yorkshire pudding. Earlier in the day, we'll be sustained by shrimp cocktail, cheese spread, homemade olive oil crackers, and homemade pate de campagne. Not sure what to do about dessert -- probably I'll end up buying something, since there won't really be time to bake. Christmas day will be mostly leftovers.

Darienne, I've made regular cow's milk yogurt using goat milk yogurt as a starter, so my guess is that you should use McGee's basic instructions and just try it out. As long as you use an accurate thermometer to heat and cool the milk, you should be fine. Another suggestion: use a bit more starter than McGee calls for, as an insurance policy, and to get a thicker yogurt. Oh, here's the link, in case you don't have it handy. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Thank you, Relish -- that sounds lovely, and is going right on to the holiday menu! Exactly what I was hoping for. - L.

For those of you who might want to try this at home for yourselves, here is the link to the "Revised Compliance Policy" which basically says that you can ship stuff home to yourself. Other documents seem to clearly indicate, however, that if they find it on you personally, instead of on your mail carrier, they will confiscate it. What the subtle distinction is, I don't know. Also -- you, as an individual, have to mail it to yourself (or another individual), it can't be a business involved at either end at all. But you can't get too personal and actually carry it. Call me crazy, but I don't get it. [Edited to fix stupid typos.]

Hubby and I are doing a quiet Christmas Eve & Day this year, just the two of us. Well, perhaps it will be just slightly boisterous, even if it is just the two of us. I'm not planning on cooking a goose, but a standing rib roast for Christmas Eve dinner, which makes me think that we should start by toasting with an appropriate Dickensian punch. The Smoking Bishop sounds quite tasty, but rather a lot for two people -- any other suggestions of more modest proportions?

We like B&G over Neptune, for whatever it's worth. I'd also second East Coast Grill, and add Rendezvous in Central Square, Cambridge. Not seafood places, but the seafood that is on the menu is going to be really good, perfectly fresh, and prepared in an interesting way. I haven't been to Clio in ages, but I would have to assume that it's another possibility; perhaps someone with more recent knowledge can comment?

Bingo. How well said, and pretty much describes me as well. Then I am in excellent company. And blushing furiously. @sparrowgrass: You're right. Apparently many of us think in paragraphs, not tweets. I wonder if we cook in paragraphs, too?

I'm a maturing, opinionated, meditative, but joyous cook. Cooking is very primal for me -- I feel that we should pay more attention to the quality of our food, air, and water. My cooking has become simpler over the years; I'm less interested in "show-off" cooking and elaborate techniques than I am in where my ingredients come from and what they have to teach me. Cooking is a dialogue that the food and I engage in with fire as the mediator. It's about transformation -- often in unexpected and delightfully surprising ways. But it's also about community, whether recipes handed down from family members, ingredients purchased from neighbors at the farmers market, or insights learned from online friends around the world. Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

This is a wonderful inspiration. We are staying home for Christmas, but visiting friends for the New Year, and a hamper would be a really fun project to put together for them. Right now I'm thinking (everything homemade): - Orange-grapefruit marmalade - Vanilla extract + fresh vanilla beans (Dividends from the make-your-own-vanilla-extract project!) - Some sort of savory shortbread or crackers - A simple charcuterie item, maybe duck prosciutto And an interesting bottle of wine to round things out.

Last night I wanted to finally use up the leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, plus various other ingredients that had accumulated in the intervening days, and I have to say, I came up with a winner! There was a dish of mashed root vegetables (potatoes, celery root, and carrots), plus some plain mashed potatoes from the in-laws. These got microwaved to soften, then re-mashed together with some heavy cream and salt for a little oomphing. They went into a decent sized, buttered corningware casserole. Next came one leek leftover from making pizza over the weekend. Sliced and sauteed in butter with a little salt and leftover lemon juice. Some sauteed mushrooms, also from the pizza making, got added to the leeks as well, and this made the next layer on top of the mash. Finally, I took the remains of a baguette, turned it into fresh breadcrumbs in the food processor, and tossed it with the leftover parmesan my husband had grated for a weekend turkey risotto. Lots and lots and lots of freshly ground pepper and a little melted butter to hold it together, and that became the top layer. Into a medium oven for about 45 minutes, uncovered part of the time to crisp the crumbs, and out came the ultimate comfort food. The root vegetables were rich and satisfying, the leeks and mushrooms added a nice sweet contrast, and the breadcrumbs were a lovely crunchy, savory accent. Those of you who were wondering what to do with leftover bread stuffing could crisp it up first a bit in a layer on a baking sheet, and use that as the top layer instead -- I'm sure it would be even more delicious.

Well, other diners have been duly warned. When you search on Google for "Mom's Kitchen Collingswood" or "Mom's Kitchen Collingswood NJ", this post comes up as the second result, above even the Google Maps entry. This is what we in the interactive business call an SEO problem (Search Engine Optimization). However, since they don't seem to have any web presence at all, the problem is entirely of their own making, apparently in more ways than one...

Now this looks like it could be a good addition to the Thanksgiving menu lineup; I'll have to do a test run soon. Thanks, Anna!