jende

I ran home between meetings to check on my blossoms (I'm a geek) and they were wilted, as predicted. So I guess I'm going the pasta route.

Thanks everyone. I didn't realize they were so perishable -- I fear to peek into the bag when I get home! Even though I won't be home until late tonight, I'm going to make them today for fear of losing them. Granted they're still in decent shape, I'll stuff them with a little goat cheese and basil and make a light frying batter (lovely suggestions). If I find them over the hill, though, I'll make the pasta that Anna suggested. In this case, would you chop the blossoms at all or just cook them whole? They aren't as large as in that beautiful photo above, but still fairly substantial.

Parmigiano-Reggiano and a little garlic works with almost any vegetable and is easy/always in the fridge. A little goat cheese is good tossed in with most vegs, too, and adds great flavor and texture.

I bought a whole bunch of beautiful zucchini blossoms at the farmers market this weekend, but I'm not quite sure what to do with them. I know they're usually stuffed with a cheese mixture and fried, but I don't know how to do this without the cheese running out. I also bought some lovely fresh peas in the pod, so I'm wondering if there's a way to incorporate both maybe into a risotto or some such. Also, does anyone know how long the zucchini blossoms will last in the fridge? I've had them in a paper bag since Saturday and probably won't be able to cook them until Wednesday.

Congrats on your new venture! I'll make sure to stop in during my trip to Chicago in a few weeks. Wicker Park is my favorite neighborhood.

This sounds wonderful -- exactly the kind of food I crave in summer. I've had inconsistent experiences with prosciutto, though, so I'm wondering if someone can recommend some good brands. I've had a lot of proscuitto that was tough, fatty and bad-salty. The good stuff I've encountered (usually in restaurants) is buttery and good-salty. Any advice for how to find the good stuff?

Love the "potato croutons" idea! Very clever.

This looks like a good start, but I'll probably cut back on the glaze because the strawberries are already very sweet. Thanks to all who replied. I'll report back.

I just bought 2 quarts of beautiful organic strawberries at the farmers market, and I'd like to make a strawberry pie. I've never had luck with the recipes I've used in the past -- they seem to add too much sugar, gelatin, etc. and the strawberries get lost in the mess. Any ideas for how to make a very simple pie that lets the strawberries shine?

I'm going to Dallas for business soon, and after all the business bs is taken care of my husband will join me there for some weekend fun. Can someone recommend a couple delicious, funky/laid-back, local-flavors kind of restaurants? High-end/stuffy isn't our scene, but we do appreciate very good food and wine, and don't mind paying for it. We're staying at the Belmont Hotel, if that helps, and we will have a car (but prefer to be able to cab or stumble back to our hotel). Thanks!

Your combo sounds delicious and you should DEFINITELY try it in place of your other condiments on a sandwich. I'm amazed by how many foods taste better with guac, especially almost any kind of sandwich. Try it with omelettes, too.

I agree. Keep doing what you're doing, but you should eat it within a couple of days any way. Maybe this is a new topic, but how do you make your guac? My husband considers in heresy to use anything but avocadoes, lime juice and s&p, but I have a friend who makes an awesome version with avocadoes, cilantro, tomato, onion, jalapeno and s&p. He pulverizes half of the mixture with a mortar and pestle, then mixes it into chunks of the rest. So it has a great chunky texture, but the flavors are well mixed. When I make it this way, though, I do add lime juice.

That cracked me up! I haven't heard that phrase since elementary school.

Words to live by! I'm eating a Clif Nectar bar, which is a hybrid candy bar/energy bar type thing sold at the hippie grocery store next to my office. It's the dark chocolate and walnut variety, which lists dates as its first ingredient. Not surprisingly then, it mostly has the taste and texture of dates with a shot of dark chocolate and walnut chunks. Not bad.

Thanks everyone, sounds like Ssam is the one for us. And I wish I COULD go to both, but I think I'll only have time for one this time around.

Having never been to either, I'm a little confused about the difference between Momofuku Ssam Bar and Momofuku Noodle Bar. I'm interested in a late-night, shared plate sort of a meal. Could someone briefly describe the attributes of each and help me choose?

Yes, I would call the OTF brownies chewy. Based on your "less sweet, intensely chocolately, chewy" description I think we have similar tastes, so you should be very happy with the OTF brownies. They're one of my favorites.

Inspired by this rave (+ the link Klary so kindly sent me after I PM'd her - thank you!), I made these for lunch today. Well. Bowl one, I was thinking, hmmm, these are all very well, nice enough but a bit ho-hum. Bowl two, on the other hand, with more lemon, more salt + at room temp rather than hot, was amazing! Leftovers for breakfast I think... ← I made these based on all the raves, too, and had the same delayed reaction. But, man, once you get "the reaction," you're hooked! I think this is a fine example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts (or whatever that lame expression is). I like it closer to room temp, too. The lemony, spicy, almost creamy sauce is better that way.

Those are gorgeous! Could you direct me to the recipe? I planned to make the bagels from Bread Baker's Apprentice this weekend, but maybe I'll switch. On another note, I'm having trouble finding high-gluten flour. BBA offers bread flour as a substitute but I wonder how well that will work. I'd hate to go through all the trouble and come out with crappy bagels. Has anyone tried this substitution?

Lovely! Can you tell me about the candy in the last photo that looks like some kind of Eastery-bark?

Sometimes the problem is that by the time we get through the entire preparation of the meal with all the requisite tasting for seasoning, etc. we're already kind of sick of it! About a month ago, I had dinner at a friend's house and she made a very simple sauteed chicken breast finished with Balsamic and served over plain risotto with pan-grilled asparagus. That meal was so darn tasty I craved it for weeks. I tried to replicate it over the weekend and it was just o.k. (in other words it tasted about how it sounds!!).

This is a great topic. I don't remember who said it, but I agree with the notion that you should never make your guests feel like they've done something wrong. Having your friends into your home for a meal of any sort is a very loving gift, and it should be given and received in that spirit. My biggest lesson learned is to be less ambitious in what I make. I used to spend the entire day (and sometimes days before!) prepping for my parties, only to find myself stressed out and totally exhausted when my guests arrived. Now I limit my menus to two things homemade rounded out with high-quality store purchases. My guests still have a great time and feel very pampered, and I'm able to enjoy the party.

I did a lot of research when I got granite countertops last year, and I ended up with the standard polished finished. I love how the honed looks, but I've heard too many stories of people who've had trouble with staining. I believe the honing process removes a lot of the finish which makes the stone more vulnerable to stains. I've had my granite since September (and I cook and spill A LOT!) and it looks like new. Granite shouldn't really show scratches, in fact a lot of people cut directly on them (although I don't). My one other piece of advice is to lean toward lighter colors. Mine never look dirty but my neighbor who has dark granite is constantly cleaning them because spots show so easily.

After looking at the recipe again today, I realized that I actually used DOUBLE the chocolate it called for! I halved the recipe because I only had a 8x8 pan, but I used the full 6 oz. of (melted) chocolate!! I made a note that they were a little sweet and to cut back on sugar next time, but this is no doubt why. Just goes to show that brownies are really hard to mess up! I love the One Bowl, too, by the way. I have a friend who rarely bakes but dropped off a delicious plate of brownies to my house a couple months ago. While doing this latest round of experiments I asked her for that recipe and lo and behold it was the One Bowl.

I caught about an hour of Supersize Me on TV the other day and, is this sick or what????, it actually made me CRAVE McDonalds!!! Years ago I used to indulge in the cheeseburger value meal (I think it was the #3) at least once a week, but now I find myself mostly grossed out by fast food. Until I saw Supersize Me.